Money available to help Northwoods businesses affected by lack of snow

Fourteen Republican state lawmakers, including Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) and Rep. Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander), authored a letter Monday urging Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to work with the federal government’s Small Business Administration (SBA) in order to assist local economies affected by the lack of snow this winter. 

Specifically, the lawmakers asked Evers to “properly declare an economic injury disaster area” so small businesses in the state’s central and northern communities are eligible for certain federal loan funding.

The economy of northern Wisconsin relies heavily on tourism, which especially booms come summer. During the winter, tourism dollars come from winter sport enthusiasts — most notably snowmobilers. 

This winter, snowmobile trails haven’t opened and almost certainly won’t open at all. 

“From restaurants to lodging, and everything in between, our constituents need snow to attract the tremendous influx of traffic that comes with the snowmobiling season,” the letter to Evers states. “When people visit our neck of the woods in the wintertime, they aren’t just renting snowmobiles and hitting the trails, they’re staying in our hotels, eating in our restaurants, buying from our stores, and keeping the dollars flowing throughout the season.”

The Economic Injury Disaster Loans, the letter states, will provide a lifeline to businesses struggling to survive until tourism traffic picks back up.

“With generous terms and maturity options, these Economic Injury Disaster Loans could make or break our northern communities,” the lawmakers said to Evers in the letter.

Evers responded by issuing a press release Tuesday with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) announcing that small businesses can receive support through the SBA’s federal disaster loan program “if they have suffered losses due to this year’s unusually mild winter.”

“Gov. Evers and Sen. Baldwin have been advocating for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to confirm this disaster coverage extends to businesses impacted by Wisconsin’s extraordinary winter conditions,” the press release states. “Following those conversations, SBA has confirmed that they will consider business loss from recent low snowfalls over the winter months to be related to the drought and eligible for assistance. The lack of snow has impacted travel and recreation businesses that depend on it for activities such as downhill and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.”

Evers and Baldwin also encouraged people to support local businesses in the central and northern parts of the state by participating in alternative winter activities the rest of the season.

“Many counties in the state are already covered by a pre-existing disaster designation for drought from the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” the press release states. “This designation allows businesses in counties identified as drought disaster areas to be eligible for emergency loans to offset their business losses in those counties if their business loss is related to the drought. The National Weather Service reports that snowfall statewide has been 20 to 30 inches below normal this winter. In the Lake Superior snowbelt, generally across Ashland, Iron, and Vilas counties, snowfall was 40 to 70 inches below normal.”

Businesses in designated counties can borrow up to $2 million to cover actual losses, according to the press release, with no interest for the first year and a max rate of 4 percent the rest of the loan period.

For information about applying for a SBA loan, businesses can visit https://lending.sba.gov, call 800-659-2955 or email [email protected]. 

“Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX, 76155,” the press release states. “Applicants may also contact the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation with their EIDL-related questions at [email protected].”

While application deadlines differ by county; Oneida, Vilas, Price, Iron and Forest counties share the same deadline of May 29. 

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].