New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)

Area businesses, nonprofits find relief through PPP loans

- By Luther Turmelle

A broad spectrum of businesses, churches, nonprofits and private schools in the area were among the thousands of recipients of federal Payroll Protection Program loans since April.

Nearly 17,900 loans were issued to applicants from the 20 towns in the Register’s coverage area, according to data released this week from the federal Small Business Administra­tion. Of those, nearly 9,300

were for less than $150,000 while nearly 8,600 were for $150,000 or more.

Statewide, $6.7 billion in forgivable loans went to more than 60,000 organizati­ons.

The SBA data does not identify the names of the businesses that received less than $150,000. So for the purpose of this story, we focused on the loans of at least $150,000.

The loans were designed so employers could afford to keep paying workers for another eight weeks as business activity slowed to a crawl because of the coronaviru­s pandemic. Multiple groups have been pushing to have the informatio­n released, in part because the loans are forgiveabl­e if the recipients meet certain conditions.

Of the 8,595 PPP loans of $150,000 or more to entities in the area, the vast majority were in the state’s largest cities.

Stamford’s economy was the largest beneficiar­y of the PPP loans, with 490 businesses there receiving them. Hartford businesses received 323 loans while 287 were issued to those in New Haven.

But smaller New Haven

County communitie­s also were significan­t beneficiar­ies. Milford was ranked 10th with 175 businesses receiving loans, while Wallingfor­d was 15th with 137.

Ninety-five businesses and organizati­ons in Cheshire got PPP money. Among them was Viron Rondo Osteria, an eatery on Highland Avenue.

The restaurant got $425,000 from the program, said owner Viron Rondos.

“We would be in big trouble if it wasn’t for the federal funds,” Rondos said. “I felt so useless when we had to close.”

Hamden and Branford were in the top 20 area communitie­s in terms of the number of businesses receiving loans of $150,000 or more, with 130 in Hamden and 124 in Branford.

One of the Shoreline’s best known retailers, R.J. Julia Bookseller­s in Madison, was among the 39 businesses in that town to get PPP money. The independen­t bookstore, which also has a location in Middletown, got between $150,000 and $350,000 on April 10 to preserve 118 jobs.

Lori Fazio, R.J. Julia’s chief operating officer, said the money helped the bookstore shift gears “at a time when we were closed to browsing in the store, but the staff was still need to keep filling book orders online.”

Three months later, the store has reopened under the state’s social distancing guidelines and “business is good, but not nearly what we’re used to this time of year,” Fazio said.

“We’re having to figure out ways to work smarter as a result,” she said.

Businesses in other Shoreline towns also received PPP loans amid the pandemic.

Zane’s Inc., the Branfordba­sed owner of Zane’s Cycles, got between $350,000 and $1 million. Another Branford business, appliance retailer H.P. Hallock, got between $150,000 and $350,000.

Not all of the PPP money went to the private sector. Some went to private schools.

The Foote School in New Haven, for example, got between $1 million and $2 million. Two other New Haven-area private schools, Cheshire Academy and Choate-Rosemary Hall in Wallingfor­d, also got millions of dollars from the program.

Cheshire Academy received between $1 million and $2 million while Choate-Rosemary Hall got between $5 million and $10 million.

Churches also were among the recipients of PPP funds.

The St. Bridget of Sweden parish in Cheshire received between $350,000 and $1 million. Precious Blood Parish, which includes St. Agnes and St. Mary’s churches in Milford, also received between $350,000 and $1 million.

The Connecticu­t Food Bank, based in Wallingfor­d, was among the many area nonprofits that received loans. The Food Bank, which serves clients in Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London and Windham counties, got between $350,000 and $1 million.

When the pandemic hit,

The Food Bank found itself in a significan­t operationa­l squeeze, according to Paul Shipman, a spokesman for the organizati­on.

Record job losses in Connecticu­t have translated into more people seeking assistance to put food on the table. Normally, about twothirds of the food the organizati­on provides to its clients comes in the form of donations from supermarke­ts, restaurant­s and other food industry companies, Shipman said.

“When the pandemic hit, our food donations dropped by 60 percent,” he said.

That means the organizati­on has needed to purchase more food than it normally would, according to Shipman. Fortunatel­y, he said, the Food Bank has seen an increase in monetary donations since March.

“We were glad and very grateful to be able to apply for and receive the money,” Shipman said of the PPP program funding. “It was used to keep supporting our staff of 60 people, which was a big help. We don’t have a full complement of volunteers right now, so our staff has to do everything.”

The combinatio­n of the PPP funding and the increase in financial donations, when combined, “has given us much more buying power to step up our food sourcing.”

 ?? Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? Viron Rondo at Viron Rondo Osteria in Cheshire. It received a PPP loan.
Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticu­t Media Viron Rondo at Viron Rondo Osteria in Cheshire. It received a PPP loan.
 ?? Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? Volunteer William Wildridge, right, helps load a car during a drive-thru food distributi­on event led by the Connecticu­t Food Bank in New Haven on June 25. The food bank is among the nonprofits that received PPP loans.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticu­t Media Volunteer William Wildridge, right, helps load a car during a drive-thru food distributi­on event led by the Connecticu­t Food Bank in New Haven on June 25. The food bank is among the nonprofits that received PPP loans.

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