Large restaurant chains have gobbled up $30 million in federal loans meant to shore up small businesses during the coronavirus crisis.
The companies behind Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Ruth’s Chris Steak House each got sizable loans under the feds’ Paycheck Protection Program, the $349 billion small-business aid package that ran out of money Thursday.
Florida-based steakhouse operator Ruth’s Hospitality Group inked deals April 7 for $20 million in loans administered by the US Small Business Administration under the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed last month, records show.
And Chicago-based Potbelly Corporation got a $10 million loan from the program on April 10, the company said in a regulatory filing. Both firms said they received the money through JPMorgan Chase Bank.
The so-called PPP loans were aimed at helping companies with up to 500 employees cover payroll and overhead costs. But lawmakers expanded eligibility for restaurants so that companies could apply as long as they had no more than 500 workers at any single location.
That apparently paved the way for Ruth’s and Potbelly — which employ about 5,700 and 6,000 people, respectively — to dip into the limited pot of money.
Government watchdogs reportedly cried foul at the fact that such big restaurant firms got through the loan pipeline while many small businesses were left waiting for Congress to approve more money for the program.
“What a slap in the face to the untold thousands of legitimate small businesses that will not survive this crisis, many because they couldn’t get the help they were promised from the president soon enough, if at all,” Derek Martin of the watchdog group Accountable.US told Politico, which earlier reported on the Potbelly and Ruth’s loans.
“Like many other restaurants, Potbelly applied for the PPP,” Potbelly’s chief people officer, Matt Revord, said in a statement. “Every penny will be used to financially support the employees in our shops. Congress specifically qualified restaurants for the PPP loan program because restaurant workers are vital to our economy.”
Ruth’s didn’t respond to requests for comment on Friday.