Wall Street

The U.S. Small Business Administration revealed in the week that federal government economic injury disaster financial loans are available to small companies, small agricultural cooperatives, small enterprises active in aquaculture and the majority of private non-profit firms of all sizes found in the counties of Dillon and also Horry in South Carolina due to Hurricane Irene that took place in August.

“These counties are eligible because they are contiguous to one or more primary counties in North Carolina. The Small Business Administration recognizes that disasters do not usually stop at county or state lines. For that reason, counties adjacent to primary counties named in the declaration are included,” declared Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.

“When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to assist eligible entities affected by the same disaster,” announced Skaggs.

Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is offered to qualified farm-related and nonfarm-related companies that experienced economic losses being a direct result of this calamity. With the exception of aquacultural enterprises, agricultural companies, farmers along with ranchers are not eligible to a href=”http://www.sba.gov/content/how-apply-sba-loan”>apply to SBA.

Loan options for small business can be up to $2 million, with interest rates of 3 percent for non-profit organizations and 4 percent for small businesses. Terms can be up to 30 years. The SBA decides eligibility based on the size of the applicant, form of activity along with its financial resources. The agency establishes financial loan levels in addition to terms based upon each candidate’s financial affliction. SBA small business loan may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The small business loan financing is not intended to replace lost sales or profits.