SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Small nonfarm businesses in 194 Texas counties and neighboring counties in New Mexico and Oklahoma are now eligible to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, announced Director Tanya N. Gar- field of SBA's Disaster Field Operations Center-West. These loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by excessive heat in the following primary counties that occurred from May 1 - Sept. 30, 2022.
Primary Texas counties: Anderson, Aransas, Armstrong, Austin, Baylor, Bee, Bexar, Bra- zos, Briscoe, Burleson, Calhoun, Carson, Castro, Chambers, Childress, Clay, Cochran, Coke, Collin, Colorado, Concho, Cooke, Dawson, Deaf Smith, Denton, Dewitt, Duval, Ector, Ellis, Fannin, Floyd, Foard, Gaines, Glasscock, Gray, Grayson, Grimes, Hansford, Hardeman, Hardin, Harris, Haskell, Hemphill, Hill, Houston, Howard, Hutchinson, Jack, Jackson, Karnes, Kleberg, Lamar, Lamb, Leon, Liberty, Live Oak, Lynn, Madison, Martin, McMullen, Medina, Menard, Midland, Mitchell, Montgomery, Navarro, Nueces, Oldham, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Robertson, San Patricio, Schleicher, Scurry, Sterling, Stonewall, Sutton, Terry, Throckmorton, Tom Green, Val Verde, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Washington, Webb, Wharton, Wheeler, Wilbarger, Yoakum and Young; Neighboring Texas counties: Andrews, Angelina, Archer, Atascosa, Bailey, Bandera, Bor- den, Bosque, Brazoria, Brooks, Cherokee, Coleman, Collingsworth, Comal, Cottle, Crane, Crockett, Crosby, Dallas, Delta, Dickens, Dimmit, Donley, Edwards, Falls, Fayette, Fisher, Fort Bend, Franklin, Freestone, Frio, Galveston, Garza, Goliad, Gon - zales, Guadalupe, Hale, Hall, Hartley, Henderson, Hockley, Hunt, Irion, Jasper, Jefferson, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Johnson, Jones, Kaufman, Kendall, Kenedy, Kent, Kimble, King, Kinney, Knox, La Salle, Lavaca, Lee, Limestone, Lipscomb, Lubbock, Mason, Matagorda, Maverick, McCulloch, McLennan, Milam, Montague, Moore, Motley, Nolan, Ochiltree, Orange, Palo Pinto, Parker, Parmer, Polk, Reagan, Red River, Refugio, Rockwall, Runnels, San Jacinto, Shackelford, Sherman, Stephens, Swisher, Tarrant, Terrell, Trinity, Tyler, Upton, Uvalde, Ward, Wichita, Wilson, Winkler, Wise, Zapata and Zavala; Neighboring New Mexico counties: Curry, Lea, Quay and Roosevelt; “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 finan cial 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 2.935 percent for businesses and 1.875 percent for private non- profit organizations, a maximum term of 30 years and are available to small businesses and most private nonprofits without the financial ability to offset the ad verse 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. The Secretary declared this disaster on Jan. 13, 2023.
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.
Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https:// disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@ sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance.
For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services. 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 economic injury is Sept. 13, 2023.
Recently, U.S. SBA Admin- istrator Isabella Casillas Guz man announced a policy change granting 12 months of no payments and 0% interest. T his pertains to all disaster loans approved in response to disasters declared on or after September 21, 2022, through September 30, 2023.
This covers SBA disaster loans currently available for Hurricane Fiona and Hurricane Ian declared earlier this year. This policy change will benefit disaster sur vivors and help them to decrease the overall cost of recovery by reducing the amount of accrued interest they must repay.
Details are available through the SBA Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955.
