Staff Report

ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration, on Thursday, announced that is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to Illinois small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said the organization acted under provisions of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act that was signed by President Donald Trump following a request received from Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday.

The disaster declaration makes SBA assistance available in the entire state of Illinois  and several counts in Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin, including Rock and Walworth.

“SBA is strongly committed to providing the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist Illinois small businesses with federal disaster loans,” Carranza said. We will be swift in our efforts to help these small businesses recover from the financial impacts of the coronavirus.”

The disaster declaration submitted by Gov. Pritzker was supported by information from affected Illinois small businesses gathered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

“Our businesses are already hurting due to the effects of COVID-19, and the root of that pain isn’t going away anytime soon,” Pritzker said. “My administration is working expeditiously to mitigate the challenges small businesses are facing, and I appreciate the U.S. SBA’s prompt approval of Illinois’ Economic Injury Declaration. I also want to thank our federal elected officials, especially Senators Durbin and Duckworth, for their support on behalf of small businesses across all 102 of our counties.”

SBA representatives will be available to answer questions about the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and explain the application process. Small business owners can find the nearest resource at https://www.sba.gov/local-assistance/, email the SBA Illinois District Office at Illinois.do@sba.gov, or call (312) 353-4528 with questions.

“Small businesses, private non-profit organizations of any size, small agricultural cooperatives and small aquaculture enterprises that have been financially impacted as a direct result of the coronavirus since Jan. 31, 2020, may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million,” Carranza said.

The loans, Caranza added, may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of coronavirus interruptions.

Eligibility for Economic Injury Disaster Loans is based on the financial impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The interest rate is 3.75 percent for small businesses. The interest rate for private non-profit organizations is 2.75 percent. SBA offers loans with long-term repayments in order to keep payments affordable, up to a maximum of 30 years and are available to entities without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship.

Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. They may also call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.