Peter Piper Pizza tops list of 893 El Paso businesses, nonprofits with largest PPP loans

The company that owns and operates the Peter Piper Pizza franchises in El Paso and Las Cruces received the largest, single loan in El Paso under the federal Paycheck Protection Program — a loan of more than $5 million — according to recently released data from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Catholic Diocese of El Paso, along with several of its churches and high schools, received 15 loans totaling $4.9 million, according to information provided by the diocese. That was the largest amount among El Paso churches.

The SBA provided 4.9 million PPP loans totaling $521 billion nationwide to help small businesses and nonprofit organizations pay employees and weather the lockdowns in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency reported. More than 5,000 banks and other lenders made the loans with money to be provided through Congress’ $2 trillion economic stimulus package. 

WestStar Bank did the largest number of PPP loans in El Paso, SBA data show.

The SBA data show 893 El Paso businesses and nonprofit organizations, including several churches, received PPP loans ranging from $150,000 to more than $5 million. Those numbers include multiple loans received by businesses and organizations with multiple affiliated entities.

More: Who in Texas got Paycheck Protection Program loans during the pandemic?

Twenty-three El Paso businesses received loans of $2 million to $5 million; 65 businesses and nonprofit organizations received loans of $1 million to $2 million; 248  got loans of $350,000 to $1 million; and 555 received loans of $150,000 to $350,000.

Another 6,030 businesses and nonprofits received loans of less than $150,000. However, the names of those organizations were not provided by the SBA.

The SBA did not disclose specific loan amounts, but reported loans in dollar ranges. The maximum loan amount was $10 million.

More: Pending end of $600 weekly unemployment payments inspires agency's 'Back to Work' campaign

Loans were lifelines for businesses, Peter Piper official says

Pizza Properties received a $5 million to $10 million loan for its 46 Peter Piper restaurants in Texas, including 14 in El Paso, and two locations in Las Cruces, said John Hjalmquist, president of the Pizza Properties. Hjalmquist oversees the Peter Piper franchises and two other restaurant companies along with Kirk Robison, who is majority owner of the companies.

The companies are not releasing the exact amounts for its PPP loans, Hjalmquist said.

The restaurant group's two other companies also received PPP loans. Lone Star Apple, with Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar franchises in El Paso and Las Cruces, received a $1 million to $2 million loan, and Boss Restaurants, with six Boss Tenders, Dogs and Custard locations in El Paso, got a $150,000 to $350,00 loan.

Those loans retained 793 jobs, according to the SBA data

The loans "provided the lifeline businesses like ours needed, playing an integral role in protecting our businesses through the (COVID-19) crisis and, more importantly, doing exactly what the program was intended to do: save jobs," Hjalmquist said in a statement.

Rudolph auto dealership loans much less than SBA reported, owner says

Pizza Properties and Rudolph Chevrolet were the only El Paso companies to receive a single PPP loan of more than $5 million, the SBA data show. Some groups of related companies received larger amounts by getting loans for each of the separate entities.

However, the SBA loan data for Rudolph Chevrolet and its sister companies are wrong because they show dollar amounts for loans that Rudolph Chevrolet and four of its other companies initially applied for but didn’t receive, said Denny Neessen, co-owner of the Rudolph family of dealerships.

Rudolph Chevrolet received a PPP loan of just over $1.3 million, and the Rudolph Honda, Volkswagen and Mazda dealerships and body shop each received separate loans with a combined total of $1.92 million, Neessen said. The five loans retained 389 jobs, the Rudolph data show.

“We modified our loan” applications after the programs rules were clarified and salary calculations changed, Neessen said.

"It was very important to get these loans. It allowed us to retain jobs and keep everyone working," Neessen said.

"The reality is I would have had to downsize" without the PPP money, said Steve Fox, president of Fox Auto Group, which operates Fox Toyota, Fox Lexus and Fox Acura in East El Paso. His dealerships received one PPP loan of around $2.3 million and another in a range of $150,000 to $350,000, he said. Those retained 219 jobs, the SBA data show.

Other big auto dealership and restaurant groups also received large loans. That includes Casa Ford, with a  loan of $2 million to $5 million, and Casa Nissan, with a loan of $1 million to $2 million. The Poe family of four dealerships received three loans totaling $3 million to $6 million and one loan of $350,000 to $1 million. Richard Poe II, owner of the Poe dealerships, and Justin Lowenfield, one of the owners of the Casa dealerships, did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Jim Gore, president of the companies that operate 16 Village Inn and Bakery Corner franchises in El Paso and Las Cruces, said some people are complaining that big companies received the biggest PPP loans. Companies with bigger payrolls could get larger PPP loans because the loans were based on payroll sizes, Gore said.

