Federal Drive

Is SBA disaster ready?

Five years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, doubts over SBA\'s efficiency, effectiveness emerge

Federal News Network Staff

August 24, 2010 11:58 am

< a min read

Can the Small Business Administration handle a wide-scale disaster? The question lingers, five years after Hurricane Katrina. A coalition of business owners who had trouble landing SBA disaster loans after hurricanes Katrina and Rita want Congress to force SBA to reconsider loans that were originally rejected or withdrawn. When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, SBA had only 880 employees to process hundreds of thousands of loan applications. The Associated Press has taken a deep look at SBA data. Investigative Reporter Mich Weiss joined the Federal Drive with more.