City again to offer no-interest flood recovery loans to small businesses

Columbia again is offering help to small businesses affected by the historic October storm.

The city’s Office of Business Opportunities has restarted its no-interest loan program, which last month approved the maximum $10,000 for five flood-affected businesses.

The money can be used for inventory, equipment, cleanup and repair, payroll and more, according to a city news release.

The program had eight applicants before its February deadline. The new deadline is March 18, and funds will be dispersed in April.

“We ended up having some money left over because we didn’t approve all of the applications that we got,” said Paul Featheringill, the city’s business loan officer. “We still have about $50,000, so we wanted to open that up for another round.”

The loans have a three-month deferment, then must be repaid in two years.

Eligible applicants must be located within city limits, have been in business at least two years, have suffered losses from the flooding not covered by insurance and have applied to FEMA for aid. The application is at http://www.columbiasc.net/depts/obo/small_business_disaster_recovery_loan_program__application.pdf.

This story was originally published March 2, 2016 at 11:08 AM with the headline "City again to offer no-interest flood recovery loans to small businesses."