More than 70 southern Santa Barbara County companies and nonprofits received at least $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to federal data released this week. The financial information was presented in ranges of $1-2 million, $2-5 million, and $5-10 million. Most of the forgivable loans were approved in April, with a handful approved in May.
The data also shows how many jobs were retained at each organization as a result of the funding. Channel Islands YMCA, which runs nine locations around the county, saved the most jobs with 500 retained.
Get the top stories in your inbox by signing up for our daily newsletter, Indy Today.
Sansum Clinic and Sientra, a Goleta-based breast implant manufacturer, were the only two entities on the South Coast to have received $5-10 million, the data shows. Darensberries, a produce company in Santa Maria, also collected that amount. See the full South Coast list here.
Channel Islands YMCA received $2-5 million, as did Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics; Santa Barbara Auto Group; Fielding Graduate University; the Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County; and technology and engineering companies Invoca, Novacoast, SLD Laser, BEGA North America, and Wyatt Technology Corporation; among others.
The $1-2 million range included food sector businesses like Rusty’s Pizza Parlors, Santa Barbara Shellfish Company, Pierre Lafond, The Berry Man, and Blenders in the Grass; Laguna Blanca and Crane Country Day schools; Planned Parenthood of California Central Coast; the Santa Barbara Zoo; Westerlay Orchids; the Towbes Group; Moss Motors; and more.
So far, the PPP system has guaranteed 4.9 million rescue loans across the United States worth a combined $521 billion. The average loan size was $107,000. All of the data can be found here.
Update: Invoca reached out to the Independent with the following statement: “Invoca applied for a Paycheck Protection Plan loan (PPP) to protect the jobs of our employees in light of economic uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We received the loan in late April, but after the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department provided more guidance about use of funds, we returned 100 percent of the PPP funds before the May 7, 2020 safe-harbor deadline.“
Every day, the staff of the Santa Barbara Independent works hard to sort out truth from rumor and keep you informed of what’s happening across the entire Santa Barbara community. Now there’s a way to directly enable these efforts. Support the Independent by making a direct contribution or with a subscription to Indy+.