By Sahar Chmais

Hays County businesses have received millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds, although many businesses either did not participate or had difficulty navigating the system. Now that PPP loans are making a reappearance to help more businesses get through this financially difficult time, it’s time to take a look at how some businesses in the county have secured these funds for their businesses.

About 30%, or $ 284 billion, of the $ 900 billion in COVID relief bill will be spent on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The first round of PPP loans was almost double the amount proposed in the December bill. PPP disclosed details of the business loans it has made, such as company names, loan amount, name of lender, number of jobs saved and more. The Hays Free Press / News-Dispatch analyzed some of the numbers so businesses in Hays County have a sense of what to expect in the next wave of loans.

In Hays County, nearly 2,500 small businesses have received loans under the program. A caveat that created some limitation to the analysis of information – the PPP disclosed the exact loan amounts for companies that received less than $ 150,000, but did not disclose these business names. Loans over $ 150,000 were accompanied by names, but loan amounts are given in wide ranges.

Loans under $ 150,000:

Hays County businesses that received less than $ 150,000 raised more than $ 72 million from 194 banks. Many of the lenders were small banks or local banks, but some of the larger loans came from large national banks.

Frost Bank made 220 loans worth $ 8.6 million. Frost was the county’s largest lender in quantity and loan amounts for loans under $ 150,000. These loans alone supported 1,894 jobs.

Other lenders who have made more than 100 loans or over $ 1 million include: Wells Fargo Bank, Ozona National Bank, BBVA USA, Bancorp SouthBank, Bank of America, Broadway National Bank, Cross River Bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Newtek Small Business Finance, Sage Capital Bank and more.

These loans have saved more than 10,000 jobs in the county.

Some of the banks participating in the last round also include: A + FCU, Affiliated Bank, Allegiance Bank, Business Bank of Texas, First State Bank, Horizon Bank, International Bank of Commerce, Kabbage, Inc., Keystone Bank, Moody National Bank, PlainsCapital Bank , Ready Cap Lending, Security State Bank & Trust, University FCU, Wallis Bank and more.

Loans over $ 150,000:

The largest loans granted were between $ 5 million and $ 10 million. Only three companies in Hays County received this amount.

Caraday Managemnet LLC in San Marcos has secured $ 5-10 million from the national BOKF association.

Patriot Erectors LLC in Dripping Springs has raised $ 5-10 million through the Cadence Bank National Association. Berry Aviation Inc. in San Marcos also received $ 5-10 million from Regions Bank.

Other Hays County businesses that have received these funds include: The New World Bakery, Inc. with a loan of $ 350,000 to $ 1 million from Amarillo National Bank. Mexican restaurant Flores has secured a loan of $ 1 million to $ 2 million from Lone Star National Bank. Cinestarz LLC received $ 1-2 million from Frost Bank. B&J Pharmacy received $ 150,000 to $ 350,000 from Broadway National Bank.

Although only 255 small businesses received loans over $ 150,000, these funds provided more than 12,500 jobs.

Overall, PPP loans have saved over 23,000 jobs in Hays County for all loan amounts. Wells Fargo has made more than 170 loans but did not disclose guaranteed job amounts.
Many lenders have given small amounts of loans, ranging from one to ten loans.

(Disclosure: Barton Publications Inc., owner of Hays Free Press and News-Dispatch, received a PPP loan of $ 50,100.)