Government releases some details on Lakes Region PPP recipients

LACONIA — Non-profit organizations, medical providers, an engineering company and car dealers were among Lakes Region organizations that received major financial support through a federal program to preserve jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Small Business Administration initially declined to say who received the money or how much they received. Under pressure from media organizations, the SBA this week released details of those who received more than $150,000.

In Laconia, Lakes Region Community Services, which provides services to those with developmental disabilities and acquired brain disorders as well as a range of services to others, received $2 million to $5 million. Exact amounts were not provided.

Organizations that received $1 million to $2 million included Boothby Therapy Services, which provides support to schools for children with special needs; Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice, Rist-Frost-Shumway Engineering, Irwin Motors, the Taylor Community and the Lakes Region Mental Health Center.

Chris Irwin, of the Irwin Automotive Group, said the pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty, which can make for a challenging business environment.

“We’ve changed a lot of internal processes and added a lot of safety measures post-COVID to keep everybody healthier,” he said. “We’re trying to take a positive out of it.

“Certainly a lot of businesses have been helped by some of the stimulus money out there. Most importantly, we’ve been able to keep all of our employees.”

Michael Flaherty, executive director of the Taylor Community, said the retirement community received $1.6 million.

“Would Taylor have survived without it?,” he asked. “We’ll never have to worry about that, but certainly it would have put a big dent in our operation, that’s certain.

“I was absolutely thrilled it came along and that we could take advantage of it.”

He said the money helped it handle costs associated with COVID-19, including protective equipment, shift differentials, hazard pay, additional cleaning and maintenance as well as new workers to handle tasks related to the pandemic.

Maggie Pritchard, chief executive officer of Lakes Region Mental Health Center, said her organization received about $1.7 million in PPP money.

Revenues are down about 30 percent at her organization because of the pandemic. It employs about 190 people, two-thirds clinical staff and one-third administrative staff.

“The part that’s a challenge is being able to maintain your workforce and bring people back,” she said. “A number of staff have had to be out because they have medically compromised conditions or child-care issues.”

Cantin Chevrolet, Funspot, Lakes Region Anesthesiology, Watermark Marine Systems and the Irwin Corporation, which runs Irwin Marine, were in the second-highest category, $350,000 to $1 million.

Local companies that received $150,000 to $300,000 included Blizzard Inc., which runs Lakeport Landing Marina; the Bonnette, Page & Stone construction management company, and the Lakes Region News Club, which owns The Laconia Daily Sun.

Under the Payroll Protection Program, Congress created $659 billion in low-interest loans that will be forgiven if employers use the money on payroll, rent and similar expenses and if employee headcount numbers are maintained. With about $130 billion unclaimed as the application deadline closed June 30, Congress extended the program until Aug. 8.

Elizabeth Moisuk, a spokeswoman for the SBA, said that forgiveness of a PPP loan is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels.

Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.

She said all all PPP loans are subject to SBA review and all loans over $2 million will automatically be reviewed.

In New Hampshire, 23,829 businesses received more than $2.5 billion. But the administration only released the names of the 3,442 that received at least $150,000.

In Gilford, there was one organization that received between $2 million and $5 million — Marbucco Corp., which does business as Granite State Glass. In the $350,000 to $1 million category were Belknap Landscape, Daniels Electric and Energy Efficiency Services.

In Meredith, there were two companies in the $1 million to $2 million range,  Magic Food Management and Stewart’s Ambulance Service.

Using federal relief funds, the state has also distributed $322 million to 5,017 businesses through the Main Street Relief Fund and set up a website to look up the exact awards — https://tinyurl.com/y8mnd7tq

The program provided emergency financial relief to support small, for-profit New Hampshire businesses needing help because of the economic disruption caused by COVID-19.

One requirement was that the business had to be in operation for at least a year as of May 29. That makes it tough for some newcomers, said Damon Lewis, owner of Vulgar Brewing Company in Franklin, which opened last October.

“With us being a restaurant and a brewery, we have been hit really hard with the shutdowns and being limited to to-go orders and patio seating just recently,” he said.

“We had really been counting on this summer as a good way to get our feet under us as a business and of course plans have changed on that.”