Wilmette-Kenilworth PPP Loans: Where COVID-19 Relief Money Went

WILMETTE, IL — The U.S. Treasury Department and Small Business Administration issued a list of businesses that received approval for more a half-trillion dollars in loans as part of the federal Paycheck Protection Program created as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act.

Among the nearly 5 million PPP loans approved in April, there were 53 businesses based in Wilmette and seven in Kenilworth set to receive federal loans greater than $150,000. Those local businesses retained a total of 3,086 jobs as a result of the loans, according to data provided by the federal agencies.

After initially refusing to disclose the recipients of the federal relief, the agencies relented following lawsuits from media organizations and provided the names of all businesses that borrowed more than $150,000, accounting for about three quarters of the money distributed.

“Today’s release of loan data strikes the appropriate balance of providing the American people with transparency, while protecting sensitive payroll and personal income information of small businesses, sole proprietors, and independent contractors,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Monday in a statement.

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The program was established to offer forgivable loans to small businesses to cover the cost of continuing to keeping workers on the payroll. That has preserved more than 50 million jobs that would otherwise have been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Small Business Administration, or SBA.

SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said the data shows that all types of small businesses benefited from the unprecedented economic relief program.

“The PPP is an indisputable success for small businesses, especially to the communities in which these employers serve as the main job creators,” Carranza said in a release. “In three months, this Administration was able to act quickly to get funding into the hands of those who faced enormous obstacles as a result of the pandemic.”

Mnuchin said the program has provided support to more than 80 percent of all small business in the country.

“We are particularly pleased that 27 percent of the program’s reach in low and moderate income communities which is in proportion to percentage of population in these areas," he said. " The average loan size is approximately $100,000, demonstrating that the program is serving the smallest of businesses."

The release includes business names, addresses, business type, limited demographic data, names of lender, jobs retained and loan amount ranges. The first Wilmette business was approved for a loan on April 4.

Find below a map showing different colors for different loan sizes followed by a list of Wilmette and Kenilworth businesses approved for larger loans.

Two Wilmette-based businesses were approved for loans of between $2 million and $5 million: Loyola Academy, which reported in its loan application the money would allow it to retain nearly 300 jobs that would have otherwise been lost, and L. J. Thalmann Company, which does business as Chalet Nursery and said the loan would keep more than 200 workers on the payroll.

One Kenilworth firm and four Wilmette companies were approved for loans between $1 million and $2 million: Home Care Assistance of Greater Chicago, Providence Management Company, Chalet Landscape Co., CH Ventures and Chicagoland Fitness HR.

Twenty more Wilmette businesses received loans between $350,000 and $1 million, according to the data:

• F. J. Kerrigan Plumbing Co.
• Hoffmann Commercial Real Estate
• Baker Demonstration School
• Alter Realty
• Excel Administration Services
• BCH Emerald
• Hoffmann Water Sports
• Metro Chicago Surgical Oncology
• St. Francis Xavier
• De Giulio Kitchen Design
• James O'brien & Co.
• Lenny Hoffman Excavating
• Intelligent Healthcare.ai
• New City Service Provider
• Crosspeak Solutions
• Regina Dominican High School
• Citadel Care Center-Wilmette
• Orren Pickell Construction
• Celadon Holdings
• North Shore Associates in Gynecology and Obstetrics