Corpus Christi, TX,
27
September
2017
|
00:30 AM
Europe/Amsterdam

SBDC Taking Appointments from Small Business Owners Recovering from Hurricane Harvey as Part of Collaboration

Article by: College Relations

In the days since Hurricane Harvey’s Texas landfall last month, the Del Mar College Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has coordinated efforts with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as part of University of Texas-San Antonio’s South-West Texas Border (SWTXB) SBDC Network. The collaboration is designed to assist Texas small businesses impacted by the devastating Category 4 storm that caused unprecedented damage along the state’s Gulf Coast.

The SWTXB SBDC Network––which is comprised of 13 SBDC centers across 79 counties throughout Central, West and South Texas––includes affiliate centers at the Del Mar College SBDC in Corpus Christi, University of Houston-Victoria SBDC and Texas State University SBDC in Austin. All three affiliate centers have coordinated with FEMA and the SBA to provide disaster assistance to small businesses in affected areas.

Many business owners are now dealing with personal losses in addition to varying levels of physical damage and economic injury to their businesses. Small businesses impacted by Harvey will face extreme challenges and will likely need to re-assess their business model and current and future markets. Additionally, financial recovery, financial record reconstruction and the management of accounts receivables and payables are all areas of business recovery that small business owners should begin considering.

Applying with FEMA and the SBA are necessary first steps to begin the business recovery process. Business owners are encouraged to apply through www.fema.gov/ to obtain a FEMA Registration ID Number and through disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/ for SBA Disaster Loan Assistance.

Current application filing deadlines that business owners must know are:

* Physical Damage:October 24, 2017

* Economic Injury:May 25, 2018

Texas Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), including those in the Houston area, are providing services at no-cost to help small businesses navigate through the recovery process.

Local SBA Business Recovery Centers currently located in Port Aransas and Rockport are referring small businesses seeking disaster loan assistance to Texas SBDCs for the following:

* Help in reconstructing damaged or destroyed business records

* Business planning to help business owners re-establish their operations and plan for their future

* Assistance with updating or rewriting business plans

* Counseling for financial, accounting, marketing and other post-disaster challenges

* Assistance with accessing government contracts and procurement related to the disaster

* Management and technical assistance

Del Mar College SBDC Advisors are available to assist owners with their SBA Business Disaster Loan Assistance documents. If individuals are already clients of the SBDC and seeking an SBA loan to assist with business recovery, they need to contact their advisor directly for assistance with the application.

If small business owners are not current SBDC clients, they need to register for SBDC guidance at www.seminarscc.com. When registering to be a SBDC client, check the DISASTER RECOVERY box on the “Area of Assistance” page after the online signature page.

QUESTIONS? Call the Del Mar College SBDC Office at 361-698-1021 or send an email to sbdc@delmar.edu.

For information regarding SBDC services, the SBA and FEMA, visit txsbdc.org or iedtexas.org

“Our experience with disasters of this magnitude has shown that 40 percent of small businesses never reopen, and the remainder take three to five years to recover,” said Al Salgado, executive director for the South-West Texas Border SBDC Network. “Advisors from across the Texas SBDC Network are prepared to guide business owners through the SBA Disaster Loan Application, assess damages to their business and explore opportunities to re-establish operations if possible.”

For more disaster assistance information, visit www.sba.gov/disaster. Disaster loan information is also available from SBA’s Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955 or emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

About Del Mar College

Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.