Latest COVID-19 Disaster Loan Funding Help Targets Small Business Ag
Sonora, CA — A new round of Congressional small business COVID-19 emergency disaster loan funding stipulates that new applicants must have agriculture-related businesses to qualify.
Tuolumne County Director of Innovation and Business Assistance Cole Przybyla shared on Monday that the Small Business Administration (SBA) has reopened its portal that it closed April 15 and is again accepting applications for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), for which loan advances are additionally available. The caveat this time around is that currently only agricultural businesses are eligible.
“This is their definition: agricultural businesses include businesses engaged in the legal production of food and fiber, ranching, and raising of livestock, aquaculture, and all other farming and agricultural related industries,” he says. The specifications are defined in section 18(b) of the Small Business Act.
To meet the size requirements, eligible agricultural businesses must have 500 or fewer employees. As already in place, SBA’s processing of applications is being done on a first-come, first-served basis. For more details, click here.
SBA officials explain that limitations in funding availability and the unprecedented submission of applications already received have triggered the new restriction.
They also note that applicants who have already submitted their paperwork will continue to be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. For agricultural businesses that submitted an EIDL application through the streamlined application portal prior to the legislative change, SBA will process these applications without the need for re-applying.
For further requirements as well as to apply, click here.
