SBA Loan Program Announced to Aid Hawai‘i Business Community

The Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan program became available this week to businesses that are being impacted by COVID-19.

These working capital loans of up to $2 million can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance is coordinating with the Hawai‘i Governor’s Office to submit the request for Economic Injury Disaster Loan Assistance.

In order to make an economic injury declaration, Hawai‘i small business owners need to submit the estimated economic impact of the disaster on their businesses by completing a worksheet, which can be downloaded here, and then emailing it to: dbedt.cbed@hawaii.gov.

The Estimated Adverse Economic Impact Section of the Economic Injury worksheet needs to be fully completed, with all questions answered regarding business revenues, whether there was any business interruption insurance, as well as the comments sections. The comments section should indicate that the economic impacts are a direct result of the novel coronavirus. The established incident start date is Jan. 31, 2020. DBEDT needs these forms to be returned to the above email by the 4 p.m., Wednesday 18, 2020.

Further information will be available about the SBA Application process once the Federal government approves Hawai‘i’s application for disaster assistance.