EAGLESVILLE, Pa. - Businesses in southeastern Pennsylvania affected by civil unrest earlier this year can now apply for loans to help cover the cost of damage.
This week, officials from the U.S. Small Business Administration announced that businesses and residents in Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania and Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey affected by civil unrest between May 30 and June 8 are now eligible to apply for low-interest disaster recovery loans, according to a Montgomery County Department of Public Safety news release.
Following the period of unrest, Montgomery County Department of Public Safety staff worked closely with municipalities to document all damage sustained to public and private property and to record expenses incurred during the response, according to the release.
The following types of loans are now available:
• Business Physical Disaster Loans: Loans (up to $2 million) to businesses and non-profit organizations of any size to repair or replace disaster-damaged property, including real estate, inventories, supplies, machinery, and equipment.
• Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Working capital loans (up to $2 million) to help small businesses and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes meet their ordinary andnecessary financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of the disaster.
• Home Disaster Loans: Loans to homeowners or renters to repair or replace disaster-damaged real estate (up to $200,000) and personal property, including automobiles (up to $40,000).
Interest rates are as low as 3% for businesses, 2.75% for non-profit organizations, and 1.25% for homeowners and renters, depending on availability of credit elsewhere, according to the release.
Residents and businesses can apply for assistance by visiting the SBA website.
For one-on-one assistance with applying, people can call 202-803-3307 or 470-363-5936 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Questions can also be emailed to FOCE-Help@sba.gov.
The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is October 6, 2020, while the deadline to return economic injury applications is May 7, 2021.
