Coronavirus PPP Loans In California: Where The Money Went

CALIFORNIA — More than 87,000 California businesses and non-profits have received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, to help pay their employees during the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released this week.

The loans, which varied in amount, were established as part of the federal government’s CARES Act and are forgiven as long as businesses keep employees on their payroll, without cutting pay.

On Monday, the U.S. Small Business Administration released data showing that nearly 5 million businesses have received PPP loans of more than $150,000 — totaling more than $521 billion. The U.S. Treasury says the money has supported 51.1 million jobs.

In California, more than 4.1 million jobs have been retained thanks to loans of greater than $150,000, according to the SBA. They went to a variety of organizations, from small restaurants to large companies with hundreds of employees.

The hundreds of California businesses approved for the highest loan bracket, receiving between $5 million and $10 million, included:

• Black Angus Steakhouses (Sherman Oaks)
• California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco)
• Korean Air Lines (Los Angeles)
• KQED (San Francisco)
• Sierra Nevada Brewing (Chico)
• Urban Plates (Cardiff-by-the-Sea)
• Wikimedia Foundation (San Francisco)

Search a complete database of payments above $150,000 in California by business name or town/city.

The loans are made by lending institutions including banks and credit unions and are guaranteed by the SBA. All PPP loans are subject to review by the SBA and all loans over $2 million are automatically reviewed by the SBA.

Below is a breakdown of the amounts approved in California:

• $5 million to $10 million: 647
• $2 million to $5 million: 3,276
• $1 million to $2 million: 7,114
• $350,000 to $1 million: 26,572
• $150,000 to $300,000: 50,080

The average size of a PPP loan is around $107,000 and 86.5 percent of all loans were for less than $150,000, according to the SBA.

PPP loans have an interest rate of one percent and can be fully forgiven if they are used to payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities.

Patch staffers Lucas Combos and Shannon Antinori contributed to this report.

Full coronavirus coverage: Coronavirus In California: What To Know