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Gore's two companies received just over $3 million in PPP loans, which was critical for keeping the restaurants afloat and as many people as possible employed, he said. That money retained 450 jobs, the SBA data show. But Gore said the PPP uses full-time equivalent job numbers, so the actual number of jobs involved is much higher, he said.

"That money was critical" for his companies' restaurants and restaurants across the nation, Gore said.

Pandemic threat to restaurants, bars remains

"Even with it, depending on how long this (pandemic) carries on, there will be a lot of restaurant and bar casualties," he said.

Another large restaurant group to receive a significant PPP loan is Castro Enterprises, the Richard Castro company that operates most of the McDonald's franchises in the El Paso area. It got a $2 million to $3 million loan, SBA data show. Another company, West El Paso Castro, received a $350,000 to $1 million loan. Castro did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

M&S Group, which operates 20 Wing Daddy's Sauce House restaurants in Texas, including 10 in El Paso, received a loan of $2 million to $5 million. A sister company that operates Four Toro Burger restaurants in El Paso and one in Lubbock received a loan of $350,000 to $1 million. The loans were on the low end of the reported ranges, said Ryan McNellis, president and co-owner of the companies. But he declined to provide specific amounts. The Charcoaler restaurant operated by another of his companies received a loan of less than $150,000, he said. The loans retained about 330 jobs. But Wing Daddy's restaurants are now at about 700 part- and full-time employees, he said.

Fifty nonprofit organizations, including several large El Paso foundations, are on the SBA list of named organizations with loans ranging from $150,000 up to $2 million.

The largest loans for nonprofits were in the $1 million to $2 million range received by nine organizations: Aliviane, La Fe Clinic, Centro San Vicente, Project Vida Health Center, Hospice of El Paso, the Paso Del Norte Children’s Development Center, Project Amistad, the El Paso YWCA, and the Catholic Diocese of El Paso.

Catholic Diocese gets 15 loans totaling $4.9 million

The $1.87 million loan received by the Catholic Diocese was the largest loan among churches. But that was just one of 15 loans totaling $4.9 million received by diocesan organizations, including eight churches, whose loans included several Catholic elementary schools, according to information from the Diocese. A loan of $405,000 for St. Raphael Catholic Church and its elementary school in East El Paso was the largest among the Catholic parishes

El Paso’s three Catholic high schools received three separate loans totaling $1.06 million, which is part of the $4.9 million total for the diocese, the diocese information shows.

The 15 loans retained 736 jobs, according to the diocese.

“In closing our churches to Sunday Masses (in March) we lost a primary source of support for our various ministries within the Diocese and the parishes through the weekend collections,” and various fund drives had to be suspended, El Paso Bishop Mark J. Seitz said in a statement. However, the diocese and parishes accept collection donations online and through other means.

“It is our understanding that maintaining employment for workers and preventing people from being added to the rolls of the unemployed was a primary goal of the PPP loans,” Seitz said. “Without this assistance it would have been impossible for us to avoid furloughing our many dedicated employees during these months in which we have experienced greatly reduced income.”

Nine non-Catholic churches also were on the list of El Paso's largest PPP loans, with most of the loans in the $150,000 to $350,000 category, the SBA data show. Three non-Catholic, church-tied schools also each received loans of $350,000 to $1 million.

Chihuahuas ownership group gets loan of more than $1 million

The El Paso Community Foundation, the Paso Del Norte Health Foundation, the Medical Center of the Americas Foundation, the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce Foundation, United Way of El Paso County and the El Paso Symphony Orchestra each received loans of $150,000 to $350,000, the SBA data show.

Some notable golf courses, and sports ownership group also received PPP loans, the SBA data show.

MountainStar Sports Group, which owns the El Paso Chihuahuas minor league baseball team and the El Paso Locomotive minor league soccer team, received a loan of $1 million to $2 million to retain 439 jobs, the SBA data show. The group ownership includes well-known El Paso businessmen Paul Foster and Woody Hunt.

Coronado Golf and Country Club received a $350,000 to $1 million loan to retain 80 jobs, and El Paso Country Club received the same loan amount to retain 142 jobs.

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra received a $350,000 to $1 million loan to retain 230 jobs.

Vic Kolenc may be reached at 546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on Twitter.