Blog, July 2020

By now it is clear that the recipients of Paycheck Protection Program loans were often companies larger than the mom-and-pop operations we were led to believe would be the main beneficiaries. A closer examination of the data shows assistance going not just to mid-sized companies but also to portions of Big Business.

By Mellissa Chang

Covid Stimulus Watch now contains award information for almost 400,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) payments from the CARES Act, amounting to more than $60 billion in loans. To date, the Small Business Administration has approved approximately $164 billion in EIDL loans, roughly half of its $360 billion allocation, to almost 3 million business. Of these loans, 80% were less than $150,000 and the average loan amount was just over $62,000.

Due to the high volume of loans and the relatively small size of most loan amounts, the Covid Stimulus Watch database only

The massive Paycheck Protection Program was depicted as a necessary measure to save American small businesses, yet the list of recipients of the forgivable loans released by the Treasury Department contains numerous companies that are neither small nor American.

Healthcare providers have faced significant challenges during the pandemic, but it was still surprising to see that sector show up as the largest recipient of assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program. That’s because hospitals and other providers were already receiving tens of billions of dollars in federal aid from other CARES Act programs.

The companies on the list of recipients of Paycheck Protection Program loans include numerous employers that have paid penalties for wage and hour violations.

Covid Stimulus Watch has added the data released today by the Treasury Department on all Paycheck Protection Program loans of $150,000 or more. That brings the total number of awards listed on the site to more than 600,000—a twenty-fold increase.