More than half of emergency small-business funds went to larger businesses, new data shows
Source: Washington Post
More than half of emergency small-business funds went to larger businesses, new data shows
The Trump administration has emphasized PPP loans to small firms, but data released Tuesday shows that most of the $522 billion went to about 600 larger companies and chains
By Jonathan O'Connell, Andrew Van Dam, Aaron Gregg and Alyssa Fowers
12/1/2020, 11:05:46 p.m.
More than half of the money from the Treasury Department’s coronavirus emergency fund for small businesses went to just 5 percent of the recipients, according to data on more than 5 million loans that was released by the government Tuesday evening in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit.
According to data on the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), about 600 mostly larger companies, including dozens of national chains, received the maximum amount allowed under the program of $10 million.
Officials from the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have argued that the program primarily benefited smaller businesses because a vast majority of the loans ― more than 87 percent ― were for less than $150,000, as of August. But the new data shows that more than half of the $522 billion in the same time frame went to bigger businesses, and only 28 percent of the money was distributed in amounts less than $150,000.
The newly released data comes after a federal lawsuit filed by The Washington Post and 10 other news organizations under the Freedom of Information Act challenging the SBA’s refusal to release records on borrowers and loan amounts. A federal judge ordered the release of the data by Tuesday and the agency did not appeal.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/01/ppp-sba-data/
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