PRESS RELEASE

Lake Charles center now providing one-on-one counseling and loan assistance
Sixth Business Counseling Center Opens to Help Small Businesses Impacted By Hurricanes
Louisiana Economic Development News Update
BATON ROUGE, La. (September 15, 2008) - Louisiana Economic Development (LED), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Louisiana Small Business Development Center Network (LSBDC) and the Southwest Louisiana (SWLA) Economic Development Alliance today announced the opening of a Louisiana Business Counseling Center in Lake Charles. The center, which is one of six business counseling centers recently launched, was created to assist businesses adversely affected by hurricanes Gustav or Ike.

Each of the centers, located in Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Metairie, Thibodaux, Carencro and Alexandria provide free, one-on-one consultations with LSBDC counselors and SBA customer service representatives. Services include assistance with SBA’s Disaster Loan program and review of all options to ensure each business makes the right financial decisions to quickly recover from the hurricanes.

Louisiana Business Counseling Center locations are:

• Louisiana Technology Park, LLC
  7117 Florida Boulevard
  Baton Rouge, La. 70806
  225.218.1100
• SWLA Economic Development Alliance
  120 W. Pujo Street
  Lake Charles, La. 70602
  337.433.3632
• LSBDC Greater New Orleans Region
  UNO Jefferson Center
  3330 N. Causeway, Suite 422
  Metairie, La. 70002
  504.831.3730
• South Louisiana Economic Business Assistance Center
  629 East First St.
  Thibodaux, La. 70301
  985.446.6023
• Enterprise Center of Louisiana
  3419 N.W. Evangeline Thruway
  Carencro, La. 70520
  337.896.9115
• LSBDC at Alexandria
  Dunbar Plaza Suite 114
  3600 Jackson Street Extension
  Alexandria, La. 71303
  318.484.2123

Center hours are scheduled for Mondays through Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For additional information on the state’s Business Counseling Center locations or to sign up for e-mail updates on business assistance, visit LouisianaForward.com/BizHelp.

Louisiana Business Counseling Centers are not associated with FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers. To contact FEMA for assistance, please call 1.800.621.FEMA or visit www.FEMA.gov.

SBA is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes, and private non-profit organizations fund repairs or rebuilding efforts, and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property. These disaster loans cover uninsured and uncompensated losses and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. For information about SBA programs, applicants may call 800-659-2955 (TTY 800-877-8339).

The mission of Louisiana Economic Development is to provide excellence in leadership, policy and programs to create a business climate enabling public-private linkages, which result in capital investment, a diversified economic base and quality job opportunities for all Louisiana citizens. For more information, visit LouisianaForward.com.

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