The Small Business Administration is making hundreds of millions of dollars available for disaster loans for hurricane victims. One University of Georgia expert wants those who apply for the funds to remember, that assistance is a loan.
Thousands of disaster loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars have been approved for victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. President Trump has signed legislation making $15.2 billion in additional assistance available from FEMA, HUD, and the SBA. Allan Adams is the State Director of UGA’s Small Business Development Center.
He explains why that aid can be crucial to business owners starting over.
" That includes from the U.S. Small Business Administration, disaster loans, which can be low-interest business loans to help business owners replace damaged property or equipment,” Adams said. “There’s also economic injury loans available, again low-interest which can help companies obtain working capital and get over a period of time when maybe their customer base has dropped off because of changes in the local economy because of disaster effects.”
Adams says only those business owners who are in good financial standing can receive assistance.
“These are loans that are expected to be repaid, they’re not grants. If someone comes forward and they have a business that was not operating profitably and possibly was in a state of demise, they are not probably going to qualify for a loan because they can’t demonstrate an ability to repay.”
Adams says in some cases; no amount aid can salvage the situation.
“After Hurricane Katrina, we deployed people to help in that area of the country. For many of those business owners even though their businesses had been operating successfully, it was over for them because their customer base was gone.”
Federal aid has been slow in reaching many Victims of Hurricane Maria.
For assistance from the SBA visit www.sba.gov or the Georgia District Office at 404-891-5576.