When it arrived to federal pandemic relief, a second bite of the apple paid out off for Potbelly.
The Chicago-based sandwich chain, which returned its first $10 million Paycheck Safety Application personal loan under tension only to go back and get a second a single, was notified by the Little Small business Administration past 7 days that the exceptional $10 million equilibrium will be absolutely forgiven.
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Potbelly secured the 2nd $10 million PPP loan in August 2020 and used for forgiveness previous 12 months. The SBA “manually reviewed” all PPP loans earlier mentioned $2 million to figure out eligibility for forgiveness, in accordance to the agency. In March, Potbelly warned investors it may well be accountable for spending again “all or a portion” of the 5-calendar year be aware, depending on the SBA’s willpower.
On July 12, Potbelly acquired notification from its financial institution, Harvest Tiny Business Finance, that the SBA permitted forgiveness of the complete superb principal and accrued fascination for a overall of almost $10.2 million, according to a Securities and Trade Fee filing Friday.
A Potbelly spokesperson did not instantly return a ask for for remark Monday.
Released by the SBA at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, the very first spherical of the PPP presented enterprises with much less than 500 staff forgivable loans of up to $10 million to address eight months of payroll. The first $349 billion in funding ran out in fewer than two weeks, with several lesser firms shut out, as financial institutions allegedly prioritized much larger clients forward of mother-and-pop firms.
That led to pushback from lawmakers and small-enterprise advocates, pressuring some larger compact corporations, including publicly traded cafe chains these as Ruth’s Chris, Shake Shack and Potbelly, to give back their financial loans.
Desire fell off in the course of the second spherical of PPP amid problems about mortgage forgiveness, and Potbelly decided to implement all over again in August 2020, as the plan was established to expire. The federal govt relaunched the plan in January 2021 for a 3rd spherical of funding.
The SBA permitted 11.4 million financial loans worth just about $788 billion for the duration of the a few rounds of PPP. As of July 10, the SBA has forgiven about 10.3 million loans truly worth just about $743 billion, or a lot more than 94% of the full PPP mortgage value.
Potbelly has grown from a solitary retail outlet on Lincoln Avenue in 1977 to a nationwide chain. As of December, Potbelly experienced about 5,500 personnel working 397 company-owned stores and 46 franchised areas in 33 states. There are 111 business-owned dining establishments in Illinois.
The enterprise produced $380 million in profits previous year, reporting a internet loss of $23.8 million.