Tewksbury Companies Got $63 Million In Federal Coronavirus Loans

TEWKSBURY, MA — Companies in Tewksbury received $53 million in loan approvals under the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to data released Tuesday by the Small Business Administration.

The loans went to 467 companies and ranged from just $217 to over $6 million. Applicants said the loans would help them protect 3,886 jobs in Tewksbury.

The Tewksbury-based North East Educational and Developmental Supports Center received almost $2 million, protecting nearly 200 jobs, according to the data.

“The PPP loan we received gave us the financial stability needed to continue to provide the crucial services for the vulnerable people we support during this difficult time," said NEEDS Center President Jim Sperry. "The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in closures to some of our programs (Day Services) and overall increases in expenses for the care of the people we support residentially."

The data released this week includes all loans under the program passed in March as the coronavirus pandemic took hold and forced widespread business closures and layoffs. SBA released some loan data in July, but that data only showed loans over $150,000 and did not include specific dollar amounts.

The Washington Post, Bloomberg and other media companies sued the SBA to release the full data set. In November, a federal judge ruled in favor of the media companies and ordered the SBA to release the data by Dec. 1. The data released Tuesday was current as of Nov. 24 and includes updates to the data released in July.

Previously on Patch: These Tewksbury Businesses Got PPP Loans Over $150K

PPP loans are part of the CARES Act, a comprehensive COVID-19 relief package Congress passed in the spring. The loans are forgivable as long as a certain percentage is used for payroll. The program stopped taking new applications in August, but business groups are pressuring federal lawmakers and the Trump administration to renew the program.

In Tewksbury, the loans went to:

• Tri-Wire Engineering Solutions, which got $6.3 million.
• Griffin Greenhouse Supplies, which got $4.1 million and reported that it would protect 285 jobs, the most of any Tewksbury business.
• The NEEDS Center, which got $1.9 million and reported that it would protect 196 jobs.
• St. William's Church, which received $67 thousand.
• Main Street Pizza and Seafood, which got $2,352.
• DJ Dan Maguire, who got $217.
• Hundreds more.

"As a result of the PPP loan we were able to keep our staff employed and provide the intensive supports our individuals need through this unprecedented time," Sperry said. "The NEEDS Center employs 215 staff members and supports over 100 individuals with developmental disabilities throughout North East MA, Metro Boston and Cape Cod.”

Statewide, there were nearly 118,000 loans totaling $14.27 billion. In their loan applications, the companies that received the loans said they would help protect 1.17 million jobs in Massachusetts.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.