CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — The city has been dealing with drought conditions for almost 4 years, and small businesses have had to make significant adjustments to stay afloat.
Vicente Perez, the owner of VP Irrigation and Landscaping, said the drought has made it harder to get customers.
"Not a lot of people are wanting to put irrigation," Perez said. "Then, of course, the majority of landscapes, we kind of had to, Kind of shift our landscaping styles, to accommodate that, the normal landscapes we used to do, we can't put a lot of water out there to keep those plants alive, those certain trees alive."
Some landscaping businesses have also had to spend more on gas after being forced to find jobs outside of Corpus Christi.
The Small Business Administration, known as the SBA, is now offering relief to small businesses and private nonprofits that have had financial losses directly tied to the drought.
The SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to:
- Small businesses
- Small agricultural cooperatives
- Nurseries
- Private nonprofits, including faith-based organizations
The following are not eligible:
- Agricultural producers
- Farmers
- Ranchers
- Except for small aquaculture enterprises
The loan is available to cover working capital needs resulting from the disaster, even if the applicant did not suffer any physical damage. It can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could not be covered due to the disaster.
The declaration covers a significant number of Texas counties.
Perez said he was not aware of the loans but believes they could be beneficial.
"There are times where there are slow weeks or slow couple of weeks," Perez said. "We still have employees that we have to take care of, and, we gotta make sure that they get their payrolls, so they can take care of their family and their needs."
For more information for the SBA loan, click here.
