As St. John the Baptist Parish moves forward after Hurricane Isaac from the recovery phase to the rebuilding phase, the St. John Business Call Center and Business Resource Center are starting to phase out.

The Business Call Center, the parish’s hotline for business owners in need of information regarding disaster assistance, fielded its final call Friday afternoon. The Business Resource Center, a one-stop-shop for information regarding disaster loans, disaster counseling and technical assistance will continue to operate until Friday, Oct. 19.

The parish extends its gratitude to Greater New Orleans Inc. and First Call for their assistance in helping us to set up the Business Call Center following the storm. Their collaboration to provide disaster recovery information following the hurricane was an invaluable resource to the St. John business economy.

The Business Resource Center is currently open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the New Wine Christian Fellowship Complex, 2015 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace. As of Friday, more than 100 businesses have visited the resource center and received assistance.

Any business in St. John the Baptist Parish that needs assistance or has questions regarding recovery are encouraged to visit the BRC before Oct. 19. Resource providers will assist businesses in securing federal or state disaster loans, providing post-disaster counseling and offering technical assistance. All services are provided free of charge to business owners.

To continue serving businesses in the parish, the St. John Economic Development Department will provide other business outreach assistance options through the Ambassador Program, which is an outreach program to new businesses; the Microenterprise Program, an outreach to those that would like to start a business but need technical assistance training; and the Business Retention Program, an outreach to existing business owners in the parish.

We will have more details about these programs in the coming weeks. In the meantime, a business resource list can be found on the parish’s website at www.sjbparish.com.

In other news, the state Fire Marshal has lifted the burn ban that has been in effect in St. John Parish since early September. There are no longer restrictions on the safe burning of materials in St. John Parish.