Florida SBDC Helping Businesses Impacted by BP Oil Spill

Florida SBDC Network Mobile Assistance Center Deployed to Pensacola Beach to Assist Businesses Impacted by BP Oil Spill Incident

Release Date: June 4, 2010
Contact: Paymon Shokoohi, paymon.shokoohi@floridasbdc.org

Pensacola, FL ? As a result of the Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill impact on Northwest Florida beaches, the Florida SBDC Network’s Mobile Assistance Center (MAC) has been deployed to the Casino Beach Parking Lot on Pensacola Beach. The MAC provides easy access for small business owners that are being impacted by this disaster to seasoned business recovery counselors, up to date information, other available resources and technical assistance.

On May 13, 2010, the U.S. SBA issued an EIDL Disaster Declaration for the State of Florida, including Northwest Florida counties, in response to the April 20, 2010 Deepwater BP Oil Spill. The purpose of an EIDL is to provide small business owners low interest loans to meet their financial obligations that they could otherwise have met had the disaster not occurred. It provides relief from economic injury caused directly by the disaster and puts the business in a reasonable working capital position during the period affected by the disaster. Any small business that is located in one of the 19 Florida Counties in the declared economic disaster area may apply for an SBA EIDL.�With the EIDL program, SBA is offering working capital loans up to $2 million at an interest rate of 4 percent with terms up to 30 years.

In addition, small businesses located within the 19 counties declared as disaster areas who have existing SBA loans may qualify for up to 12 month deferment on their payments. Information on the SBA loan deferment may be obtained by contacting any of the local SBA Business Recovery Centers.

Members of the FSBDCN’s Business Recovery and Response Team (BRRT) and representatives from the U.S. SBA are available on the MAC Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm to assist businesses with EIDL forms, provide information on local, state, federal and BP claim resources that are available. The MAC is totally self-contained and is equipped with satellite capabilities so business owners can sit down with a counselor and access all the necessary federal forms that are needed to apply for the EIDL online.

The Florida SBDC Network is an official member of Florida?s State Emergency Response Team (SERT) ESF-18 Business and Industry and is actively involved with the state’s response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill event.

Those unable to visit the Mobile Assistance Center may obtain EIDL information and application forms by either calling SBA?s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the hearing impaired), e-mailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA?s website at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. The deadline to apply for these loans is Feb. 14, 2011.

The Florida SBDC Network, a statewide service network of 35 centers, is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, hosted by the University of West Florida and accredited through the national Association of SBDCs. For over 30 years, the Network has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development organizations and has been dedicated to providing emerging and established business owners with assistance, enabling overall growth and increased profitability for the businesses and economic prosperity for the state. To learn more about the Florida SBDC Network or to find an SBDC near you, visit www.FloridaSBDC.org or call 1.866.737.7232.