Fast-food restaurants, medical offices and legal firms were among the thousands of North Texas companies that pulled in at least $6.2 billion in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a limited release of data made public Monday.
The data shows the loans may have helped save 800,000 jobs in North Texas at 15,566 companies, but they also gave massive payouts to some of the region’s biggest employers under a plan designed to help small businesses.
The loan data released Monday by the Small Business Administration only gives information for businesses that got loans of more than $150,000, tallying more than 661,000 loans nationwide. That includes about 15% of the 4.8 million loans approved since the program began.
The SBA also released data Monday on loans under $150,000 but did not share the names of the businesses that received loans. That list includes another 337,000 loans to Texas businesses that total nearly $11.4 billion.
This data was only made public after a lawsuit from 10 media organizations, including The Washington Post, Bloomberg, the New York Times and Dow Jones, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal.
But even the limited data that was released shows the massive amount of money that flooded North Texas to help keep the economy afloat. Here’s a look at some of the figures.
$6.2 billion
Some 15,556 companies in the D-FW metropolitan area received loans that totaled more than $6.2 billion. The actual total could be much higher because the SBA only released ranges for the loan amounts. For example, the highest range was $5 million to $10 million.
The loans are intended to be forgiven entirely if businesses keep their workers on the payroll for eight weeks after the loans were granted and use the money for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities.
Charles Comer, branch president for North Richland Hills-based Bank of the West, said that the bank processed about 867 PPP loans that went to a diverse group of businesses both big and small, nearly all of them in Texas.
But he said demand for the loans has slowed down.
“Our current demand for new applications is not that great,” Comer said. “We do have clients that have received funding that are inquiring of additional funding needs due to continued COVID-related closings.”
The Treasury Department said the program had about $131 billion in funding left at the end of June. The program was set to expire last week but Congress has extended it until Aug. 8.
796,021
The loans of $150,000 or more helped retain 796,021 jobs in North Texas, or about 20% of all jobs in the region. The program was only intended to help small businesses.
The program defined a small business as having no more than 500 employees.
The PPP program has come under scrutiny because it both limits what kind of companies are eligible and because some companies can take advantage of loopholes, said Philip Mattera, research director for economic incentive watchdog group Good Jobs First.
“There are companies with more than 500 employees that weren’t eligible at all,” Mattera said. “And then there were some that had more than 500 and still got loans through subsidiaries.”
Among the local companies on the list released Monday is Babe’s Chicken Dinner House in Lewisville, which got $5 to $10 million in loans and has 500 employees. Lawyer firm Thompson and Knight LLP also received $5 to $10 million for its 476 employees. Accounting and finance firm Whitley Penn, which received a $5 to $10 million loan, listed 486 employees.
1,049
Restaurants accounted for 1,049 loans — more than any other industry — and received at least $473.5 million using the minimum listed in the loan amount ranges.
Restaurants have been battered by the COVID-19-related closures, stay-at-home orders and capacity limits.
Full-service restaurants accounted for 758 loans of $150,000 or more in DFW, while limited-service restaurants accounted for 291. Rounding out the list of top five industries to receive loans in the area were physicians’ offices, with 524 loans totaling $178.6 million, lawyers’ offices, with 376 loans totaling $143.9 million, and religious organizations, with 338 loans totaling $105.5 million.
Texas Restaurant Association CEO Emily Williams Knight said that the original PPP loans that restaurants received have been exhausted and they now need more help as they wonder about when a vaccine will be ready. A survey by the association showed that 60% of restaurants in the state don’t think they’d be profitable in the next six months.
“The PPP was a bridge for many, but now we need additional bipartisan solutions so restaurants can keep Americans employed and fed while we battle COVID-19,” she said.
$1.9 billion
As the ninth-largest city in the U.S., it may come as no surprise that Dallas collected 4,479 loans totaling $1.9 billion, the most of any city in North Texas. Dallas ranked 5th nationally behind New York City, Houston, Chicago and LA.
In Texas, Dallas was followed by Fort Worth, which had a total of $723.5 million in loans; Plano, with a total of $455.5 million in loans; Irving, with $398.1 million in loans; and Arlington, with $193.9 million in loans.
22
Dallas-based restaurant franchisee Sun Holdings was one company that used subsidiaries to bring in more than the $10 million limit for a single loan.
Sun Holdings received at least $38.2 million through 22 loans. The company, run by Guillermo Perales, has more than 1,000 restaurants across the country for brands such as Burger King, Sonic, CiCi’s Pizza and Golden Corral.
Some North Texas companies have already come under fire for taking large loans intended for small businesses. Hotel magnate Monty Bennett’s company, Ashford Hospitality Trust, applied for $126 million in loans, again because its holdings are listed as separate businesses. His company returned the money in May after the rules for PPP loans were changed.
There were at least a dozen companies that got 10 more or more loans through the small business grant program, including legal offices, mortgage lending companies and restaurants and hotels.
