July 6, 2020 | Caribbean Business
Photo by: SBA files
Application deadline extended to Aug. 8
SAN JUAN—The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, announced Monday that it was releasing data regarding the loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This disclosure covers the 4.9 million loans that have been made.
The release follows demands from Democrats for more transparency on Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (Cares) Act funds and a lawsuit by news media, including the Associated Press, which wrote that the “public may never know the identity of more than 80% of the nearly 5 million beneficiaries to date because the administration has refused to release details on loans under $150,000,” adding that Treasury “has released only dollar ranges for the loan amounts, rather than exact figures.”
On Saturday, President Trump signed Senate Bill 4116, which reauthorizes lending under the PPP through Aug. 8, and “separates the authorized limits for commitments under the PPP from other Small Business Administration loan programs.”
Although some $520 billion was approved under the program, about $130 billion in PPP funding is still available.
“The PPP is providing much-needed relief to millions of American small businesses, supporting more than 51 million jobs and over 80 percent of all small business employees, who are the drivers of economic growth in our country,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “We are particularly pleased that 27% of the program’s reach in low and moderate income communities which is in proportion to percentage of population in these areas. The average loan size is approximately $100,000, demonstrating that the program is serving the smallest of businesses,” he continued. “Today’s release of loan data strikes the appropriate balance of providing the American people with transparency, while protecting sensitive payroll and personal income information of small businesses, sole proprietors, and independent contractors.”
“The PPP is an indisputable success for small businesses, especially to the communities in which these employers serve as the main job creators,” said Administrator Jovita Carranza. “In three months, this Administration was able to act quickly to get funding into the hands of those who faced enormous obstacles as a result of the pandemic. Today’s data shows that small businesses of all types and across all industries benefited from this unprecedented program. The jobs numbers released last week reinforce that PPP is working by keeping employees on payroll and sustaining millions of small businesses through this time.”
Today’s release includes loan-level data, including business names, addresses, NAICS codes, zip codes, business type, demographic data, non-profit information, name of lender, jobs supported, and loan amount ranges as follows:
$150,000-350,000
$350,000-1 million
$1-2 million
$2-5 million
$5-10 million
These categories account for nearly 75 percent of the loan dollars approved. For all loans below $150,000, SBA is releasing all of the above information except for business names and addresses.
The data release also includes overall statistics regarding dollars lent per state, loan amounts, top lenders, and distribution by industry.
“The loans have reached diverse communities proportionally, across all income levels and demographics,” the SBA’s press release reads.
In addition, the data provides information regarding the sizes of participating lenders and participation by community development financial institutions, minority depository institutions, Farm Credit System institutions, fintechs and other nonbanks, and other types of lenders. It further contains data showing the reach of the program in underserved communities, rural communities, historically underutilized business zones (HUBZones), and participation by religious, grantmaking, civil, professional, and other similar organizations.
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