Texas chains max out federal PPP loans
Newly disclosed records show Houston Zoo, rodeo are among recipients of $5M-$10M
WASHINGTON — Some of the best-known companies in Texas received millions in federal loans meant to help businesses stay afloat during the coronavirus outbreak, according to newly disclosed data detailing the loan recipients for the first time.
The report comes months after several big chains, including Shake Shack and Taco Cabana, were pressured into returning millions they had borrowed through the same Paycheck Protection Program. At that time, small business owners struggled to secure the funding during the program’s rocky launch. Publicly traded companies were among the few required to disclose how much they got.
The records disclosed Monday show that among the recipients of loans of between $5 million and $10 million — the maximum amount under the forgivable loan program — were the Houston Zoo and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, as well as Sport Clips, which runs hair salons across the country, and restaurant chains including TGI Friday’s, Pei Wei Asian Kitchen and Jason’s Deli.
Others borrowing $5 million to $10 million included: The Alamo Drafthouse, Hopdoddy Burger Bar, Bill Miller Bar-B-Q, Pappas Restaurants — the parent company of Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen and Pappasito’s Cantina — and Success Foods Management Group, which runs Torchy’s Tacos.
The companies all reported that the loans helped them retain hundreds of employees.
The data released by the Small Business Administration shows that more than 389,000 of the loans were approved for businesses in Texas by the end of June, totaling more than $41 billion — second only to California. Of those, 378 loans in the $5 million to $10 million range were awarded to Texas businesses. In all, 52,150 Texas businesses received $150,000 or more, the data shows.
The program was available to companies with 500 or fewer employees, and the loans can be forgiven if a certain amount is spent to keep workers on the payroll. Restaurant chains, hotels and other franchise businesses with fewer than 500 employees per location were also eligible.
Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta in May urged President Donald Trump to peel off some of the loan funding to help large restaurant chains like his. Fertitta said he initially received a paycheck protection loan, but returned it after he realized, “I would’ve been that billionaire that took the money from the little businesses.”
Fertitta asked the administration to “add a category for the larger private restaurateur that could go out and take this money, and put it in a different bucket so it wouldn’t be me taking this money away from the little beauty salon.”