Maui Economic Opportunity hosts an SBA roundtable with local business and with community leaders in Wailuku
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Submitted by MEO
WAILUKU--U.S. Small Business Administration Associate Administrator Francisco Sanchez Jr. convened a roundtable of local business and community leaders Thursday to listen and learn about SBA's performance following the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires.
Maui Economic Opportunity hosted the gathering with about 30 people in its Wailuku classroom.
Sanchez called this gathering an opportunity for a reset, a "Day One." SBA, which has been on Maui since the day after the wildfires, currently has 10 staff on island with plans for growth, he said.
SBA's mission is to provide subsidized credit for businesses as well as homeowner and business disaster loans with interest rates as low as 2.5 percent.
Sanchez and his staff took feedback from the group. Questions focused on the role of SBA in disaster loan relief for homeowners and renters--not just businesses--refinance options, varied answers to questions, layering of financing and improving dissemination of information on programs.