JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WJAC) — It was meant to serve as a lifeline for businesses who would otherwise have to make drastic cutbacks or close their doors forever thanks to the Coronavirus shutdowns.
And Pennsylvania businesses certainly grabbed at that life vest.
Our initial readout of the data released Monday by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration showed 165,000 small businesses with 500 or fewer employees in the commonwealth got some money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program to protect at least 1.8 million jobs. Though we note, those job retention totals were self-reported by the businesses on applications, and some either put the total at “0” or left it blank altogether.
We don’t know exactly how much was asked for, since companies who received at least $150,000 were only listed as ranges, but using the Treasury Department’s national average loan of $107,000 that would equate to more than $17.7 billion in loans given out statewide.
Those loans will be forgiven if the business stays afloat and used the loans as intended to pay wages and other eligible expenses and followed other criteria.
Full-service restaurants requested the most loans among Pennsylvania businesses with nearly 6,000 requests, according to an analysis of the data by The Associated Press. Other top loan seekers include law firms, dentist offices, insurance agencies, real estate agents, and brokerages.
In the WJAC-TV viewing area, we found more than 1,100 businesses and organizations were awarded loans of at least $150,000.
Those 1,100 companies said in their applications that the loans will protect more than 62,000 jobs locally.
The Treasury Department data shows 145 of those businesses received loans of more than $1 million. 15 of them were in the biggest bracket of between $5 and $10 million.
Those companies were: AccuWeather, Inc., State College; Barnhart Family Enterprises, Inc., Duncansville; Best Line Leasing, Inc., State College; Concurrent Technologies Corporation, Johnstown; Curry Supply Holdings Inc, Roaring Spring; Galliker Dairy Company, Johnstown; Highland Tank LLC, Stoystown; Hoss's Steak And Sea House, Inc, Duncansville; Lezzer Holdings, Inc., Curwensville; McLanahan Corporation, Hollidaysburg; Minitab LLC, State College; Pyramid Healthcare, Inc., Altoona; Restek Corporation, Bellefonte; Riggs Industries, Inc, Stoystown; and Wilson Creek Energy, LLC, Friedens.
We reached out to all of the above companies Tuesday afternoon for comment on why the company was seeking the money, how it's being used, and if they're on track to get forgiveness for that loan under the program. The companies that have responded so far are below and this article will be updated as more responses come in.
Andrea Ritchey, Marketing Director for McLanahan Corporation: "The industries McLanahan Corporation serves (mining, aggregate and agricultural) have all been impacted by COVID-19. Receiving the PPP loan allows us to keep our teams together and our employees working during a very uncertain time. We have been using the money to cover expenses defined by the program, including payroll, utilities and rent. Because we are in the highest bracket, we fully expected to be audited on how we use the money and believe that our alignment with the program puts us on track for forgiveness later this year."
Rhonda Seaton, Director, Marketing Communications for AccuWeather: "AccuWeather, classified as an essential business, was approved for and received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, which, in its entirety was used for payroll, and to preserve jobs. In our case, the PPP loan worked as it was intended. Beyond that, as a non-public company, we do not disclose specific details."
Mary Bevan, Director, Corporate Communications and Brand Marketing, Concurrent Technologies Corporation: "CTC qualified for the program because we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with less than 500 employees. We pursued the loan due to the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The funds are being used to maintain payroll to support existing work and to ensure we have staff available to resume work when impacted programs are restarted. As a nonprofit organization, we do not have access to additional liquidity to address unforeseen negative impacts such as business and government shut downs, stop work orders, or other disruptions. In addition, we are concerned about a resurgence and are taking precautions to ensure we are financially prepared as much as we can be for the future, so that we can keep our workforce together to support our important and critical national security mission. CTC is currently treating it as a loan and may apply for forgiveness at the end of the covered period, based on the program guidance available at the time."
Carl Raup, CFO of Hoss's said in a phone conversation that they got in excess of $7 million, but was disappointed with federal leaders that the company was restricted on how it could use the loan. He said they could not use the money for other necessary items, like inventory the restaurants needed to reopen after being shut down for two months and for insurance and liability. "My father had a saying about things like this and that was 'ready, fire, aim,'" Raup said regarding the government throwing money at the problem then realizing the pitfalls later. Raup said he was also thankful that Ameriserv was able to process their loan after he said another bank they were working with was 'terrible' when trying to get the process done.
Bryan Wolcott, Restek Head Coach and CEO: "Restek is utilizing the funds received through the PPP to continue to employ 422 U.S.-based employees, 348 of which work and live in Central Pennsylvania. The loan allowed us to increase the safety of our employees onsite and continue serving our customers—some of which use our chromatography equipment to provide life-sustaining and essential services. As of now, it is still unclear how long this pandemic will negatively impact the business but as a 100% employee-owned company, we are heartened to see our culture and business model strengthen during this crisis."
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