State Emergency Bridge Loan applications now available

For those who incurred damage to their business from Hurricane Milton, FloridaCommerce and the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) have activated the Business Damage Assessment Survey. The program will gather information from businesses affected by the hurricane and share the results with various local, state and federal agencies to implement appropriate disaster relief programs.

The survey is available on FloridaDisaster.biz.

Even if you previously filled out a survey for damages that were incurred under Hurricane Helene, you will need to take a new separate survey for new damages incurred under Hurricane Milton.

For additional assistance, contact 850-815-4925 or [email protected].

As it did for Hurricane Helene, Florida Commerce has activated the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan, making $50 million available to Florida businesses impacted by Hurricane Milton.

Up to $50K is available for small businesses with up to 100 employees, including sole proprietors, up to $100K is available for Agriculture and Aquaculture businesses and up to $150K for cattle and citrus operations.

Apply at FloridaJobs.org/EBL.

Pinellas County Economic Development noted to business owners in a release that all demolition and construction contractors in the state of Florida must be licensed, either by the state (known as state-certified contractors) or by the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board (locally-certified contractors).

State-certified contractors can be verified at MyFloridaLicense.com.

County-certified contractors can be verified at PCCLB.com.

All demolition and construction work on a commercial property must be performed by a licensed contractor unless exempted by Chapter 489.103, Florida Statutes.