PORTLAND, Ore. — Have the industries most damaged by the economic ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic been at the front of the line for SBA-backed Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans?
Not necessarily.
Now that the U.S. Small Business Administration released detailed information about approved borrowers of $659 billion in PPP loans, as reported by the PBJ's Matthew Kish, we've begun to dive into the data.
A total of 64,590 PPP loans valued at $7 billion were approved for state businesses this year with the average loan approval amount of $108,280.
While accommodation and food services is widely believed to be the hardest hit during the pandemic, the sector was approved for only the sixth-highest amount and seventh-highest count of PPP loans, $613 million and 5,998, respectively. That may be because restaurants and hotels feared taking loans because they would not be able to hire back employees to meet loan forgiveness qualifications, with no end in sight to the loss of their business.
By contrast, health care and social assistance businesses across the state were approved for $939 million and 7,221 loans as health care practitioners faced a lack of elective procedures and regular office visits and social service organizations saw a spike in demand from impacted communities.
Oregon construction, manufacturing and professional/technical services firms were also at the top of the list among sectors approved for PPP lending.
The Portland Business Journal is a KGW News partner.
