Small businesses affected by 9/11 need not suffer irreparable harm

National emergencies call for national responses.

Luckily, the U.S. Small Business Ad-ministration has a mechanism in place to be able to respond to the needs of small businesses when the president makes a disaster declaration due to an emergency.

Such is the case after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Today, two Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs are open to business owners and employers of military re-servists called into duty since President Bush opened a disaster declaration based on the current attacks.

Rather than be forced to suffer ir-reparable harm due to the attacks, or the following government actions surrounding them, small businesses now may qualify for low-interest, long-term loans to help them stay in business, preserve jobs and sustain the economic recovery.

Businesses across the country that demonstrate economic injury as a direct result of the September terrorist attacks or federal action taken as a result of the attacks may apply for working capital loans of up to $1.5 million with a 4 percent fixed interest rate for a maximum term of 30 years.

SBA determines the extent of the economic injury, the term of each loan and the payment amount, based on the financial circumstances of each borrower. This working capital loan is designed to pay for ordinary and necessary operating expenses the applicant would have been able to pay had the disaster not occurred. These expenses may include fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills. April 22, 2002 is the deadline for application for these loans.

In Springfield, James McClean at Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc., applied for a loan to offset the interruption in his business caused by the federal closure of airports and restricted air space imposed surrounding the 9/11 disaster.

McClean said he was happy to stay grounded during the critical time the country's stability was at stake, but appreciated the opportunity to make up for the disruption of his business.

In a similar declaration, President Bush cleared the way for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program to be made available to military reservists who own a business, or their employer if they are essential employees and their company will suffer substantial economic injury due to their absence. The loan terms are the same, but the application dates are flexible from as many as 90 days prior to the call up to as long as 90 days after the return to civilian life by the reservist.

A warehouse business in the region was able to mitigate the damage of having a key employee called into service and was able to help augment the salary cut the employee took while in military service and temporarily hire someone with experience as a replacement during the duty.

As of Feb. 20, SBA has closed on 40 special 9/11 disaster EIDL loans totaling more than half a million dollars in Re-gion VII, the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa, and is waiting on closing documents for approved loans totaling more than $6 million. In Mis-souri alone, more than $3.25 million in loans have been approved for 20 companies, with more than $250,000 already disbursed to eight companies.

With these avenues of recovery available, for heaven's sake, don't let the terrorists win a victory over YOUR business.

Applications for both loans are available by calling the SBA's Area Disaster Office at 1-800-366-6303.

(Sam Jones is regional administrator for Region VII of the U.S. Small Business Administration.)