Small Business Finance News

Obama Administration Offers Loans To Small Businesses Affected By Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill

Written by Jenna Weiner
Published: 5/10/2010

The government is offering loans of up to $2 million to small businesses in the Gulf of Mexico affected by the recent oil spill.

There is some positive news for small businesses dealing with the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Obama administration is offering loans of up to $2 million to small companies affected by the crisis, Bloomberg reports.

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During a conference call, Karen Mills of the U.S. Small Business Administration said low-interest economic injury disaster loans will be provided through the SBA to 13 parishes in Louisiana and two counties in Mississippi. The loans will have an interest rate of 4 percent for terms of up to 30 years.

Mills told Bloomberg that small businesses along the coast "face serious financial losses" because of the oil spill. Loans will be available for business owners who "earn their living fishing in the waters," she said, as well as entrepreneurs in related industries who "face serious financial losses from having to shut down or pare down their operations."

Staff members from the SBA are in the process of setting up more than a dozen loan centers in the area, Mills said. She also told Bloomberg that the loan assistance was requested by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

The oil company BP was leasing the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which was 50 miles offshore when it exploded on April 20. The Associated Press reports that a 100-ton concrete and steel box has been lowered to the ocean floor to cover the leaking oil well.

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