OC businesses seek SBA aid after GKN Aerospace hazmat forced closures

More than a week after a hazmat emergency at GKN Aerospace forced the closure of roughly 5,000 Orange County businesses, owners in Garden Grove and Stanton are filing federal disaster loan worksheets to recover losses that wiped out what should have been a lucrative Memorial Day weekend.

The forced closures, which began around May 23, fell squarely on one of the year's most profitable stretches for small businesses, and county officials are now rushing to connect affected owners with federal relief before the financial damage compounds further.

Fire crews ordered the sweeping evacuation after fearing an explosion or toxic spill from a hazmat incident at GKN Aerospace, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. The order affected businesses across parts of Garden Grove and Stanton, forcing many owners to shutter immediately and discard perishable stock with little notice.

For Chic Now Hainan Chicken Rice, the toll was immediate and steep. Employee Ziyu Zhang told ABC7 the restaurant lost roughly $10,000 in sales during the closure. "We also lost like about 2K in inventory. We threw all the chicken, the rice, the vegetable, we need to prepare everything new for our customer," Zhang said. The restaurant did not reopen until one day before the report was published.

Zhang said the prolonged uncertainty took its own toll on workers forced to sit idle at home. "We stayed at home waiting for the notice every day that, you know, right now the economy is not good and the rent is so high and the cost is raised as well," Zhang said. Quantifying the broader damage, Zhang added: "Stop for one week, it's going to be like 25 percent of the whole month, the sales volume, the revenue."

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen said the county is directing affected owners to complete SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan worksheets and submit them to the county sheriff's department, which then forwards them to the Small Business Administration. "We want to make sure our businesses survive. It's an unfortunate situation, something that we don't want to happen, didn't anticipate it," Nguyen said.

Cleanup operations at GKN Aerospace are now underway, overseen by the Orange County Health Care Agency, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

Affected business owners have been encouraged to file SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan worksheets with the county sheriff's department; no submission deadline has been publicly announced.