The Paycheck Protection Program, or the PPP, criticized for helping many that don’t qualify as a small business, this month named all its large-dollar loan recipients.
The program has delivered more than $500 billion in close to 5 million loans to businesses across the United States, according to the latest report from the Small Business Administration. These loans “supported” more than 50 million jobs.
The program, part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, aimed to help small businesses stay afloat through the pandemic. Since its launch, the program has weathered more than one controversy, including the shut-out of underserved communities and businesses.
Of the almost 5 million loans, more than 4 million were for less than $150,000. Those loans made up less than $150 billion of the awarded $500 billion. The Department of the Treasury published more detailed records of the businesses that received more than that, and those businesses are mapped below. The data is not without its errors: Some businesses have been reported to have received money they didn’t actually get and did not apply for.
Over 660,000 businesses were listed by The Treasury Department in this data. Among these businesses, around 90,000 were marked as either retaining zero jobs or left the field blank. Based on the PPP loan application form published on the SBA website, businesses are not required to report the number of jobs retained when applying for a loan. The accuracy of the job retention numbers can vary widely.
