By Cheril Lee
Omaha, NE – The US Small Business Administration is offering low-interest federal disaster assistance loans to nine counties in Nebraska.
Public Information Officer Alex Contreras is with the SBA's Office of Disaster Assistance. He says the SBA offers disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses and private non-profit organizations. The first step in the process is registering with FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA
Contreras says, "After that, most people will be referred to the Small Business Administration and will be issued a disaster loan application. They will receive that in the mail. And it's absolutely in their best interest to complete those applications and return them to us even if they don't think they will need or want a loan for their repairs. If we are unable to approve their loan for any reason, most of the time we will refer them back to FEMA to be considered for additional grants assistance."
He says residents and business owners in Boyd, Burt, Cass, Dakota, Dixon, Douglas, Knox, Sarpy and Washington counties are eligible for the low-interest loans.