Governor Reeves requests SBA economic disaster declaration for COVID-19

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - Gov. Tate Reeves requested a disaster declaration by the U.S. Small Business Administration on Tuesday.

This request provides low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans to small business and nonprofits impacted by COVID-19.

“Mississippians are resilient, but they shouldn’t have to weather this storm alone," said Gov. Reeves. "Small businesses and their employees are the backbone of our state’s economy and deserve a helping hand during this trying time. We are working closely with the U.S. Small Business Administration to activate the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program so we can protect our small businesses and their communities.”

The SBA program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million that can provide vital economic support to small businesses to overcome the loss of revenue.

Each county emergency management agency can provide copies of the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan.

After the paperwork is submitted, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency will hand it hand over to the Small Business Administration.

“Our county emergency management directors are working tirelessly with our small businesses across the state to ensure they suffer as little as possible during this pandemic. We urge small businesses to work quickly and efficiently to turn in their paperwork to our agency,” said MEMA director Greg Michel.

The paperwork is to be submitted to MEMA State Coordinating Officer, Todd DeMuth at tdemuth@mema.ms.gov.

If this relates to you, you can visit your local county emergency management agency’s social media page to find the appropriate documents to submit.