SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans available to small businesses

On Jan. 15, Secretary of Agriculture declared a drought disaster for all 17 counties in Nevada. Due to the declaration and the severity of the drought, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is now accepting applications for their Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDLs) program for all small, nonfarm businesses that has been impacted/injured by the drought.

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 financial 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 4% for businesses and 2.625% for private, nonprofit organizations, a maximum term of 30 years, and are available to small businesses and most private, nonprofits without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship

By law, SBA makes EIDLs available when the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture designates an agricultural disaster.  Secretary Tom Vilsack declared this disaster on Jan. 15.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure Web site at “https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela” https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

Disaster loan information and application forms are also available from SBA’s Customer Service Center by calling (800) 659-2955 or e-mailing “mailto:disastercustomerservice@sba.gov” disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.  Individuals who are deaf or hard‑of‑hearing may call (800) 877-8339.  For more information about SBA’s disaster assistance programs, visit “http://www.sba.gov/disaster” http://www.sba.gov/disaster.  The deadline to apply for these loans is September 23, 2014.