ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced today that Baker, Charlotte, Duval, and Nassau counties in Florida are now included as primary counties in the disaster declaration for eligible PNP organizations to apply for low-interest disaster loans for damages as a result of Hurricane Idalia that occurred Aug. 27 through Sept. 4, 2023.

Eligible PNP organizations in the following Florida counties may apply: Baker, Charlotte, Citrus, Dixie, Duval, Franklin, Gadsden, Hamilton, Hernando, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Madison, Nassau, Suwannee, Taylor, and Wakulla. Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools, and colleges.

PNP organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets. The interest rate is 2.375%, with terms up to 30 years.

Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase of up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements might include insulating pipes, walls and attics, weather stripping doors and windows, and installing storm windows to help protect property and occupants from future damage.

The SBA also offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) to help meet working capital needs, such as ongoing operating expenses for PNP organizations. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the organization suffered any physical property damage.

PNP organizations are urged to contact their county’s emergency manager to provide information about their organization. The information will be submitted to FEMA to determine eligibility for a Public Assistance grant or whether the PNP should be referred to SBA for disaster loan assistance. Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA’s secure website at sba.gov/disaster and should apply under SBA declaration # 18145.

Disaster loan information and application forms may 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 by sending an email to [email protected]. Loan applications can be downloaded from the SBA’s website at sba.gov/disaster. Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

The filing deadline to submit applications for physical property damage is Nov. 8, 2023. The deadline to submit economic injury applications is June 10, 2024.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding businesses in Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier and Monroe counties in Florida that March 29 is the applications deadline for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and private nonprofit organizations affected by the Surfside Building Collapse on June 24, 2021.

“Businesses that suffered economic losses as a result of the disaster and want to apply for low-interest loans from the SBA are urged to do so before the March 29 deadline,” said Kem Fleming, director of SBA Field Operations Center East.

Working capital loans up to $2 million are available at 2.88 percent for small businesses and 2 percent for private nonprofit organizations, with terms up to 30 years. The loans are intended to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other expenses that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. To be considered for this assistance, eligible entities need to apply by the deadline.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at DisasterLoanAssistance.sba.gov/ela/s and should apply under SBA declaration # 17006, not for the COVID-19 incident.

Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services), or emailing [email protected]. Loan applications may be downloaded at sba.gov/disaster. Completed applications should be returned to the center or mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

The deadline to return economic injury loan applications is March 29, 2022.