Community Involvement

March 17, 2020

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Is Pushing Out Emergency Bridge Loans to Small Business at 0% Interest For One Year

To assist small businesses to stay open and pay employees during the COVID-19 slowdown, Governor DeSantis has authorized the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to extend 0% interest emergency bridge loans to small businesses.  The loans are for up to $50,000 and are at 0% interest for 1 year, escalating to 12% after the first year.   The application deadline is May 8, 2020.   Hill Rugh Keller & Main is offering small businesses help free of charge, to help in developing their loan applications.   More information from the State of Florida is available at https://floridadisasterloan.org/ or you can email the State of Florida at  Disaster@FloridaSBDC.org or call via phone toll‐free  to (866)  737‐7232. According  to  the  State  of  Florida’s  website,  eligible  businesses  must: (1) be a for‐profit, privately held small business that maintains a place of business in the state of Florida; (2) be located in a designated disaster area; eligible Florida counties per Executive Order 20‐52 are all counties statewide; (3) be established prior to March 9, 2020, the date of the designated disaster; (4) be able to demonstrate economic injury as a result of the designated disaster, and the need for the loan and use of proceeds must be directly  related  to  the  economic  injury  caused  by  the  designated  disaster;  and  (5)  be  eligible for assistance based on the types of activities the business conducts according to State of Florida guidelines. Here is a link to the application form: https://floridadisasterloan.org/a/w/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/20200316-COVID-19-Florida-Emergency-Bridge-Loan-Application3.pdf (This link is updated from our previous post).  If you have questions, please direct them to Andy Showen at HRKM at 407-808-8357 or andy@hrkmlaw.com.