Close to $1 billion flowed directly to businesses in Kern County this year as part of the Paycheck Protection Program meant to keep small businesses afloat amid the economic fallout of the pandemic, according to federal data released earlier this month.
The massive federal aid program provided more than $500 billion in forgivable loans to commercial enterprises across the nation for losses incurred by the pandemic, with a majority of funds required to be used to keep paying employees.
In total, $900 million was given out to companies in Kern by the Small Business Administration in the form of 7,133 loans, according to an analysis of the data by The Californian. The analysis looked at data in all 50 ZIP codes in Kern County and covered loans ranging in size from $200 to $10 million.