SBA: $900M in PPP loans for nearly 13K R.I. recipients

PROVIDENCE – Demand for forgivable payroll loans among Rhode Island businesses continued to slow, with half the amount of funds approved for new applicants in the last week compared to the prior, seven-day period, according to the latest update from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

SBA approved roughly $15 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans for just over 700 Rhode Island businesses, nonprofits and other eligible applicants between April 4 and 11, the most recent data available. By comparison, the prior seven-day approval period brought in $30.5 million to 750 Rhode Island recipients.

In total, since the program reopened on Jan. 12, nearly 13,000 Rhode Island recipients have received $903.8 million in forgivable payroll loans.

Nationally, the program has funded just under $232.8 billion across 4.4 million loans with an average loan size of $53,000. Just over $51 billion of the original $284 billion allocation remains, not including $7 billion added under the American Rescue Act Plan of 2021. 

- Advertisement -

The program runs through May 31.

Industry and demographic information by state was not available.

Nationally, data on race and ethnicity of loan recipients remains murky, since a majority of recipients still do not identify their race or ethnicity.

As of April 11, $176.6 billion in funding – more than three-quarters of total funds- went to recipients who did not identify their race. Among those who did, white loan recipients received $37.8 billion, while Black and Asian recipients were approved for $9.9 billion and $6.1 billion in funding, respectively.

Hispanic and Latino recipients, which are categorized as an ethnicity separate from race, received $7.2 billion in loans, compared to the $70.6 billion that went to non-Hispanic or Latino recipients. Again, a majority of funds – $155 billion – went to those who did not identify their ethnicity.

Nationally, accommodation and food service industry businesses remain the top recipient of overall funding, with just $37.8 billion in loans, equal to 16% of total funds. The largest number of loans went to those categorized as “other services, except public administration,” with more than 648,000 loans.

Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.

Correction: Nearly 13,000 Rhode Island recipients have received $903.8 million in forgivable payroll loans since the program reopened.