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Washington, DC – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the addition of five neighboring counties in Virginia to the Maryland disaster declaration for the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, including Prince William County, enabling more Virginia businesses to be eligible to apply for SBA’s low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans. After hearing from constituent businesses impacted by the fallout from the bridge collapse, Wexton along with Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger successfully advocated for SBA’s disaster declaration to include Prince William County and allow those businesses to access disaster relief resources. 

“I've seen firsthand the devastation of the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore and have heard from constituent businesses about the hardships they're now facing because of the interruptions at the port,” said Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton. “As we work to swiftly rebuild the bridge and restore port services, I'm pleased that SBA has expanded the disaster declaration to cover Prince William, as Rep. Spanberger and I requested they do. I'll continue working to make sure local Virginia businesses have the support they need throughout this crisis.”

The declaration covers the entire state of Maryland and contiguous counties, including the District of Columbia; Kent, New Castle, and Sussex in Delaware; Adams, Bedford, Chester, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Lancaster, Somerset, and York in Pennsylvania; Accomack, Independent City of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, King George, Loudoun, Northumberland, Prince William, Stafford, and Westmoreland in Virginia; and Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan, and Preston in West Virginia. 

For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and private nonprofit organizations, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) of up to $2 million to help overcome any temporary loss of revenue stemming from the bridge collapse. These loans may be used to pay normal operating expenses such as fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disruption. 

Customer Service Representatives at SBA’s Business Recovery Centers will assist business owners in completing their disaster loan applications, accept documents, and provide status on loan applications. The Centers will operate as indicated below until further notice.

Eligibility 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 small businesses and 3.25% for private nonprofit organizations with terms up to 30 years and are restricted to small businesses without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship.

Interest does not begin to accrue until 12 months from the date of the first disaster loan disbursement. SBA disaster loan repayment begins 12 months from the date of the first disbursement. 

Applicants may apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at SBA.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

The filing deadline to return economic injury applications is Dec. 30, 2024.

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