SBA to conduct storm damage assessment on businesses

While it’s reported some 14-hundred Iowa homes were damaged or destroyed in 49 counties by the recent storms and flooding, many of those houses were also headquarters for home-based businesses. There’s still no tally of businesses damaged statewide. Sam Jones, regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, says they have emergency teams reaching Iowa today.Jones says those teams will be making emergency loans to businesses and to homeowners. He says “This is about the only time the S-B-A gets involved in making home loans — in the context of a disaster.” Jones, who’s based in Kansas City, says the S-B-A teams fanning out in Iowa’s disaster-struck counties will be able to offer financial help so small business owners can rebuild their livelihoods.S-B-A can loan up to one-and-a-half million dollars at rates usually below four-percent, often as low as three-percent, for terms of up to 30 years. Earlier this week, 14 Iowa counties were declared federal disaster areas. Jones says the S-B-A emergency teams will be starting their work in those counties.He says the teams will typically set up temporary field offices in areas where the storm first hit, stay for several days, then move a few counties down the line and continue on as long as the storm track lasts. The S-B-A says there are 210-thousand businesses that are considered small businesses in Iowa, that’s 98-percent of all the businesses in the state. For more information, surf to “www.sba.gov”.