The Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan (MREIDL) program provides funds to help an eligible small business meet ordinary and necessary operating expenses that it could have met, but is unable to meet, because an essential employee was called-up to active duty in their role as a military reservist.
These loans are intended only to provide the amount of working capital needed by a small business to pay its necessary obligations as they mature until operations return to normal after the essential employee is released from active military duty. The purpose of these loans is not to cover lost income or lost profits. MREIDL funds cannot be used to take the place of regular commercial debt, to refinance long-term debt, or to expand the business.
Businesses with the financial capacity to fund their own recovery are not eligible for MREIDL assistance. Federal law requires SBA to determine whether a business has credit available elsewhere—that is, if credit in an amount needed to accomplish full recovery is available from non-government sources without creating an undue financial hardship. Generally, SBA determines that over 90 percent of loan applicants do not have sufficient financial resources to recover without the assistance of the Federal government.
