Wisconsin businesses hurt by a lack of snowfall this winter may be eligible for a federal disaster assistance loan, state and federal officials said Tuesday.
Northern Wisconsin’s snowfall totals are down from 20 to 75 inches this winter, according to data from the National Weather Service. That means tourism for outdoor winter activities like snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing has been virtually nonexistent, decimating the local economies that depend on tourism.
It’s estimated that Forest, Iron, Langlade, Lincoln, Oneida, Price and Vilas counties lost millions of dollars in revenue due to inadequate snow to open the snowmobile and ski trails in December and January, according to a coalition of businesses in the region.
Tuesday, Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has confirmed the agency will consider business losses from the winter to be related to drought and eligible for assistance.
Under the Economic Impact Disasters Loan program, businesses could borrow up to $2 million to cover their actual losses. They would pay no interest on the loans for the first year and a maximum rate of 4% for the rest of the loan period.
Additional information and applications are available at https://lending.sba.gov
Many counties in the state are already covered by a pre-existing disaster designation for drought from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
