The INDEPENDENT, December 16, 2010
SBA loans open for 2010 disaster
Small, non-farm businesses
in Clackamas and Multnomah
counties and the neighboring
Oregon counties of Columbia,
Hood River, Marion, Wasco,
Washington and Yamhill and
the Clark and Skamania coun-
ties in Washington are now eli-
gible to apply for low-interest
disaster loans from the U. S.
Small Business Administration
(SBA). “These loans offset eco-
nomic losses because of re-
duced revenues caused by ex-
cessive rain and below normal
temperatures that occurred in
Clackamas and Multnomah
Counties from April 1 through
July 4, 2010,” announced Al-
fred E. Judd, Director of SBA’s
Disaster Field Operations Cen-
ter West.
“SBA eligibility covers both
the economic impacts on busi-
nesses dependent on farmers
and ranchers that have suf-
fered agricultural production
losses caused by the disaster
and businesses directly im-
pacted by the disaster,” Judd
said.
Small, non-farm businesses,
small agricultural cooperatives
and most private, non-profit or-
ganizations of any size may
qualify for Economic Injury Dis-
aster Loans (EIDLs) of up to $2
million to help meet financial
obligations and operating ex-
penses which could have been
met had the disaster not oc-
curred.
“Eligibility for these loans is
based on the financial impact
of the disaster only and not on
any actual property damage.
These loans have an interest
rate of 4% for businesses and
3% for private, non-profit or-
ganizations, a maximum term
of 30 years, and are available
to small businesses and most
private, non-profits without the
financial ability to offset the ad-
verse impact without hardship,”
Judd said.
By law, SBA makes EIDLs
available when the U. S. Secre-
tary of Agriculture designates
an agricultural disaster. Secre-
tary Tom Vilsack declared this
disaster at the request of Gov-
ernor Ted Kulongoski.
Businesses engaged prima-
rily in farming or ranching are
not eligible for SBA disaster as-
sistance. Agricultural enterpris-
es should contact the Farm
Services Agency (FSA) about
the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture (USDA) assistance
made available by the Secre-
tary’s declaration.
Information and application
forms are available from SBA’s
Customer Service Center by
calling (800) 659 2955, email-
ing disastercustomerservice
@sba.gov, or visiting SBA’s
Web site at www.sba.gov/serv-
ices/disasterassistance. Hear-
ing impaired individuals may
call 800-877-8339. Applicants
may also apply online using the
Electronic Loan Application
(ELA) via SBA’s secure Web
site at https://disasterloan.sba.
gov/ela.
The deadline to apply for
these loans is August 8, 2011.
For more information, visit
SBA’s Web site at www.sba.
gov/services/disasterassis-
tance.
Have a Happy New Year
Please don’t drink
and drive
State Farm ®
Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Home Office, Bloomington, Illinois 61710
Bunny Girt, Agent
1229 N. Adair
PO Box 543
Cornelius, OR 97113-0543
Bus 503-357-3131 Fax 503-357-9667
bunny.girt.b71g@statefarm.com
Page 17
Power of the People
By W. Marc Farmer, General Manager,
West Oregon Electric Cooperative
It’s December again
already?…Really?
I can’t believe that it is
December already. It
seems 2010 was just a blur
and 2011 is shaping up to
be more of the same. One
thing we have been grateful for, more than any
other, is that we have not had a significant storm
or FEMA event so far this year. It has allowed us
to focus on other important issues and projects.
We do know that just because we’ve made it
this far without a major storm, the weather fore-
cast for the entire winter of wet and colder con-
ditions indicates we need to be ready for any-
thing. Having survived three FEMA events in a
row in the past, preparing ourselves is a must,
not a maybe. We make sure we are stocked with
all of the materials we may need to restore pow-
er from wind, snow, flood, trees, etc… that
threaten to bring down our lines in a storm event.
We make sure vehicles are gassed up, stocked,
and ready to roll, and personnel are put on alert
when a storm is approaching.
Since we are all at the mercy of the weather,
we recommend that our members be as pre-
pared as possible. Make sure you have food and
water on hand. The emergency management ex-
perts we work with for Columbia and Washington
Counties all recommend a 72 hour supply of
food, water, flashlight batteries or candles, gas,
and essentials. There is a list of essentials and
recommendations on our WOEC website. We
encourage all of our members to be properly
prepared for major storm events. It may not have
anything to do with power, as we have had mem-
bers unable to leave their homes due to flooding,
snow, or downed trees blocking their roads trap-
ping them for days.
As a reminder, should you have a power out-
age, please call and let us know your location
and your phone number. It is also just as impor-
tant that you call and let us know when your
power has been restored. We have had a few
occasions when power was restored on a line
with the exception of one or two members be-
cause a tree or limb had damaged their tap lines.
We were not notified for a couple of days that
they were still off. We try to check as much of the
line as possible and call to check, but if nobody
is home to respond, we could potentially miss
one. We need your help to know if you are off or
back on in an outage.
We also need your help to be proactive rather
than reactive when there is a potential hazard
that you might see on our lines. If you see a tree
or limb that is leaning on or close to our lines that
could pose a threat in a storm condition, please
call and let us know so we can send our crews
out to access and eliminate the problem before it
causes an outage. It is a whole lot easier and
cheaper to cut trees and limbs in the daylight
during work hours, than to cut them by flashlight
in the dark after hours. We appreciate your help
to protect our system.
Let’s hope we make it through the entire win-
ter season without any major storm events this
year.