SBA: Firms should apply by Dec. 10 for supplemental COVID disaster grant

Small businesses in low-income neighborhoods should apply by Dec. 10 for a $5,000 COVID-19 relief grant as part of their application for a federal disaster loan, officials said Friday.

If applicants take longer to submit their paperwork, the U.S. Small Business Administration "may be unable to process some" requests for the Supplemental Targeted Advance grant "submitted near the Dec. 31 deadline due to legal requirements," agency officials said.

SBA "strongly encourages eligible small businesses to apply by Dec. 10 to ensure adequate processing time," they said.

The supplemental grant is part of the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, or EIDL, which aims to help companies survive the pandemic.

They must apply for the EIDL loan first, and then SBA determines who can seek the supplemental grant. But actually taking out the loan isn’t a prerequisite for securing the grant, which can be up to $5,000 per applicant, officials said.

To qualify, businesses must have 10 or fewer employees, be in a low-income community and have suffered a revenue lost of more than 50% during an eight-week period, starting on March 2, 2020 or later, compared with the same period in 2019.

On Long Island, the qualifying neighborhoods include portions of Brentwood, Calverton, Freeport, Gardiners Island, Greenport, Hempstead village, Huntington Station, Mastic Beach, New Cassel, North Bellport, Riverhead and Springs.

More information may be found at sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/eidl/targeted-eidl-advance-supplemental-targeted-advance.

About 372,500 EIDL Supplemental Targeted Advance grants, totaling $1.9 billion, were awarded nationwide as of Thursday. In New York State, nearly 45,000 businesses received a total of $225 million, the second most after California, according to SBA data. Figures for Long Island weren't available.

Patrick Kelley, associate administrator in SBA’s Office of Capital Access, which oversees the EIDL program, urged entrepreneurs on Friday to apply for the loan, the supplemental grant and another grant: the EIDL Targeted Advance grant. The latter is up to $10,000 per applicant and available to struggling businesses with 300 or fewer employees and in a poor neighborhood.

There is "still billions of dollars available to help small businesses hard hit by the pandemic," Kelley said.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.