Thousands of Connecticut businesses received millions in federal pandemic aid aimed at small businesses

Some of Connecticut’s largest law firms, prestigious private schools, physicians, car dealers, and the UConn Foundation received millions of dollars in loans from the federal government through a $660 billion stimulus package that helped small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic.

Under pressure from Congress and activist groups, the Trump administration on Monday disclosed recipients of the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, funds established as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act approved earlier this spring after businesses across the country were shut down in response to the coronavirus.

In Connecticut there were nearly 8,600 businesses that received loans broken down into increments of $5 million to $10 million, $2 million to $5 million, $1 million to $2 million, $350,000 to $1 million and $150,000 to $350,000. Still more Connecticut companies received loans of $150,000, but those names were not released.

The loans were designed to help businesses with 500 or fewer employees keep workers on the payroll while they were shut down during the pandemic.

Across Connecticut the loans went to virtually every variety of business, from breweries to schools to construction companies to funeral homes, supermarkets and churches.

The program called for borrowers to apply for their loans through banks and other lenders. But in Connecticut and across the country, the program got off to a rocky start in early April. Borrowers rushed to make applications even while the U.S. Small Business Administration, which was administering the program, was still smoothing out the final rules. Online application systems were overwhelmed at various points early on and, in some cases, simply shut down.

Within a few weeks, the program came under heavy criticism when it was disclosed that publicly-traded companies such as Shake Shack secured loans when PPP had been touted by federal lawmakers as a path for small businesses to pay workers and stay afloat during the pandemic. Shake Shack later returned its $10 million loan.

The loans are attractive because if certain criteria were met, such as no layoffs or cuts in wages, the loans -- or at least a portion of them -- do not have to be paid back.

There were 50 businesses in Connecticut that received the largest loan of up to $10 million and among them are three well-know law firms - Shipman & Goodwin, which said it had 320 employees, Robinson & Cole which has 357 employees and Day Pitney which claimed 477 employees.

Three other major firms - Cummings & Lockwood, Halloran & Sage and Murtha Cullina were in the second bracket and received up to $5 million.

Some of the other businesses that were in the top tier include Gengras Motor Cars Inc. one of the largest car dealers in the Hartford area, Fuss and O’Neill, a Manchester engineering firm, Blum Shapiro, a large accounting firm and William Raveis, a real estate company located throughout Connecticut.

There were also numerous private schools that received funds, including the Choate Rosemary Hall Foundation in Wallingford which operates Choate Rosemary Hall School and received a loan in the $5 million to $10 million range. Choate didn’t report a number of employees that would be impacted.

Four other private schools, Kingswood Oxford in West Hartford, Avon Old Farms School, The Pomfret School and The Woodstock Academy were in the second tier of loans and received between $2 million and $5 million, records show. All of them listed employee numbers from 226 at Woodstock Academy to 157 at Avon old School, records show.

Achievement First, which runs charter schools in Connecticut, received a loan of up to $5 million and numerous other Achievement First schools also received loans. One college, Albertus Magnus, also received a loan of up to $5 million.

Another 320 companies or organizations in the state received loans of between $2 million and $5 million. Among them was Planned Parenthood of Southern New England in New Haven and the Silver Hills Hospital in New Canaan, which is reknowned for being a alcohol rehabilitation facility for Hollywood stars.

Silver Hills was the only hospital on the list. It listed 349 employees that would be impacted.

Another agency that received a significant loan was the UConn Foundation, a private fundraising arm of UConn. The Foundation said that the loan, which was between $2 million and $5 million, helped 134 employees remain on the payroll.

“Because of the financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UConn Foundation applied for a loan through the federal Payment Protection Program in order to ensure that we could keep all of our staff employed and receiving their paychecks. We intend to use 100 percent of the loan toward payroll costs,” said Scott M. Roberts, president and CEO of the UConn Foundation.

Another car dealership that got between $2 million and $5 million is Loehman Blasius Chevrolet in Waterbury.

There also appear to be two loans between $2.5 million and $5 million each, made to different arms of the Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocese - one was made to the corporation that oversees the diocese and a second to the Bridgeport Diocesan Schools Corporation. Records show that the diocese claimed 685 employees.

The state’s other two diocese’s got significantly less money. The Hartford Roman Catholic Diocese received a $1 million to $2 million loan and the Norwich Roman Catholic Diocese between $350,000 and $1 million. The Catholic Charities Inc, operated by the Hartford Archdiocese received a loan between $2 million and $5 million.

The Hartford Archdiocese and some individual parishes as well made use of the program, said Chris Healy, spokesman for the organization. “It allowed us to continue the work of the church,‘' said Healy, the executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference.

The program “helped prevent layoffs,‘' Healy said. “We were fortunate it was available to our institutions and made the applications accordingly.”

Connecticut Public Broadcasting received a loan of up to $2 million as did the New London Day newspaper.

The data shows the government issued $521 billion in loans, with an average loan size of $107,000, according to federal officials.

The loan program quickly ran out of funds at the start, but it was later replenished in late April. The number of weeks in which the loans had to be spent also was extended from eight to 24 weeks, a key criteria for not having to pay back the loan.

The backlash against the program was fueled, in part, because small business was defined as an employer with 500 fewer employees. But there were loopholes exploited by larger employers in the first round, including a company having more employees, but not all of them working in the United States. Some of the loopholes were closed when the funding was replenished, but not all.

Officials said the program helped support around 51 million jobs, although that number is based on self-reported data by the organizations that got the loans.

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