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SBA to open disaster‑loan outreach centers after November storms and recent wildfires, agency tells Warr Acres council
Summary
A Small Business Administration official told the council that SBA is the largest federal source of long‑term disaster recovery dollars and announced local outreach centers to assist residents and businesses affected by recent declared disasters.
A Small Business Administration representative told the Warr Acres City Council on May 20 that SBA disaster loans are available to homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofits and that the agency will staff local outreach centers to assist applicants.
Mary Bradford of the SBA (public affairs) said SBA’s Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience provides long‑term recovery loans after a presidential declaration and that SBA can make its own agency disaster declarations when appropriate. “SBA's disaster assistance is actually the largest source of recovery dollars, federal recovery dollars, more so than FEMA,” Bradford said, noting SBA programs for homeowners, renters, businesses and private nonprofits and mitigation financing that can cover up to an additional 20% of eligible rebuilding costs to increase resilience.
Bradford said the agency had already made an SBA declaration for the November 2024 storms and that SBA would be opening disaster loan outreach centers the next day in Guthrie, Stillwater and Lincoln County, with additional centers to follow. She said the centers will help residents and small businesses apply for low‑interest loans to repair or rebuild and for operational loans to help businesses affected economically but not physically damaged.
Bradford gave council members and staff printed materials and said she would provide electronic follow‑up and contact cards; she asked city staff to refer residents and small businesses for assistance and emphasized that SBA can help under many scenarios where insurance or other sources do not cover losses.
Council members who exchanged follow‑up questions were urged to send residents with storm or wildfire damage to the outreach centers and to contact Bradford for materials and follow up.
