The Conversation

How businesses and residents affected by wildfires can access SBA loans

Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By Russell Subiono

Published August 16, 2023 at 3:52 PM HST

FILE - A U.S Army fire official walks along a section of burned grassland near Waimea, Hawaii, on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. Hawaii increasingly seems under siege from disasters, and what is increasing most is wildfire, according to an analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency records by The Associated Press. There were as many federally-declared disaster wildfires this month in Hawaii, as in the 50 years between 1953 and 2003. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File)

The U.S. Small Business Administration opened its Business Recovery Center in Kīhei, Maui on Wednesday as residents impacted by the recent wildfires look for ways to rebuild their lives.

The SBA said it stands ready to assist Hawaiʻi businesses and residents with low-interest federal disaster loans.

Cynthia Cowell, the SBA's public information officer, grew up on the Big Island. She said she asked for this assignment so she could help the people of her home state.

Crosses honoring the victims killed in a recent wildfire hang on a fence along the Lahaina Bypass as a Hawaiian flag flutters in the wind in Lahaina, Hawaii, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. Two weeks after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century swept through the Maui community of Lahaina, authorities say anywhere between 500 and 1,000 people remain unaccounted for. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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"We make low-interest government loans straight from the Treasury to businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, and homeowners and renters," Cowell said of SBA's disaster recovery program.

The organization can loan up to $500K to homeowners to make repairs to their primary residence and up to $2 million to businesses suffering economic losses and physical damages.

Cowell urges people to file their insurance claims and register with FEMA for disaster relief.

For more information about SBA's disaster assistance program, go here.

This interview aired on The Conversation on August 16, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. This interview was adapted for the web by Emily Tom.