From Braman to Flanigan’s, here are the Miami-Dade and Broward companies that got PPP loans
More than 100,000 Paycheck Protection Program loans made to South Florida car dealerships, private schools, white-shoe law firms and nonprofits rescued more than 800,000 local jobs, according to data released Monday by the Small Business Administration.
The vast majority of these loans were made to firms requesting $150,000 or less. In the SBA’s report, those firms were not named.
Firms receiving more than $150,000 were named in the report. They accounted for about 12,000 loans and were responsible for supporting more than half a million jobs.
For loan amounts greater than $150,000, exact amounts were not disclosed but were specified by range. Some 60 Miami-Dade and Broward firms were named in the highest range, $5-$10 million or more. This group includes Braman Motors, Coastal Construction Group, Flanigan’s Enterprises, Hotwire Communications, Koning Restaurants International, Lexus of Pembroke Pines, accounting firm Morrison Brown Argiz Farra, Silver Airways, Spanish Broadcasting System Inc., Turnberry Hotels Management Group, United Stevedoring of America, Versailles owner Valls Group Holdings, Warren Henry Auto Group and the YMCA of South Florida. Also on the list were law firms Becker & Poliakoff, Cole Scott & Kissane, Kubicki Draper, Stearns Weaver Miller and Wicker Smith.
In a statement emailed to the Miami Herald through a representative, Norman Braman said the loans were necessary and that his firm’s previously reported furloughs have ended.
“At the precipice of this unprecedented public health crisis, I made several difficult decisions to weather an indefinite storm and preserve the viability of the dealerships,” he said. “In early March, I reduced all executive compensation by over 95%, and I eliminated my compensation entirely. In addition, in one of the most sobering decisions I have made as a dealer, I furloughed nearly 35% of our workforce — more than 500 people.
“In addition to these measures, the dealerships applied for loans through the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection Program. Within days of receiving these funds in April, our dealerships returned more than 500 people to work. Over 90% of the PPP funds expended went directly to our employees, with the remainder used to pay business utilities, mortgage interest, and rent. These PPP funds enabled more than 98% of our furloughed employees to be brought back to work within weeks. Today, more than 95% of our pre-pandemic workforce is working at our dealerships.”
Miami-based City National Bank of Florida made the greatest number of large loans, with 82, the data show. Longtime local banking analyst Ken Thomas said City National is “generally regarded as the most community minded bank in Florida with a focus on helping small businesses.”
CNB Managing Senior Vice President Eddie Dominguez said in an email that the average loan funded by the bank was $188,000, and that at least 85% were under $250,000.
“Every business that applied with CNB and met the Small Business Administration’s criteria received a loan,” he said in an email. “CNB funded about 9,500 loans totaling almost $2 billion. Those loans helped preserve as many as 250,000 jobs in our community.”
Thomas calculated that, compared with its total deposit ratio, City National was the most responsive to the community’s needs.
By comparison, he said, the five biggest banks in the U.S. — Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Truist, Chase, and Citibank — “did very little” in South Florida relative to their deposit amounts.
“Overall the program was a success,” Thomas said of the PPP effort. “Whenever you have a big government bailout, there’s going to be problems, and people taking advantage of it. ... However if you look at the overall purpose, it was a success. It gave us positive news, got the economy going and got markets going again.”
Thomas added that “the house remains on fire” and that, likely, more stimulus is needed.
“It’s like what Fed Chair [Jay] Powell said: ‘Whatever it takes,’ for however long. ...Yeah there’s going to be mistakes, or things you shouldn’t have done, but at this point time is our enemy here — we can’t keep delaying and waiting.”
The Trump administration praised the outcome.
“Today’s data shows that small businesses of all types and across all industries benefited from this unprecedented program,” said Small Business Administration chief Jovita Carranza in a statement.
The loans came as part of the emergency CARES Act, passed March 27 by Congress to help stabilize the U.S. economy.
Companies that fulfill program requirements will not need to repay the funds. Under the initial rules of the program, only companies with 500 or fewer employees could receive the loans, and 75% of of the money had to go to payroll.
But the 75% rule has since been relaxed, as has the definition of what constitutes a firm with 500 employees, like a large franchise owner.
Among the prominent local entities receiving loans of at least $150,000:
▪ Law firms including Becker and Poliakoff; Berger Singerman LLP; Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP; Cole Scott and Kissane PA; Kubicki Draper; McCoy and Ford PA, Rubenstein Law; Shutts & Bowen and Wicker, Smith, O’Hara;
▪ Accounting firm Berkowitz Polland Brant Advisors and Accountants LLP;
▪ Nonprofits including the Ann Storck Center, dedicated to serving children and adults with developmental disabilities; Catholic Hospice Inc., United Way of Miami-Dade, and the YMCA of South Florida;
▪ Arts groups including The Broward Center for the Performing Arts, also known as the Performing Arts Center Authority; and Miami’s Arsht Center Trust;
▪ Air travel and maritime logistics companies including Banyan Air Services, Caribbean Sun Airlines, the now-defunct Miami Air International Group, Silver Airways, Sky Lease Cargo;
▪ Automotive dealers including Bill Ussery Motors, Bomnin Automotive, Dadeland Automotive, Florida Fine Cars Inc., Gunther Motor Company of Plantation, Kendall Toyota, Lehman Hyundai Subaru Inc., Maserati of Fort Lauderdale (also known as Recovery Racing LLC), Sawgrass Ford, South Dade Toyota,, The Collection LLC, Warren Henry Automobiles, West Kendall Toyota and Williamson Cadillac;
▪ Construction and contracting companies including Adonel Concrete, Cailis Mechanical Corp. and Douglas Orr Plumbing;
▪ Private schools including Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Christopher Columbus High School, Florida Memorial University, Hebrew Day School of Broward County, Miami Country Day School, Scheck Hillel Community School, St. Thomas Aquinas High School and Westminster Christian;
▪ Hospitality companies including The Biltmore Hotel Limited Partnership,The Betsy, beach concessionare Boucher Brothers, Di Lido Beach Resort LLC, Morgans Hotel Group Management, Soho Beach House Miami and Turnberry Hotels Management Group;
▪ Restaurant groups including Joe’s Stone Crab Inc., pizza operator Koning Restaurants International, Mango’s Tropical Cafe LLC and Nova Restaurants Inc.;
▪ King Jesus International Ministry, the largest Hispanic church in the U.S.
Other companies receiving loans of more than $150,000 included Cambridge Security Services Corp., Gaumard Scientific,
Hialeah Park (also known as South Florida Racing Association LLC), Mayor’s Jewelers of Florida Inc., MIccosukee Resort and Convention Center, Spanish Broadcasting System, United Data Technologies Inc. and Westchester General Hospital.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 7:54 PM.
