SR residents, businesses file for over $220 million in SBA loans
BY CHRIS CHATELAIN

Gulf Breeze News chris@gulfbreezenews.com

The sum total of loan applications and loan amounts filed in the wake of four hurricanes to make landfall in the State of Florida last year continues to grow as the deadline to apply for assistance through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is two months away.

The Gulf Breeze peninsula and Santa Rosa County were one of the hardest hit areas when Hurricane made landfall between Mobile and Pensacola last September, and the SBA loan numbers prove it.

In Santa Rosa County, over 3,300 households have filed for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) totaling over $191 million, while 635 businesses have applied for loans for a total of more than $29 million. A total of nearly 4,000 loan applications have been filed by county home and business owners for over $220.4 million.

Only three other counties have had more SBA applications filed than in Santa Rosa County.

Escambia County has a combined 7,667 applications for nearly $273 million.

Charlotte and Palm Beach Counties are the only other counties to have higher application or loan amount totals.

In the aftermath of last year's hurricanes, the SBA has made 51,289 disaster loans for more than $1.6 billion throughout the State of Florida; Hurricane Charley -14,096 loans for $453.4 million, Hurricane Frances - 12,710 loans for $356.9 million, Hurricane Ivan - 13,131 loans for $541.9 million and Hurricane Jeanne - 11,352 loans for $277.2 million.

EIDLs are still available to small businesses that were economically impacted from Hurricanes Charley, Francis, Ivan and Jeanne.

The deadline for businesses suffering economic loss due to Hurricane Ivan is June 16. Victims with economic losses from more than one storm are only required to complete one loan application.

Small businesses may apply for a 30 year loan of up to $l.5 million at 2.9 percent interest rate with a maximum term of 30 years if they have suffered substantial economic injury in the aftermath of last year's historic hurricane season. The working capital loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits, but may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred.

The SBA will determine the amount of economic injury and the term and amount of each loan.

For more information, small businesses should call the SBA at 1-800-359-2227. The Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) and speech-impaired number is (404) 347-3751. Business loan applications can also be downloaded from the SBA website at www.sba.gov/disaster. Completed applications from the Peninsula should be mailed to: U. S. Small Business Administration, P.O. Box 621117, Orlando, Florida 32862-1117. Applications from the Panhandle should be mailed to: U. S. Small Business Administration, P.O. Box 9549, Pensacola, FL 32513-9549.