Flanigan’s plans to use $13.1 million in PPP funds to hire back laid-off staff
Flanigan’s Enterprises, owner of Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill and Big Daddy’s Liquors chains, plans to use $13.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds to bring back laid-off staff.
In an email, chairman, president and CEO Jimmy Flanigan said the longtime South Florida business “put the money to work immediately.”
“We contacted all employees that we had laid off… about 25 percent of our staff,” he said. “We paid a lot of people throughout the process and now are using PPP help to bring back everyone.”
“We’re going to split the the dollars just as the guidelines mandate,” he added. “Seventy-five percent payroll and 25 percent other allowable expenses.”
In a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BDL, said that of the $13.1 million, $5.9 million was loaned directly to it, while another $4.1 million was loaned to eight entities in which it is a limited partner. The rest was loaned to five franchisees and one managed store.
The firm also said that in mid-March 2020, it stopped providing dine-in service and shifted to a take-out or delivery-only model in all of its company-owned or operated restaurants. It also reduced the operating hours at Big Daddy’s and “laid off a significant number of our employees.”
The company said it now has $29.8 million of cash on hand and $32.0 million of outstanding indebtedness. Shares closed up 8.5 percent in Monday trading to $16.00 alongside a broader market rally as states across the country began reopening.
Earlier Monday, CEOs from across the restaurant industry met with President Donald Trump asking him to tweak some of the current statutes of the PPP program. In particular, the industry is now seeking a period of as much as 24 weeks with which to use loan funds.
The Miami Herald previously reported that some restaurants, along with other businesses like manufacturers, in South Florida say they are facing massive re-opening expenses and would hope to tap the PPP funds to meet them.
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 4:46 PM.
