SBA Disaster Assistance – Coronavirus

You are not alone.  The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is offering disaster assistance and taking action to address the challenges small businesses face due to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

While the situation is rapidly evolving, I’d like to share information the Illinois’ SBA District Office provided us yesterday.  There will be more news in the coming days about processes, links and various opportunities for funding to support your operations through the coming months.   Feel free to call if needed though.

 

What’s happened so far

The SBA has received authorization to provide small business assistance through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. This program can provide low interest loans of up to $2M to businesses and private non-profits. It’s important to recognize that the state has not yet received a declaration, so the EIDL program is not yet available to Illinois businesses and non-profits.

 

What’s next

SBA is working with the State of Illinois to support their efforts to submit the Governor’s request for a declaration. To accomplish this, the state is identifying businesses who have experienced substantial economic injury. This step is important as a county can only qualify if they either, have an identified business that has suffered economic injury, or the county is contiguous to a declared county. Once the state has pulled together its request, it goes to SBA for review. Once a disaster is declared, the EIDL becomes available for businesses located in declared counties.

 

How you can help

• Help the state identify affected businesses – You can directly help the disaster declaration process through your assistance in identifying affected business. The state of Illinois has created a portal to assist with this at: https://form.jotform.com/200717156003039 Please forward to local economic development or small businesses to help aggregate this critical information.
• Stay informed – The Illinois District will send out updates as the situation evolves. We plan to share information via webinars, through our twitter (@SBA_Illinois), and via email (www.sba.gov/updates). In addition, you can find continually updated information on this situation at www.sba.gov/coronavirus
• Direct impacted small businesses to SBA – Even in the absence of a declaration, SBA has a broad range of programs that can help small businesses through these challenging times including business advisory and lending services. Call or email the Illinois District Office or go to www.sba.gov/il for more information. Local staff stand ready to assist.

To reach Illinois’ District or Branch SBA Offices, please use the following contact information:

Or, feel free to reach out to Growth Corp’s Servicing Team at:

Or, feel free to reach out to a member of our Lending Team.  Otherwise, we will provide more information as the situation evolves in the coming days.