PROVIDENCE – The U.S. Small Business Administration is encouraging businesses affected by the March flooding to apply for disaster-recovery loans before the deadline closes Friday.
The loans for up to $2 million come in two flavors. One program offers loans for businesses that experienced physical damages because of the record floods. The deadline to apply for those loans is Friday, May 28.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
The other program offers assistance to businesses that saw economic losses because of closed roads, stranded employees or the like. The application period for that program closes Dec. 29. The SBA allows businesses to apply to both programs.
SBA spokesman Carl Sherrill said the agency aims to turn around loan applications within three weeks. The average Rhode Island applicant, he said, was receiving a response in nine days. Sherrill encouraged businesses to apply early, because he expects the SBA’s national processing center in Texas to soon be filled with loan applications because of flooding in the Midwest and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“The sooner they can get their application in the better,” he said.
Sherrill said as of the close of business Thursday, the SBA had approved 88 loans totaling $6.4 million for businesses that experienced physical losses. The SBA also approved four loans totaling $72,500 for businesses suffering economic injury.
The loans come with interest rates between 4 percent and 6 percent with terms up to 30 years, depending on the business’s ability to pay. About 90 percent of Rhode Island loans issued in Rhode Island have had interest rates of about 4 percent, Sherrill said. SBA officials determine loan amounts based on damage.
Since the March flooding hit hundreds of homes and businesses, including the Warwick Mall, the SBA has issued 3,162 applications for businesses that experienced physical damage. Sherrill said that as of Thursday, 272 – or 8.6 percent – had been returned. Separately, the SBA sent out 39 applications for economic losses and 13 have been returned. The SBA sent out the applications mostly to businesses that registered damage with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
To apply for a loan or find more information, visit www.sba.gov.
