The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced that federal economic injury disaster loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private non-profit organizations of all sizes located in Tennessee as a result of the drought and excessive heat between April 1 and Aug. 31, 2012.This SBA’s disaster declaration includes the following counties: Putnam, Van Buren and White, and the contiguous counties of Bledsoe, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Overton, Sequatchie, Smith and Warren in Tennessee.“When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to eligible entities affected by the same disaster,” said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. With the exception of aquacultural enterprises, agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers are not eligible to apply to SBA. Nurseries are eligible to apply for economic injury disaster loans for losses caused by drought conditions.The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates of 3 percent for private non-profit organizations of all sizes and 4 percent for small businesses, with terms up to 30 years. The SBA determines eligibility based on the size of the applicant, type of activity and its financial resources.