(July 31, 2008) The California Chamber of Commerce is encouraging small businesses that have been affected by the wildfires plaguing the state to take advantage of information and resources made available by the Office of Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Disaster Assistance Program.
SBA Disaster Assistance
SBA provides low-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private, non-profit organizations to repair or replace real estate, personal property, machinery and equipment, inventory and business assets that have been damaged or destroyed in a declared disaster.
Through its Office of Disaster Assistance, the SBA is responsible for providing affordable, timely and accessible financial assistance to homeowners, renters and businesses following a disaster. Financial assistance is available in the form of low-interest, long-term loans.
SBA’s disaster loans are the primary form of federal assistance for the repair and rebuilding of non-farm, private sector disaster losses. For this reason, the disaster loan program is the only form of SBA assistance not limited to small businesses.
Disaster Assistance has been part of the agency since its inception in 1953.
To obtain Disaster Loan Program information or to receive a status update on your disaster loan request, call the customer service line at 1-800-659-2955 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (EDT), Monday – Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (EDT) Saturday and Sunday, or e-mail disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
FEMA Assistance
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
President George W. Bush declared that a emergency exists in the state of California and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the area struck by wildfires beginning on June 20, 2008 and continuing.
FEMA Administrator David Paulison said that the President's action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in Butte, Mendocino, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta and Trinity counties.
To apply for assistance, visit www.fema.gov/assistance/index.shtm.
Additional Resources
Additional information is available on the state Office of Emergency Services website at www.oes.ca.gov.