The Small Business Administration has opened two additional Business Recovery Centers in eastern Kentucky. The new centers in Virgie and Elkhorn will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Liliana Tschanett is a Public Affairs Specialist with the SBA. Tschanett said people can apply directly with the SBA, but it's helpful to first register with FEMA.
“If you register with them, you’re already in the system. Let's say for instance, you apply with SBA, and you are actually declined, you know, with SBA for some reason. And if you are, then we would refer you back to FEMA. So that if you're not registered with FEMA, that's going to be more difficult,” said Tschanett.
Tschanett said an initial registration with FEMA will give people access to additional resources from FEMA and other agencies.
Tschanett said all residents in flood impacted counties are eligible to apply for low interest Physical Disaster Assistance loans through September 28th. The SBA official added that Economic Injury Disaster Loans are also available.
“And these are for businesses, but also for nonprofit organizations. And for these loans, they're also up to $2 million for businesses and nonprofits, and the interest rate is very low,” said Tschanett.
The deadline to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans is May 1st of 2023.
Tschanett said the Business Recovery Centers will be open as long as their assistance is needed in the flood impacted counties. The SBA official said people only need a form of identification to get the process started. The centers will help people track down other documents that may be needed.
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