Name: More than 93K TN businesses approved for $8.9 billion in PPP loans: See which took the largest loans
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More than 93K TN businesses approved for $8.9 billion in PPP loans: See which took the largest loans

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Nashville TennesseanView CommentsMore than 93,000 Tennessee businesses have been approved for $8.9 billion in potentially forgivable loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to .Of these, 82,018 — nearly 88% — were approved for loans of less than $150,000. The remaining 11,269 were approved for loans between $150,000 and $10 million.Those receiving loans include prominent law firms, hospitals, universities, media organizations, charter schools, hotel operators, restaurants, well-known civic organizations&nbsp;and many more.&nbsp;Tennessee businesses received most of the approvals: Only about 4% of those approved for PPP loans identified as nonprofit organizations.The U.S. Department of the Treasury released business names only&nbsp;for organizations approved for loans between $150,000 and $10 million, the program's cap for any single loan. Nationally, the department released the names of &nbsp;that&nbsp;received loans in this tier. Exact loan amounts are listed only for&nbsp;anonymized businesses approved for loans less than $150,000.&nbsp;The loans, if used, could help Tennessee's businesses retain an estimated 916,996 jobs.In Tennessee, 82% of estimated small business payroll was covered by PPP loans, , a statistic that Colin Barrett, president and CEO of the Tennessee Bankers Association, finds encouraging."I think that is an amazing statistic, and I think that speaks to what a great job the lenders did and the small businesses did in taking care of our fellow Tennesseans," Barrett said.The PPP&nbsp;was designed by the Small Business Administration as part of the CARES Act to help businesses keep their employees on payroll during shutdowns caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. PPP loans are underwritten by lenders throughout the nation, guaranteed by the SBA and can be forgiven if recipients meet certain spending criteria.In the state, 87 businesses and groups were granted approval&nbsp;in the program's highest bracket: $5 million to $10 million. Corporations were approved for 4,428 loans over $150,000 — the most of any business type in Tennessee — followed by LLCs at just over 4,200.Sole proprietorships, which are businesses owned and run by one person, made up 30% of the businesses approved for loans under $150,000.Of the loans under $150,000, the amount approved most often fell just under $21,000.Nashville and Memphis had the most businesses and organizations approved, together making up more than 23% of all Tennessee businesses granted PPP approval by lenders. Shelby and Davidson counties were also , leading the state in the number of continued unemployment claims filed as of June 27.Search for businesses receiving loansThe process has not been smooth for many businesses who struggled to understand and meet changing criteria for loan forgiveness. Some&nbsp;balked at increased federal scrutiny meant to dissuade large corporations from taking loans meant to benefit smaller businesses. An unknown number of businesses canceled their loans.The SBA now specifies that it will&nbsp;only automatically review all loans over $2 million for eligibility and compliance, though it maintains the ability to scrutinize any loan and potentially demand repayment.Loans that were canceled are not included in the data, which was compiled using information voluntarily self-submitted by businesses during the application process, according to the SBA.TREASURY DATA:INVESTIGATION:"The number in Tennessee would have been a lot higher, but we had a good number of loans that were returned because of concern over scrutiny of those loans," Barrett said.&nbsp;"The vast majority of those companies were ones that were well-deserving. I think we have to keep in mind that the purpose of the paycheck protection program was the paycheck piece, and that money, regardless of who the company is, was going to employees. So I think it's unfortunate that we had any loans returned, because that's just money that could have been going to employees that didn't."Loan recipients must use the funds by the end of the year, spending at least 60% on payroll costs, to qualify for&nbsp;forgiveness. The program initially required businesses to spend the money within eight weeks of the start of the first new payroll period after receiving a PPP payment. Previously, forgiveness required 75% of PPP funds to be devoted to payroll, a stipulation .Barrett said relaxing the forgiveness requirements makes the loans more feasible and palatable."I think we are going to see the vast majority of these loans completely forgiven, and I believe that was the congressional intent," he said.Businesses on the approval list can still choose not to accept the loan.The data includes&nbsp;only those that were approved for PPP loans by lending institutions and does not indicate that these businesses qualify for loan forgiveness, the SBA noted.The application period for the Paycheck Protection Program has been .Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephenson@tennessean.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @CStephenson731.View Comments

Nashville TennesseanView CommentsMore than 93,000 Tennessee businesses have been approved for $8.9 billion in potentially forgivable loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to .Of these, 82,018 — nearly 88% — were approved for loans of less than $150,000. The remaining 11,269 were approved for loans between $150,000 and $10 million.Those receiving loans include prominent law firms, hospitals, universities, media organizations, charter schools, hotel operators, restaurants, well-known civic organizations&nbsp;and many more.&nbsp;Tennessee businesses received most of the...

More than 93K TN businesses approved for $8.9 billion in PPP loans: See which took the largest loans

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