Here’s who got the biggest Paycheck Protection Program loans in the Valley

Mahoning Valley businesses were approved for more than 1,000 individual Paycheck Protection Program loans, each between $150,000 and $10 million.

You can see which of those businesses got the largest federal COVID-19 relief payouts in the spreadsheet below.

The Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, is a federal COVID-19 relief measure intended for businesses at risk of layoffs due to the pandemic’s far-reaching economic impact. According to Valley businesses’ PPP applications, the funding would rescue more than 64,000 local jobs.

Alex Simon, co-owner of Simon Roofing and Sheet Metal Corp. along Karago Avenue in Boardman, called it a “godsend.”

With sales projected to decline 35 percent at their worst, Simon was looking at laying off as many as 120 of the company’s about 460 employees. Now they won’t have to.

“We had seen all our retail customers shut down completely,” Simon told Mahoning Matters on Monday. “That was great for us because we kept our plant going full time and we kept our people going full time through this. … It enabled us to do what the program intended to do.”

The family-owned business, which offers roof contracting and manufacturing, received a loan for between $5 and $10 million — approved April 13 by PNC Bank — one of the highest amounts approved, according to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration released Monday.

Those data identify which businesses received PPP funding, but only businesses that received loans of $150,000 or more are named. Additionally, the exact amount of loans approved in excess of $150,000 are not specified in the data, rather organized by tiers ranging from $150,000 to $350,000 and $5 million to $10 million.

LOANS MAY BE FORGIVEN

Businesses that spend at least 60 percent of the loan amount on employees may have some or all of the loan amount forgiven, essentially turning it into a grant. The other 40 percent may be spent on operating costs like rent or utilities.

The SBA relaxed those spending requirements from 75 percent and 25 percent, respectively, after input from business owners who ultimately couldn’t put those retained employees back to work, said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th.

“The whole idea was to get [the loan], do the right thing with it and, hopefully, you can bring your business back when the time is right,” he said.

Though Ryan noted the PPP system is still somewhat flawed, “It’s been a lifesaver,” he said.

“Businesses definitely would have went under if they didn’t get it, and things would be a hell of a lot worse than they are now,” Ryan said.

The SBA also extended the eight-week deadline to spend PPP loan funding to 20 weeks — essentially to the end of the year.

With the PPP as a lifeline, Simon Roofing was also able to honor job commitments the company had already made to new college graduates, Simon added.

“We’re a family business, but none of this is going to [executives’] wages at all,” he said. “This is for the employees. That’s what we said from the very start. … To keep these employees going, it was a godsend from the government. We were excited that we were able to be eligible.”

WORKERS SPARED SUFFERING

Using its mid-range PPP loan of between $350,000 and $1 million, freight trucking company PI&I Motor Express of Masury established a payroll stabilization program, aimed at keeping their drivers’ wages constant through the downturn.

PI&I drivers may opt into an eight-week fixed wage pay structure, which is calculated based on their 2019 wages and weeks worked in order to keep them “as close as possible.”

“Without the PPP funds, we would have been unable to implement this groundbreaking program, and our drivers would have inevitably suffered as a result,” Jeremy Kerola, whose family founded PI&I in 1951, is quoted in a release.

According to the data, locally owned Phantom Fireworks also received between $3.2 million and $8.35 million total for the five entities overseeing each aspect of the business.

William Weimer, vice president, said the fireworks retailer had already laid off about 250 employees after the state’s March 15 closures of all nonessential businesses. The company continued to pay their health benefits, he added.

“We closed our office, we closed every single one of our retail showrooms, and we had absolutely no idea what was ahead of us,” he told Mahoning Matters on Monday. “Our banks were concerned. We had no income. … We had no idea if we would have a season.

“In our business, essentially, there’s no ‘Fifth of July.’”

Data for Phantom’s five loans — all approved in April by S&T Bank — indicate the loans would save nearly 350 jobs. Now, the majority of employees who were laid off in March have been allowed to return, Weimer said.

Weimer said it’s still unclear how much of Phantom’s loans will be forgiven through the PPP program, noting the SBA has changed program regulations several times — “We hope to get forgiveness on most of it.”

Phantom’s loan funding has already been spent, Weimer said. Looking ahead, he thinks Phantom is on its own.

The SBA on Monday reopened applications for a third round of funding, the deadline for which is Aug. 8. When the second round of PPP funding ended June 30, about $130 billion remained unclaimed, according to CNN.

Ryan said business operators should be advocating for consistent messaging from government leaders during the pandemic.

