According to Georgia Declaration 20711 and 20712 regarding Disaster No. GA-20013 – better known as Hurricane Helene – federal disaster loans for economic injury only are now available for 36 contiguous (sharing continuous borders) Georgia counties, including Putnam, Greene, Baldwin, Jasper, and Morgan counties, locally.
Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) are working capital loans for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes.
They are intended to help qualifying businesses meet ordinary and necessary financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of the disaster. They are designed only to assist through the disaster recovery period.
Each loan has a $2 million limit, with terms up to 30 years at 4% interest for qualifying businesses and small agricultural cooperatives and 3.25% for non-profit organizations.
According to a U.S. Small Business Administration fact sheet issued Oct. 16, “the actual amount of each loan is limited to the economic injury determined by SBA, less business interruption insurance and other recoveries up to the administrative lending limit. EIDL assistance is available only to entities and their owners who cannot provide for their recovery from non-government sources, as determined by the U.S. Small Business Administration.”
Applications for disaster loans may be submitted online using the MySBA Loan Portal at lending.sba.gov.
For more information, Email the SBA’s Customer Service Center at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or call 800-659-2955.