Sen. Kim Thatcher
Secretary of State candidate Kim Thatcher is urging small businesses in need disaster relief to apply as quickly as possible to ensure their business is in the queue for Economic Injury Disaster Loans being made to millions of American businesses.
The loans are a new program available as part of the coronavirus stimulus relief bill recently passed by Congress, known as the CARES Act. The quick link to the application can be found at the US Small Business Administration’s website covid19relief.sba.gov. Full information about the program can be found at www.sba.gov.
“The stories about people being laid off by businesses of all sizes and industries are simply devastating,” said Thatcher, who currently serves as state senator representing communities including Keizer and Wilsonville. “The most important thing a small business can do right now is if they need a loan, to make sure they can access one. Applying early will speed up the process to getting needed funds to help businesses stay afloat.”
Thatcher noted that the process to initiate the loan was straightforward and will take under 30 minutes to fill out. From the SBA website:
“The loan advance will provide economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. Funds will be made available within three days of a successful application, and this loan advance will not have to be repaid.”
To begin the process businesses need to have ready information about their EIN and business organizational filing, revenues and costs of goods for the last 12 months, and business banking information for those seeking a loan advance. The loans are designed for most businesses with fewer than 500 employees, which applies to a wide majority of Oregon businesses.
Thatcher said she’s working to help Oregon small business owners stay ahead as the policies in the CARES Act roll out of federal agencies.
“As our next Secretary of State, ensuring our Corporations Division can be nimble in rolling out information like this SBA disaster loan program will be a critical part of how I lead that agency,” Thatcher stated. “We need all hands on deck to make sure Oregon businesses ride this storm and we don’t fall into a deep recession.”