A crucial part of your plan is communicating it to your employees. Be sure everyone knows what they'll need to do should disaster strike.

There are about 17,000 gaming employees in that region and we estimate that about 10,000 may have lost their homes and have no place to live,

If you had any damage caused by Hurricane Wilma that occurred October 23 through November 18, 2005, we hope you will visit one of the Centers and personally meet with an SBA Representative. Our staff will be glad to answer any questions about the disaster loan program, give you an application, and provide any extra help you may need or want in completing your application.

SBA can help these small businesses overcome their economic injuries by offering these working capital loans, but the help cannot start until they apply.

SBA's disaster declaration was issued as a result of a similar action taken by the Secretary of Agriculture to help farmers recover from damages and losses of crops caused by drought that occurred Feb. 1, 2005, and continuing.

These counties are eligible because they are contiguous to one or more primary counties in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. SBA recognizes that disasters do not usually stop at the county or state lines. For that reason, counties adjacent to primary counties named in the declaration are included.