Drought relief loans offered by Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced the availability of low-interest federal disaster loans to small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Utah to offset economic losses caused by drought beginning Jan. 1. 

The declaration covers the Utah counties of Beaver, Box Elder, Carbon, Daggett, Davis, Duchesne, Emery, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Piute, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch, Weber and Wayne, as well as the Arizona counties of Apache, Coconino and Navajo, and the Colorado counties of Dolores, Garfield, Mesa, Moffat, Montezuma, Montrose, Rio Blanco and San Miguel, the New Mexico county of San Juan, and the Nevada counties of Elko, Lincoln and White Pine.

Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs — including faith-based organizations — with financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the small business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that could not be paid due to the disaster.

“Through a declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, SBA provides critical financial assistance to help communities recover,” Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA, said in a release. “We’re pleased to offer loans to small businesses and private nonprofits impacted by these disasters.”

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4 percent for small businesses and 3.625 percent for PNPs with terms of up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months after the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. People who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability may dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

The deadline to submit completed loan applications to SBA is Dec. 10.