SBA: Launches GO Loan Pilot Program to Strengthen Banks’ Role in Accelerating Small Business Recovery









Release Date: November 8, 2005


Contact:  Anne Marie Frawley  (202) 205-6948


Release Number: 05-68


Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news


           


 


 


WASHINGTON Small businesses in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will be eligible for a unique new U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loan of up to $150,000 that is being launched this week to help speed financing for recovery and rebuilding.  The loans will be delivered through local banks and will be handled under an expedited process that can deliver a response in 24 hours or less.


 


“Through my visits with small business owners in the Gulf Coast it has become clear that the unprecedented scope and magnitude of these twin disasters requires a more creative response beyond our traditional disaster loan program,” said SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto.  “The GO Loan program will unleash the liquidity and expertise of commercial banks.  We are going to get financing to small businesses as quickly as we can so that they can continue with the urgent reconstruction of their local economies.”


 


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:


 


ALABAMA


Alabama                       Baldwin                        Bibb                             Choctaw


Clarke                          Dallas                           Escambia                      Fayette                        


Greene                         Hale                             Jefferson                      Lamar             


Marengo                       Mobile                          Monroe                         Perry               


Pickens                         Sumter                          Tuscaloosa                    Walker            


Washington                   Wilcox


 


LOUISIANA


Acadia                          Allen                            Ascension                     Assumption


Avoyelles                      Beauregard                   Calcasieu                      Cameron


Concordia                     DeSoto                         East Baton Rouge         East Carroll


East Feliciana                Evangeline                    Iberia                            Iberville


Jefferson                      Jefferson Davis             Lafayette                      LaFourche       


Livingston                     Madison                        Natchitoches                 Orleans


Plaquemines                  Point Coupee                Rapides                                    Sabine


St. Charles                    St. Helena                     St. James                      St. John the Baptist


St. Landry                     St. Martin                     St. Mary                       St. Tammany


Tangipahoa                   Terrebonne                   Tensas                          Vermillion


Vernon                         Washington                   West Baton Rouge        West Feliciana


 


MISSISSIPPI


Adams                          Amite                           Attala                           Carroll


Choctaw                       Claiborne                      Clarke                          Clay


Copiah                          Covington                     Franklin                        Forrest


George                         Greene                         Hancock                       Harrison


Holmes                         Humphreys                   Hinds                            Issaquena        


Jackson                                    Jasper                           Jefferson                      Jefferson Davis


Jones                            Kemper                                    Lamar                          Lauderdale       


Lawrence                     Leake                           LeFlore                         Lincoln


Lowndes                       Madison                        Marion                          Monroe


Montgomery                 Neshoba                       Newton                                    Noxubee          


Oktibbeha                     Pearl River                   Perry                            Pike


Rankin                          Scott                             Sharkey                        Simpson


Smith                            Stone                            Sunflower                     Walthall


Warren                         Washington                   Wayne                          Webster           


Wilkinson                      Winston                        Yazoo


 


TEXAS


Angelina                       Austin                           Brazoria                        Chambers        


Cherokee                      Fort Bend                     Galveston                      Grimes


Hardin                          Harris                           Houston                        Jasper              


Jefferson                      Liberty                          Madison                        Matagorda


Montgomery                 Nacogdoches                Newton                                    Orange


Panola                          Polk                              Rusk                             Sabine 


San Augustine               San Jacinto                   Shelby                          Trinity  


Tyler                            Walker                         Waller                          Wharton


 


FLORIDA


Escambia