Release Date: | Contact: Anne Marie Frawley (202) 205-6948 |
Release Number: 05-68 | Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news |
“Through my visits with small business owners in the
GO Loans will be available through Sept. 30, 2006, to small businesses in the counties and parishes of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and western Florida that are included in the Presidential disaster declarations for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the contiguous counties and parishes.
The loans will be modeled on SBAExpress loans, which are made by commercial lenders and carry an SBA guarantee. For the GO Loan program, the SBA guaranty percentage will be 85 percent. Under the program, lenders will generally use their own paperwork and be responsible for evaluating the creditworthiness of applicants. The decision on whether to apply an SBA guaranty to the loans will be made on an expedited basis, with an anticipated turnaround by the SBA of 24 hours or less.
While the SBA does not set the interest rate on the loans, it does prescribe maximum rates the bank may charge. The actual rate is negotiated between the lender and the borrower. Repayment terms are generally between five and 25 years depending on the life of the assets being financed and the cash needs of the business. Working capital loans (inventory and accounts receivable) should be repaid in five to 10 years.
Only lenders that are authorized to make SBA-backed loans under the SBAExpress program will be eligible to make GO Loans. About 40 percent of SBA lenders are currently eligible. To identify an authorized lender in your area, contact your local SBA District Office or visit the SBA Web site at www.sba.gov/financing/goloans. SBA is streamlining its requirements for bank eligibility.
Small businesses in the following parishes and counties are eligible to apply for GO Loans:
Clarke
Greene Hale
Marengo Mobile
Pickens
Avoyelles Beauregard
Concordia DeSoto
East Feliciana Evangeline
Jefferson Jefferson Davis
Livingston
Plaquemines Point Coupee Rapides Sabine
Tangipahoa Terrebonne
Choctaw Claiborne Clarke Clay
Copiah
George Greene Hancock
Holmes Humphreys Hinds Issaquena
Jones Kemper Lamar Lauderdale
Lowndes
Oktibbeha
Rankin Scott Sharkey Simpson
Smith Stone Sunflower Walthall
Wilkinson Winston
Angelina
Cherokee
Hardin Harris
Jefferson
Panola Polk Rusk Sabine
San Augustine San Jacinto