The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that small businesses in Texas affected by the natural disaster can now avail of Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million.
Economic Injury Disaster Loans for Small Businesses
The excessive heat that occurred on May 1 – Sept. 30, 2022 has affected some businesses in Texas counties. To address this problem, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that business owners can now avail of the Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million if they qualify.
According to a published article in STUDENTLOAN.LIVE, Susheel Kumar of the U.S. Small Business Administration said, “It’s important to support small businesses and when there is any type of natural disaster, the need for capital access gets even more acute. The SBA worked with several other federal agencies to request these economic disaster injury loan funds.”
Additionally, nearly 200 Texas counties may qualify for this program that includes Brazos Valley. Likewise, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture also said that around 194 small nonfarm businesses in Texas counties were affected by the disaster.
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Eligibility for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans
Not all small businesses in Texas counties can avail of the Economic Injury Disaster Loans. In a published article in KBTX, here is the list of eligibilities:
- The applicant’s business must be located in the declared disaster area.
- Only uninsured or otherwise uncompensated disaster losses are eligible.
- The economic injury must have been the direct result of the declared disaster.
- Nurseries are only eligible for economic injury caused by declared drought disasters.
- By law, agricultural enterprises such as farmers and ranchers are not eligible for any type of SBA assistance.
- Applicants who have not complied with the terms of previous SBA loans are not eligible. This includes borrowers who did not maintain flood and/or hazard insurance on previous SBA loans.
- Loan assistance is available only to the extent the business and its owners cannot meet necessary financial obligations due to the disaster. This determination is made by SBA.
Furthermore, the Economic Injury Disaster Loans were released to help small businesses in Texas counties meet their financial needs and obligations to continue their operation after they suffered from the excessive heat.