Loans available for businesses hurt by summer’s heat
By Donita Naylor
ATLANTA — Small businesses in Rhode Island counties bordering the ones in Massachusetts for which an agriculture emergency was declared are eligible to apply for loans if they were harmed by last summer’s excessive heat.
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced Monday that small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private nonprofit organizations in Bristol, Newport and Providence counties are eligible for SBA loans if they were harmed by heat from June 1 to Oct. 15, 2010.
“These counties are eligible,” said the SBA’s Frank Skaggs, field operations director in Atlanta, because “the Small Business Administration recognizes that disasters do not usually stop at county or state lines.”
Aid offered to farmers when an agriculture emergency is declared is also offered to businesses affected by the same disaster, Skaggs said.
Eligible entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster can apply for working capital loans of up to $2 million with a 3-percent interest for nonprofit organizations, 4 percent for small businesses and terms up to 30 years. The loans can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. They are not intended to replace lost sales or profits, Skaggs said. For information and application forms, call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955, or (800) 877-8339 for a TTY operator. An e-mail request can be sent to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Applications can be downloaded from the SBA’s website .
The deadline for returning applications is Sept. 19. Mail them to the U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76155 or apply online at the SBA’s secure website .
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