Small businesses may apply for federal disaster loans

Veronica Briseño, director of the city’s Economic Development Department, announced in a news conference Saturday that small businesses, nonprofits, homeowners and renters in Austin and Travis County suffering financial losses from the COVID-19 pandemic may now apply for Disaster Assistance Loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Small businesses and private nonprofits are eligible for loans of up to $2 million to pay “fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that cannot be paid because of the disaster’s impact.” City Manager Spencer Cronk said in a news release that city staff “worked closely with county and state administrators, as well as our elected officials, to secure this resource for our community. We are excited that local small businesses and nonprofits have another source of relief from the economic impacts of this pandemic, and we are continuing to evaluate other sources of support to respond to the needs of our local businesses and their employees.” City Council is also considering an additional emergency program providing loans of up $35,000 in “gap financing” for businesses in the city waiting for their SBA loans. “We recognize that our small businesses are hurting at this time and we realize that’s there’s more solutions that need to come,” Briseño said. Find applications and information about SBA eligibility requirements at disasterloan.sba.gov.