Nearly 30 area businesses have applied so far for federal loans that were announced two weeks ago to help small firms and nonprofits financially affected by the January water outage in Richmond.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering the loans of up to $2 million per business through Jan. 9, 2026 – a year from the dayslong outage that left area businesses and residents without water at the start of this year.

Small businesses and private nonprofits can apply for the 30-year loans online during that time. They can also apply in-person at two “recovery centers” that have been set up locally and will remain open until next Tuesday, May 6.

The centers are located at Richmond’s Main Library at 101 E. Franklin St., and at Henrico’s North Park Branch Library at 8508 Franconia Road.

Lesley Hill, the SBA’s public affairs lead for the loans, said the centers have seen eight walk-ins so far – five at the downtown library, and three at North Park – while 22 applications have been submitted online via SBA’s website since the loans, called Economic Injury Disaster Loans, were announced April 16.

“It’s showing that the businesses here are in fact computer-savvy. That’s a good thing,” Hill said this week.

Gov. Glenn Younkin’s office announced the loans in conjunction with the state health department’s release of its final report on the outage, which the department determined was “completely avoidable” and due in large part to operational and procedural failures at Richmond’s water treatment plant, which also serves parts of neighboring counties.

A disaster area was declared April 9 and designated Goochland, Hanover, Henrico and Richmond as primary localities affected by the outage. Other counties in the disaster declaration and eligible for the loans include Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Fluvanna, King William, Louisa, New Kent, Powhatan and Spotsylvania.

The 30-year loans can provide up to $2 million per award with interest rates of 4% for small businesses and as low as 3.6% for private nonprofits. Loans are determined based in large part to what a business brought in the same time last year, Hill said.

“They’re working capital loans to help the small businesses that would have been able to meet their ordinary financial needs and obligations had not the water crisis taken place,” he said. “It did happen in January, and some of the businesses are making their way, but some are still hurting.”

Once received, Hill said applications usually take five to seven days to be reviewed by a loan officer. If approved, he said disbursements are usually sent out in 10 to 14 days. He said no loans had been disbursed as of Tuesday.

Applications can be submitted here , and more information about the loans is available on the SBA’s website .

The downtown library center is open through May 6 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10-2 Saturday. Remaining hours for North Park Branch Library are 10-4:30 Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 11:30-4:30 Wednesday, 1-4:30 Thursday and 10-1:30 Saturday.

Meanwhile, the City of Richmond announced this month it has awarded 117 grants to affected small businesses through its Small Business Recovery Grant Fund , a $500,000 fund set up by the Richmond Economic Development Authority and the Metropolitan Business League.

The fund, which was seeded with investments by the EDA, Dominion Energy and Altria, is providing grants of $2,500 or $5,000 to nearly 85% of eligible applicants, according to a city release.

Of nearly 200 applications received, 139 met eligibility requirements, and 117 are receiving the grants based on hardship incurred and other criteria, according to the release. Of the 117 recipients, 61% are restaurants and food service businesses and 14% are personal service businesses, the city said.

The grants were targeted for distribution by the end of this month. A request to the city to verify whether the grants have gone out was not returned Tuesday.

Earlier this week, January’s water outage was back in the news when Richmond and neighboring counties put out statements about a spike in fluoride levels at the plant that occurred last week and went unreported for days. The incident prompted Henrico and Hanover counties to reiterate calls for a regional approach to managing and providing water service in the region.