Tens of thousands of Nevada small businesses and organizations — from casinos and law firms to churches and even strip clubs — received at least $3.1 billion through the Paycheck Protection Program stimulus package, according to a massive disclosure made by the federal government.

The Small Business Administration released information on Monday about the loans, including the names of 660,000 small businesses and nonprofit organizations nationwide that received at least $150,000 in funding since the program launched this spring. 

According to the Washington Post, the disclosure only covers about 15 percent of the 4.9 million loans issued through the program. The SBA withheld the names of borrowers for loans under $150,000, which likely omits most sole proprietors and independent contractors.

Still, the disclosure gives the first solid look at what major Nevada businesses and organizations applied for and received loans through the program, including the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip, the parent company of Dotty’s, Terrible Herbst gas stations and the operator of a Taco Bell franchise.

But the more than 5,500 Nevada businesses listed in the disclosure also cover a wide range of industries; health care and hospitals, law firms, churches, schools, nonprofit groups, news organizations and even a strip club and cannabis company. Several mining companies, which did not close during Nevada’s business shutdown, also reported receiving loans.

The program was part of the $2 trillion federal CARES Act signed into law in late March, with the intention of quickly delivering dollars to businesses with fewer than 500 employees in order to keep them afloat through prolonged business shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. If recipients can use at least 60 percent of the amount on payroll costs, they will be given full forgiveness of the loan, effectively making the money a grant.

It has been praised for quickly disbursing massive sums to small businesses, but also criticized for initially allowing major, well-financed or publicly traded firms or companies to access the loan program. The deadline to apply for the program was pushed back to Aug. 8 this week, and it has about $130 billion remaining for available loans.

Nationally, the federal government has issued $521 billion worth of loans through the program, which helped support around 51 million jobs (according to self-reported data by lenders). In Nevada, the loans supported more than 42,000 businesses with more than 525,000 jobs throughout the state.

Actual loan amounts for the businesses receiving more than the $150,000 disclosure cut-off were given in ranges, meaning the total amount of federal loans granted to those 5,542 Nevada businesses totaled somewhere between $1.96 billion and $4.75 billion. 

On top of that, the more than 36,600 businesses in the state that received loans through the program under $150,000 still received an aggregate of $1.2 billion in federal loans through the program.

Here are highlights from the disclosure:

The biggest loans

There were 25 Nevada entities that received loans between $5 million and $10 million. Another 174 had loans between $2 million and $5 million, while 432 received between $1 million and $2 million, and 1,615 had loans between $350,000 and $1 million.

The following entities received loans larger than $5 million:

• Allison, Curtis, Kingsley, Meoz, Michael, & Sanchez, Prof. Corp: This entity encompasses Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a medical group with several locations in Las Vegas
• CCLV Luxury Hotel Holding, LLC, better known as the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas hotel on the Las Vegas Strip 
• Connor Group Inc., a professional services firm assisting financial executives of companies that has an office in Reno and others around country
• Diversified Protection Corporation, a company headquartered in Las Vegas that provides security services to federal agencies and commercial businesses and has several offices around the country
• Golden Gate Bell LLC, which operates Taco Bell restaurants 
• Med-Smart Inc., which helps staff medical practices
• Nevada Restaurant Services, which operates Dotty’s taverns
• Nevada Sales Limited, a flooring company 
• NG Washington II, an investment management firm in the casino industry
• Opportunity Village Association For Retarded Citizens, which serves people with disabilities
• Panorama Mortgage Group, LLC, which does business as Alterra Home Loans and Legacy Home Loans in Las Vegas and also has operations in Salt Lake City
• Pereira & Associates LLP, an immigration law firm
• Peri & Sons Farms, Inc., an onion farm in Yerington that also has a location in California
• Q&D Construction LLC, a general contractor in heavy/civil, aviation and commercial building construction
• R&R Partners, Inc., an advertising and integrated marketing company that created the ‘What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas’ campaign
• Roman Catholic Bishop Of Las Vegas And His Successors, A Corporation Sole, which is the Catholic Church in Southern Nevada 
• RBG LLC, which is the CasaBlanca Resort and Casino in Mesquite
• Sierra Nevada Construction, Inc., which is a contractor
• Silver State Bell LLC, which owns and operates Taco Bell restaurants
• Swift Communications, Inc., a newspaper company based in Carson City that has publications in places including Utah, California, Colorado and South Dakota
• Terrible Herbst, Inc., which operates car washes and convenience stores 
• The Nathan Adelson Hospice, a nonprofit hospice and medical care provider
• Washoe Barton Medical Clinic, also known as the Carson Valley Medical Center, provides cardiology, pediatrics, emergency care, surgery, oncology, and other medical services
• WBF Management LLC, which operates McDonald’s restaurants in Southern Nevada and elsewhere.
• Xl Concrete Masonry LLC, a masonry and concrete contractor serving Nevada and California.

Loan recipients by sector

• Nonprofits and charities that received loans include:
  • Opportunity Village
  • Nevada Donor Network, which facilitates organ donation
  • The Smith Center
  • Boys and Girls Club
  • Hope for Prisoners, a post-prison reentry organization
  • Catholic Charities 
  • Communities in Schools, a dropout prevention organization
  • Jobs for Nevada’s Graduates
• Numerous churches received loans, including
  • Lake Mead Christian Ministries
  • Calvary Chapel Spring Valley
  • Canyon Ridge Christian Church
  • Hope Baptist Church Vegas
  • Central Christian Church
• Private schools, charter schools and higher education institutions that received loans include
  • Coral Academy
  • Odyssey Charter School
  • The Meadows School
  • UNLV Medicine
  • Bishop Manogue High School
  • Democracy Prep
  • Sierra Nevada College
• Businesses that received loans included a long list of medical practices, car dealerships, gas stations, and restaurants. At least one strip club, Dejavu Showgirls, and one cannabis company, Tahoe Hydroponics, received loans. So did entertainment entities including Epic Club Crawls and the Life is Beautiful festival.
• Media companies that received loans included
  • Greenspun Media, the parent company of the Las Vegas Sun
  • Vegas.com
  • Channel 5 Public Broadcasting in Reno, a PBS affiliate
  • Nevada Public Radio
  • Reno Media Group, which owns several radio stations
  • Nevada News Bureau, the parent company of The Nevada Independent
• Mining companies were allowed to continue operating during the non-essential business closures. Those that received loans include:
  • Nevada Copper
  • MP Mine, which processes “rare earth” minerals used in rechargeable batteries and camera lenses
  • Empire Mining, a gypsum mining company based in Gerlach
• Well-known law firms received loans, including:
  • Glen Lerner
  • Hutchison and Steffen
  • Legal Aid of Southern Nevada
  • McDonald Carano
  • Eglet Law Group
• Numerous casinos receive loans, including:
  • Plaza Hotel
  • Jerry’s Nugget
  • Tuscany Hotel & Casino

Here is a list of Nevada entities that received loans greater than $150,000:

For a searchable spreadsheet, click here.

Disclosure: The Nevada Independent has received a PPP loan. Many of the entities listed are donors to The Nevada Independent. To see a full list of our donors, click here.