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The Charles County Commissioners are pleased to inform residents that certain Private Non-Profit Organizations (PNPs) in Charles County that provide non-critical services may be eligible to apply for low interest rate disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).  These loans are available as a result of a presidential disaster declaration for public assistance resulting from damages caused by severe storms and winds that occurred from June 29 through July 8, 2012.

PNPs located in Charles County that provide non-critical services are eligible to apply.  Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to: food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools, and colleges.

PNP organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.  The SBA may increase a loan up to 20 percent of the total amount of disaster damage to real estate and/or leasehold improvements, as verified by SBA, to make improvements that lessen the risk of property damage by future disasters of the same kind.

The SBA also offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to PNP organizations of all sizes to help meet working capital needs, such as ongoing operating expenses.  Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the organization suffered any physical property damage. Interest rates are as low as three percent with terms up to 30 years.  The SBA sets the loan amounts and terms based on each applicant's financial condition.
   
Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA's secure website athttps://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela

Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBA's Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.  Loan applications can be downloaded from www.sba.gov.  Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. 

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is October 1, 2012.  The deadline to return economic injury applications is May 2, 2013.