Deadline for applying for federal disaster drought loans in St. Lawrence County is May 30.
A federal agency is reminding St. Lawrence County businesses, agricultural cooperatives, aquaculture, and most private nonprofit organizations that May 30 is the deadline to file for disaster loans due to the drought that began on April 1, 2016.
Under this declaration, the U.S. Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of the drought.
With the exception of aquaculture enterprises, SBA cannot provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers.
Nurseries are eligible to apply for economic injury disaster loans for losses caused by drought conditions.
Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.
Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
Loan applications can be downloaded from the SBA’s website at www.sba.gov/disaster.
Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
Completed loan applications must be returned to SBA no later than May 30, 2017.

Financing and supply chain collaboration.
With more than 60 active partners globally, Water.org takes an individualistic approach with each partnership design and implementation.
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When a financial organization chooses to partner with a supply chain provider, the relationship can take many forms.
For instance, the financial organization can offer an optional referral service for customers who receive a water and sanitation loan.
Households are also offered a turn-key option which allows them to rely on a pre-qualified vendor for much of their solution.
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If the need arises, Svadha also provides services to financial organizations that can include community engagement, micro business establishment and other holistic water and sanitation lending support services.
While some financial lenders may be uncertain about partnering with a water and sanitation service provider, Water.org has helped facilitate and underwrite several successful partnerships.

Funding Available to Hancock County Farmers Hit by Drought.
The United States Department of Agriculture is making funding available to Hancock County farmers who may have been impacted by a drought last year in Pennsylvania.
The USDA has designated Hancock County as a “contiguous disaster area” due to a drought that occurred in 14 counties in Pennsylvania between May and December 2016.
As a result, Farm Service Agency emergency production loss assistance is available for farmers in Hancock County who suffered qualifying losses under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act.
“It’s important Hancock County farmers impacted by last year’s drought seek assistance from the USDA in a timely manner.
These monies will not be available forever, so we encourage those who were affected to take advantage of this assistance,” West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt said in a press release.
Farmers who meet the eligibility requirements have eight months from the date of declaration on April 5 to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.
The Farm Service Agency will consider each loan application on its own merit, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.
The agency has a variety of programs to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.
Interested farmers may contact their local USDA service centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these programs.

Small businesses, agricultural cooperatives and aquaculture farms have less than a month to apply for federal assistance due to the recent drought, which hasn’t entirely ended despite recent rain and snow.
May 15 is the filing deadline for federal economic injury disaster loans in New Hampshire as a result of the drought that began on Jan. 1, 2016.
Ironically, while the northern half of the state has recovered from the drought, the southern half continues to show drought conditions, as state climatologist Mary Stampone mentioned at a meeting of the New Hampshire Drought Management Team last week.
The problem is that groundwater supplies, which take time to be recharged, have not recovered from a year of below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures.
There are increasing signs that another El Nino, the Pacific Ocean phenomenon that shapes weather throughout the continent, is forming.
The last El Nino was associated with New Hampshire’s 2016 drought.
Under the federal Small Business Administration declaration, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to farm-related and nonfarm-related entities, including nurseries.
Except for aquaculture enterprises, SBA cannot provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers.
The loans are for working capital and can be up to $2 million with interest rates of 4 percent for eligible small businesses and 2.625 percent for nonprofit organizations, and terms up to 30 years.
Applicants may apply online using the electronic loan application via SBA’s website at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela, or by calling the SBA’s customer service center at 800-659-2955 or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Drought disaster loans available in Maryland.
ATLANTA — The U.S. Small Business Administration recently announced that federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available in Allegany, Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland as a result of the drought between May 1 and Dec. 10, 2016.
The loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and private nonprofit organizations.
The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of the drought.
With the exception of aquaculture enterprises, SBA can’t provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers.
Nurseries are eligible to apply for economic injury disaster loans for losses caused by drought conditions.
The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred.
Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.
Information and application forms can also be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

City shrinks annual payments by adding $5.8 million to life of sewer loan.
The city of Akron is taking out its first 45-year loan to spread the “unaffordability” of a $1.4 billion sewer project for generations to come.
Akron City Council’s budget and finance committee gave a favorable recommendation Monday for the plan, which will authorize Mayor Dan Horrigan’s staff to apply for a $10 million loan from the state’s Water Pollution Control Fund.
The financing will help with the $21.9 million cost of installing a storage basin on the south side of Cuyahoga Street near North Howard Street.
The structure will hold up to 2.4 million gallons of waste and stormwater from North Hill as the city aims to contain every drop of effluent per a federal environmental lawsuit.
Steve Fricker, deputy finance director for Akron, said the benefits of cleaner water will be felt for a century.
But longer loans, though reducing annual payments, come at a higher interest rate.
At 45 years, however, the interest rate climbs to 3 percent, adding $8.3 million to the bill.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com.
Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .

Kenya seen struggling with fiscal pressures as elections loom No ‘solid rebound’ expected in credit growth to private sector The World Bank cut its economic growth forecast for Kenya due to a slowdown in the expansion of loans to the private sector and a drought that may hurt output. Gross domestic product in East Africa’s largest economy will expand 5.5 percent this year, the Washington-based lender said in a report released Wednesday. This compares with an earlier forecast of 6 percent and estimated growth of 5.9 percent in 2016, the World Bank said. The world’s biggest exporter of black tea is experiencing drought and the Meteorological Department has warned that rains between March and May will be less than normal. While agriculture, which is dominated by flower-growing and fresh produce and accounts for about a quarter of Kenyan GDP, will be hit by the low rainfall, the drought will have a spillover effect on other parts of the economy, the World Bank said. “The drought will have knock-on effects on the rest of the economy through higher electricity prices, as…