Press Releases

HOLYOKE, MA – Today, Congressman Richard E. Neal joined local business leaders at The Log Cabin in Holyoke to celebrate the success of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) across the First Congressional District of Massachusetts.

Newly released information from the SBA outlines that the First District of Massachusetts received 10,460 loans totaling $1,177,312,235. The data shows that businesses of all types benefited from this important program, including women-owned, veteran-owned, and minority-owned businesses.

“The PPP has been an amazing success for small businesses across the country and especially here in western and central Massachusetts,” said Congressman Neal. “This unprecedented program, made possible through the passage of the CARES Act, has saved businesses, it’s saved good jobs, and it’s saved beloved fixtures in our communities that we all value and want to be sure survive the COVID-19 recession, including all those who joined us today.”

“During the COVID-19 crisis, the Paycheck Protection Program has been a lifeline for my business and employees. Without the SBA loan, we would not be here in Holyoke operating today. I appreciate the work of Congressman Neal that helped make this important federal assistance available,” said Peter Rosskothen, owner of the Log Cabin and Delaney House.

“The Bean Restaurant Group is extremely grateful to Congressman Neal and his team for leading the charge to ensure that businesses in western Massachusetts received these funds and we are especially grateful that all 14 of our restaurants received funding,” said Andy Yee, Principal Managing Partner of Bean Restaurant Group. “Immediately upon receiving these funds we were able to pay rent and utilities. As time went on and the state was allowed to re-open, we were able to hire employees back incrementally. Thanks to the partnerships we have with banks, landlords, and elected officials, including Congressman Neal, we are now open for business.”

Susan Beaudry, Executive Director of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra said, “The Springfield Symphony Orchestra benefited greatly by receiving PPP funds. These funds combined with the financial commitment of our Board, allowed us to maintain our staff for several months longer than we would have. It also allowed us to switch our fundraising focus creating the Musicians Relief Fund to help offset the lost work for our musicians.  Without this important funding the SSO would not have had the resources to shift gears from concert production in front of a seated audience to our virtual Home Gown series, which has allows us to stay engaged with our audience and community, as well as offer opportunity for our musicians to play.”

“When the pandemic first hit, none of us knew what to expect,” said Don Pion, Dealer Principle of Bob Pion Buick GMC. “Our service and parts operation were deemed essential businesses and continued to operate but at greatly reduced volume. We were mandated to close our showroom, virtually eliminating our sales and leasing departments. We saw reductions of 40% in our overall revenue. The PPP loans were a lifeline to get us through the worst of the crisis. It helped us keep our essential workers employed and allowed us to operate a scaled back sales and leasing operation remotely. Now that we've been allowed to reopen our showroom we've brought back nearly all of our staff. When times are the darkest it's nice to know that Congressman Neal is there for us. He's always accessible and sensitive to the needs of his district. Congressman Neal has always been there for us.  When push comes to shove, Richie Neal is the guy I want representing me.” 

In addition to these businesses, Sister Miriam Najimy, Daughters of the Heart of Mary, attended the event as a representative of the Marian Center in Holyoke. Sr. Najimy recounted how Congressman Neal’s staff assisted the nursing home – that caters specifically to nuns – to obtain a PPP loan. With this funding they were able to keep their staff employed to ensure that the nuns received the care they required. 

Background

On July 6, 2020 SBA released information on loans from the PPP. The loans were divided into two categories—(1) loans of $150,000 and above and (2) loans below $150,000. For loans at $150,000 and above, SBA publicly released the names of the businesses and additional information. For loans below $150,000, SBA only publicly released aggregated information. Around 85.6% of all loans in MA CD-1 were under $150,000.

More information about the types of businesses that received those loans in CD-1 can be found HERE.

Statewide Massachusetts data for loans under $150,000 can be found HERE.

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