Small businesses in Western North Carolina are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Almost two weeks after the storm hit, many businesses are still closed, either due to destroyed infrastructure or lack of water.
The administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration Isabel Casillas Guzman, toured some of the businesses and spoke with BPR’s Gerard Albert III earlier this week.
Their conversation, edited for clarity and brevity, is below.
Albert: What type of resources are available for affected businesses?
Guzman: “We're proud to be able to be on the ground day one with FEMA, as the SBA not only helps the small business owners, but more holistically the whole community, because we know the small business owners rely on customers recovering from disasters, and employees being able to come to work.
“The SBA offers disaster loans for homeowners, renters, nonprofits and businesses. And for homeowners, these loans are up to $500,000, they are 30-year loans, affordable loans, and low fixed-interest. And for the businesses, up to $2 million for long-term loans that they could rebuild their business with and recover.
“And importantly, the SBA has changed its disaster programs under the Biden-Harris administration to align more with the recovery timelines that we know businesses and individual survivors face. And we defer interest and payments for 12 months, meaning zero interest is charged for 12 months and zero payments are required for 12 months, allowing for that rebuild.”
Albert: We have some businesses in like the River Arts District that are completely destroyed. But others just can't open because there's no running water. Is there a different process for those businesses that have the infrastructure but are closed because there's no water?
Guzman: “Well, the first thing I would say is that President Biden has made a commitment to deploy the whole of government. I can speak from being one of those agencies that's a part of this whole of government approach, that all of the relevant agencies are working hard to make sure that that the communities can recover quickly.
“And secondarily in terms of SBA disaster assistance, I would encourage any businesses or individual homeowners and renters to come to the SBA, either our resource centers or online, which is mobile friendly, to learn about the resources that are available, especially with these more generous timelines.
“The SBA has opened three different centers. We have this one in Asheville (Chamber of Commerce), as well as another one at the Appalachian Enterprise Center and in Charlotte for those who have relocated temporarily.
“We have centers around the country ready to take those phone calls. That phone number is (800) 659-2955.”
Albert: You toured the businesses, you heard from some of the local business owners. What type of things are you hearing that they need?
Guzman: “Small businesses immediately are trying to figure out how they can recover. Maybe if they have another location to reopen and shift their employees, or if it's their only location, how can they move quickly to try to rebuild and, you know, recover those customers.
“The other thing, though, too, is just making sure that, as the broader community sees the recovery of Asheville, that they come back and support these local small businesses and to help keep those businesses afloat.
“They're going to need to know all of the federal resources for themselves and their employees so that they can survive and sustain during this time. Secondarily we want communities to be able to rebuild and receive all the resources of SBA. So whether that's getting a strategy for your small business through our small business development centers and women's business centers.”
