Veteran Receives $100,000 from SBA

SBA Loans Touted for Military Veterans
by Alan Wechsler

When Maj. Mathew Tully of Hunter was called up for active duty last July, he had two concerns — his personal safety and the fate of the business he was leaving behind.

Tully, 32, is the founder of Tully, Rinckey & Associates, an Albany law firm. With two weeks’ notice, Tully transferred his specialty casework to lawyers in Washington, D.C., and prepared to head to Iraq.

When he came back in January, he had no clients and faced the threat of thousands of dollars in business losses during his absence.

So he was especially pleased Thursday morning to be presented with a giant check for $100,000 at a news conference sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park.

In actuality, Tully received the money electronically in May. But the news conference also served to get the word out that the SBA’s Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is there for veterans whose businesses need help…

In the last five years, only 13 military reservists have taken advantage of the program in New York, borrowing a total of $946,000 in 4 percent interest loans, according to the SBA. Nationally, 263 veterans have borrowed $23.7 million during the period.

“Perhaps the word has not gotten out enough,” said Dan O’Connell, the SBA representative in Albany. “We maybe need to do a better job of getting the message out there.”

Thursday’s event also featured the newly appointed administrator of the SBA, Steven Preston, who was visiting local SBA offices from Washington, D.C., before going on vacation in the Adirondacks.

“Small-business owners in a situation like this are often hit the hardest,” he said. “When people have the desire to serve their country, we feel it’s important to come in and help.”

Such loans don’t always help. In April, the Times Union reported the story of Tim Schultz, a National Guard member who lost his automobile business in Latham after being called up. A $142,000 loan from the SBA was not able to save the company, he said.

In comparison, Tully said his money would help save the firm, which he started with personal savings and credit cards in January 2003. He said the company lost $172,000 in his absence.

In Iraq, Tully was chief of operations of the 42nd Infantry Division based in Tikrit. There he worked 12-hour days directing 25,000 soldiers from a bomb-proof war room built in a castle once owned by Saddam Hussein. On his first night, a soldier lost his legs in a shelling.

“We were in the law firm worrying about Matt’s personal safety,” said Brian Tromans, director of business development at the firm. “And he was in Iraq worrying about the business.”