Recovery & rebuilding

Business Recovery

Support for damaged businesses, reopening status of local employers, and help for workers whose workplace was destroyed.

2 things to know

Good to know

Help for damaged businesses and their workers

SBA loans, unemployment for workers whose workplace is closed, and state small-business support.

Call 800-659-2955 Website

SBA disaster assistance

More detail

For business owners

SBA disaster loans cover physical damage and, through Economic Injury Disaster Loans, lost revenue. See the Financial section
Document everything — damage, lost inventory, lost revenue, and every day you are closed
File your commercial claim immediately and ask specifically about business interruption coverage, which many owners forget they have
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and the Fox Cities Chamber are the places to watch for disaster grant programs
Your local Small Business Development Center offers free advising, including disaster recovery planning

For workers

If your workplace is closed or destroyed, you may qualify for unemployment insurance — apply at dwd.wisconsin.gov even if you expect to be called back
If a federal disaster is declared, Disaster Unemployment Assistance may cover self-employed and gig workers who do not normally qualify
Your employer must still pay you for hours already worked

Local businesses hit by the storm

Miller Electric in Appleton and Manderfield's Home Bakery in Menasha are among the businesses destroyed or badly damaged.

More detail

Confirmed significant damage includes Miller Electric in Appleton and Manderfield's Home Bakery in Menasha, along with many other businesses through the damage path in Menasha, Grand Chute and southwest Appleton.

Heckrodt Wetland Reserve in Menasha has closed all trails while staff assess damage and clear debris. Reopening information will be posted to its Facebook page.

If you own or work at an affected business and want it listed — whether to say you are closed, that you have reopened, or that you need help — please submit it. When these places reopen, that is worth publishing too.

The best thing anyone can do for a damaged local business is spend money there when it reopens.

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