Protecting Who?: Bulk of Green Bay PPP loans concentrated in suburbs
An industry breakdown of the types of businesses that received federal loan dollars and where they are located in the Greater Green Bay area
Protecting Who? is a four-part series The NEWcomer is producing to delve into how the federal Paycheck Protection Program has affected underrepresented communities in the Greater Green Bay area. This is the third story in the series.
Catch up with our other stories about how PPP loans did little for Black-owned businesses in Green Bay, the logistical hurdles and application fatigue a small, minority-owned business has experienced in the past year, and how a lack of PPP funding in Green Bay’s Latino community is nothing new.
This story was completed with information from Reveal’s Reporting Networks and Big Local News. Thank you for reading.
From hair salons located in Ashwaubenon’s Shoppes At The Village to dentist offices scattered across Bellevue, businesses in suburban communities have reaped the lion's share of federal COVID relief loans in the Green Bay area.
Data provided by the Center from Investigative Journalism’s Reveal and Big Local News shows that businesses in the Greater Green Bay region received 2,652 Paycheck Protection Program loans during 2020. These loans total over $391 million dollars, but data provided by Reveal shows that the types of businesses to receive the highest number of PPP loans were concentrated in the outer regions of Green Bay, not the urban core.
Green Bay’s urban core received roughly $111 million in PPP loans while the suburb surroundings received over $330 million. An analysis of the urban Census tracts inside of Green Bay and the surrounding suburban Census tracts shows a sharp disparity between the number of applicants and the number of loan dollars received. For example, Green Bay’s eastern Preble-area tract is a Majority-Hispanic tract, but received just under $2 million in total PPP loans. A Census tract in the neighboring community of Bellevue received over $18 million.
Amid national trends such as the proliferation of suburban Shake Shacks and one of the nation’s largest food distributors hailing the suburbs as a “land of opportunity,” the landscapes and economies of American suburbs are changing. Wisconsin is also seeing an increase in younger populations heading to suburbs, according to a 2017 study from UW-Madison's Applied Population Lab.
An industry breakdown
The types of businesses in the Greater Green Bay area to receive the highest number of PPP loans from the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) —which administered the program —were full- and limited-service restaurants, beauty salons, real estate agents, religious organizations, and dentist offices.
Here is a simplified breakdown of how these five business types fared.
Highest to lowest total PPP amount received: Restaurants ($15 million), dentists ($7.4 million), religious organizations ($5 million), real estate agents ($1.6 million), and salons ($1.4 million).
Highest to lowest average industry PPP amount: Dentistries ($146,000), restaurants ($105,000), religious organizations ($87,000), real estate agents ($24,000), and salons ($15,000).
Restaurants accounted for 5 percent, or 143 loans, of the 2,652 loans provided in the Green Bay area. Full-service and limited-service restaurants received just under 4 percent, or $15 million, of the $391 million. The average loan size was around $105,000. St. Brendan's Irish Pub on South Washington Street received the largest loan, $612,300, and Pablo's Mexican Restaurant on Kepler Drive received the smallest loan at $1,595.
The Census tracts that overlap to make up downtown Green Bay have far and away the largest concentration of full-service restaurants that received PPP loans. Limited-service restaurants, defined by a lack of dining experience and quick-service meals, are another story.
According to data provided by Reveal, limited-service restaurants that received PPP loans in the Green Bay area tend to concentrate in outer regions of downtown Green Bay. The village of Allouez is home to a high concentration of limited-service restaurants that received PPP loans, as is Green Bay’s west side. One example of the types of limited-service restaurants that received PPP loans is Schanchrist Foods Inc, doing business as McDonald's on West Mason Street, which received $319,000.
