By Erin Smith
As residents and business owners in Bladen County continue to recover from the ravages of Hurricane Matthew, an announcement has been made that more funding has been made available through the Small Business Administration.
Business owners who had their place of business damaged during Hurricane Matthew have until March 14 to apply for a grant through the Small Business Recovery Assistance (SBRAP) program and/or to apply for a low-interest loan from the Small Business Administration.
Self-Help is a new low interest, forgivable loan program made available through the North Carolina Department of Commerce to assist small businesses who are still recovering form the ravages of Hurricane Matthew. To apply to the SBRAP, contact Jessie Maxwell at Self-Help at 919-956-4684 or Roxanne Reed at Carolina Small Business Development Fund at 919-803-1437 ext. 403.
To apply for a low-interest small business loan, go to disasterloan.sba.gov and complete the application.
“Businesses that suffered economic losses as a result of the disaster and want to apply for low-interest loans from the SBA are urged to do so before the March 14 deadline,” said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA Field Operations Center East.
Low-interest disaster loans are available in the counties of: Bladen, Cumberland, Duplin, Harnett, Johnston, Pender, Sampson and Wayne in North Carolina.
Disaster assistance for homeowners is progressing said Bladen County Emergency Management Director Bradley Kinlaw. He and Kimberly Talbert said $1 million has been awarded to Bladen County for the CDBG (federal money) and $1 million for the CDBG-Disaster Recovery (state funded) but the application period still has not yet opened.
“As soon as these programs open up for applications, we will let people know to call and set up an appointment,” said Talbert.
Talbert said it is difficult to get an exact number of how many residents still remain displaced. She explained some residents aren’t living here right now (due to damage to their homes), some have chosen to return to damaged homes, and others are living with relatives or friends.
Talbert and Kinlaw both said there are programs the county is working with in an effort to try to assist as many Hurricane Matthew victims as possible.
There is rental assistance available for those who are displaced or who cannot live in their homes due to damage from Hurricane Matthew. Janet Miller, Social Work Supervisor with the Bladen County Department of Social Services, is overseeing the program and told the Healthy Bladen Collaborative in January there is $25,000 which was made available. The program will pay for the deposit and the first two months rent only. Talbert said you must be able to demonstrate you can pay the rent payments beyond that point.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency offered residents a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) for which 56 residents applied. Kinlaw said, so far, 8 properties in Bladen County have been approved for either reconstruction, elevation or buyout for this program. The amount of funding for this program is unknown at this time. The application period is closed.
The HMGP-Disaster Recovery ( which is funded by the state) has 8 to 10 properties which have not yet been approved for reconstruction, elevation or buyout. Kinlaw said they do expect to see those approved in the next couple of months. The application period for this program has closed for this program.
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