Texas leads the country in most approved PPP loans

Texas leads the country with the most approvals for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program as of April 13, according to SBA data obtained by the Texas Bankers Association. Show Full Story

Texas has approved 88,434 loans totaling $21.77 billion, as of April 13.

California followed behind Texas, having approved 54,922 PPP applications totaling $20.85 billion in loans, as of April 13. Florida ranked third, having approved 52,021 loans totaling $12.65 billion.

Overall, the average loan size is about $239,152, according to the data.

The SBA has already approved Paycheck Protection Program applications that total $247.5 billion in loans, as of Monday, according to the data.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act earmarked $350 billion in federally guaranteed loans for businesses with fewer than 500 employees for the PPP. Companies can qualify for PPP loans of up to $10 million.

The loans carry a 1 percent interest rate and are designed to keep workers employed for eight weeks. A borrower can ask the SBA to forgive the loan and the interest if workers are not laid off.

Herbert Austin, the SBA Dallas-Fort Worth District director, said that he wasn’t surprised that Texas is leading the way given the number of small businesses that are located in the Lone Star State.

Austin said he did not have a breakdown of how the PPP data applies to each of the six district offices in Texas, but that his district office, which covers 72 counties, is the largest.

“I'm guessing that a good portion of these loans have come from my district office,” he said. “But, I don't have that data broken down yet.”

Texas has 2.7 million small businesses that employ 4.7 million people, according to SBA data. The DFW SBA office estimates there are 800,000 small businesses in its district. Approximately 165,110 of those businesses are contained within the Business Journal's coverage area, based on the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent data.

Vista Bank President and CEO John Steinmetz said that he isn’t surprised that Texas ranks first because of the banking system in the state.

“Texas has an incredibly strong community banking system, and our state regulators and associations have assisted us in working together to ensure that we're able to do it,” Steinmetz said. “Texas is very fortunate relative to other states.”

Local banking and government officials are expecting the loan money for PPP to run out this week or next, as community and regional banks are receiving a massive influx of PPP applications.

Note: Austin Business Journal staff and the Dallas Business Journal's data reporter, Taylor Tompkins, also contributed to this report.