We all saw the devastation caused by the Maui wildfires in late summer. Apparently, several federal agencies sprung into action in rescue and recovery efforts. One particular institution, which many people may not know about, plays a huge role in helping people get their lives back on track. The Small Business Administration is currently distributing millions of dollars in disaster relief loans to those affected by the Maui wildfires. For the latest information, Federal Drive Executive Producer Eric White spoke to his junior, Francisco Sanchez, Deputy Administrator of SBA’s Disaster Recovery and Resilience Division.
Francisco Sanchez Jr. Secretary Guzman had the opportunity to join the FEMA Administrator just days after the disaster was declared. And what we saw on the ground was that this was going to be a whole-of-community effort and a whole-of-Federation family approach to getting on the road to recovery. Indeed, the damage was devastating. It’s still early days in terms of what Maui residents must do to rebuild. Therefore, we have been on the scene ever since and have made a commitment to remain there as long as necessary.
Eric White And also about commitment. So in terms of a financial perspective, how is the SBA assistance doing? You know, the latest numbers I’ve seen are about 40 million or still around there. Or will it probably go up?
Francisco Sanchez Jr. As of this morning, the SBA has approved more than $106 million in aid to local disaster survivors on Maui. We continue to accept applications and work to make sure people know we are there as a resource. And SBA is uniquely positioned as the only federal agency with this size and reach to help renters, businesses, homeowners, and private nonprofit organizations across Hawaii. We are making disaster relief more than just long-term loans, and for the first time in history, we are proactively implementing the entire SBA approach to ensure that beyond loans, the agency’s other resources are available to disaster survivors. On Maui.
Eric White I’ve never been there, but from what I’ve seen and read, it doesn’t seem like a very concentrated area. It seemed like a lot of people were making a living by being diving instructors or, like you said, just renting houses because it’s in such a beautiful area. Is that what you gathered in your research?
Francisco Sanchez Jr. that’s right. It was my first time coming to Maui. So this was a great learning opportunity from a cultural perspective and in terms of looking beyond the extensive data that we did to be able to refine our programs to accommodate disaster survivors. Being on the ground gives you a great situation. The majority of the island’s inhabitants are connected to tourism for the economy in one way or another. After meeting with local officials and victims, the administrators themselves went to the evacuation center and were able to connect directly with the victims. And what we heard loud and clear is that tourism is a very important part of the economy and we need to make it happen. It’s not just important to those companies; You know, his 50% of employees across this country are tied up in small businesses. For example, one of his things that Administrator Guzman did was a first-of-its-kind approach. We immediately changed our rulemaking to allow all of Hawaii to apply for economic injury and disaster loans. This means that, for example, if you were not physically harmed but your business suffered as a result of tourism, you may be able to claim economic damages. This is very important because these employees are Hawaiians from Maui and we want to make sure they have access to disaster relief if they are personally affected. But we also hope that if a community starts to lose jobs or something like that happens and businesses don’t have the resources they need to stay open, there will be an additional impact on that community. not here.
Eric White I was wondering if you could expand on the data collection points beyond the people you mentioned. Please come to us with the application and tell us what happened to them and what other mechanisms the SBA has at its disposal to find people other than them. Do they know they are eligible for SBA assistance?
Francisco Sanchez Jr. One is to do a lot of education around data. We have a very good idea of where the damage has occurred, where the physical damage has occurred. Not only Lahaina, the island’s historically hardest hit area, but also other parts of the community that may have experienced physical damage. So they’re working very closely on what’s the best way to approach disaster survivors, where they live, and working with the American Red Cross and local authorities to be able to provide that information. . People’s current locations may be in evacuation centers or elsewhere, but data looks at businesses on Maui and other parts of the island that may have been affected. We also make sure that information is available through analysis. . Our goal is therefore to provide targeted support to those who have unfortunately lost not only family members but also property. And we do it in a culturally appropriate way so that businesses understand that even if there’s no physical damage, they can come to the SBA for that. And one of the things that the administrator did just his week and a half ago was host a listening session with community leaders, business leaders, civic leaders on Maui and just walk in and say, Instead, we asked them directly what kind of challenges they thought they were facing. , here’s what we can offer, but what do you need? And come back and take a very broad look at our program and make sure we deliver on the president’s promises to the people of Maui. We are looking at how we can introduce a whole-of-government approach. And Administrator Guzman’s directive was to mobilize the entire SBA to help people recover.
Eric White Please tell me about the Business Recovery Center. Who is involved in it and what does it include?
Francisco Sanchez Jr. The Business Recovery Center is basically a one-stop shop where people can come to the Small Business Administration and see what we have available to them. As you know, one of the things we are best known for is our low-interest loans that provide businesses, homeowners, renters, and private nonprofit organizations with the funds they need to repair and rebuild. This is a long-term disaster loan. can be alleviated and economically recovered. But once they come to the center, we will help them with their application. Provide education about the program. And now, thanks to her whole SBA approach that the administrator directed us to, we were able to connect SBA with other programs. So if you have a loan and you get it, we will make sure to expedite it. However, we will also introduce you to his other SBA resources. So we’re not just making loans. How can you sign up your business for government contracts? How can we connect you with mentors and other resource partners to not only help you rebuild in a mitigated way, but also to help your customers with processes and business continuity? What can you do to ensure your business is more resilient? future. That being said, if you come and decide you don’t want a loan for your business, we can still refer you to other SBA resources that can help disaster victims in the way they need them. I will try my best to do it. .
Eric White This is kind of a curiosity question. You know, the last five years have been terrible for small businesses, and then something like this happens. Are there any lessons learned from the small business loans that the SBA has made over the past few years? Will those lessons be applied to this and future efforts?
Francisco Sanchez Jr. SBA has learned much from our work on the ground in response to the coronavirus and disasters over the years, some of which is already being put into practice. For example, Administrator Guzman made historic changes to our company’s policies due to the coronavirus. We’ve learned that people need a little more breathing space. They have already repaid some of their loans and funds and have also seen a recovery from the global economy. Well, here we are with Permanent just a few days before the Maui wildfires. If you take out an SBA loan, the first payment will be deferred for 12 months and the interest will be zero. Therefore, if you are a business owner, there is plenty of scope to raise the funds you need today to start the recovery process. However, you don’t have to worry about the first payment and he won’t accrue interest for a year to resolve the capital access issue. And then the same goes for homeowners. This is especially important on Maui, where recovery will take time. We saw communities that were very severely affected and those buildings that no longer exist, but it’s going to take some time. And low-interest long-term loans, that is, interest-free and he has a 12-month deferment, are important. We also learned about the chronic stressors facing businesses across this country, sometimes disaster after disaster. And that can be difficult when capital is a big issue. One of the things we do is a reconsideration program to make sure we’re really honestly investigating people who may have been rejected. We did this in Florida and started this. We’re reinforcing this on Maui. Therefore, if you come to us and are denied an SBA loan for your business, we will contact you and explain why. We then work with our partners in the field to walk our resource partners through the process and help our customers say yes. And some of them are just some of the events that happened during the disaster. The building was completely burnt down. You may have documents and records. So what we’re doing now is connecting you with resource partners, rather than turning you away just for that reason. Local partners, state partners, and federal partners across the federal government can assist you in locating documents and assisting you in submitting documents for a successful application.
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