Arkansas Small Business Administration

FEMA: Two Disaster Assistance Centers Opening in Northwest Arkansas

Two Disaster Assistance Centers (DACs) will open in the coming days in northwestern Arkansas counties to connect disaster survivors with state and federal specialists who can help them start their recoveries.

At the centers, survivors can meet face to face with specialists from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). The staff can answer questions and provide information on the recovery process.  

DACs are a streamlined, short-term version of the Disaster Recovery Centers already in use throughout the state. Their shorter schedules allow federal specialists to offer more Arkansans help on applying for state and FEMA disaster assistance and SBA low-interest disaster recovery loans.

The schedule is:

Washington County
June 13 - 14
Washington County Courthouse
Quorum Courtroom
2801 N. College Ave.
Fayetteville, AR 72701
10 AM - 3 PM

Benton County
June 15 - 16
Bentonville Fire Station No. 1
800 SW A St.
Bentonville, AR 72712
9 AM - 4 PM

To expedite the assistance process, Arkansans are encouraged to register with FEMA before visiting, but registering is not required to receive help at the center. Those who have already registered with FEMA will receive automated phone calls from the agency to tell them when a center will open near them.

Survivors may register online at www.disasterassistance.gov , via web-enabled phone at m.fema.gov, or by telephone toll free at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585. Specialists are available by phone from 7 AM to 10 PM local time seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.

Follow FEMA tweets about the Arkansas disaster at www.twitter.com/femaregion6 . Other online resources include http://blog.fema.gov , www.facebook.com/fema and www.youtube.com/fema .

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 800-462-7585.

The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) is the state's homeland security and preparedness agency.

Updated Small Business Disaster Assistance from the SBA

New Counties in Northeast & North-Central Arkansas Added to SBA Disaster Declaration

Arkansas small businesses continue to work to recover from the disastrous tornadoes and floods that hit our state last month.  For many small businesses especially those in Northeast and North-Central Arkansas these natural disasters getting their companies back into business may seem to be impossible.  Fortunately, however the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loans may be able to help make recovery a reality.

by Herb Lawrence, ASU Small Business and Technology Development Center, Helping Small Businesses Recover from the Delta to the Ozarks

Estimates of the damage to area small businesses from last month’s tornadoes and flooding are still being compiled but the cost will be enormous by any standard.  For many small business owners getting back to normal may seem like an impossible task.  But assistance through a variety of Federal agencies is available.  For small businesses in Northeast and North-Central Arkansas the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loans are now available to even more counties . 

On June 3rd, I had a visit from Cynthia Cowell, Public Information Officer, the U.S. SBA Disaster representative who wanted to let me know that the SBA has set up an office with disaster loan specialists in Pocahontas at the Community Center to assist regional small businesses process disaster loan requests.  Ms. Cowell informed me that although FEMA would be closing their part of the office early this week, the SBA Disaster representatives will be in Pocahontas for at least 2 more weeks to help small businesses process paperwork for these loans.

Updated List of Arkansas Counties Eligible for SBA Disaster Assistance

The SBA expanded the counties now eligible for their disaster loan program in our region to include:

Clay, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Independence, Jackson, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, and Randolph Counties for both the Physical Disaster and Economic Injury Disaster loans Craighead, Izard, Sharp and Stone Counties for Economic Injury loan assistance.

Small businesses in these counties that suffered loss (either physical or anticipated economic injury) can apply to the SBA directly for government loans to help return them to pre-disaster levels.