SAIPAN — Business owners with questions about federal disaster loans after Super Typhoon Bavi can bring them directly to the Small Business Administration this week, with the CNMI Small Business Development Center Network hosting a live virtual Q&A session Friday afternoon.
Real Talk with SBA, a live disaster loan Q&A session with the SBA and the CNMI SBDC, runs Friday, Aug. 21, at 1 p.m. via Zoom, the SBDC announced Tuesday. The session follows the presidential disaster declaration issued Aug. 4 for Super Typhoon Bavi and is aimed at business owners seeking information on SBA disaster loan programs covering recovery expenses and mitigation costs.
Attendance is free, but registration requires attendees to be SBDC clients. Anyone who is not a client can contact the SBDC for assistance with the no-cost registration process, either online at cnmisbdc.com or by calling (670) 237-9206. Clients on Rota, Saipan and Tinian are all invited, and the SBDC will issue the Zoom link after registration.
“The Q&A virtual session is 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. “Take advantage of this direct access to technical assistance and info-sharing to learn more about availing of low-interest rate loans to secure property for future disasters. Now is the time to implement mitigation projects to protect your businesses.”
Under the presidential disaster declarations, the SBA continues to have a presence on Saipan, Tinian and Rota, the release said. Rota is eligible for both physical disaster loans and economic injury disaster loans, while small businesses and most private nonprofits on Saipan and Tinian are eligible to apply only for economic injury loans.
Interest rates can be 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, according to the release. Interest does not begin to accrue, and payments are not due, until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement.
“Through a presidential declaration, SBA provides financial assistance to help communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the SBA’s Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience. “We offer disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses, and private nonprofits affected by the disaster.”
The session builds on a four-part disaster loan and business recovery workshop series the SBDC and SBA ran in June following Super Typhoon Sinlaku. Chona Soriano, owner of NOYPI Best Carwash, said in the release that the workshops were “full of information I never would have known had I not attended the training.”
Applications can be filed online at sba.gov/disaster, by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
