SACRAMENTO, Calif.
– Small nonfarm businesses in 29 Arkansas counties; neighboring Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas counties; and neighboring Louisiana parishes are now eligible to apply for low‑interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. These loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by the drought in the following primary counties beginning Nov. 1, 2016, announced Director Tanya N. Garfield of SBA’s Disaster Field Operations Center - West.
Primary Arkansas counties: Ashley, Chicot, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Little River, Logan, Madison, Miller, Newton, Scott, Sebastian and Washington;
Neighboring Arkansas counties: Benton, Boone, Bradley, Carroll, Desha, Drew, Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Montgomery, Polk, Pope, Searcy, Sevier, Union and Yell;
Neighboring Louisiana parishes: Bossier, Caddo, East Carroll, Morehouse, Union and West Carroll;
Neighboring Mississippi counties: Bolivar, Issaquena and Washington;
Neighboring Oklahoma counties: Adair, Le Flore, McCurtain and Sequoyah;
Neighboring Texas counties: Bowie and Cass.
“SBA eligibility covers both the economic impacts on businesses dependent on farmers and ranchers that have suffered agricultural production losses caused by the disaster and businesses directly impacted by the disaster,” Garfield said.
Small nonfarm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred.
“Eligibility for these loans is based on the financial impact of the disaster only and not on any actual property damage. These loans have an interest rate of 3.125 percent for businesses and 2.5 percent for private nonprofit organizations, a maximum term of 30 years and are available to small businesses and most private nonprofits without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship,” Garfield said.
By law, SBA makes Economic Injury Disaster Loans available when the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture designates an agricultural disaster.
Businesses primarily engaged in farming or ranching are not eligible for SBA disaster assistance. Agricultural enterprises should contact the Farm Services Agency about the U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance made available by the Secretary’s declaration. However, nurseries are eligible for SBA disaster assistance in drought disasters.
Applicants may apply online using SBA’s secure website at
https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela
.
Disaster loan information and application forms are also available from SBA’s Customer Service Center by calling (800) 659-2955 or emailing
disastercustomerservice@sba.gov
. Individuals who are deaf or hard‑of‑hearing may call (800) 877-8339. For more disaster assistance information or to download applications, visit
https://www.sba.gov/disaster
. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
The deadline to apply for these loans is Oct. 23, 2017.