The Augusta Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the City of Augusta are hosting a Small Business Recovery Resources Workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15 at the Beazley Room on the first floor of the Augusta Municipal Building, at 535 Telfair St.
The workshop will include presentations from DDA, Metro Augusta Chamber of Commerce, Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce, SBA Disaster Assistance, and the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center, according to a news release from the Small Business Administration.
The Georgia application deadline for an SBA Disaster Loan or to register with FEMA has been extended until Feb. 7. The new hours for the Disaster Recovery Centers are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The SBA Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience works alongside FEMA when there is a Presidential Disaster Declaration, such as Hurricane Helene, the news release continued.
The office offers low-interest, long-term loans to cover damages not covered by insurance, FEMA or another source. These loans are available to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes, and non-profit organizations that had storm or flooddamage from Hurricane Helene, from Sept. 24 to Oct. 30, 2024.
People living in any of the 63 Georgia counties included in the Hurricane Helene presidential disaster declaration, who had physical damage to their home, personal property, business or non-profit, can apply for a low-interest loan from the SBA.
There is no cost to apply. Applicants have two months to decide after receiving a loan offer, and there is no cost to decline a loan offer.
Additionally, there are no interest or payments for the first year of the loan. And with no pre-payment penalties, if a loan is repaid in less than a year, the applicant will pay no interest at all.
If someone has already used a credit card or obtained a bank loan to pay for repairing their home or business, or to replace your business inventory or equipment, they can still get an SBA loan and replace that more expensive debt with a low-interest SBA Disaster Loan.
After the first year with no interest or payments, the fixed interest rate for most homeowners and renters is as low as 2.813%, for most businesses as low as 4%, and 3.25% for non-profits.
Augusta Good News is an award-winning member of the Georgia Press Association. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
