| County eligible for SBA disaster loans |
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Posted: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 12:01 pm
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The U.S. Small Business Administration announced this week that federal economic injury disaster loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private non-profit organizations of all sizes in the counties of Henry, Lake, Montgomery, Obion, Robertson, Stewart, Sumner and Weakley in Tennessee as a result of drought that began on Aug. 1, 2010.
“These counties are eligible because they are contiguous to one or more primary counties in Kentucky. The Small Business Administration recognizes that disasters do not usually stop at county or state lines. For that reason, counties adjacent to primary counties named in the declaration are included,” according to Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East.
“When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to assist eligible entities affected by the same disaster,” Skaggs added. Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. Agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers are not eligible to apply to SBA, but nurseries are eligible to apply for economic injury disaster loans for losses caused by drought conditions.
The loan amount can be up to $2 million with a 3 percent interest rate for non-profit organizations, 4 percent for small businesses and terms up to 30 years.
These working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. These loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits. Eligibility for the program is based on the size of the applicant, type of activity and its financial resources. The SBA set the loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.
Disaster loan information and application forms may be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for people with speech or hearing disabilities) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan applications can be downloaded from the SBA’s website at www.sba.gov. Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
Those affected by the disaster may apply for disaster loans from SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.
Completed loan applications must be returned to SBA no later than July 5, 2011.
WCP 11.23.10
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