July 24, 2020 • Online • Free

Small nonfarm businesses in the following counties are now eligible to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. These loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by drought that occurred in the following primary counties in Colorado, announced Director Tanya N. Garfield of SBA’s Disaster Field Operations Center-West. Including; Arapahoe, Elbert, Kiowa, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties.

Join the East Colorado SBDC and Burl Kelton with the SBA for this informative webinar on the EIDL Drought Loan process.

“SBA eligibility covers both the economic impacts on businesses dependent on farmers and ranchers that have suffered agricultural production losses caused by the disasters and businesses directly impacted by the disasters,” Garfield said. Small nonfarm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disasters not occurred. “Eligibility for these loans is based on the financial impact of the disasters only and not on any actual property damage. These loans have an interest rate as low as 3 percent for businesses and 2.75 percent for private nonprofit organizations, a maximum term of 30 years, and are available to small businesses and most private nonprofits without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship,” Garfield said. By law, SBA makes economic injury available when the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture designates an agricultural disaster. The Secretary declared the declarations CO 16498 on June 11, 2020, and CO 16503 on June 23, 2020. Businesses primarily engaged in farming or ranching are not eligible for SBA disaster assistance. Agricultural enterprises should contact the Farm Services Agency about the U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance made available by the Secretary’s declaration. However, in drought disasters nurseries are eligible for SBA disaster assistance.

Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email for more information on SBA disaster assistance. Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call (800) 877-8339. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

Presented By:

Burl Kelton, Public Information Officer
U. S. Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance

Burl began his career with the U. S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Disaster Assistance in 2005 for Hurricane Katrina as a loan officer at the Sacramento, California Field Office Center-West. That office is responsible for responding to declared disasters in Federal Regions VI–X, including 23 states stretching from the Mississippi river west to Guam in the Pacific. Following his tenure as a loan officer, Burl transferred to the FOC-West Public Information Office as a Public Information Officer (PIO). In this role, he provides public
communications, congressional relations and survivor customer service in multiple county areas, at Disaster Recovery Centers, SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Centers and other on-site locations.

For over ten years, Burl has responded to numerous floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses including: Hurricanes Ike, Irene, Sandy and Harvey, wildfires in California, floods and tornadoes in the Midwest. His COVID19 responsibilities include FEMA Region VIII where he is the information single point of contact for the states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah for the COVID19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program to applicants, media, Congressional members, SBA District Offices and resource partners.

Before joining SBA, Burl spent 22 years with two Bell System telephone companies in Sales and Marketing, Customer Bill Processing, IT Systems Special Projects; and corporate Minority and Women’s Business Procurement for five departments. He was a California public school substitute teacher and has provided management and IT consulting to small businesses and Private non-profit organizations.

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The registration form asks pertinent information on your business and will take 2-3 minutes to complete. Since we are a federally funded program and offer this conference at a reduced rate, we ask these business and demographic questions so we can continue to offer you this conference at a subsidized cost. If you have any issues with registering or receiving a confirmation code, please email or call 970-351-4274.

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