The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has opened federal economic injury disaster loans to Upstate businesses and nonprofit organizations following a federal declaration of natural disaster areas last week.
The loans will be available to businesses in counties including Broome, Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, and Tompkins counties. They come after the U.S. Department of Agriculture named more than 30 New York counties as agricultural disaster areas June 6 because of frosts and freezing this spring.
“When the secretary of agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to assist eligible entities affected by the same disaster,” SBA Field Operations Center East Director Frank Skaggs said in a news release.
Small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, and most private, nonprofit organizations are eligible for the loans. Aquaculture enterprises are also eligible for the SBA loans, but other agricultural producers, farmers, and ranchers are not.
Each loan can total up to $2 million and can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills. Interest rates are 3 percent for private, nonprofit organizations and 4 percent for small businesses. Terms can be up to 30 years.
Those who want more information can contact the SBA’s customer-service center at 800-659-2955 or by e-mailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan applications are available at www.sba.gov or can be completed online at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/. Applications must be completed and returned by Feb. 5, 2013.
The complete list of counties where the SBA loans are available consists of Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Essex, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westchester, Wyoming, and Yates counties.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com