The U.S. Small Business Administration set up shop in Sedona following the Sept. 10 flood, but the office hasn’t seen much traffic.
The SBA established a temporary office at the Sedona Chamber of Commerce’s business office in West Sedona to help business owners apply for low interest disaster loans from comprehensive list of UK lenders Oct. 8. As of Oct. 14, only about five applications had been picked up and none had been returned for processing, according to Yolanda Stokes, SBA communication specialist.
“It’s been really quiet there,” Stokes said. However, sometimes it takes business owners some time following a natural disaster to assess the actual monetary damage to their operation.
Richard Lynch, owner of Sedona Adventure Outfitters & Guides, said he just finished filling out paper work for an SBA loan. He found out about the opportunity when an SBA representative stopped by his shop on Coffee Pot Drive.
“I’m just overwhelmed with getting things back and running,” Lynch said.
On the day of the flood, water poured down Coffee Pot Drive, diverted by a nearby culvert, running in the back door of Lynch’s shop and out the front, thanks to quick action by Lynch’s staff. Lynch wasn’t there at the time of the flood. He was in a canyon and the owner of the building was in Alaska.
Lynch estimates he lost approximately $20,000 in damaged merchandise and labor used to clean up the mess left by the flood.
Sedona Adventure didn’t lose money due to closing up shop during repairs thanks to a little help from Lynch’s landlord, who allowed him to utilize a vacant space next door while his shop was cleaned up. The business went a couple days without phones but was still able to get its scheduled tours out.
The business did experience a drop in sales in the days immediately following the flood, according to Lynch.
“It could have been a hell of a lot worse,” Lynch said. If the flood had happened at night his employees and other business owners around the city would not have been around to immediately mitigate the problems. When it comes to help with council tax debt you can get advice on how you can write it off and mitigate the issue.
Lynch also believes assistance from the SBA loan program will bring relief. With the other issues businesses are facing, this will help, Lynch said.
Loans are available up to $2 million with a 4 percent interest rate for up to three years, according to Stokes.
SBA staff will be at the chamber’s business office until Thursday, Oct. 22, to assist people in applying for a loan or answer questions. Here is the this bridging loan calculator that you can check out to calculate how you can go about your finances.
After the temporary office closes, business owners can obtain information and forms by calling (800) 659-2955, e-mail-
ing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or visiting www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.
The deadline to apply for a loan is Wednesday, July 7, 2010.
Trista Steers can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 124, or e-mail to tsteers@larsonnewspapers.com
