One of the most impressive things I have witnessed here in my deployment to North Carolina as part of disaster recovery and resilience efforts for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is the way the people of Western North Carolina have come together to support each other in this terrible time after the unprecedented Hurricane Helene. Neighbor to neighbor, family to family, town to town, county to county, you have been there for each other.
That is why it was with such a heavy heart that I, as a public affairs specialist with SBA, was engaging you. Before I even arrived to raise awareness about how SBA could help you, the programming I was promoting had run out of money all the way back in the middle of October, precisely when people were just beginning to realize our special disaster loans could really make a difference — not just for business owners, but for renters, homeowners and nonprofits, all with zero interest and zero payments for the first year, no early repayment penalty, and covering not just physical damage but economic injury.
You had each other’s backs, but with funding that had been allocated long before Helene used up because so many other folks around the nation applied for assistance for earlier disasters, we were unable to get most of you money before.
But all that changed recently, when bipartisan efforts in Congress saw new funding for us signed into law by President Biden. Now I can tell you to apply, not in the hopes of potential funding, but for money that is already being released. It costs nothing to apply, and the sooner your application is in, the sooner you will know your full options and any approved money will be sent. Please check SBA.gov for more details.
— Brian Frydenborg
Public affairs specialist
Office of Disaster Recovery & Resilience
U.S. Small Business Administration
Asheville
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