Martin Paredes of El Paso News published a groundbreaking investigative report on the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was intended to benefit American workers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Administered by the Small Business Association (SBA), the program ended May 31, 2021.
The PPP cost US taxpayers about $800 billion but a February 2022 New York Times report indicates that only about a quarter of that figure was spent on wages, with NBC news reporting that potentially 10% was stolen outright.
PPP LOANS IN EL PASO
Paredes documents that the feds made 8,097 PPP loans in El Paso, totaling $722,300,000, with an average loan amount of $89,205.
According to Paredes, the default rate in El Paso was 7.9%, more than double the national average of 3.4%.
The largest local recipients of PPP loans were Datamark ($3,176,509), Lucchese (($3,047,835), and Pizza Properties ($2,012,444).
PPP LOANS NOW SEARCHABLE ON DATABASE
Thanks to El Paso News, PPP loans can now be searched on a comprehensive database. Visitors can research loan recipients, loan amounts, loan forgiveness amounts, and charge-offs.
Kudos to Paredes for making this information available to the public at large.
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