Ellicott City, Maryland, businesses who got loans from the state have some breathing room to repay them.
The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development has approved a request from Howard County Executive Calvin Ball to defer repayment of the loans for a second time.
The due date for the recovery loans was originally extended to this September. They can now be repaid by September 2021.
Following the July 2016 flood, most of the small businesses in Historic Ellicott City were severely damaged or destroyed. Many signed up for Maryland DHCD loans, and one year later, 90% of businesses had reopened.
Less than two years later, in May 2018, a second flood hit. DHCD offered a second round of recovery loans following that flood.
Many of those businesses that were able to rebuild for a second time were still struggling to recover last year, when the initial deferral request was made to this September.
The COVID-19 pandemic has now closed almost every business in Historic Ellicott City, leading to the new deferral extension to September 2021.
Between the two flooding events, DHCD funded 35 loans totaling more than $4 million. Most loans were $50,000, though some loans funded larger projects
