St. Charles Parish businesses that suffered either economic loss or property damage during Hurricane Gustav may be eligible to receive loans of up to $2 million from the Small Business Administration.
Businesses of any size can file for the physical disaster loans, which helps pay for damaged property that the business owns such as machinery, real estate and inventory. Only small business can apply for the economic injury loan, which is meant to help the business recover lost revenue.
Corey Faucheux, the parish’s economic development director, says that he is in the process of gathering data from businesses that experienced either type of damage during the storm.
“Right now, it appears that the majority of the loss is economic loss, which means that those businesses lost money when they had to postpone operation for a week,” Faucheux said. “That’s not to say there are some businesses that didn’t experience physical damage, which you can tell from just driving around.”
Faucheux sent out emails to between 700 and 800 parish businesses last week to let them know that assistance would be available. So far, around 20 businesses responded two days later.
“I’m just hoping that the system has improved since Katrina in terms of assistance and turn-around,” Faucheux said. “The response varied and I think it all depended on the specific representative. I heard stories where businesses heard back in a couple of weeks to where some didn’t hear anything for months.”
Both loans have a 4 percent interest rate and the maximum loan term is 30 years.
Faucheux says that small businesses applying for the economic injury loans have to show documentation proving the amount of revenue they lost. The SBA then takes that into account when deciding the loan amount.
On Sept. 10, a business assistance center opened in Metairie at 3330 N. Causeway, Suite 422. SBA customer service representatives will be available at the center to meet individually with each business owner to explain how an SBA disaster loan can help finance their recovery.
“We can answer your questions about SBA’s disaster loan program, explain the application process and accept your completed application,” Michael Ricks, SBA’s Louisiana district director, said.
Representatives from Louisiana Small Business Development Centers will also be on hand.
“LSBDC representatives will provide counseling on a wide variety of matters designed to help these business owners re-establish their operations and plan for the future,” Ricks said. “They will provide program information, answer questions and help businesses apply for this much-needed financial help.”
No appointment is necessary to visit the center and all services are provided free of charge.
To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, disaster victims should first register with FEMA by calling (800) 621-3362 or by visiting www.fema.gov. Businesses may contact the SBA at (800) 659-2955 or www.sba.gov/services/disaster.
Louisiana Economic Development has also established two tools for Louisiana’s hurricane-affected businesses to acquire information about available business recovery assistance.
The LED Business Recovery Call Center was created to provide recovery-related resources and contacts for businesses requiring assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.
The call center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at (877) 610-3LED (3533). Information on business recovery needs will be collected from callers, and LED will send alerts on new programs and resources as they become available.
LED’s web site has been updated with relevant business assistance links (FEMA, SBA). The information on the site, which also can be accessed at LouisianaForward.com/BizHelp, will be updated with new resources as they become available. Interested businesses can also sign up for email alerts about assistance available in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.
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