SBA offers disaster assistance to businesses and residents of South Carolina effected by severe storms and tornadoes

April 13, 2020

South Carolina businesses and residents affected by severe storms and tornadoes on Feb. 6 – 7, 2020 can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Administrator Jovita Carranza announced.

Administrator Carranza made the loans available in response to a letter from South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on March 31, requesting a disaster declaration by the SBA. The declaration covers Spartanburg County and the adjacent counties of Cherokee, Greenville, Laurens and Union in South Carolina; and Polk and Rutherford in North Carolina.

“The SBA is strongly committed to providing the people of South Carolina with the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist businesses of all sizes, homeowners and renters with federal disaster loans,” said Carranza. “Getting businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA.”

In accordance with health precautions for the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the SBA will not establish a field presence to assist survivors. However, SBA will continue to provide first class customer service and conduct outreach virtually with webinars, skype calls, phone assistance and step-by-step application assistance. To this end SBA has opened a Virtual Disaster Loan Outreach Center (VDLOC) to help survivors apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/ and there are virtual customer support representatives available to assist applicants with completing the online application.The VDLOC information:

Virtual Disaster Loan Outreach Center (VDLOC)
Open: Monday – Friday
Hours: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed: Saturdays and Sundays
[email protected].
Phone: 404-909-1535 or 571-422-1925

These services are only available for the South Carolina disaster declaration as a result of the Severe Storms and Tornadoes on Feb. 6-7, 2020, and not for COVID-19 related assistance.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.