Member News

SBA Opens Business Recovery Center in Lexington and Greenville Counties; Adds More Counties to South Carolina Declaration  
 

ATLANTA – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced today that it will open two Business  
Recovery Centers (BRCs) on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Lexington County Library in Lexington, and the Next Innovation Center in Greenville. The SBA is opening the Centers to assist businesses and residents who were affected by Hurricane Helene. SBA disaster loans are now available in additional counties.   
SBA’s Customer Service Representatives are available at the Centers to answer questions, assist business owners complete their disaster loan application, accept documents, and provide updates on an application’s status. Walk-ins are accepted, but you can schedule an in-person appointment at an SBA Business Recovery Center in advance. The Centers will operate as listed below.  

  
The disaster declaration covers Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Cherokee, Edgefield, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Lexington, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg and Union counties in South Carolina which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA. Small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs): Allendale, Calhoun,  
Chester, Colleton, Fairfield, Hampton, Kershaw, McCormick, Orangeburg, Sumter and York in South Carolina; Burke, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Rabun, Richmond and Stephens in Georgia; Cleveland, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania in North Carolina.  
With the changes to FEMA’s Sequence of Delivery, survivors are now encouraged to simultaneously apply for FEMA grants and the SBA low-interest disaster loan assistance to fully recover.  FEMA grants are intended to cover necessary expenses and serious needs not paid by insurance or other sources. The SBA disaster loan program is designed for your long-term recovery, to make you whole and get you back to your pre-disaster condition.  Do not wait on the decision for a FEMA grant; apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at sba.gov/disaster.    
 
Applicants may also call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or send an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.  
The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Nov. 29, 2024. The deadline to return economic injury applications is June 30, 2025.