Business Recovery Center to open in Philadelphia for those impacted by I-95 collapse

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Small businesses and nonprofit organizations financially impacted by the Interstate 95 collapse in Philadelphia will be able to receive in-person help applying for emergency federal loans.

The U.S. Small Business Administration will open a Business Recovery Center on Friday in the city's Tacony section.

The center will be located at the training facility at the Philadelphia Fire Department Engine 38 at 4931 Magee Avenue. It will open Friday, July 7 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Regular hours of operation will be Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The center will close permanently on Friday, July 21 at 6 p.m.

The disaster declaration filed by Gov. Josh Shapiro covers Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. The nearby New Jersey counties of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester are also included.

Businesses in the city's Tacony section are still recovering after traffic backups on neighborhood roads brought business to a crawl following the collapse last month.

"Yeah, it was two weeks of just a ghost town in here," said Achilleas Psillos, owner of Athenian Diner. "Our business hit a stop for a little bit, it was pretty dead."

Psillos said he's still trying to fully recover even though the interstate is back up and running.

"They did get that temporary fix up quick, and things seemed to level out a little bit," Psillos said.

Small businesses and nonprofit organizations impacted financially by the collapse can now apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan issued by the federal government.

"They don't need to prove any physical damage to their business, however, they need to prove that the economic impact was due to this incident," said Liliana Tschanett, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Small Business Administration.

These are the same Economic Injury Disaster Loans used during the pandemic.

"They could use these loans, keep it as a backup plan. They are available six months from now," said Tschanett.

Some business owners said they are hoping for more grant assistance instead of loans.

"I feel OK about it. There should be more grants involved as well, not just loans because a lot of businesses already took out plenty of loans because of the pandemic," said Latisha Diallo, owner of Diallo Dollar.

The Department of Commerce announced last month that The Merchants Fund grant program is also an option for small businesses, but funding is limited.

When it comes to the federal loan, there are measures to try to make it more manageable.

"It's a repayment of up to 30 years, 12 months interest-free. You're not expected to pay the first 12 months, we're trying to get the job to recover," said Tschanett.

The loan has a maximum of $2 million.