SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The remaining two Small Business Administration disaster loan outreach centers, aimed at helping small business owners impacted by the Jan. 22 floods, will officially close Thursday at 6 p.m.
Those locations are at the Mountain View Community Center (641 S. Boundary St.) and at the Spring Valley Library (836 Kempton St.)
SBA officials said they're closing because they have hardly seen any foot traffic at the centers.
However, even with the closure of the two centers, small business owners can still apply for a loan. Businesses impacted by the Jan. 22nd floods have until Nov. 19 to apply online for a loan.
To date, the SBA said they've received more than 2,600 applications and approved more than $42 million in loans to help small businesses that were affected.
The SBA is keeping the application portal open online to give small business owners more time to assess their damages, as they're still asking a lot of questions.
Danny Fitzgerald, executive director at Southwestern College’s Center for Business Advancement, said, "The big one is, 'I wasn't in the primary affected areas like Chollas Creek, Spring Valley, or over in National City. Am I eligible?’"
Other questions Fitzgerald said he's hearing asked are, "I had my business in Oceanside, but I happen to be in that one weird spot that I had a bunch of flooding. Am I eligible? Should I apply if I really didn't have heavy amounts of loss? Should I apply if my insurance covered it, but my recovery is a lot slower than i expected."
The SBA said they're encouraging everyone to just apply. It is free to file an application, but a small business owner still might be turned down or even offered a loan they won't accept.
Either way, the SBA said the small business owner will be in the driver's seat.
Applications can be done online or over the phone.
For anyone still needing help in person, the SBA said they have resource partners in the community that can help. Their district office will remain open.
SBA LINKS
- Get local assistance | U.S. Small Business Administration (sba.gov)
- Disaster assistance | U.S. Small Business Administration (sba.gov)
Disaster assistance
- For assistance with SBA disaster loans (including physical loss and non-COVID EIDL), please email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
- You can also call 800-659-2955 from 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.
