To combat the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Congress has authorized a total of $659 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program to help businesses with job retention and other expenses.

In the McKinney area, a total of 2,971 businesses have received PPP loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, ranging individually from $150,000 to more than $5 million, according to data from the SBA. Businesses that received those loans reported they were able to retain more than 23,000 jobs, according to data.

McKinney-based Hielan Restaurant Group was the lone recipient in the city to receive a PPP loan in the $5 million-$10 million range.

An additional nine area businesses received PPP loans in the $2 million-$5 million range; however, the majority of loans—more than 32%—were in the $10,000-$25,000 range.

The majority of these federal stimulus loans in McKinney went to businesses in the industries of professional, scientific and technical services; health care and social assistance; other services excluding public administration; and construction.

Companies that received PPP loans were also asked to report the number of jobs they expected to retain on their loan application.

While most companies reported retaining some number of jobs, about 18% of McKinney loan recipients either did not respond to that question or reported zero jobs retained. Businesses must meet certain federal standards to be eligible for loan forgiveness.


Here is how the number of loan recipients breaks down in McKinney four major ZIP codes.

The SBA released the data July 6 after the administration was sued by 11 media organizations, including The New York Times and Associated Press, for its initial refusal to release detailed PPP loan data.

At the federal level, the SBA has administered more than $518 billion in loans as of July 17. Texas businesses have received $40.7 billion in PPP loans, second only to California at $67.5 billion.

According to John Arensmeyer, CEO of the national small business advocacy group Small Business Majority, 1 of every 4 small businesses in its network reported receiving a lower amount than requested; he said the data is a "far cry" from an accurate representation of the program.

"Serious questions remain about whether PPP funds were equitably distributed to minority-owned businesses, and there is an alarming rate of small-dollar loans," Arensmeyer said.


Jack Flagler and Ian Pribanic contributed to this report.

Editor's note: Community Impact Newspaper, headquartered in Pflugerville, was a recipient of PPP funding.