By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — Residents and businesses impacted by the tornado and severe storm event that occurred in early May in St. Joseph County now have federal resources available to them.
The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) announced last week that low-interest long-term disaster loans will be made available following the issuance of a disaster declaration by the independent government agency.
The declaration covers Kalamazoo County mainly, but also applies to St. Joseph, Allegan, Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, and Van Buren counties.
“The SBA is strongly committed to providing the people of Michigan with the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist businesses of all sizes, homeowners and renters with federal disaster loans,” SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said in a statement. “Getting businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA.”
An in-person Disaster Loan Outreach Center will be set up at Portage City Hall at 7900 S. Westnedge Avenue in Portage to assist with disaster loan applications and will also accept documents and provide updates on an application’s status. The temporary center will open on Friday, July 12 at 11 a.m. and closes on Friday, July 26 at 2 p.m. Hours will be from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays. Applications can also be made online at sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance.
According to the SBA, businesses and private nonprofits may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets. For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, and most nonprofits, the SBA says Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the storms are available, regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.
For homeowners, loans up to $500,000 are available through the SBA to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. Interest rates are as low as 4 percent for businesses, 3.25 percent for nonprofit organizations, and 2.688 percent for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years, according to the SBA.
The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Sept. 6, 2024. The deadline to return economic injury applications is April 8, 2025.
In St. Joseph County, the May 7 EF-2 tornado touched down on the south side of Centreville that evening beginning at 5:41 p.m. and tracked northeast, passing north of Colon before crossing into Branch County near Havens and Goodrich Lake, about 19.6 miles altogether. It caused damage to many properties in the line of the storm, including a residential neighborhood north of Colon, and a pole barn next to Nottawa Gas in Centreville, among other places.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
