Construction firms have had a larger share of loans approved than other industries so far under a government program meant to help small businesses survive the coronavirus outbreak, and the average loan amount for all applications has been about $239,000, a new report shows.
The U.S. Small Business Administration on Tuesday released the most comprehensive report to date of the $349 billion
As of late afternoon Tuesday, almost 1.2 million applications, totaling more than $268 billion, had been approved since the program launched April 3, according to the SBA’s latest totals. Funds for the program could be exhausted by Thursday, a top White House adviser
There’s no comprehensive accounting of how much money lenders have disbursed to small businesses so far. JPMorgan & Chase & Co. has funded $9.3 billion to firms and has more than 300,000 businesses in the application process representing $37 billion in loans, chief financial officer Jennifer Piepszak said Tuesday.
Construction companies received approval for 114,838 loans totaling about $34 billion through Monday, the SBA report shows. Professional, scientific and technical service companies were approved for 126,372 loans worth $30.3 billion, while holding companies had 2,278 loans approved totaling $888 million. Manufacturing firms had applications totaling $30.3 billion, and health care and social assistance firms $27.9 billion.
Loan applications from Texas, California, Florida, Illinois and New York accounted for nearly a third of the total amount, according to the report.
Tuesday’s report shows that 70 percent of the loans approved were for $150,000 or less, but they accounted for just 15 percent of the $247.5 billion in total approved lending. Almost 40 percent of that total went to loans between $1 million and $5 million, and about 10 percent to businesses that borrowed more than $5 million.
The program offers loans of as much as $10 million. They are forgivable if proceeds are used to keep workers on the payroll and cover rent and other approved expenses for about two months, a short-term stopgap designed to help businesses get by until the economy reopens.
