SBA administrator visits Tampa Bay as disaster loan program runs dry

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Jose Palau owns Cuban restaurant Flan Factory in Tampa. He’s seeking about a $20,000 disaster loan from the Small Business Administration.

“We applied, I think, Friday or Saturday,” Palau said.

Since then, he has been told to wait since demand has outpaced supply.

“A little concerning but what happens, we’ll go with it,” Palau said.

He then talked about the need for those funds.

“We did lose all of our goods inside the restaurant because of refrigeration and to see if we can help out any of the employees for not having work for the week,” Palau said.

Sam Patel owns Beach Zone Ice Cream in St. Pete Beach. He’s another business owner leaning on the SBA’s disaster loan program for help. He has been closed since after Hurricane Helene.

The SBA offers two types of disaster loans for small businesses, that can go up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4%. Homeowners can get up to $500,000 with interest as low as 2.8%. Renters can get up to $100,000.

While visiting businesses in Tampa Bay, which included both of those businesses, SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said the next move is up to members of Congress.

“We will continue to work with Congress to ensure that the funding is replenished,” Guzman said.

The head of the SBA also mentioned how the group kept in contact with Congress beforehand.

“The SBA’s request has continuously included additional disaster subsidy recognizing hurricane season was on the horizon and expecting potential large hurricanes,” Guzman said.

Back in June, members of Congress introduced a funding bill that included $143 million for SBA disaster loans but it went nowhere.

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis covers Citrus and Hernando counties.

“I think the planning was there,” Bilirakis said. “I think there was communication with the administrator. So, I’m not going to do the blame game. We just got to get back up there and do our job.”

Bilirakis and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who covers Hillsborough County, say the House should act before the election.

Also, before Congress went on break, the funding bill to keep the government open did not include SBA funds.

“Republicans in Congress blocked the SBA from getting additional dollars before we recessed for the election. That should not have happened,” Castor said.

The SBA leader has recorded $25 million in disaster loans from 17,000 applications has already gone out in Florida from Helene and Milton.

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