Thu, Oct 22nd 2026 12:50 pm<\/p>\n
Information from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/p>\n
The U.S. Small Business Administration <\/a>announced the availability of low-interest federal disaster loans for New York small businesses, private nonprofits, and residents affected by severe storms and flooding occurring Sep. 3. The SBA issued a disaster declaration in response to an Oct. 16 request received from Gov. Kathy Hochul.<\/p>\n The declaration covers New York counties of Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara and Wyoming, which are eligible for both physical damage loans<\/a> and economic injury disaster loans<\/a> from SBA.<\/p>\n \u201cImpacted businesses, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters in six Western New York counties may borrow from the SBA disaster program for repairs covering physical damage and if they experienced economic injury due to this federally-declared disaster,\u201d said SBA Regional Administrator Matt Coleman, who oversees the federal agency\u2019s operations across the Atlantic Region, which includes New York.\u00a0\u201cBusinesses and private nonprofits are eligible to apply for business physical disaster loans and may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.\u00a0Homeowners and renters are eligible to apply for home and personal property loans and may borrow up to $100,000 to replace or repair personal property, such as clothing, furniture, cars and appliances. And homeowners may also apply for up to $500,000 to replace or repair their primary residence.\u201d<\/p>\n Applicants may also be eligible for a loan increase of up to 20% of their physical damage, as verified by SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements include strengthening structures to protect against high wind damage, upgrading to wind rated garage doors, and installing a safe room or storm shelter to help protect property and occupants from future damage.<\/p>\n The SBA\u2019s economic injury disaster loan (EIDL) program is available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, and private nonprofits \u2013 including faith-based organizations \u2013 impacted by financial losses directly related to this disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises.<\/p>\n EIDLs are for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills which could not be paid due to the disaster.<\/p>\n Interest rates are as low as 4% for businesses, 3.625% for private nonprofits, and 3% for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not begin to accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA determines eligibility and sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant\u2019s financial condition.<\/p>\n To apply online, visit sba.gov\/disaster<\/a>. Applicants may also call the National Support Network Center at 866-SBA-HELP or email [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.<\/p>\n The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is\u00a0Dec. 18. The deadline to return economic injury applications is July 19, 2027.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Yorkers deserve every dollar possible to help rebuild from these devastating floods,\u201d Hochul said. \u201cI\u2019m thankful for our federal partners who helped to secure this declaration and the critical funds necessary to help get Western New York back on its feet.\u201d<\/p>\n Again, the following groups may be eligible for low-interest SBA disaster loans:<\/p>\n \u2022Homeowners: up to $500,000 to repair their primary residence.<\/p>\n \u2022Homeowners and renters: up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.<\/p>\n \u2022Business owners: up to $2 million for the replacement of real property, inventories, machinery, equipment and other physical losses.<\/p>\n \u2022Businesses and nonprofits: economic injury disaster loans of up to $2 million to provide necessary working capital until normal operations resume after a disaster.<\/p>\n New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Terry O\u2019Leary said, \u201cIn early September, homes and businesses in Erie County experienced flooding and, thanks to the leadership of Gov. Hochul, those who were impacted now have access to vital funding that will aid in the recovery process.<\/p>\n Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said, \u201cWhen disaster strikes, homeowners and businesses can be left out in the cold if no assistance is available to help them rebuild. Getting this funding following the September flooding is crucial to getting local residents and businesses back on their feet and I thank Gov. Hochul for her quick action to make this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n City of Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said, \u201cSeptember\u2019s historic rainfall brought destructive flash-flooding to North Buffalo. Our administration mobilized resources the very next day, visited businesses and homes, and worked with our neighbors to document the damage and advocate for assistance. I thank our residents and business owners for their advocacy, and Gov. Hochul for recognizing the severity of the situation and securing this declaration from the Small Business Administration. These low-interest disaster loans will help our neighbors repair their homes, restore their businesses and continue to recover.\u201d<\/p>\n Applications for disaster loans may be submitted online using the MySBA Loan Portal<\/a> or at other locally announced locations. Contact the SBA\u2019s customer service center by email at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> or by phone at 1-800-659-2955 for further assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thu, Oct 22nd 2026 12:50 pm Information from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Office of Gov.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-312069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}