Johnston Companies Received $68m in Federal Coronavirus Loans

JOHNSTON, RI—Companies in Johnston received over $68 million in loan approvals under the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to data released on December 1 by the Small Business Administration.

The loans went to 660 companies and ranged from $225 to $3,265,242. Applicants said the loans would help them protect 5,812 jobs in Johnston.

The data released last 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.

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 Johnston, the loans went to businesses including:

• J.R. Vinagro Manufacturing and Processing Co.
• Aero Mechanical, Inc.
• Metro Motors, Inc.
• Warwick Hotel Associates
• Medical Homes of Rhode Island, Inc.