By Lyra Bordelon
Looking to prevent mass layoffs in April, Congress approved a program providing forgivable loans to businesses throughout the United States. Here in Greenbrier County, over 400 businesses received funds, 45 receiving over $150,000, and three businesses were awarded over $1 million, of which two are owned by Governor Jim Justice and his family.
According to the United States Department of Treasury, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was established by Congress in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide businesses with funds to pay “up to eight weeks of payroll costs including benefits” and “used to pay interest on mortgages, rents, and utilities.” Of the $659 billion provided by Congress in the CARES Act, appropriately 75 percent went to loans over $150,000.
“Funds are provided in the form of loans that will be fully forgiven when used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high subscription, at least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll),” reads Treasury’s information guidelines. “Loan payments will also be deferred for six months. No collateral or personal guarantees are required. Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees. … Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels. Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.”
The release includes two groups of data, loans over $150,000 and loans under $150,000. Businesses receiving over $150,000 were named and a range was provided for the total amount of money lent out. For businesses under $150,000, only the location of the business and the amount of money loaned was provided.
Of note in the loans are businesses relating to The Greenbrier and organizations separate from the resort, but owned in part by Governor Jim Justice and his family. The resort and the Greenbrier Sporting Club received loans totaling between $6 million to $12 million, approximately 20 to 22 percent of all of the funds received by Greenbrier County in the program. In contrast, the smallest loan in Greenbrier County went to an unnamed Rainelle business, totaling $1,000. Throughout Greenbrier County, at least 378 unnamed businesses received $11,813,995.90 in forgivable loans under $150,000.
The data provided by the Treasury also includes the number of jobs retained by the named businesses. Rainelle Medical Center, the only business in the county not owned by the Justice family to receive over $1 million in loans, retained the highest number listed, totaling 178. The Greenbrier lists 0 jobs as having been saved, and the Sporting Club lists 120. Also of note are Open Doors, Ream Interests, and Wilson Brothers Inc., each of which listed over 100 jobs saved through the loam program. In addition, Mountain Media LLC, the organization to which the Mountain Messenger belongs, received over $150,000 and saved 55 employees.
In early June, Congress passed the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020, which added more time to the eight week support, simplified the forgiveness application, and allowed new businesses to apply for forgiveness, including:
• Those that are are self-employed and have no employees.
• Those that did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees.
• Those that experienced reductions in business activity as a result of health directives related to COVID-19, and did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%.
For small businesses seeking assistance, click here to get more information about PPP.
To see the entire a complete list of Greenbrier County businesses that received over $150,000, see the graph below.
| Loan Range | Jobs Retained | Business Type | |
| a $5-10 million | Greenbriar Hotel Corporation | 0 | Corporation |
| c $1-2 million | Rainelle Medical Center, Inc. | 178 | Non-Profit Organization |
| c $1-2 million | The Greenbrier Sporting Club | 120 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | R B S, Inc. | 47 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | Appalachian Electronic Instruments, Inc. | 0 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | Colonial Ford, Inc. | 38 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | Davis Stuart Inc | 94 | Non-Profit Organization |
| d $350,000-1 million | Greenbrier Motor Company, Incorporated | 53 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | Open Doors For The Developmentally Challenged Inc | 109 | Subchapter S Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | Ream Interests, Inc. | 107 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | S J Neathawk Lumber, Inc. | 68 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | West Virginia School Of Osteopathic Medicine Clinic, Inc. | 92 | Non-Profit Organization |
| d $350,000-1 million | Architectural Wood LLC | 40 | Limited Liability Company(LLC) |
| d $350,000-1 million | Fritz’s Pharmacy And Wellness Center, Inc. | 36 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | Greenbrier Physical Therapy, LLC | 56 | Limited Liability Company(LLC) |
| d $350,000-1 million | Greenbrier Physicians, Inc. | 64 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | Wilson Brothers Incorporated | 110 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | The American Beer Company | 35 | Subchapter S Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | Abaca Solutions, LLC | 18 | Limited Liability Company(LLC) |
| d $350,000-1 million | Lynch Construction Company, Inc. | 40 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | The Greenbrier Clinic, Inc. | 66 | Corporation |
| d $350,000-1 million | Wvva Health Care Alliance Pc | 76 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Wv Great Barrel Company, LLC | 31 | Limited Liability Company(LLC) |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Wvgbc Audrina Mill | 44 | Limited Liability Company(LLC) |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Appalachian Headwaters | 20 | Non-Profit Organization |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Avalon Radiology | 5 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Brier Properties LLC | 0 | Limited Liability Company(LLC) |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Circle 5 Inc | 0 | Subchapter S Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Greenbrier Chevrolet Buick, Inc. | 27 | Subchapter S Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Greenbrier Communications Inc. | 23 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Greenbrier Medical Arts Pharmacy Inc. | 32 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Lewisburg Baptist Church | 30 | Non-Profit Organization |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Mountain Media, LLC | 55 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Princess Polly Anna Coal Co | 12 | Subchapter S Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | The Greenbrier County Emergency Ambulance Service Inc. | 56 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Yarid’s, Inc | 27 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Meadow River Hardwood Lumber Co., LLC | 40 | Limited Liability Partnership |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Wallace & Wallace, Inc. | 23 | Subchapter S Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Dermatology Centers Inc. | 32 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Greenbrier Technical Services, Inc. | 26 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Alliance Xpress Care LLC | 49 | Limited Liability Company(LLC) |
| e $150,000-350,000 | David L Ryder Contracting Inc | 8 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Gillespie’s Flowers & Productions Inc. | 24 | Corporation |
| e $150,000-350,000 | Main Street Building Group, LLC | Limited Liability Company(LLC) | |
| e $150,000-350,000 | White Sulphur Springs Emergency Medical Services, Inc. | 51 | Non-Profit Organization |
Data on loans totaling over $150,000 provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
