ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration announces today that it will open a Business Recovery Center to help businesses impacted by the severe storms and flooding in Georgia that began on September 18, 2009. The Center opens at the Wesley Chapel-William C. Brown Library on Wednesday, October 7, at 10 a.m.
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Release Number: 10-008, GA 11886/11887
Contact: Michael Lampton
Phone: 404-331-0333
The disaster declaration covers Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, Heard, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Stephens and Walker in the state of Georgia which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA.
Small businesses and most private non-profit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Banks, Barrow, Butts, Clayton, Dade, Dawson, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Franklin, Gordon, Habersham, Hall, Haralson, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Meriwether, Morgan, Pickens, Polk, Spalding, Troup, Walton and Whitfield in the state of Georgia; the counties of Cherokee, Cleburne, DeKalb and Randolph in the state of Alabama; the county of Oconee in the state of South Carolina; and the county of Hamilton in the state of Tennessee.
Businesses and non-profit organizations of any size may borrow up to $2 million for physical losses. For small businesses, and most private non-profit organizations of all sizes, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.
Interest rates are as low as 4 percent for businesses, with terms up to 30 years. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.
SBA’s representatives will be on hand at the Business Recovery Center to issue loan applications, answer questions about the disaster loan program, explain the application process and help individuals complete their applications. The Business Recovery Center will be located in the following community and will open as indicated below:
Wesley Chapel-William C. Brown Library
2861 Wesley Chapel Rd.
Decatur, GA 33034
Opens: Wednesday, October 7 at 10 a.m.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday – Thursday
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, until further notice
Disaster loan information and application forms may be obtained by calling the SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the hearing impaired), Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT, or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Business loan applications can also be downloaded from the SBA Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. Completed applications should be returned the Center or mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. Businesses may apply for disaster loans from SBA’s secure Web site at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.
The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is November 23, 2009. The deadline to return economic injury applications is June 24, 2010.
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For more information about the SBA’s Disaster Loan Programs, visit our Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.
