BATON ROUGE – In response to the historic flooding in Louisiana, TruFund Financial Services announced the deployment of resources to assist several support efforts of small businesses across the impacted parishes. TruFund personnel has been on the ground leading response and recovery efforts providing technical assistance and going door to door informing business owners of available resources in the hardest hit areas.
TruFund is also working with other disaster relief agencies like Small Business Administration (SBA) and Louisiana Small Business Development Centers to insure the immediate needs of the business community are met.
TruFund President, James H. Bason has approved adjusting loan terms of current borrowers located in impacted parishes by providing a 90-day payment deferment effective immediately. “Our hope is this assistance helps with the immediate needs as business owners begin the recovery process,” Bason said.
“TruFund is no stranger to being on the front lines of disaster recovery, especially in the Gulf Coast Region,” Myla R. Poree, Vice President/ Managing Director for Louisiana, said.
TruFund was on hand to help small businesses recover from the 2001 terrorist attack on New York City, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Isaac in Louisiana, Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast and the BP oil spill affecting the Gulf Coast Region, company reps said.
According to the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce, Louisiana State University’s Stephenson Disaster Management Institute and Governor’s office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness:
• Overall, 7,364 businesses employing 73,907 individuals are located in areas identified as flood affected. These represent 21% of businesses in the overall Capital Region, and these specific locations employ 18% of area employees.
• Proportionally, businesses in Livingston experienced the most severe impact with 3,305 businesses that employ 27,653 employees in the areas of flood-impact, representing 91% of businesses and 94% of employees.
• 2,055 businesses were located within the impacted area of East Baton Rouge (parish), employing 22,298 people, representing 9.1% of businesses and 7.7% of employees at those businesses.
“We understand that it will take time for these businesses to recover and we stand poised to provide whatever assistance we can to the businesses of these devastated areas,” Poree said.
TruFund Financial Services, Inc. is a wholly independent national non-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). TruFund seeks to stimulate economic development in communities that are underserved by traditional banking institutions by providing fair and accessible capital, hands-on technical assistance and innovative solutions to small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
To support business recovery efforts, monetary donations can be made to TruFund Financial Services here.
