SBA Disaster Assistance Available to Private Non-Profit Organizations in Maryland that suffered Hurricane Irene Losses
ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today that certain Private Non-Profit Organizations (PNPs) in Maryland that do not provide critical services of a governmental nature may be eligible to apply for low-interest disaster loans. These loans are available as a result of a Presidential disaster declaration for Public Assistance resulting from damages caused by Hurricane Irene that occurred between Aug. 24 and Sept. 5, 2011
PNPs located in the following counties that provide non-critical services are eligible to apply: Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Saint Mary’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester in Maryland. Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers and colleges.
“PNP organizations are urged to contact John Harding, Public Assistance Officer for the state of Maryland at 410-517-5112 to obtain information about local briefings. At the meeting, PNP representatives will need to provide information about their organization,” said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA Field Operations Center East in Atlanta. The information will be used to submit a Request for Public Assistance which FEMA uses to determine if the PNP provides an essential governmental service and meets the definition of a “critical facility.” Based upon that conclusion, FEMA may provide the PNP with a Public Assistance reimbursement grant for their eligible costs or refer the PNP to SBA for disaster loan assistance.
Eligible entities may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. The SBA may increase a loan up to 20 percent of the total amount of disaster damage to real estate and/or leasehold improvements, as verified by SBA, to make improvements that lessen the risk of property damage by future disasters of the same kind.
The SBA also offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs, such as ongoing operating expenses to PNP organizations of all sizes. Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the organization suffered any physical property damage.
Interest rates are as low as 3 percent with terms up to 30 years. The SBA sets the loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.
Disaster loan information and application forms may be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET or by sending an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Applications can also be downloaded from http://www.sba.gov/. Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
Those affected by the disaster may also apply for disaster loans electronically from
SBA’s website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.
The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is November 15, 2011. The deadline to return economic injury applications is June 18, 2012.