PROVIDENCE – Temporary restrictions on which businesses can apply for forgivable payroll loans have not slowed the approval pace for Rhode Island recipients, according to new data published by the U.S. Small Business Administration on Wednesday.
The latest Paycheck Protection Program information, which reflects loans approved as of Feb. 28, shows that just under 8,000 Rhode Island businesses and other eligible entities have received a combined $692.6 million. This represents a $51.5 million increase, with just under 700 additional recipients, over the totals from the prior week – a similar growth rate to prior weekly updates despite new, temporary restrictions on who can apply.
Amid concern that the program was not reaching smaller and minority-owned businesses, the Biden administration launched a two-week period – which began on Feb. 24 – in which only businesses with 20 or fewer employees could apply.
How much the restrictions have helped in the five days since is unclear from the report. Of the $156.3 billion in loans approved across the country, $47.4 billion has gone to businesses with 10 or fewer employees – on par with the percentage of dollars allocated to businesses of this size before the new restrictions began. The SBA data did not show dollars approved or total loans for businesses with 20 or fewer employees.
The report also did not provide a state-by-state breakdown of loans by industry or demographics.
However, a separate SBA report published on Feb. 25 – the day after new limits began – emphasizes the ways in which the program is achieving equity with separate national statistics. The report pointed to the 94% of loans approved that were for less than $250,000 as evidence that small-business borrowers are benefiting. Just under half, 47% of loans approved, went to borrowers with 20 or fewer employees, according to the Feb. 25 report. However, the report also acknowledged the lack of demographic data and said it is working to improve the response rate and reach underserved communities.
Of the 2.2 billion approved loan recipients as of Feb. 28, 1.6 billion did not identify their race. Among those who did, just under 340,000 were white compared to 113,600 Black loan recipients. Over 77,000 loans went to identified Hispanic or Latino recipients recipients – considered an ethnicity and therefore a separate category than race – versus just under 635,000 non-Hispanic or Latino recipients. Nearly 1.5 billion declined to specify their ethnicity.
Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank continued to rank among the top lenders nationally, with 26,544 loans totaling $1.5 billion.
Just under $128 billion of the $284 billion allocation approved in the December stimulus bill remains available, with a March 31 application deadline.
