SBA Offers Help After Winter Storm Damage
Area residents who suffered damage during the severe winter storm on Dec. 17-18, 2026, should know that assistance is available through the U.S. Small Business Administration.
SBA public affairs specialists Ellen Israel and Amira Huntsberry are currently working in a six-county northeastern Montana region. They were visiting in the Wolf Point community last week.
SBA offers low-fixed interest rates to homeowners, renters, non-profits, faithbased organizations and businesses.
“The terms are really generous,” Israel said.
Income guidelines require that the applicant must have the ability to repay the loan. Officials do look at the applicant’s credit history.
The application center is the Wolf Point Community Center. There is no cost for the application.
“It really doesn’t cost anything but your time,” Israel said. “We want people to know that it’s an option.”
The assistance is for the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes for physical damage and economic injury, and for economic injury only for the contiguous Montana counties of Roosevelt, Daniels, McCone, Richland, Sheridan and Valley.
Huntsberry explains that a person doesn’t need to live on the reservation to be eligible for the physical damage loans, if they have property on the reservation.
Application filing deadlines are Aug. 1, 2026, for physical damage and March 1, 2027, for economic injury.
The law limits business loans to $2,000,000 for the repair or replacement of real estate, inventories, machinery, equipment and all other physical losses. The law limits economic injury disaster loans to $2,000,000 for alleviating economic injury caused by the disaster.
If your loan application is approved, you may be eligible for additional funds to cover the cost of improvements that will protect your property against future damage. Examples of improvements include retaining walls, seawalls, sump pumps, etc.
For more assistance, call 1-800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@ sba. gov.
