SBA Disaster Assistance Now Available in Jackson and Jefferson Counties for Private NonProfit Organizations in Tennessee

ATLANTA, July 20 -- The Small Business Administration's Office of Disaster Assistance issued the following news release:

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today that Jackson and Jefferson counties have been added to the Presidential disaster declaration for Public Assistance resulting from damages caused by severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding on May 27- 28, 2017. Certain Private NonProfit organizations (PNP) that do not provide critical services of a governmental nature may be eligible to apply for low-interest rate disaster loans.

PNP's located in Blount, Cumberland, Fayette, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Sevier, Shelby and Smith counties in Tennessee are eligible to apply. 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 2.5 percent with terms up to 30 years. Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements may now include a safe room or storm shelter to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.

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

PNP organizations are urged to contact their County's Emergency Manager for 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 SBA's secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBA's Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan applications can also be downloaded from www.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 Aug. 22, 2017. The deadline to submit economic injury applications is March 23, 2018.