More than 320 Hartford-based companies, including restaurants, law firms, nonprofit and religious organizations, received between $150,000 and $10 million in federal loans meant to help small- to midsize businesses suffering from COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
The Trump administration on Monday afternoon disclosed the recipients of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program amid pressure from Democrats for more transparency on the funds, which were established under the $2-trillion CARES Act.
The disclosure lists businesses that received potentially forgivable PPP loans between $150,000 and the maximum of $5 and $10 million.Â
Statewide, a total of 59,876 loans worth more than $6.66 billion were dispensed to Connecticut companies, and more than 4.7 million loans totaling $518.85 billion have been awarded to companies nationally as of June 27, SBA said Monday. Companies receiving $150,000 or less were not listed.
In Hartford, six companies received between $5 million to $10 million, including law firms Robinson & Cole LLP, Day Pitney LLP, Shipman & Goodwin LLP; Propark America West LLC and Propark Inc.; and nonprofit and social-services agency The Village for Families and Children.
Another 19 companies including Cantor Colburn LLP, Harc Inc., Halloran & Sage LLP, Murtha Cullina LLP, New Country Motor Cars Inc., Whittlesey P.C. and YMCA of Metropolitan Hartford also received loans of $2 to $5 million.Â
Others in that loan bracket were All Waste Inc.; Beauty Enterprises Inc.; Catholic Charities Inc. (Archdiocese of Hartford); Church Homes Inc.; Collins Medical Associates 2 P.C.; Connecticut GI P.C.; Galena Associates LLC; JSC New England LLC; Meadowbrook Associates LP; Orthopedic Associates of Hartford P.C.; Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers LLC; and Woodland Anesthesiology Associates.
There were 30 Hartford businesses that received loans up to $2 million. That includes Hartford Public Library, Express Kitchen Inc., Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Chrysalis Center Inc., Charter Oak Health Center Inc., Girl Scouts of Connecticut Inc., JCJ Business Corp., Radiology Associates of Hartford P.C., RM Bradley Management Corp., Sardilli Produce and Dairy Co. Inc., the Watkinson School and Updike, Kelly and Spellacy P.C., among others.
Another 165 Hartford companies in a wide variety of industries received loans between $150,000 to $350,000. Among them were City Steam Brewery LLC, Community Renewal Team Inc., Connecticut Fair Housing Center Inc., Connecticut Historical Society, Crosskey Architects LLC, Goodworks Infinity LLC, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Hands on Hartford Inc., The Hartford Club, Hartford Community Loan Fund Inc., Hartford Financial Management Inc., Hedco Inc. Max Restaurant Group, Tecton Architects P.C., Riverfront Recapture Inc., Salute LLC, TheaterWorks LLC and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, among others.
U.S. tally
Nationally, about 8% of the money went to companies in the hard-hit food and hotel sectors, including chains like PF Chang’s. Nonprofits were also eligible for the aid, and groups like the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and the Girl Scouts of America received money, according to the data.
The data also showed that loans went to some private colleges and primary schools, too, including the elite Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., as well as several arts organizations. The New York City Ballet, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art were among those to receive relief.
Churches as well as affiliated schools and social services organizations across the country qualified. According to CNN, at least 2,234 loans, totaling more than $812 million went to Catholic organizations, including the Archdiocese of Washington.
The program ran into a series of issues in its earliest days given the speed of its creation. Between a rocky rollout, regularly shifting rules and guidance, and an initial round of funding that favored small businesses with long-term relationships with lenders, there was no shortage of criticism from businesses, banks and lawmakers alike.
Disclosures by a series of large public companies and well-known brands ranging from restaurants like Potbelly, Shake Shack and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse to the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, also raised pressure on the administration as it worked through the program’s earliest days — and largely drove the push to force the release of more information. All of those companies ultimately returned the loan money.
But those cases made up only a sliver of the overall borrowers in the program, leaving millions of loans in the dark — until Monday.
As it was designed, the program provides potentially forgivable loans to businesses with fewer than 500 employees in order to keep their workforce on payroll. The program was so critical at its inception that a first round of funding dried up in less than two weeks and had to be replenished. But interest in the program largely dried up in recent weeks, as shifting rules and the inability of borrowers to come back for a second loan limited the number of small businesses willing or able to go through the application process.
More than $130 billion in allocated funds remained unused at the time of the program’s closure — money that will serve as the basis for the next round of small business relief. Lawmakers also agreed last week to extend the application window for the current program, which closed on June 30, until August 8.
A CNN report contributed to this story
