Small Business Administration Opens Business Recovery Center In Union County

Following Hurricane Irene, many businesses in downtown Cranford and other nearby municipalities suffered devastating losses due to the flooding and power outages that resulted from the storm. Many are still trying to recover.

In the days and weeks following the flooding, business owners worked to clean out their establishments, throwing away thousands of dollars in damaged inventory and trying to repair machinery and restore computer and phone systems. Places such as the Vanilla Bean Creamery and Cheese Please both lost the bulk of their refrigerated products due to a power outage that lasted at least a week.

The Kilkenny House, a local Irish pub, was forced to make extensive repairs to their basement area and the main floor of the bar and restaurant. They finally re-opened last week, but are still feeling the financial pinch.

In an effort to help businesses such as those in Cranford get back on their feet and begin to prosper again, the U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the opening of Business Recovery Centers in New Jersey. These Centers will provide one-on-one assistance to business owners seeking disaster assistance for losses caused by Hurricane Irene that occurred between Aug. 27 and Sept. 5. 

“Businesses with physical damages or loss of revenue should seriously consider visiting a center and applying for an SBA disaster business loan,” said SBA District Director Al Titone.

Unlike other types of financing, SBA disaster loans offer low interest rates and provide terms that may be more cost-effective for businesses trying to recover from storm damage. To date, SBA has approved over $28 million in disaster loans to New Jerseyeans with disaster related losses to their homes, personal property and businesses.

In Union County, a Business Recovery Center will be located at Kean University's New Jersey Small Business Development Center 320 Park Avenue in Plainfiedl. The hours will be Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Business Recovery Centers will also be open in Bergen, Passaic and Monmouth counties. SBA’s Customer Service Representatives will be on hand at the Centers to issue loan applications, answer questions about the disaster loan program, explain the application process and assist business owners in completing their applications. Also, SBDC counselors are available to assist business owners in completing their application packages.

For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private non-profit organizations, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster.  Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.

To obtain additional assistance call, the SBA Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955. those who are hearing impaired can call 1-800-877-8339 or send an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Those affected by the disaster may also apply for disaster loans electronically from SBA’s website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Oct. 31.
The deadline to return economic injury applications is May 31, 2012.