Area businesses benefit from pandemic loans
LINCOLN — The Small Business Administration on Monday released some details about 4,179 Nebraska businesses that took out Paycheck Protection Program loans of $150,000 or more.
Of them, two are from Cedar County.
The Small Business Administration did not report the exact amount each business took out in loans, offering a range that the loan fell into.
Only loans of $150,000 or more were reported, so other area businesses that received the federal funding were not singled out by the SBA.
The data released by the Small Business Administration on Monday is only a small slice of all Paycheck Protection loans issued during the pandemic. The government revealed details of 650,000 loans on Monday. In all, more than five million loans were granted under the program. The loans are low-interest
The loans are low-interest loans that can be forgiven if the company uses the money to retain employees. Companies are just now beginning the loan forgiveness process.
Statewide, Omaha had the most loans at 1,598, which represented 38 percent of all loans given to Nebraska businesses. Lincoln (672), Grand Island, (147), Kearney (116) and Norfolk (89) rounded out the top five.
The Small Business Administration did not report the exact amount each business took out in loans, offering a range that the loan fell into. Only loans of $150,000 or more were reported.
Of the 4,179 loans, 2,394 of them were for the lowest range, $150,000 to $350,000. Statewide, 36 businesses got loans of $5 million to $10 million.
Among those top loan amount recipients are variety of businesses, mostly based in eastern Nebraska. Several are medical companies, such as the Kearney Regional Medical Center and the Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital in Omaha. Rotella’s Italian Bakery claimed to have retained 466 jobs with their upper range loan. Several agriculture industry businesses also topped the list.
Sixteen business reported that they would retain 500 jobs with their loans, the highest amount disclosed by federal regulators.
The average number of jobs preserved by companies who reported that number is 51. However, 106 Nebraska companies said they retained zero workers with the loan. Another 644 left the question blank on their application.
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