South County Companies Received $50M In Federal Coronavirus Loans

NARRAGANSETT-SOUTH KINGSTOWN, RI — Companies in Narragansett and South Kingstown received $50.55 million in loan approvals under the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to data released Tuesday by the Small Business Administration.

The loans went to 767 companies and ranged from $300 to $1.25 million. Applicants said the loans would help them protect 5,725 jobs in Narragansett and South Kingstown

The data released this week includes all loans under the program passed in March as the coronavirus pandemic took hold and forced widespread business closures and layoffs. SBA released some loan data in July, but that data only showed loans over $150,000 and did not include specific dollar amounts.

The Washington Post, Bloomberg and other media companies sued the SBA to release the full data set. In November, a federal judge ruled in favor of the media companies and ordered the SBA to release the data by Dec. 1. The data released Tuesday was current as of Nov. 24 and includes updates to the data released in July.

Previous: Coronavirus Relief Loans In South County: Where PPP Money Went

PPP loans are part of the CARES Act, a comprehensive COVID-19 relief package Congress passed in the spring. The loans are forgivable as long as a certain percentage is used for payroll. The program stopped taking new applications in August, but business groups are pressuring federal lawmakers and the Trump administration to renew the program.

In Narragansett and South Kingstown, some of the loans went to:

• The Prout School: $647,800
• Sons of Liberty Company: $205,800
• Jerry's Paint and Hardware: $149,750
• Sweenor's Chocolates: $100,960

Statewide, there were more than 17,000 loans totaling $1.9 billion. In their loan applications, the companies that received the loans said they would help protect 161,577 jobs in Rhode Island.