“Part of the problem is there’s no national message. There’s no guidance, really, coming nationally, and that’s a killer for business,” he said. “We hear this all the time from business: ‘Just tell us what the rules are and then we’ll make it happen.'

“We’re open. We’re closed. We’re wearing masks. We’re not wearing masks. The economy’s coming back — wait, no it’s not. There’s gonna be sports. Now there’s not,” Ryan said. “There’s so much inconsistency, which I think is a big problem for businesses.”

See the complete list of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana county businesses approved for PPP loans of at least $150,000 in the spreadsheet below. The spreadsheet is sorted by municipality, then by loan amount and business name.

Click here to view a full-size version, where you can search for a particular business by pressing Ctrl+F. Searching for the exact name of the business may offer inaccurate results. We suggest searching by one unique part of the business’ name or by its address.

Click here to interpret a business' NAICS code, which classifies businesses by industry.

The SBA notes the data released Monday were taken from recipients’ applications, so they only reflect figures (such as jobs retained) as reported by the applicant.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration

DETAILS ON VALLEY LOANS

Of the more than 1,000 loans approved in the Valley, only 69 went to nonprofit or tax-exempt organizations, which also qualified for PPP funding. The vast majority of local recipients were corporations, limited liability companies or “S-type” corporations.

Under SBA guidelines, 99 percent of U.S. businesses qualify as a “small business,” and Monday’s dataset includes some familiar names.

At least 15 entities operating out of the 3900 E. Market St., Warren, headquarters for Covelli Enterprises were approved for loans totaling between $30.3 million and $65.4 million. The loans, all approved between April 8 and April 11 by Huntington National Bank, were sought to retain a combined 4,773 jobs, according to the listings.

The majority of those businesses are classified as food services but are also listed as limited-service restaurants and restaurant equipment repair businesses.

Local representatives of Covelli Enterprises could not be reached to comment on the loans this week.

Schwebel Baking Co. was approved for between $6.35 million and $13 million total across three loan applications that appear to be designated by its operational regions in New York and Pennsylvania. The loans, approved in April by First National Bank of Pennsylvania, would save 519 jobs, according to the company.

Lordstown Motors Corp., which intends to begin hiring line workers next year to manufacture its fully electric pickup truck, the Endurance, was approved for a $1 million to $2 million loan in order to keep 42 jobs.

Locally owned The Vindicator Printing Co. of Youngstown, which owned and operated The Vindicator until discontinuing the 150-year-old newspaper in August 2019, was also approved for a PPP loan between $1 million and $2 million, approved April 13 through JP Morgan Chase Bank.

According to the listing, the loan was intended to retain 46 jobs.

WFMJ Television Inc. of Youngstown, which like Vindicator Printing Co. is locally owned by the Brown-Jagnow family, also received a $1 million to $2 million loan to save 102 jobs, which was approved April 10, also through JP Morgan.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown was approved for a $1 million to $2 million loan intended to retain 342 jobs. Several area Catholic schools categorized as nonprofit academic organizations, including Cardinal Mooney High School, Ursuline High School and John F. Kennedy Catholic School, also were each approved for loans between $350,000 and $1 million.

The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, also a nonprofit religious organization, was also approved for a $1 million to $2 million loan intended to retain 184 jobs.

LOCAL LENDERS OK'D LOANS

Locally owned lenders Farmers National Bank of Canfield and Cortland Savings and Banking Co. together approved more than 200 loans to area businesses, according to the data.

The Cortland bank approved a total 412 PPP loans totaling $56.3 million, which were sought to retain about 7,800 jobs, representatives told Mahoning Matters on Wednesday. Of those loans, 58 went to Mahoning Valley businesses.

Bank President James Gasior said many businesses based in surrounding counties that weren’t already customers ended up seeking loans from Cortland Savings because they weren’t able to secure funding from a national bank or simply didn’t like their representative.

“It’s nice knowing we were able to assist the businesses in meeting those objectives in staying open and keeping people employed,” Gasior said. “We’re not seeing anything that would tell us that businesses are going to not be able to make it through the next several months. … I think everything has been fairly positive.”

Cortland Savings is able to collect lenders’ fees — between 1 and 4 percent, relative to the amount of the loan — which have been a boost for a bank that hasn’t been doing much lending during the pandemic, Gasior said.

He said the PPP loans didn’t just assist small businesses, but also “centers of influence” and service providers that were in the same situation.

“A lot of good things came out of the PPP,” he said.

This story was originally published July 9, 2020 at 3:52 AM with the headline "Here’s who got the biggest Paycheck Protection Program loans in the Valley."