#SBA maui

Of the approved loans statewide, 61 loan totaling $3,941,000 have been approved for Maui residents. The Disaster Loan Outreach Center in Kīhei on Maui will permanently close on Wednesday, July 15.

Survivors of the March 10–24, 2026 Kona Low flooding in the City and County of Honolulu, as well as Hawaiʻi and Maui counties can receive in-person assistance from FEMA and the US Small Business Administration at Local Recovery Centers operated by state, local and nonprofit partners. The deadline to apply for federal assistance is June 14, 2026.  

At the President’s direction, federal disaster assistance is now available to help individuals and households recover from the impacts of the Kona Low flooding that occurred March 10–24, 2026. The Major Disaster Declaration authorizes FEMA’s Individual Assistance program for the City and County of Honolulu, as well as Hawaiʻi and Maui counties.  

Wildfire recovery, the cancellation of the Maui Fair, housing solutions, and election highlights are among the stories that made our list of top features this year. Here’s a recap of some of Maui’s biggest stories in 2024.

Starting Wednesday, Oct. 30, the County of Maui’s Disaster Recovery Community Update Meetings will be held at a new location in the cafeteria at Lahaina Intermediate School. The school is located at 871 Lahainaluna Road; the cafeteria is makai of the main parking lot.

With National Small Business Week (April 29-May 3) coming up, a number of workshops and programs are available to small businesses of Maui to build skills and connections. Co-presented by Maui Economic Development Board, workshops include helping sub-contractors to work with government; teaching how to use Quickbooks for business; building a capability statement; and exploring the work of the Maui Food Innovation Center.

Local residents and organizations are invited to participate in an event at the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 2. This event aims to match individuals in need of temporary or permanent housing with state, federal and local organizations assisting individuals and families in need of housing support.

Effective Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, operational hours will be modified for the Lahaina Disaster Recovery Center. 

US Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced that Hawai‘i will receive $3.9 million in new federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support the ongoing recovery effort on Maui following the fires in August. To date, Hawai‘i has received more than $412 million in federal funding for the response to the fires.

Even though the federal deadline to apply for wildfire damage or losses has passed, Hawaiʻi residents and businesses have been granted a 45-day grace period, until Thursday, Jan. 25, to submit SBA loan applications for physical property damage caused by the wildfires. The last day for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private nonprofit organizations to apply for an SBA economic injury disaster loan is Friday, May 10, 2024.

The deadline to apply for federal disaster assistance has been extended another 30 days, meaning homeowners and renters with uninsured or underinsured damage to their property from the Maui wildfires have until Saturday, Dec. 9, to apply.  This is also the deadline for Maui’s homeowners, renters and businesses to apply to the US Small Business Administration for a low-interest disaster loan for physical property damage.

Nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship, that had losses caused by the Maui County wildfires and high winds have one week – until Wednesday, Oct. 25 – to submit a Request for Public Assistance from FEMA.

Homeowners and renters who were affected by the Aug. 8 wildfires on Maui now have until Thursday, Nov. 9, to apply for federal disaster assistance from FEMA and submit an application for a disaster loan from the US Small Business Administration. 

FEMA has 100 temporary vacancies on Maui and Oahu that start as 120-day appointments and may be extended up to one year. The SBA positions can be for at least a year and, in some cases, as long as seven years, some with a travel requirement.

Today, US Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, led the Hawaiʻi Congressional delegation in a letter to Isabel Guzman, Administrator of the US Small Business Administration, urging the agency to extend the physical damage loan application deadline for people impacted by the Hawaiʻi wildfires.

FEMA and the US Small Business Administration have approved more than $89.25 million in federal assistance to survivors of the Maui wildfires that began Aug. 8. The last day to register for Red Cross sheltering assistance is Friday, Sept. 15. The deadline to apply for FEMA assistance and a low-interest disaster loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration is Tuesday, Oct. 10. Residents who lost their job as a direct result of the Maui wildfires and live or work in Maui County have until Monday, Sept. 25, to apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance.

A new process is in place for Maui residents wishing to submit DNA to be used in the identification of family members who are unaccounted for and may be fire victims.

Low-interest federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans are now available to small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in Hawaiʻi, Honolulu and Kauaʻi counties as a result of wildfires that began Aug. 8 in Maui County.

The Maui Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for the Annual Mayor’s Small Business Awards in 2021. All nominees and winners will be honored during an event to be held on Thursday, Dec. 16.

The U.S. Small Business Administration launched a splash page for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application portal in anticipation of opening applications for the critical economic relief program on Thursday, April 8, 2021.