SAIPAN – The CNMI Small Business Development Center Network is bringing back its live virtual question-and-answer series Real Talk with SBA on Friday, September 4 at 1 p.m., giving business owners a direct line to the Small Business Administration on disaster loans available after Super Typhoon Bavi.
The session follows last Friday’s Q&A with Corey Williams and Raenada Mason of SBA’s external affairs team, which the network said drew real questions from business owners working through the lending process. The series covers eligibility for disaster loans under the presidential disaster declaration issued August 4 following Bavi, and how the loans can cover recovery expenses and mitigation costs.
Attendance is free but requires SBDC client registration, which the network says is a simple, no-cost process for anyone not yet enrolled. Registration is at marianas.ecenterdirect.com/events/1019212, at cnmisbdc.com, or by phone at 237-9206; the Zoom link follows registration. Clients on Saipan, Tinian and Rota are invited.
“These info-sessions were designed to equip business owners with clear, actionable information they can use immediately when facing disaster-related losses,” said Nadine Deleon Guerrero Kintol, Network Director of the CNMI SBDC. “Now is the time to implement mitigation projects to protect your businesses.”
Under Presidential Disaster Declarations 21743 and 21744, SBA maintains a presence on all three islands. Rota is eligible for both physical disaster loans and economic injury disaster loans; on Saipan and Tinian, small businesses and most private nonprofits can apply for economic injury loans only. Interest rates run as low as 4 percent for businesses, 3.625 percent for private nonprofits and 2.875 percent for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years, and no interest accrues or payments come due until 12 months after the first disbursement. Applications are at sba.gov/disaster, by phone at (800) 659-2955, or by email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
The CNMI SBDC Network, hosted by Northern Marianas College, is funded by a $777,777 grant from the SBA.
