Franchisees with hundreds of restaurants flew under the radar, in one case collecting $60 million in PPP loans.

Relief grants meant to buoy small businesses at the onset of the pandemic were largely absorbed by some of the nation’s biggest franchises, The Counter found in an analysis of new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) data released by the Small Business Administration (SBA) last week. The Counter also found multiple instances where conglomerates appeared to bypass the $10 million cap on loans through the use of subsidiaries. 

To conduct our analysis, we examined the recipients of 378 PPP loans larger than $3 million in the fast-food and fast-casual restaurant sector. At first glance, the vast majority were not easily recognizable by name. However, a deeper dive into each business revealed that virtually every top recipient was a company that owns and operates franchises of the country’s most lucrative chains. Those that received the maximum loan amount include a Taco Bell operator headquartered in Minnesota; a Wendy’s franchisee in San Antonio; a group with more than 200 Pizza Huts in California; and a McDonald’s franchisee in Tampa, among others. All of these are a far cry from the types of small businesses the program was intended to support.