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The U.S. Small Business Administration reported recently that federal economic damage catastrophe loans are offered to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small enterprises active in aquaculture and the majority of private non-profit organizations of all sizes found in the counties of Dillon and Horry in South Carolina as a result of Hurricane Irene that occurred in August.

“These counties are eligible because they are contiguous to one or more primary counties in North Carolina. The Small Business Administration recognizes that disasters do not usually stop at county or state lines. For that reason, counties adjacent to primary counties named in the declaration are included,” announced Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.

“When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to assist eligible entities affected by the same disaster,” declared Skaggs.

Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related companies that experienced economic losses being a direct consequence of this disaster. Excluding aquacultural enterprises, agricultural producers, farmers along with ranchers are definitely not eligible to a href=”http://www.sba.gov/content/how-apply-sba-loan”>apply to SBA.

Loan options for small business can be up to $2 million, with interest rates of 3 percent for non-profit organizations and 4 percent for small businesses. Terms can be up to 30 years. The SBA determines eligibility depending on the size of the candidate, type of endeavor along with its financial resources. The agency sets financial loan amounts and terms dependent upon every candidate’s economic condition. These SBA small business loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The small business loan financing is not intended to replace lost sales or profits.