SBA Relocates Disaster Business Recovery Center for Wisconsin Business Owners

    ATLANTA, Aug. 19 /EMWNews/ -- The U. S. Small Business

Administration announces today that the SBA Business Recovery Center (BRC)

located at the Milwaukee County Facilities Management in Wauwatosa will

relocate to the following location:



    Milwaukee County



    Milwaukee County Rehabilitation Center City Campus



    2711 West Wells Street



    Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53208



    Opening: Monday, August 25 at 9 a.m.



    Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.



    Saturday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.



    The Business Recovery Center was established to help businesses

impacted by the severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that occurred on June

5 - July 25, 2008 recover from the disaster. Beginning Monday, August 25 at

9 a.m. the Center in its new location will open and remain open until

further notice.



    "We strongly encourage affected businesses to visit the Business

Recovery Center and meet individually with SBA representatives to find out

how a low-interest disaster loan can help them recover," said Eric Ness,

District Director of SBA in Wisconsin.



    Businesses and non-profit organizations of any size may borrow up to $2

million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery

and equipment, inventory and other business assets. The SBA also offers

mitigation loans to disaster victims based on 20 percent of the verified

physical loss. These funds are designed to help borrowers pay for

protective measures to minimize damages in the future.



    For small businesses, and most private, non-profit organizations of all

sizes, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working

capital needs, such as ongoing operating expenses. Economic Injury Disaster

Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered

any physical property damage.



    Interest rates are as low as 4 percent for businesses with terms up to

30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based upon each

applicant's financial condition.



    Victims should not wait to settle with their insurance companies before

applying for disaster loan assistance. If a victim does not know how much

of their loss will be covered by insurance or other sources, the SBA will

consider making a loan for the total loss up to its loan limits, provided

the borrower agrees to use insurance proceeds to reduce or repay their SBA

loan.



    Anyone unable to visit the Centers may obtain an application by calling

the SBA's Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the

hearing-impaired) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday

and Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT, or by emailing our Customer Service Center

at [email protected]. Business loan applications can also be

downloaded from the SBA website at http://www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.

Completed applications should be returned to any of the Centers or mailed

to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center,

14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX. 76155.



    Disaster Victims may also apply for disaster loans from SBA's secure

website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.



    The deadline to return applications for physical damage is September

15, 2008; the deadline to return economic injury applications is March 13,

2009.



    For more information about the SBA's Disaster Loan Programs, visit our

website at http://www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.