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Money for Annapolis storm recovery, businesses can apply for assistance

Posted at 7:13 PM, Oct 21, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-21 19:17:48-04

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — You just have to drive down West Street to see the impact the storm had on our city.

Mayor Gavin Buckley has been looking for help from the federal government, the state or wherever he can get it to help those effect by the early September storm.

FEMA turned down assistance saying the damage did not meet its criteria for help. Now the state has some money and other federal money is available.

There is a Small Business Administration Disaster assistant program set up in the county government building at 2660 Riva Road in Annapolis.

"A small business owner can come to this location and fill out the application and get up to $2 million to help their businesses get back on their feet. The interest rates are low, there is a lot of flexibility in the money."

This disaster assistance program is not just for small businesses. Ray Harbour is with the Small Business Administration.

"These low interest disaster loans are available for businesses of all sizes, to nonprofit organizations, to homeowners and two renters," Harbour said.

You can apply online, but they recommend coming into the office for one on one help to answer any questions. The in-person help will be open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until November 5th.

If you already applied for another loan or are thinking about applying for a loan, they're still good reason to come in here to see what options they have.

"Anyone with damage should not wait for their insurance. There is no fee to apply, there is no fee to cancel, there's no fee to pay it down. If you go in and apply and you think insurance may come through, you can put your loan on hold if you are approved, you can put it on hold for six months while you negotiate insurance settlements or look for other options."

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Dec. 17th. The deadline to return economic injury applications is July 18, 2022.

"Those business are part of Annapolis so we want to get those businesses back on their feet just so we can get the city back to work."