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Disaster Recovery Loans: SBA Support for Missouri Businesses Webinar
 
July 30, 2025 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Virtual

Join the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for a webinar outlining low-interest disaster recovery loan options for Missouri businesses, nonprofits, homeowners and renters affected by the severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes that occurred March 13 and 14, 2025.

Learn about available assistance, key deadlines for applying for physical damage loans and economic injury loans, and how to request a late application if needed. SBA has already approved nearly $4 million in aid for Missourians, and your business or nonprofit may still qualify.

Cost: FREE

Facilitated by:

Cynthia Cowell, U.S. Small Business Administration Public Information Officer

Cynthia Cowell serves as a Public Information Officer for the U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Disaster Recovery & Resilience. Cynthia joined the Agency to support the Hurricane Katrina response just one week after the storm and has since 2005 continued to support recovery for disasters of all types and sizes, with roles in loan processing, customer service, and currently public affairs.
Cynthia may be reached at (916) 200-6227 or cynthia.cowell@sba.gov. For more information on
the disaster loan program, visit Disaster assistance | U.S. Small Business Administration, or call
(800) 659-2955.
 
Melvin Steele, SBDC Regional Business Consultant
Melvin L. Steele, Jr., E.D., is the regional business consultant for the Missouri Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP).
Steele is responsible for providing consultation services to small businesses on a wide range of topics including marketing, finance (including loan proposals and accounting), management, personnel and business, and strategic planning to promote growth, expansion, innovation, increased productivity and management improvement. He also  coordinates training seminars and classes designed to meet the specific needs of small business owners and managers in the region.
 
Prior to joining the Missouri SBDC at MSU-WP, Steele taught business courses in management, marketing and economics, which are his primary areas of interest. He has taught at the college level and consulted with small business owners for many years before joining the Missouri SBDC. Steele also has been a small business owner and has additional experience in the data analytics field. In his regional consultant role, he helps new businesses start and existing businesses grow in and around the West Plains and surrounding seven-county region.
 
Steele has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and speech from Southwest Baptist University, an MBA in Marketing from Louisiana Tech University, and an Education Doctorate from Lindenwood University.
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