The federal/state Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) at the Milwaukee Brotherhood of Firefighters Association, 7717 W. Good Hope Road, transitioned to a Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Outreach Center (DLOC) on Friday, Oct. 15. The center will operate from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, until further notice.
Establishment of the Disaster Loan Outreach Centers demonstrates SBA’s commitment to ensure that every qualified individual and business receives the help they need to recover from this disaster. “Assisting individuals and business owners to recover from a disaster is our primary mission,” said Frank Scaggs, director of SBA Field Operations Center East. “We are encouraging anyone affected by this disaster to visit the center while we still have staff here and obtain individual assistance with completing their loan applications from our representatives.”
The transition enables SBA customer service representatives, who have been present during the DRC operation, to continue their services at the same site. FEMA representatives will be present to provide assistance and answer questions at this DLOC.
Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) opened the disaster recovery center on Sept. 22 to provide individual assistance and disaster information to individuals and businesses who suffered damage as a result of severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes that occurred July 20-24.
SBA offers low-interest federal disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private, non-profit organizations to repair or replace property damaged or destroyed by the disaster. SBA offers disaster loans up to $200,000 to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.
Businesses of any size and private non-profit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. SBA can also lend additional funds to help with the cost of making improvements that protect, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future.
For small businesses and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes, SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs that cannot be met as a result of the disaster. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any property damage.
To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, disaster survivors should first register with FEMA at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362 or TTY 1-800-462-7585. Phone lines are open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. CDT until further notice.
For additional information about SBA disaster assistance, call the SBA Disaster Customer Service Center at (800) 659‑2955, or contact SBA by email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or visit SBA’s website at www.sba.gov. Individuals may also access SBA’s online Electronic Loan Application (ELA) through its secure website at: disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/. The filing deadline for individuals and business owners to register with FEMA and return their SBA applications for property damage is Nov. 17, 2010. The EIDL deadline is June 20, 2011.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
