Some business owners in Houston met with experts to help them get what they need to reopen.
The Spaghetti Western restaurant on I-10 and Shepherd was out of power for eight days and lost about $40,000. Because of that, the restaurant's operators needed a short-term loan. This is just one of many Houston area restaurants that needed help with Hurricane Ike recovery.
The Texas Restaurant and the Texas Retail Associations sponsored a recovery summit where business owners got answers to their questions.
"People have unemployment questions with their staffing issue," said Ruben Castillo with Workforce Solutions.
"They're looking for assistance for inventory loss as well as their economic loss because of their businesses being closed because of the power outage," said Olivia Humilde with the Small Business Administration.
There have been some changes for business owners who need loans to get through the post-hurricane recovery thanks to the credit crisis. If owners go through a private finance company, the credit standards are toughening up.
If owners get a disaster recovery loan from the small business administration credit standards remain the same as they were before Ike hit the Houston area. Taking this route might get a borrower a lower rate as low as 4% in some cases.
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