Audio equipment manufacturer, Sennheiser, has reportedly received between a US$2 million – US$5 million bailout loan as part of the US Paycheck Protection Program, aiding the company to pay operational bills and keep over one hundred staff employed during the COVID19 pandemic.
Reported by The Verge, the loan was disclosed within recently released US Department of Treasury data, and seeks to help privately-owned tech companies.
Treasury data reportedly states that Sennheiser’s loan will assist the organisation to retain 128 jobs – around 10% of the German company’s workforce are said to be based in America.
Reports suggest Sennheiser’s loan is one of the larger ones from the Paycheck Protection Program, despite the exact figure not being explicitly known.
The average size of the loan in the program is reportedly around US$100,000.
The US passed the Paycheck Protection Program in April, and the scheme was recently extended in addition to greater flexibility on how businesses can spend it.
“The PPP is providing much-needed relief to millions of American small businesses, supporting more than 51 million jobs and over 80 percent of all small business employees, who are the drivers of economic growth in our country,” said US Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
“We are particularly pleased that 27% of the program’s reach in low and moderate income communities which is in proportion to percentage of population in these areas.”
The forgivable loans are intended to be used on expenses such as payroll, utilities and rent.
“Today’s data shows that small businesses of all types and across all industries benefited from this unprecedented program,” adds Administrator Jovita Carranza.
“The jobs numbers released last week reinforced that PPP is working by keeping employees on payroll and sustaining millions of small businesses through this time.”
