Fires in California have been devastating for many owners of small businesses and others who have seen their homes, their companies or their livelihoods increase in smoke.
Raquel “Rockey” Smeir launched my Café Ami in Sierra Madre, California, in 2021. While fires spared her building, she treated power outages, compulsory evacuation in the field of staff, customers and customers from the whole community. When she returned to the building, she had to face the loss of income, the spoiled food and a devastated community.
“Many people may not carry out the significant financial pressure that a small business like ours faces when it comes to unexpected events,” she said. “With payroll, rent and taxes, loss of inventory and closure income for almost a week can be financially devastating.”
Although private fundraising has proliferated on sites like GoFundme and elsewhere, there is also a variety of aid at the national and local levels for owners of small businesses and others affected by fires. A freezing on federal loans and subsidies was announced on Tuesday, but it is not clear if it applies to disaster aid. Disaster help requests are always available on the Small Business Administration website.
The SBA did not return a comment request.
As a general rule, SBA offers loans in the event of economic injury disaster to help meet the working capital needs caused by a disaster, even if there are no physical damage. These loans can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounting accounts and other expenses that would have been respected without the disaster. Companies can request loans up to $ 2 million.
Loans in the event of a disaster of up to $ 500,000 are available for owners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. The owners and tenants are also eligible for $ 100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property, including personal vehicles.
Locally, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce has created a fund for small companies affected by fires. The $ 1 million fund will grant subsidies ranging from $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 to directly support small businesses concerned. He will also offer disaster recovery webinaries and business consulting support.
Another place where to turn to financial institutions of community development for non -profit, or CDFI, which offer subsidies and loans to small businesses, often at better rates than traditional banks.
This is the option to which Smeir turned. She asked for a SBA loan and two grant programs, but said she does not expect to hear about them before February or March. She received a liftfund subsidy, a CDFI whose headquarters are in San Antonio, Texas, for an unknown amount, to help put the business on foot.
“It’s like reopening a new business, but this time with precious experience and learned lessons,” she said.
There is also specific to industry aid. Austin Manuel, who has the healing force of stores and the universe event space in Pasadena, California, has not yet asked for help because he inflicts damage caused by the wind that have blown ashes and smoke in its building. He had to cancel the events and postpone music lessons.
He plans to seek specific aid to the music industry in organizations like Musicars and Live Nation and also plans a SBA loan.
“We expect many of our upcoming events to be fundraising for the community,” he said. “We hope to introduce themselves for them as best as we can as long as possible.”
However, small business owners evaluate what help to apply, it is however important to be on alert for scams. Schools often target the vulnerable. If something seems too good to be true, this is probably the case. Owners must be careful when sharing information.
“Small businesses in situations like this are always targeted by predatory loans, those who seek to exploit companies with a type of cash flow or take advantage of the situation,” said Carolina Martinez, CEO of Cameo Network , a network of micro-enterprises across the state. Business owners should therefore ensure that they are “additional and are very clear in their understanding of all the terms of everything they might find,” she said.
By Mae Anderson Ap Business Writer