ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today that due to severe winter weather the SBA Business Recovery Centers and Disaster Loan Outreach Centers in New York will close at noon Friday, Feb. 8, and remain closed on Saturday. The SBA Centers will re-open at 9:00a.m., Monday, Feb. 11.
The Centers provide one-on-one assistance to homeowners, renters and business of all sizes seeking disaster assistance for losses caused by Hurricane Sandy.
Businesses and non-profit organizations of any size may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets. The SBA may increase a loan up to 20 percent of the total amount of disaster damage to real estate and/or leasehold improvements, as verified by SBA, to make improvements that lessen the risk of property damage by future disasters of the same kind.
For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private non-profit organizations, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.
Interest rates are as low as 3 percent for non-profit organizations and 4 percent for businesses with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.
Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.
Additional information on the disaster loan program can be obtained by calling SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan application forms can be downloaded from www.sba.gov.
The deadline to return applications for physical property damage is February 27, 2013. The deadline to return economic injury applications is July 31, 2013.
# # #
