SBA official tells Rising Sun businesses disaster loans are available after bridge collapse

Liliana Chanette, a public affairs representative with the U.S. Small Business Administration, told the Rising Sun mayor and commissioners that the SBA has opened business-recovery centers and is offering Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to businesses affected by the recent bridge collapse.

"We don't offer grants. We don't offer free money. We offer disaster assistance loans," Chanette said, summarizing the program's purpose. She said loans are available until Dec. 30 for this declaration, carry a fixed interest rate (4% for businesses and 2.35% for nonprofit organizations), and can be made for up to $2,000,000. She added that approved borrowers receive no payment obligations for the first 12 months to assist cash flow.

Chanette described eligibility requirements: businesses must generally show they were in operation at least one year prior to the incident and demonstrate that economic injury was caused by the bridge collapse rather than other factors. Applications are processed through the SBA disaster assistance channel; Chanette said there is not a local SBA office in Cecil County for disaster loan processing and encouraged use of the business recovery centers in Baltimore and Anne Arundel or the online portal at SBA.gov.

The town administrator had displayed fact sheets and told the board Chanette's materials would be posted on the town website. Chanette urged commissioners to ‘‘proliferate this information’’ to local networks and offered to arrange mobile or one-day business-recovery center visits if local traffic justified them.

Next steps: SBA information and fact sheets will be posted by the town and made available through emergency-management and congressional offices; businesses that believe they were impacted were advised to review SBA materials and to contact local SBA resources for application help.