The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) opened its local outreach center located on the bottom floor of the Lewis County Courthouse on Friday afternoon.
The center is open to help county residents, homeowners and business owners apply for federal disaster loans in the wake of the December 2025 storms and flooding.
Staff with the administration are urging any residents of the county or neighboring counties who think they may qualify for a disaster loan to apply now.
“As time goes on, of course, we're less likely to accept your application,” SBA Public Affairs Specialist Cythia Cowell said.
It's the first time since the 2022 flooding that SBA has responded to a disaster in the county. SBA’s responses to natural disasters are more common than those of FEMA. According to Cowell, the SBA has a lower threshold for responding to disasters and generally is able to issue much larger loans to victims of natural disasters to help pay for building repairs, economic damages and more.
The threshold for a jurisdiction to qualify for SBA disaster response is 25 homes or businesses significantly damaged by disaster. After the storms and flooding in December of last year, five Washington state counties qualified for the aid from the SBA, including Lewis County. The others are King, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties.
According to Ellen Israel with the SBA, the administration is the largest source of federal funding for private property damage after natural disaster
The SBA is currently offering three main types of loans to those impacted by flooding and other storm-related damage that happened from Dec. 5 to Dec 22 of last year. For physical damage to property, residents may qualify for either a business physical disaster loan or a home disaster loan.
Business disaster loans are available to businesses of all sizes and can go up to $2 million for repairs or to replace inventory or equipment. Renters are eligible to borrow as much as $100,000 for repairs while homeowners can borrow up to $500,000.
Interest rates for physical damage loans vary and of course depend on credit history and an ability to repay the loans. For those who have no other available options for borrowing, home loans start at 2.875%, business loans start at 4% and nonprofit loans start at 3.635%.
Minimum interest rates are higher for those that have other options for credit with home loans starting at 5.75%, business loans starting at 8% and nonprofit loans at 3.625%.
The federal loans come with a one year deferment period during which no interest is applied. According to Cowell, that period also doesn’t begin until applicants for the loan access the money for the first time, meaning someone who qualifies can sit on the loan as they plan repairs or other spending for the money before the deferment period begins.
Small businesses and nonprofits can also apply for economic injury disaster loans intended to assist with non-physical costs that may have popped up due to the disaster. Examples include paying for payroll, fixed debts or other bills connected to the disaster.
For more information about disaster loans offered by the SBA and previous reporting by The Chronicle, visit https://tinyurl.com/4teswphz.
Staff from the SBA will be present in an office space in the basement of the Lewis County Courthouse building near the handicap accessible entrance at the east side of the building. The outreach center is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Fridays.
According to Israel, administration staff will be available in that office for as long as they are needed and likely for most of the next month as the deadline to apply for physical damage loans approaches on April 27.
