SBA recovery center opens in MC; here's what it offers

The federal Small Business Administration opened a Business Recovery Center on Thursday at the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce office at 727 Myrtle St., Morgan City, across Myrtle from Morgan City Auditorium.

The center offers assistance with recovery from Hurricane Francine in the form of low-interest loans. And the help is available for individuals as well as businesses.

Other individual aid in the form of direct assistance is available through the Federal Emergency Management. Apply at DisasterAssistance.gov, through the FEMA app or by calling 1-800-621-3362.

At the SBA center on Myrtle Street, businesses in federally declared disaster areas can apply for low-interest loans of up to $2 million each to cover physical damage to real estate, inventory, machinery and other equipment, said SBA spokesman Corey Williams.

Not visible but still real are losses in sales, employee layoffs or restricted hours. Economic Injury Disaster Loans are also available for working capital to mortgage payments, lease payments, payroll and accounts payable.

Nonprofits with hurricane damage are also eligible for the loans. Williams gave the example of a festival that, because of a hurricane, lost vendors.

The interest on the business loans is as low as 4%, or 3.25% for nonprofits.

Rates as low as 2.813%, with payments deferred and interest free for 12 months, are available for qualifying homeowners. A homeowner can borrow up to $500,000 for damage to a primary home, with another $100,000 available for personal property, including vehicles.

The personal property loans are also available to qualifying renters.

The Business Recovery Center is the place to apply for all those loans. It will be open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m..-2 p.m. Saturday.