PROVIDENCE – Another $134 million in forgivable payroll loans was approved for Rhode Island businesses in the first week of February, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The latest update on the Paycheck Protection Program, published Tuesday, reflects loans approved through Feb. 7. Just over $504 million had been approved for 5,584 Rhode Island small businesses and other eligible entities like nonprofits in the second round of the program, according to the SBA. Both funding and number of approved recipients in Rhode Island increased by roughly 33% over the prior, Jan. 31 update.
Nationwide, the second round of the program has seen approval of $100.9 billion across 1.3 million loans for an average loan size of $78,000. A majority – 92.5% of dollars approved – has gone to second-time borrowers who can receive a “second draw” if they meet criteria including a 25% quarterly revenue loss from 2019 to 2020. Some have questioned whether this requirement is too restrictive.
Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank remains among the top lenders, ranked seventh as of the Feb. 7 data with $1.2 billion approved across 21,844 loans.
The report did not provide a state-by-state breakdown of loans by industry or demographics. Nationally, accommodation and food service industry businesses continue to benefit most in terms of funding, with $18 billion in approved funds equal to 18% of dollars allocated thus far, although those in the agricultural, forestry, fishing and hunting industries received the most loans at 179,260. Changes to the program allow qualifying restaurants and food service businesses to receive funds equal to 3.5 times their payroll – rather than the 2.5 times for other applicants.
A majority of loans approved went to recipients who did not identify their race, gender or veteran status. Of those who did disclose this information in their applications, 172,854 were white compared to the 41,838 who identified as Black and 43,257 who identified as Hispanic.
Just under $184 billion of the $284 billion allocation approved in the December stimulus bill remains available, with a March 31 application deadline.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
