DeWine Requests Assistance for Businesses Impacted by Realty Explosion

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday requested that the Small Business Administration provide low-interest loans to businesses impacted by the May 28 explosion at the Realty Tower downtown.

Local businesses were surveyed to determine the economic impact of their losses from the time of the explosion until the building was fully demolished at the end of September. Demolition work severely limited access to parking and pedestrian walkways, and all of the surveyed businesses have either dismissed employees or reduced employees’ hours as a result.

“The building explosion caused significant economic injury to its neighboring downtown businesses,” DeWine wrote in a letter to the SBA. “At least five small businesses in the disaster area have suffered substantial economic injury as a result of the disaster and are in need of financial assistance not otherwise available on reasonable terms.”

The explosion at the Realty Tower was “devastating to many businesses in downtown Youngstown,” state Sen. Al Cutrona, R-33rd, said in a statement.

“I appreciate Gov. DeWine’s leadership and request for assistance for businesses that were significantly impacted. I also urge the U.S. SBA to issue low-interest loans to those businesses,” Cutrona said. “Small businesses have been a top priority in the state Legislature. It is crucial that they receive the assistance they need in this critical time. The downtowns of our cities and towns are the heartbeat of communities and we must do what we can to keep businesses thriving.”

DeWine’s letter requesting that the SBA open its Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program for impacted businesses in the city can be viewed below.

Pictured at top: The damaged Realty Tower is seen on May 31.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.