Arkansas businesses have been approved for billions in Arkansas Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) by the The Small Business Administration (SBA).
You can use the Arkansas EIDL loan you receive through the SBA’s EIDL program to cover day-to-day activities in your Arkansas business without paying high interest rates.
It is important to be aware of a few important restrictions on Arkansas EIDL before you begin spending the funds.
Arkansas Economic Injury Disaster Loans
If you have suffered substantial economic injury and are one of the following types of businesses located in an Arkansas declared disaster area, you may be eligible for a SBA EIDL:
- Arkansas small business.
- Arkansas small agricultural cooperative.
- Arkansas most private nonprofit organizations.
Arkansas EIDL Loan Eligibility
- Substantial economic injury means the Arkansas business is unable to meet its obligations and pay its ordinary and necessary operating expenses.
- Arkansas EIDL provides the necessary working capital to help small businesses impacted by a disaster survive until normal operations resume.
- Arkansas EIDL assistance is available only to small businesses when SBA determines they are unable to obtain credit elsewhere.
Arkansas SBA can provide up to $2 million* to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could have been met had the disaster not occurred. The loan amount will be based on your actual economic injury and your Arkansas company’s financial needs, regardless of whether the business suffered any property damage.
An Arkansas business may qualify for, both, an EIDL and a physical disaster loan.
Arkansas EIDL Loan Approval Process
Arkansas has approved 22,534 EIDL applications totaling $1,624,714,188 in SBA EIDL loans.
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is a federal small business loan program that financially supports Arkansas small businesses’ economic injury recovery from a natural disaster or from the COVID-19 disaster affecting Arkansas businesses.
Learn more about the Arkansas EIDL Loan Approval Process. You can still apply for the Arkansas ERC tax credit, even if you received an EIDL loan.
What Can Arkansas EIDL Loans Be Used For?
Arkansas EIDL loans may be used to provide working capital necessary for business operations, as well as for expenditures needed to mitigate the effects of a pandemic.
Spending and debts in this category include working capital, prior business debt (for example, mortgages and credit card debts) payroll, continuation of health care benefits, rent, maintenance, utilities, and fixed debt payments. Expanding an Arkansas business cannot be done with EIDL loans.
A loan from the Arkansas EIDL may be used to fund renovations that have already been completed, but cannot be used to expand the business or repay debt owed to a federal agency.
Borrowers may use EIDL working capital loan proceeds to make regular payments for operating expenses and to:
- Pay or prepay Arkansas business non-federal debt incurred at any time (past or future), including monthly payments, payments of deferred interest;
- Pay regularly scheduled payments on federal debt;
- Payroll;
- Rent/mortgage;
- Utilities; and
- Other ordinary Arkansas business expenses.
How Arkansas EIDL Can’t Be Used?
There are different ways that you clearly cannot use disaster loan proceeds and these are included under the section that includes ineligible use of proceeds:
Arkansas EIDL proceeds may not be used for:
- Payment of any dividends or bonuses;
- Disbursements to Arkansas owners, partners, officers, directors, or stockholders, except when directly related to performance of services for the benefit of the applicant;
- Repayment of stockholder / principal loans, except when the funds were injected on an interim basis as a result of the disaster and non-repayment would cause undue hardship to the stockholder/principal;
- Expansion of facilities or acquisition of fixed assets;
- Repair or replacement of physical damages;
- Refinancing long term debt;
- Paying down (including regular installment payments) or paying off loans provided, or owned by another Federal agency (including SBA) or a Small Business Investment Company licensed under the Small Business Investment Act. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is not considered a Federal agency for this purpose;
- Payment of any part of a direct Federal debt, (including SBA loans) except IRS obligations;
- Pay any penalty resulting from noncompliance with a law, regulation or order of a Federal, state, regional, or local agency;
- Contractor malfeasance; and
- Relocation.
What’s Best Practice for Tracking the Use of Arkansas EIDL Funds?
The easiest way to track how your Arkansas EIDL funds are being used is to keep them in a separate bank account. For SBA review, you can provide bank statements showing the entire transaction history related to your EIDL funds.
While you aren’t required to submit documents automatically, you should keep careful records of how you spend Arkansas EIDL proceeds in case the SBA or another governmental agency requests it in the future. In the same way that there have been audits and inspections of past disasters, some of these loans will also be scrutinized.
It is not necessary to use a certain Arkansas business account to spend money. Just keep track of all eligible expenditures that you can attribute to the EIDL. While you are in possession of the loan, if prompted by the SBA, it is up to you to self-report what business activities you used the funds for.
Conclusion and Summary
Managing your Arkansas EIDL loan properly will allow you to maximize its benefits, so you need to know what you can and cannot do with it.
Hiring an EIDL Loan Advisor in Arkansas allows small business owners to focus on what matters most when growing their companies, and without having to worry about how they’ll secure SBA loan financing when they want or need it most. In a time of great need like COVID or other natural disaster that disrupts or damages their Arkansas business.
Does Your Arkansas Business Need an Increase or Loan Modification to Your Existing SBA EIDL Loan?
Did you already receive an Arkansas SBA EIDL loan for your Arkansas business?
We can assist your business in requesting additional SBA EIDL loan funds through the increase request and loan modification process in Arkansas.
Schedule Your Free Disaster Loan Consultation to see if we may be able to help your business with the SBA Increase Request Process in Arkansas.
Was Your Arkansas SBA EIDL Loan Denied?
Has your Arkansas SBA EIDL loan been denied for your AR business?
We can assist you in filing for an SBA EIDL loan reconsideration appeal for your business in Arkansas.
Schedule Your Free Disaster Loan Consultation to see if we may be able to help your business with the SBA Loan Reconsideration Process in Arkansas.
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