Sequoyah Fund has recently received funding from Cherokee Preservation Foundation for a special loan program to assist businesses affected by the landslide. This funding will enable Sequoyah Fund to make low interest loans (1-4 percent) to local businesses which have suffered financial setbacks due to a lack of customers in the first two quarters of 2013.
To be eligible for this loan, a business must be located on the Qualla Boundary or be owned by an EBCI tribal member. The business must also have experienced financial losses between January and June. This is a loan for temporary assistance, not for business expansion or growth. Business owners who apply for a loan will be asked to provide monthly or quarterly financial statements from the period for which they are claiming losses. Owners may apply for amounts up to the difference between this year and last year’s January – June profits.
If you do not have financial statements for the first two quarters of the year, you may still be able to get a disaster relief loan. For businesses without financial statements there will be a $5,000 cap. These business owners will also be required to attend a business accounting (Quickbooks) training before the loan can be disbursed.
If you are interested in a Disaster Relief Assistance loan, contact Sequoyah Fund to see if your business qualifies and for what amount. Feel free to contact Sequoyah Fund if you are interested in other types of assistance as well (creating and reading financial statements, disaster preparedness planning, credit coaching, or other services). Check out their lineup of services and trainings at www.sequoyahfund.org. Info: John Ross (828) 359-5006, johnross@sequoyahfund.org or Russ Seagle (828) 359-5003, russseagle@sequoyahfund.org.
– Sequoyah Fund
