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Columbia Business Monthly

The Business Narrative: Disaster Loans

Jan 27, 2025 09:13AM ● By Donna Walker

SBA Approves Gov. McMaster’s Request for Disaster Assistance

(123rf.com Image)

 

Following Gov. Henry McMaster's Jan. 17 request, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Jan. 24, 2025, that South Carolina's businesses and residents affected by Nov. 6-14, 2024, storms and flooding are eligible to apply for low-interest disaster loans.

 

The declaration covers Orangeburg County and the adjacent counties of Aiken, Bamberg, Barnwell, Berkeley, Calhoun, Clarendon, Colleton, Dorchester, and Lexington. 

 

To assist businesses and residents affected by the disaster, the SBA will open a Disaster Loan Outreach Center (DLOC) in Orangeburg County on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, as noted below:  

 

Orangeburg County

Cordova Senior Citizens Center
160 Mixon Mill Road
Cordova, SC 29039

 

Opening: Monday, February 3, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hours: Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
             Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Closed: Sundays

Permanently Closes: Saturday, February 15 at 2 p.m.  

 

Customer Service Representatives will be available at the center to answer questions about the disaster loan program and help individuals complete their applications.

 

The filing deadline to submit applications for physical property damage is March 24, 2025. The deadline to submit economic injury applications is Oct. 22, 2025.

 

Applicants can apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at sba.gov/disaster.

 

Applicants can also call SBA's Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email [email protected] for more information on SBA disaster assistance.

 

People who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, should dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

 

Loans up to $500,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate.

 

Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.  

 

Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase of up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes.

 

Eligible mitigation improvements may include a safe room or storm shelter, sump pump, French drain or retaining wall to help protect property and occupants from future damage.

 

For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster.

 

EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.

 

Interest rates are as low as 4 percent for businesses, 3.625 percent for nonprofit organizations, and 2.563 percent for homeowners and renters, with terms of up to 30 years.

 

Interest doesn’t begin to accrue, and monthly payments are not due, until 12 months from the date of the initial disbursement.

 

Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant's financial condition.

SC Launch Announces Investment in VBASE Oil Company

South Carolina Research Authority’s investment affiliate, SC Launch Inc., has invested $250,000 in VBASE Oil Company.

 

The Pendleton-based startup manufactures a new class of sustainable, high-performance base oils that are biobased, biodegradable, non-toxic, and non-bioaccumulating.

 

VBASE Oil Company became an SCRA Member Company in 2024 and an SC Launch Inc. Portfolio Company with this investment.

 

“VBASE began from the need to produce more environmentally acceptable and sustainable lubricating solutions. They perfected their products while working as a team of scientists and engineers at a South Carolina-based advanced materials company, partly with DOE and USDA funding,” said SCRA Senior Investment Manager Rob Moser.

 

Moser added,  “After developing and patenting their biodegradable solution, Secondary Polyol Ester technology, they formed VBASE Oil Company to bring the technology to market.”

 

“This investment will accelerate our growth, enhance our global regulatory certifications, optimize operations, and broaden product applications to serve a growing customer base,” said VBASE Oil Company CEO and Founder Jeffrey DiMaio, Ph.D.

 

DiMaio added, “With partners like SCRA and SC Launch Inc., we are on track to be the most innovative and sustainable base oil brand.”

 

VBASE base oils help lubricant manufacturers make high-performance, environmentally friendly lubricants.

 

Established in 2006, SC Launch Inc. is the investment affiliate of the South Carolina Research Authority.

 

The independent, nonprofit corporation provides convertible loans and investment funding to qualifying SCRA Member Companies.

 

Officials say the returns on this funding provide additional coaching grants and investments to next-generation technology startups.

Dream Finders Homes Closes Acquisition Forming New Partnership with Liberty Communities

Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (NYSE: DFH) announced that it has completed the acquisition of the core homebuilding operations and assets of privately-held homebuilder, Liberty Communities, LLC, in the Atlanta, Georgia and Greenville, South Carolina markets, in addition to its captive pre-engineered panel and truss and building component import businesses (collectively, Liberty Communities).

 

Officials said the transaction enables Dream Finders’ expansion to the Atlanta homebuilding market, one of the largest and fastest-growing in the United States and increases its community count and future land supply in Greenville.

 

In addition, the acquisition of Liberty’s offsite manufacturing and component import businesses provide cost and operating efficiencies in Liberty’s existing markets and position DFH with a potential platform for expansion to other active markets in the future, the officials said.

 

DFH funded the transaction with cash on hand and borrowings under its existing senior unsecured revolving credit facility.

 

Simultaneously with the acquisition closing, DFH paid off Liberty’s vertical lines of credit associated with the assets acquired.

 

Zelman, a Walker & Dunlop Company (NYSE: WD), served as the exclusive sell-side financial advisor to Liberty Communities on the transaction.

 

Dream Finders Homes (NYSE: DFH) is a homebuilder based in Jacksonville, Florida.

 

Dream Finders Homes builds single-family homes throughout the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, including Florida, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, Arizona, and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, which comprises Northern Virginia and Maryland.

 

Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, DFH also provides mortgage financing and title services to homebuyers.

Dealing With Spam Texts, Emails, Junk Mail

If it’s not scammers spamming your phone with texts or filling up your inbox with emails, it’s your mailbox crammed with ads and other mail you didn’t ask for.

 

The junk messages and mail might seem endless, but there are some ways to help scale it back.

 

Scammers send phishing texts and emails that look legit to trick you into giving them personal or financial information.

 

Legit companies might send mail that you just don’t want — things like magazines, catalogs, or prescreened offers of credit and insurance. While these aren’t necessarily scams, they can pile up quickly.

 

To help you cut down on spam texts and emails, the Federal Trade Commission recommends:

 

Use filters. Check if your mobile phone has options to filter and block texts from unknown senders. Some call blocking apps can also help block unwanted messages. Many popular email providers (like Gmail or Yahoo Mail) have strong spam filters turned on by default. But if any spam gets into your inbox, mark it as spam or junk.

 

Unsubscribe from unwanted emails. Getting fewer unwanted emails helps you avoid clicking on links that can lead to phishing attacks.

 

Report unwanted messages. Unwanted messages often lead to scams. Report them. Use your phone’s “report junk” option or forward unwanted texts to 7726 (SPAM) and unwanted emails to your email provider.

 

To help you cut down on junk mail:

Register with the Direct Marketing Association to decide what types of mail you do and don’t want from marketers.

 

Opt out of getting prescreened credit and insurance offers in the mail. You can choose to opt out for five years or permanently.

 

Learn more about how to get fewer spam textsemails, and junk mail. If you spot a scam, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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