Loan deadline extended to help owners hurting now
Small businesses still reeling from the fallout of the terrorist attacks have eight days to receive a reprieve.
The Small Business Administration is offering low-interest loans to businesses who can’t meet their operating expenses as a direct result of the terrorist attacks.
Business owners also can qualify for loans up to $1.5 million if their company was affected as a result of any action the federal government took relating to the attacks between Sept. 11 and Oct. 22.
However, the offer ends May 22.
The purpose of the loans is not to cover lost income, lost profits or losses because of an economic downturn, but to enable businesses to continue operating, said SBA spokesman Rick Jenkins.
The loans are intended to provide the company with enough working capital to pay its expenses until business returns to normal.
767,“Across California we have approved $30 million in loans, which is pretty significant,” Jenkins said. “We have given out more than $350 million nationwide.”
Two Santa Monica businesses have received loans through the program, both of which are directly impacted by the attacks because they provide tourism-related services.
World Link Travel Network Inc., located on Wilshire Boulevard and 19th Street, received a $215,200 loan from SBA. The loan has allowed co-owner Liliana Ahmed to continue providing corporate leisure and travel services to her clients.
“I can say it helped since we are still running,” she said.
Sada Tour Services on Euclid Street also received $13,600 from SBA.
The law authorizes loan terms up to 30 years with a maximum interest rate of 4 percent.
Jenkins said some businesses have been able to prove that their revenue declined because the company is located near the airport. Because of heightened security measures brought on by the federal government, a furniture store in Las Vegas was able to prove an impact to their business, Jenkins said.
Other businesses that proved economic hardship because of federal government action were companies in San Ysidro, near the Mexico-California border. The wait time getting in and out of the country prior to Sept. 11 was a half-hour. After security was heightened at the border, the wait time increased to six hours, directly impacting businesses in the area, Jenkins said.
The deadline has been extended to May 22 because some business owners may just be feeling the pain now and need the assistance.
“Often times businesses are impacted in stages and they are just realizing it now,” Jenkins said. “Or, they tend handle it on their own as long as they can.”
The average processing time to be approved for a loan is 12 days, he added. Business owners can call 1-800-488-5323 for more information and to apply for a loan.
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Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 14, 2002. Read the original PDF.