The Small Business Administration (SBA) is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to North Carolina small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza announced.
The disaster declaration makes SBA assistance available in the entire state of North Carolina; and the contiguous counties of Fannin, Rabun, Towns and Union in Georgia; Cherokee, Chesterfield, Dillon, Greenville, Horry, Lancaster, Marlboro, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and York in South Carolina; Blount, Carter, Cocke, Greene, Johnson, Monroe, Polk, Sevier and Unicoi in Tennessee; and Brunswick, Carroll, Chesapeake City, Danville City, Grayson, Greensville, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Southampton, Suffolk City and Virginia Beach City in Virginia.
“SBA is strongly committed to providing the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist North Carolina small businesses with federal disaster loans. We will be swift in our efforts to help these small businesses recover from the financial impacts of the coronavirus,” Carranza told TV station WWAY News.
SBA customer service representatives will be available to answer questions about SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and explain the application process.
Eligibility for Economic Injury Disaster Loans is based on the financial impact of the coronavirus. The interest rate is 3.75 percent for small businesses. The interest rate for private non-profit organizations is 2.75 percent. SBA offers loans with long-term repayments in order to keep payments affordable, up to a maximum of 30 years and is available to entities without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship.
Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Applicants also may call SBA’s customer service center at (800) 659-2955 or email [email protected] for more information.
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 an Economic Injury Disaster Loan is Dec. 18, 2020.