SBA Disaster Loans Provide a Major Source of Financial Assistance to Homeowners, Renters, Businesses, Nonprofit Groups

For many Georgia residents and business owners recovering from recent severe storms and tornadoes, completing a U.S. Small Business Administration [SBA] disaster loan application is a necessity. SBA disaster loans provide funds to homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofit organizations for uninsured losses.

While federal grants are one form of disaster assistance available, most of the money for repairs or replacement of storm-damaged real estate, business inventory and personal property comes in the form of low-interest SBA disaster loans. A completed SBA disaster home loan application is an essential component for some disaster-related grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA].

Applicants who receive SBA loan applications should complete and return them to be considered for FEMA grants that cover personal property, vehicle repair or replacement, and moving and storage expenses. However, no one is obligated to accept a loan.

Those living and working in one of the 25 federally declared Georgia counties -- i.e., Bartow, Catoosa, Cherokee, Coweta, Dade, Greene, Habersham, Harris, Heard, Floyd, Gordon, Lamar, Lumpkin, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Pickens, Polk, Rabun, Spalding, Troup, Upson, Walker and White -- may be eligible for an SBA loan.

Homeowners, renters, certain private nonprofit organizations, plus businesses of all sizes can apply to SBA for losses not covered by insurance or other sources. Persons with home-based businesses or rental property who have been affected by the storms may also be eligible for SBA loans.

Homeowners can borrow up to $200,000 to repair or replace their primary residence. Homeowners and renters can borrow up to $40,000 to repair or replace personal property.

Businesses may be eligible for up to $2 million in loans to repair or replace disaster-damaged real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.

SBA also provides small-business owners and most private nonprofit organizations of all sizes with Economic Injury Disaster Loans [EIDLs] that provide money for ongoing business expenses needed to recover from the adverse economic impact of a disaster.

These disaster loans are available even if the business didn’t sustain physical damages from the storms.

Loan amounts and terms are determined on a case-by-case basis. Interest rates can be as low as 2.688 percent for homeowners and renters; three percent for nonprofit organizations; and four percent for businesses. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA, and based on each applicant’s financial condition. Payment terms as long as 30 years make the loans more affordable.

To register for assistance, residents should call FEMA’s toll-free number, 1-800-621-FEMA [3362], or TTY/TDD 1-800-462-7585 for those with speech or hearing functional needs, between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available to answer calls during this time. Online registration is offered at www.disasterassistance.gov.

SBA representatives are available to assist with loan applications and to answer questions:

* In person at Disaster Recovery Centers [DRCs] operating in 13 of the federally declared counties. Location of the nearest DRC is available when registering by phone or by going online to www.fema.gov/assistance/opendrcs.shtm.

* SBA Disaster Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955, or 800-877-8339 TTY for anyone with speech or hearing functional needs, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and, until further notice, on Saturday and Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT.

* Online at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.

* Queries e-mailed to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Receive up-to-the-minute Georgia disaster recovery information by following FEMA/Region 4 on Twitter at www.twitter.com/femaregion4.

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PHOTO: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talking to one of the young residents of Ringgold, Ga., about the tornado. On Saturday, the Secretary visited with members of the community of Ringgold at the First Baptist Church.

SOURCES: Federal Emergency Management Agency [official photo by Alice Carr], U.S. Small Business Administration
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Verbatim: Georgia's Martin-Chambliss Runoff Election Campaign Tops Week's Features

Every week, GoodBiz113 features influencers who are propelling the interests of small-business owners, entrepreneurs, consultants, self-employed folks, artists, etc.

* "Georgia voters are being hit with misleading ads from both sides as Republican Sen. Chambliss battles Democratic challenger Jim Martin [pictured] in a Dec. 2 runoff election... In one ad, Chambliss tells viewers that Martin 'wants to help Barack Obama raise taxes on nearly every small business in Georgia.' Not so. What Obama has proposed would affect only the most affluent 2.4 percent of small-business owners, or less." -- FactCheck.org, a project of the University of Pennsylvania's Public Policy Center ["Peach State Piffle," Newsweek, 11/21/2008]

* "You want businesses to focus on running their business. You don't want them to devote any brain cells to focusing on the tax code." -- Tim Kane, an economist and a senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation ["Is a Small-Business Tax Cut Coming?" U.S. News & World Report, 11/24/2008]

* “The frozen lending market has left small businesses in the cold as we face the holiday rush... I'm glad the Secretary has taken our warnings seriously and taken this step forward. It should provide some needed relief at a critical time. We hope small businesses will continue to get the help they deserve as further steps are taken to repair our ailing economy.” -- Sen. John Kerry [D-Mass.], chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, on Nov. 25, after U.S. Treasury Department officials announced their plan to infuse $20 billion into the secondary market through loans to asset managers -- a middle-of-the-road approach that will help to inject some liquidity into the market, and should make it easier for entrepreneurs to gain access to credit as they look to stock up on holiday supplies and services. One week prior to the announcement, Kerry had collaborated with Sens. Olympia Snowe [R-Maine] and Charles Schumer [D-N.Y.] to urge Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to channel a portion of the $700 billion rescue package [AKA Wall Street bailout] to be used to purchase government-backed small-business loans through the Troubled Assets Relief Program [TARP].

* "We'll be looking for long-term sustainable solutions... I think everyone who knows me knows I'm a different kind of Democrat. I'm an Alaskan... I support drilling. Alaskans are libertarians, we are independent. We like to have our individual rights and freedoms but also recognize we are a resource state." -- Mark Begich, who defeated longtime Sen. Ted Stevens on Nov. 4, and has his sights on assignments on the U.S. Senate Appropriations, Finance, Commerce and/or Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committees. ["Begich Takes U.S. Senate," Homer Tribune, 11/26/2008]

* “We all know the economy is in deep trouble... I believe the best response is to create jobs on Main Street and provide the middle class with significant relief, while also building a solid foundation for long-term prosperity... President-elect Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan should be especially good for Minnesota, with his focus on infrastructure and renewable energy. I want to go back to Washington and advocate for this recovery plan, based on what we’re already doing in Minnesota and what more needs to be done.” -- Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-Minn.], before embarking today [Dec. 1] on her weeklong, 17-city Main Street Jobs Tour of businesses throughout Minnesota, to focus on opportunities for job creation with infrastructure and renewable-energy projects

GoodBiz113's take: America's small businesses would be so much better off if all of our senators and representatives in Congress followed Sen. Amy Klobuchar's example; i.e., actually getting out to meet and talk with us about business funding, affordable health insurance, taxes, etc. Given his small-biz-friendly stance on such issues, Jim Martin impresses us one who would do just that. Hopefully, during tomorrow's runoff election, Georgia voters will elect Martin to the U.S. Senate.

SOURCES: FactCheck.org, Homer Tribune, Newsweek, Politico.com, U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. News & World Report, U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
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