Drew Dixon
The Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is urging entrepreneurs and owners of smaller shops to step up and get state and federal assistance to offset any impact on their operations caused by Hurricane Helene.
The monster storm slammed into Florida’s Big Bend region, but the breadth of the Category 4 hurricane reached far and wide across Florida. Some businesses were closed for days, while others are so badly damaged that they are still inoperable.
The SBDC urged Florida small-business owners to brace for a drubbing ahead of the storm and advised those entrepreneurs to get application preparations in order. The SBDC advises that the time is now for those business owners to seek help.
FloridaCommerce has activated the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan (EBL) Program and applications are now being accepted. The loans do precisely as the title indicates, which is to provide businesses supplemental funding to bridge the gap between lost revenue and a full recovery.
“This loan program provides short-term, zero-interest loans to small businesses who experienced economic injury or physical damage due to Hurricane Helene,” an SBDC news release said Monday.
While the Big Bend was in the crosshairs of Hurricane Helene before moving north into Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and other states, there are dozens of other Florida counties up for state bridge loan assistance as well.
Businesses in the following counties, including sole proprietors, are eligible to apply: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton and Washington counties.
Guidelines, stipulations and additional information on how to get a bridge loan because of a natural disaster are detailed on a specific FloridaCommerce website. The SBDC also has a website designed to help small businesses in Florida recover from Hurricane Helene as well.
While there will likely be millions of dollars provided through the bridge loan program in Florida, there is also federal assistance on the line. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is also providing “for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Businesses and private nonprofit organizations of any size may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.”
The applications can be made at the SBA website. Applications will be accepted until Nov. 27.
To help better prepare small-business owners for the application process, SBDC officials advise them to prepare a damage assessment survey. A state website can help those business owners organize their assessments.
The state is in good practice in helping victims and business owners deal with financial recovery after a hurricane. The same process was engaged just more than a month ago when Hurricane Debby struck the same area of Florida.
