LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The U.S. Small Business Administration today extended the deadline to Sept. 16 for Los Angeles business owners to apply for disaster recovery loans to cover costs for property damage caused by the civil unrest that began May 26.
“This is an excellent opportunity for small business owners in Los Angeles County to benefit from low-interest bearing federal loans that can help them on their recovery journey if they experienced losses because of the civil unrest that impacted our county,'' said Kevin McGowan, director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management. “During these challenging times, every bit of help counts. We encourage small business owners to take advantage of this resource while it's still available.''
Businesses of all sizes and most private nonprofit organizations may apply for up to $2 million in SBA federal disaster aid to repair or replace disaster-damaged real estate, machinery, equipment, inventory and other business assets.
The SBA can also lend additional funds to help with the cost of improvements to protect, prevent or minimize the same type of damage from occurring in the future.
The low-interest loans are available in Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
In addition, SBA offers economic injury disaster loans to small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations to help meet working capital needs caused by the violence, such as purchasing inventory, supplies and covering day-to-day expenses such as rent and payroll.
Economic injury assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any property damage. The deadline to apply for an SBA economic injury disaster loan is March 17, 2021.
Interest rates can be as low as 3% for businesses and 2.75% for private nonprofit organizations. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant's financial condition.
Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/. Applicants may also call the SBA's customer service center at 800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance.
If business owners need additional help applying, they can visit lacountyhelpcenter.org or call the county help center at 833-238-4450. Multilingual business counselors are standing by to assist owners in completing applications Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
SBA disaster loans are only available for damages and losses due to the civil unrest that began May 26, 2020, and not for COVID-19 related losses.
People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call 800-877-8339. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX, 76155.
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