SBA disaster offices opening

• By GARY PERILLOUX
• Advocate business writer
• Published: Sep 11, 2008 - Page: 1D - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

A cadre of blue-shirted federal officials are fielding the first wave of business disaster loan seekers in Baton Rouge as the Small Business Administration establishes more offices around the state in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

SBA, working out of the Louisiana Technology Park at 7117 Florida Blvd., saw about 15 to 20 business owners each day over the weekend and additional applicants early this week before permanent hours were set Wednesday.

Baton Rouge and Metairie business assistance centers will be open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, and similar centers will be open soon in Thibodaux, Carencro and Alexandria, said Alex Contreras, an SBA communication specialist.

Nothing like the circumstances seen in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina is expected. Then, missing documents from applicants and computer-processing crunches in California sometimes led to months-long delays.

That’s not going to happen after Hurricane Gustav, Contreras said.

“We haven’t had anything like that since Katrina,” Contreras said of the lengthy application process. “Our system is much faster now, and we’ve made some changes in loan processing to streamline the process.”

Since Gustav’s Sept. 1 arrival, 122,000 applications for SBA assistance have been made, the majority of those for residential loans, he said. SBA recommends people needing residential loans, for which owners and renters may be eligible, should go to a FEMA disaster recovery center for that help.

Businesses may borrow up to $2 million at interest rates as low as 4 percent and for a term as long as 30 years. For homeowners, the upper limit is $200,000, with an interest rate as low as 2.875 percent and a term of up to 30 years.

Contreras said SBA representatives set a target monthly payment the business owner can afford.

“We kind of work backward from there,” he said. “We’ll extend the terms out as far as we need to up to a maximum of 30 years.”

On average, an SBA loan decision should take 14 days from the time a person applies, Contreras said.

Another benefit for storm-affected applicants is deferment of the first payment. After a borrower signs documents at an SBA disaster loan closing, he’s not required to make the first payment until five months later, Contreras said.

Firms also may apply at http://www.sba.gov, the SBA’s Web site.