KMK Law Corporate & Securities Blog

On March 15, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine and Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted announced that the Ohio Development Services Agency (“ODSA”) has started the process to make low interest, long term working capital loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (the “SBA”) available to Ohio businesses and non-profits that have been severely impacted by the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic. 

On March 6, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-123) (the “Coronavirus Act”), which passed both the House and Senate with near unanimous support. The Coronavirus Act appropriated $20 million to the SBA to support the administration of its disaster loan program and permitted the SBA to make disaster loans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Gov. DeWine, the ODSA is preparing to submit an application this week to qualify Ohio for the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. After approval of Ohio’s application, the SBA will issue an Economic Injury Disaster Loan declaration that would authorize Economic Injury Disaster Loans to qualifying Ohio businesses and non-profits. 

Economic Injury Disaster Loans are working capital loans of up to $2 million with long-term repayment structures (up to a maximum of 30 years) and may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other approved expenses that cannot be paid because of COVID-19’s impact. The interest rate is 3.75% for small businesses without credit available elsewhere, and 2.75% for non-profit organizations. The interest rate is higher for business with access to other credit options. These loans have the potential to provide a critical lifeline to a number of businesses that will be  severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including restaurants, bars, cafes, retail stores, gyms/workout studios, and movie theatres, among others.  

In order to complete Ohio’s application, the ODSA is requesting that businesses impacted by the current public health crisis immediately send their contact information to BusinessHelp@Development.Ohio.gov. 

After Ohio’s application is approved, businesses and non-profits can apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans online at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. SBA will then review the applicant’s credit and conduct an inspection of the business in order to estimate the total loss to such business resulting from COVID-19. An SBA loan officer will work with the applicant to provide all necessary information and documentation needed to reach a loan determination. SBA states that their goal is to make a loan decision within a month of receiving each respective application. 

The KMK Law team identified below is happy to assist Ohio businesses and non-profits in expediting the SBA loan and application process and will keep Ohio businesses and non-profits apprised of further details with the SBA disaster loan program as they are released.