WATERLOO -- "We need more than 4 percent."

Those words, spoken by business owner Aaron Schurman, reflected the sentiment of frustrated business owners at a disaster relief seminar Thursday afternoon at the Black's Building in downtown Waterloo.

Schurman was referring to the 4 percent, fixed-rate loans offered by the Small Business Administration to help businesses recover from disasters. While Schurman appreciates the low-interest loans, he and other business owners were hoping to obtain information about grant money available to assist businesses in the short term.

"We haven't talked about (grants) much yet because we can't promise anything," explained Maureen Collins-Williams, director of the Regional Business Center at the University of Northern Iowa's Small Business Development Center,

Collins-Williams encouraged business owners to contact their elected officials to express their concern.

"Our best shot at this is to rally around our elected officials," she said.

Despite the concern, the meeting had a generally positive vibe as business owners offered advice to one another on how best to recover from last week's record flooding that left many businesses with physical damage and revenue losses.

"Find a banker that you trust and find out what they can do for you," said Barmuda Corp. CEO Darin Beck, who said his company sustained about $2 million in damages, primarily to its headquarters in Cedar Falls.

SBA spokesman Roger Bush told business owners it was imperative to register with both the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well as the SBA.

"We're only here for so long, so while we're here, it's important for you to register with us," he said.

The SBA offers loans business loans of varying lengths to business owners for both physical damage and economic injury, as well as loans for homeowners and renters affected by the disaster.

Obtaining the loans can take as long as three to four weeks, according to Bush, but the SBA might be able to reimburse business owners for expenses relating incurred while in the process of obtaining the loans.

Collins-Williams and Mike Hahn of the RBC will begin hosting online web forums dedicated to disaster relief for businesses every day at noon through the RBC's MyEntreNet program. Interested businesses can register for and access the forurm at entre.myentre.net.

The RBC is also in the process of creating an online system to connect "healthy" businesses in the state to disaster victims to provide services or donations.

Business owners have also been coping with the classification of the water that ran overran the west side of Waterloo's downtown area. Schurman said his companies on that side of the river had insurance that covered sewer water, but not flood water. And though much of the water in that area came up through the sewers, he had been "battling" with his insurance agency over whether the damage was from flood water or sewer water.

Noel Anderson, Waterloo Community Planning and Development Director, said the city was still in the process of officially classifying the water in downtown Waterloo.

Anderson was also asked about the city's plan to pick up flood-related debris, but he did not have a timeframe for when that would take place. He said the city was in the process of bidding out a contract to have a third party collect the debris.

Contact Drew Andersen at (319) 291-1418 or drew.andersen@wcfcourier.com.