$10 Million in Disaster Loans OK’d for Vermont

Eagle Times Staff
With just under a month to the application deadline, the federal government has approved more than $10 million in disaster loans for Vermont flood survivors.

As of Tuesday, the U.S. Small Business Administration had approved $10,108,000 to assist 223 businesses, homeowners and renters repair, rebuild and recover, according to a statement released by the federal agency.

Those who need assistance with physical flood damage have less than four weeks to apply, the agency warned Thursday. The physical filing deadline for businesses — as well as homeowners, renters and private nonprofits in Vermont’s declared counties— is Sept. 12.

In addition to the Physical Disaster Loans, the agency also offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans that can provide up to $2 million of financial assistance to small businesses or private, non-profit organizations that suffer substantial economic injury as a result of the declared disaster, regardless of whether the applicant sustained physical damage, according to the administration.

The EIDL program provides emergency working capital to help meet necessary financial obligations the business or private, non-profit organization could have met had the disaster not occurred. It provides relief from economic injury caused directly by the disaster and permits you to maintain a reasonable working capital position during the period affected by the disaster. These loans are not meant to replace lost revenues or lost profits.

The deadline to apply for economic injury assistance is April 15.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/ela/s/ and should apply under SBA declaration # 18016. Disaster survivors with insurance should not wait for their settlement before applying to the SBA. The agency can make a loan for the total loss and use insurance proceeds to reduce or repay the loan.

Disaster loan information and application forms can also be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (if you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services) or sending an email to [email protected]. Loan applications can also be downloaded from sba.gov/disaster.

The disaster declaration covers Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham and Windsor counties in Vermont which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA. Small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Addison, Bennington, Essex, Franklin, and Grand Isle in Vermont; Franklin in Massachusetts; Cheshire, Grafton, and Sullivan in New Hampshire; and Clinton, Essex, and Washington in New York.