Parish businesses received $58M in PPP loans

Lincoln Parish businesses took advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 735 businesses having received more than $58 million in loans.

The exact total cannot be calculated because of the way the individual loan amounts are identified.

The program was part of the $2 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on March 27.

It is handled by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Treasury Department.

The Treasury Department keeps an online database for businesses that received loans, listing the exact loan amount if it’s under $150,000 and listing the business by name only if the loan is greater than $150,000.

Ruston led the way with 613 businesses receiving loans. Dubach had 47, Choudrant had 42, Simsboro had 24 and Grambling had nine. Vienna didn’t have any businesses that received loans.

Three businesses received the highest loan range of $5-10 million. Hunt Forest Products; Hunt, Guillot & Associates and Argent Financial Group all fell into that top bracket.

Pafford Emergency Medical Services was the only group to fall in the next highest bracket of $2-5 million.

The type of business receiving loans can be identified by its North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code in both parts of the database.

Ninety businesses that specialize in health care made up the largest group to receive loans in Lincoln Parish. Offices of physicians and offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists and audiologists made up the largest subgroups.

Green Clinic Management Company and Green Clinic both received $1-2 million while Lincoln Healthcare and Allegiance Health Center of Ruston received $350,000-1 million.

Lincoln Builders, S&F Construction and Triad Builders of Ruston are a part of the 57 construction-type businesses receiving loans. Lincoln Builders received $1-2 million while S&F and Triad received $150,000-350,000.

Restaurants constituted 37 of the businesses, with Log Cabin Mesquite Grill and Royal Restaurants both receiving $150,000-350,000.

Twenty-seven religious organizations received PPP loans as well. Temple Baptist Church of Ruston received $350,000-1 million. Rolling Hills Ministries, The Bridge Community Church, The First Baptist of Ruston and Trinity United Methodist Church all received $150,000-350,000.

Retail stores also contributed 44 businesses to the database.

Cedar Creek and Grambling High Foundation were the only two education-type entities to be specifically named in the database. They both received $350,000-1 million.

The database also lists business owners’ demographic information, if it was provided. But the SBA estimates some 75% of owners nationwide chose not to do so.

Locally, 141 businesses responded with the owner’s race or ethnicity while 594 did not. White owners accounted for 131 businesses. Five were Asian owned, four were African American owned and one was American Indian or Alaska Native owned.

Men owned 134 of the businesses that answered the question. Women owned 50 while 551 businesses declined to answer.

Only five businesses were listed as being owned by veterans. The other businesses were owned by either non-veterans or did not answer. Thirty-four businesses were classified as non-profit while 9,125 jobs were reported to have been retained.

Origin Bank led the way in bank lenders with 309 processed loans. Century Next Bank processed 113 loans while First National Bank processed 86. Forty-six other banks processed at least one loan.

According to the SBA, borrowers applied for the loans with lenders and self-certified that they were eligible for PPP loans. The selfcertification includes a good faith certification that the borrower has an economic need for the loan. The lender then submits the loan to the SBA to be guaranteed.

The loan data does not mean that a business is eligible for loan forgiveness. The SBA said all PPP loans are subject to review, and all loans over $2 million will be automatically reviewed.

The public PPP data only included active loans and only businesses that received $150,000 or more were listed by name. Loans that were canceled for any reason were not included.