Law firms, auto dealerships, museums, schools and restaurants were among tens of thousands of Ohio companies approved for loans from a federal coronavirus aid package.
The Small Business Administration released the list of recipients from the Paycheck Protection Program on Monday.
The list includes companies and groups approved for loans but does not specify whether they actually received the money.
In Ohio, 140,270 businesses had been approved for loans totaling nearly $18.4 billion as of June 30.
Among the central Ohio companies receiving loans between $5 million and $10 million (the highest amount) were glass manufacturer Anchor Hocking, restaurant chains including Cameron Mitchell and Buca di Beppo, law firms such as Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, auto dealers including Ricart Automotive and direct-sales company Thirty-One Gifts.
“We applied for the loan in early April. There were uncertain economic times in front of us,” said Ron Davies, president and CEO of Columbus insurer Safe Auto, which was approved for a loan between $5 million and $10 million. “We wanted to hunker down, keep our team and work toward the future.”
Safe Auto ultimately was able to return the bulk of the money it received, Davies said.
Other companies didn’t return calls or declined to comment on the loans.
Companies that received loans between $2 million and $5 million include salons such as Charles Penzone, architectural firms such as Moody Nolan, electric cooperative South Central Power Co. and Columbus Distributing.
Muirfield Village Golf Club and BrewDog were among companies approved for loans of $1 million to $2 million along with Cristy’s Pizza of Lancaster, the Columbus Museum of Art, car dealerships, heating and cooling companies and several religious groups and schools, along with charities.
While companies, charities and other groups could borrow up to $10 million, most of the money went to very small businesses.
Of the 140,270 loans approved in Ohio, 84 percent of them were for $150,000 or less.
Nationally, 4.9 million loans totaling $520 billion have been approved.
The names of companies that received $150,000 or less were not released for what the SBA said were privacy reasons. (The Associated Press and other news organizations are suing to obtain the names.)
The Paycheck Protection Program provides loans designed to give small businesses an incentive to keep their workers on the payroll.
The loans will be forgiven if all employees remain employed for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities.
Companies that eventually lay off a portion of their staff may be required to repay a portion of the money.
The loans were a part of the package of steps Congress took to help the economy weather the coronavirus shutdowns. That included stimulus checks to most families and expanded unemployment benefits.
About $131 billion remains available in the PPP program.
The deadline to apply for loans is Aug. 8, but banks are encouraging interested companies to start working on the loans soon to avoid missing the deadline.
