Funds for small businesses run out 3 weeks after Helene
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Small business owners continue to file for disaster loans, but the funding to make those loans is gone.
The Small Business istration says it’s because of all the demand following the storm.
But what does that mean for those who did not apply in time?
KEY RESOURCES:
- Georgia: https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_business-resources-flyer_georgia.pdf
- South Carolina: https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_business-resources-flyer_south-carolina.pdf
As many of us find ourselves still working to clean up what’s left behind from Hurricane Helene, our small businesses are doing the same.
“We were about knee-deep in the dining room over there at Rays Coastal Café,” said Shadrick Clay, owner of French Market Grille and Rae’s Coastal Café.
Now, all the water and debris is gone.
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“We’ve got all of the trees removed over there, and we’ve had a commercial crew come in and do all of our deep cleaning, scrub the floors,” said Clay.
But there is still more to do before opening up.
“Definitely starting to feel more of a sense of normalcy,” said Clay.
Normalcy is something Clay is already bringing to French Market Grille.
“We were out of power at both restaurants for about a week and a half. We just got power back on at Rae’s. We were out for about two and a half weeks over there. Thankfully, we still had water the entire time,” said Clay.
He’s far from being the only one in this type of situation, which is why you may see various resources in town like FEMA and the Small Business istration (SBA).
While Clay didn’t apply for SBA help, many others have.
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If you’re still in need, Golden Harvest is continuing to work daily to get food out to their 24 counties. Food distribution sites are ongoing to help meet those needs.
Karen Knapik with SBA says if you apply for assistance, with FEMA first. She also says SBA helps more than small businesses.
“What most people don’t know is about 80% of our disaster assistance goes to homeowners and renters. Just because if you think about it in a declared disaster, there’s there are more regular folks and more homes than there are businesses. Now the amounts that they can get are different. Homeowners can get up to $500,000 and businesses up to $2 million. So, there just are more volume of applicants that are homeowners,” said Knapik.
Right now, all SBA funds for disaster relief have been exhausted.
“It’s a process to go through the application. So, go through that. Get on the website and apply. Let’s get the additional documentation to get you to meet with an inspector, to talk to an inspector. Let’s get a loan officer to evaluate what we can give you all of that we want to have done. So, when the funds are provided, we can simply just start to disperse,” said Knapik.
As for just about every homeowner, renter and business owner in the area, Clay says, “It took a little bit of work from everybody that we have on our team. Working day in and day out for multiple days in a row just to be able to get rid of the issues from the flood and then also to be able to begin our reconstruction and begin the ability to be open.”
The focus now is just getting a sense of normalcy back.
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