New data sheds light on Prince George’s PPP loans

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Nearly $1.2 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans went to Prince George’s County businesses and nonprofits to support more than 109,600 jobs, according to a Route 1 Reporter analysis of new, more-detailed data on the pandemic stimulus program released by the Small Business Administration earlier this month.

The data shows for the first time the identities of every business and nonprofit that received a loan under the program, as well as the value of each loan down to the dollar and cent. In July, the SBA released limited data on the program, including lists of each business that received a loan of more than $150,000, and an anonymized list of businesses that received loans less than $150,000. The SBA released the new loans after ProPublica and other news organizations filed lawsuits seeking the disclosure of the complete data. 

More than 10,400 Prince George’s County businesses and nonprofits received loans under the program. Among them were 1,460 businesses in the professional, scientific and technical services industry sector, the largest group of loan recipients in the county. These loans totaled $179.4 million, and supported at least 11,100 jobs. The second-most numerous were ambulatory health care service facilities, of which roughly 1,000 received $92.7 million in loans to support at least 9,670 jobs. 

Prince George’s specialty construction trade industry sector received the most loans by value, taking $180.7 million in PPP loans across 559 businesses to support at least 12,100 jobs. 

Prince George’s County’s construction businesses reported the most jobs supported by the loans, with $250.2 million in loans received to support 17,190 jobs. The second-most was Prince George’s health care and social assistance industry, which received $149 million in loans to support roughly 16,090 jobs. 

However, the data likely contains many flaws, errors and omissions, according to reports. For instance,  Of the nearly 11,000 entities in the Prince George’s County database, nearly 2,600 either lack information on the number of jobs supported by the loans, or reported zero jobs supported. 

Among Prince George’s County businesses and nonprofits that reported the number of jobs supported, the loan program paid an average of roughly $9,040 per worker. Construction industries paid the highest in the county, receiving loans worth an average of $13,280 per worker. Arts, entertainment and recreation industries paid the lowest, receiving loans worth an average of $3,509 per worker. 

Some of the jobs in this data may not even be in Prince George’s County. A Popeye’s Chicken franchise company based at 7237 Hanover Parkway in Greenbelt appears to have received $3.7 million in 40 loans to support 1,148 jobs, including at several restaurants located in other states. The Moby Dick House of Kabob chain, based out of 3329 75th Avenue in Suitland, appears to have received $2.3 million to support 440 jobs, many at restaurants located outside the county.