Restarting Your Practice
Apply for Aid Online – FEMA
Katrina en español (FirstGov.gov)
Small Business Administration
Low interest loans to hurricane effected businesses.
Free Online Entrepreneurship Course
How to Apply for SBA Disaster Loan Assistance after a Declared Disaster
If you are in a declared disaster area and have suffered any disaster related damage you may be eligible for federal disaster assistance.
Individuals that are Homeowners and Renters must register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to obtain a FEMA Registration ID Number by calling 1-800-621-3362. The speech or hearing impaired may call (TTY) 1-800-462-7585.
Businesses may apply directly to the Small Business Administration for possible disaster assistance.
Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)
SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, is a 13,000member volunteer association sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Since 1964, the association has matched volunteer business management counselors with clients in need of expert advice. SCORE has experts in virtually every area of business management and maintains a national skills roster to help identify the best counselor for a particular client. Volunteer counselors share their management and technical expertise with both present and prospective small business owners.
SCORE volunteers are members of 388 locally organized chapters offering assistance in almost 800 locations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.
Women’s Business Centers
To assist women achieve their dreams and improve their communities by helping them start and run successful businesses, regardless of social or financial disadvantage, race, ethnicity or business background.
The Office of Women's Business Ownership and the Online Women's BusinessCenter are integral components of Entrepreneurial Development's network of training and counseling services.
Small Business Development Centers (en español) (SBDC)
Houston:
Dallas:
Louisiana: Louisiana SBDC State OfficeUniversity of Louisiana at Monroe, College of Business Administration, Room 2-57Monroe, LA71209-6435 Phone (318) 342-5506, Fax: (318) 342-5510 Email:
Mississippi: MSBDC State Office Walter D. (Doug) Gurley, State Director University of Mississippi B 19 Jeanette Phillips Dr. P.O. Box 1848 University, MS 38677-1848
1-800-725-7232 (in Mississippi) or 662-915-5001 Fax: 662 915 5650
E-mail:
Alabama: Small Business Development Center -University of South Alabama Thomas Tucker, Director 251-460-6004
Information about the 8(a) Small Business Program
The SBA administers two particular business assistance programs for small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs). These programs are the 8(a) Business Development Program and the Small Disadvantaged Business Certification Program. While the 8(a) Program offers a broad scope of assistance to socially and economically disadvantaged firms, SDB certification strictly pertains to benefits in Federal procurement. Companies which are 8(a) firms automatically qualify for SDB certification.
Registration:
- Participants can receive sole-source contracts, up to a ceiling of $3 million for goods and services and $5 million for manufacturing. While SBA helps 8(a) firms build their competitive and institutional know-how, the agency also encourages them to participate in competitive acquisitions.
- Federal acquisition policies encourage Federal agencies to award a certain percentage of their contracts to SDBs. To speed up the award process, the SBA has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with 25 Federal agencies allowing them to contract directly with certified 8(a) firms.
- Recent changes permit 8(a) firms to form joint ventures and teams to bid on contracts. This enhances the ability of 8(a) firms to perform larger prime contracts and overcome the effects of contract bundling, the combining of two or more contracts together into one large contract.
QuickBooks
1-888-246-8848
- Free technical support, including those who may not have a support plan currently.
- Six month extension to your Online Edition subscription
- Replacement disks available
- May be providing donated copies of QuickBooks software through the Small Business Development Centers (as of September 9, 2005)
Peachtree
770-724-4577 or 800-247-3224
- Replacement disks available
- They do not currently have a donation program available (as of September 9, 2005)