Beauty salons accounted for 4 percent, or 96 loans, of the 2,652 loans provided. Salons received less than a full percentage point, or $1.4 million, of the $391 million. The average loan size was $15,000. The salon listed as receiving the largest loan in the area is Shalyn, Inc., which received $215,300. Shayln, Inc does not operate in Green Bay and is the parent company of a Menominee, MI Cost Cutters. Indria Salon and Spa, which has locations in Bellevue and Appleton, received the second-largest loan at $106,900. Karen Tauscher of Sola Salon on Oneida Street received the lowest PPP loan for this industry at $1,000.
Related: "Took the legs out from under me": A Green Bay barber’s struggle to find pandemic assistance takes its toll
The Census tract with the highest concentration of salons that received PPP loans consists primarily of the village of Ashwaubenon. While this tract is identified as a majority-White tract, the loan-to-business rate, 27 percent, fell below the area’s average of 40 percent.
Real estate agents and brokers accounted for 2 percent, or 65, of the 2,652 loans provided. Agents and brokers received around 0.4 percent or roughly $1.6 million of the $391 million pot of money. The average loan was $24,000. RealityHive, an online residential and commercial listing web service based out of the village of Howard received the largest loan at $206,000. The smallest loan of $500 went to Kimmer Christensen, an agent for eXp Realty, LLC in Green Bay.
Real estate offices that received PPP loans were heavily concentrated in the majority-White census tract along the edge of Green Bay and the village of Howard.
Religious organizations accounted for around 2 percent, or 59, of the 2,652 loans provided. Religious organizations received around 1.3 percent, or roughly $5 million, of the $391 million total. The average loan a religious organization received was $87,000. The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay received the largest loan at $882,000 and the smallest loan of $6,100 went to Acts 1:8 Ministry, a Christian outreach ministry in Ashwaubenon.
Ashwaubenon, falling in a majority-White census tract, was home to the largest concentration of religious organizations that received PPP loans.
Dentist offices accounted for roughly 2 percent, or 51, of the 2,652 loans provided. Dentists received around 2 percent, or $7.4 million, of the $391 million. The average loan received was $146,000. Bay Oral Surgery and Implant Center received the largest loan at $518,000. Dr. Stephen Sevenich of the Ashwaubenon Dental Wellness Center received the smallest loan at $20,800, but Dental Wellness Center received a separate loan not associated with Sevenich for $40,500.
Dentists offices located in the suburban rings of Allouez, Bellevue, and Ashwaubenon received PPP loans at a higher frequency than offices located towards Green Bay’s city center.
Tessa Conroy said businesses inside of a city’s urban core have grown smaller and smaller in recent years.
“We've seen pretty rapid growth of businesses with no employees. This would be a one-man or one-woman shop and those have grown so quickly in urban areas over the last decade since the Great Recession,” said Conroy, an Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at UW-Madison who specializes in regional economic development.
PPP loans were established to provide stability for businesses’ payrolls, but businesses with little to no employees on the payroll were left scrambling when the pandemic hit.
“A lot of these small businesses might be run out of the home, or they might be run out of a car or a truck for example,” said Conroy.
PPP loans were established to provide stability for businesses’ payrolls, but businesses with little to no employees on the payroll were left scrambling when the pandemic hit.
Since PPP loans were processed by financial institutions, loans were more likely to go to businesses that they have a prior relationship.
“Without that relationship in place when you go to participate in PPP, that can put you at a disadvantage,” said Conroy.
Wait! Before you go, I hope you know that staring at PPP data for hours takes a lot out of a person. If you've enjoyed these long-form, in-depth stories like the one you just read, consider becoming a paying subscriber today.
Protecting Who? is a four-part series The NEWcomer is producing to delve into how the federal Paycheck Protection Program has affected underrepresented communities in the Greater Green Bay area. This is the third story in the series.
Catch up with our other stories about how PPP loans did little for Black-owned businesses in Green Bay, the logistical hurdles and application fatigue a small, minority-owned business has experienced in the past year, and how a lack of PPP funding in Green Bay’s Latino community is nothing new.
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