PRESS RELEASE

Mobile Business Counseling Center Travels to Lafourche Parish
Louisiana Economic Development News Update
BATON ROUGE , La. (September 20, 2008) - Louisiana Economic Development (LED), U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Louisiana Small Business Development Center Network and Louisiana Business and Technology Center (LBTC) today announced the mobile business counseling center will be located in Galliano, La., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The center is an extension of the six Louisiana Business Counseling Centers recently created to assist businesses impacted by hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

The mobile business counseling center will be located at:

• The Greater Lafourche Port Commission Office
  16829 East Main St. (Hwy. 308)
  Galliano, La. 70354

The mobile business counseling center will provide business owners free, one-on-one consultations with LBTC staff and SBA customer service representatives. Services include assistance with SBA’s disaster loan program, developing or updating business plans, marketing planning and help with LED small business assistance programs. The center will also have laptops and Internet access available for business owners to access financial accounts and e-mail.

The mobile business counseling center is tentatively scheduled to travel to Lake Charles the week of Sept. 29.

For additional information on 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.

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.

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).

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