BALTIMORE — A little over a year after the Key Bridge disaster, new data shows the widespread economic fallout, with federal aid reaching businesses of all types throughout the region.
WMAR-2 News obtained data listing the businesses and nonprofits that received Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loans following the bridge collapse with recipients ranging from trucking companies and restaurants to taxis, beauty and nail salons, and even dance companies.
According to the SBA, approximately 6,377 applications were submitted, resulting in $128,641,608 in loans being disbursed to 2,343 businesses and nonprofits, including those in surrounding states.
Nearly half of all businesses receiving funds were taxi and ridesharing services, accounting for approximately 20 percent of the total amount disbursed. Freight trucking companies and full-service restaurants rounded out the top three industries receiving assistance.
And the geographic reach of these loans spanned multiple states with businesses receiving funds as far west as Uniontown, Pennsylvania, north to a popcorn supplier in Lancaster, east to a restaurant owner in Ocean City, and south to a food delivery service in Painter, Virginia.
Michael Clark's Baltimore-based warehousing and logistics company, located near the Port of Baltimore, was among the five businesses that received the highest loan amounts exceeding $500,000. BTR Capital Group received $857,800.
"One hundred percent of our customers utilize the Port of Baltimore to move all types of different products in and out of the country," Clark, owner and president of BTR Capital Group, told WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii. “When the bridge collapsed, as you can imagine, it was chaos. Our business, for the most part, shut down almost overnight.”
Despite the Corps of Engineers' quick work to reopen the shipping channel, Clark's business recovery took six to eight months. "Getting the port open was step one, figuring out where all the cargo had been diverted to in the interim was step two. And then unfortunately, as the port did reopen, there was this looming threat of a strike by port workers, and that further prevented customers from coming back to the Port of Baltimore."
Clark's warehouses finally started filling up again in November, but until then, his company relied on emergency assistance, including $250,000 in state grant funding to pay workers' wages, plus an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).
"That loan saved us and allowed us to get back to where we are today," Clark said.
The SBA disaster loans are designed for normal operating expenses such as fixed debts, payroll, and other bills due to business disruption. More than 6,300 businesses and nonprofits applied for assistance, with just over a third receiving approval.
"There's some underwriting that they do based on the size of your business. Ultimately, they ask you to estimate what you think you'll need to get through the disaster," Clark explained.
While the funds proved essential, the timeline for receiving assistance varied significantly. State grants arrived within about six weeks, but Clark waited approximately five months for his SBA loan.
"That was the biggest challenge. The state jumped in very quickly, providing us the employee retention grant, which was able to bridge the initial shock, the initial gap, but we really came down to the wire with the SBA loan," he said. "It was a little frustrating. But at the end of the day, they gave us the loan, which was our lifeblood. So I can't complain too much."
The SBA disaster loans have favorable terms, with repayment starting a year after disbursement with an interest rate of 4 percent for small businesses and 3.25 percent for private non-profits.
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