VOLUME 13 NUMBER 17 ■ COLUMBIABUSINESSREPORT.COM
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NOVEMBER 23-DECEMBER 6, 2020 ■ $2.25
Game changer
Fireflies to change MLB affiliation after a dozen years as a Mets club. Page 4
Big brew news
Mark Anthony Brewing to invest $400 million in Columbia facility. Page 5
Business move Transom Capital Group acquires SC Biz News. Page 7
Cantina 76, with two Columbia-area locations, was among S.C. business receiving emergency loans to retain jobs. (Photo/Melinda Waldrop)
Tax freeze
Unemployment insurance taxes won’t rise for 86% of S.C. employers. Page 9
PPP forgiveness eased as delays concern lenders By Andy Owens
INSIDE
Upfront................................. 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 In Focus: Aerospace............ 13 List: Aviation & Aeropsace Companies, Statewide......... 16 At Work............................... 21 Viewpoint............................23
M
aowens@scbiznews.com
ost of the companies receiving emergency loans to retain jobs in South Carolina in the early days of the pandemic will qualify for a streamlined forgiveness program. That could mean more than $76 million would not have to be paid back by businesses in the Palmetto State. Small businesses
in South Carolina used that money to save 134,506 jobs, according to Small Business Administration data. In the early days of the pandemic, South Carolina businesses borrowed more than $5 billion to save an estimated 658,000 jobs through the Paycheck Protection Program. Most of those loans in South Carolina were for $50,000 or less. Overall data from the Small Business Administration shows that 67.6% of the
Boeing decision
Aerospace company consolidates Dreamliner assembly operations in North Charleston. Page 13
63,168 Paycheck Protection Program loans written to companies in South Carolina were for smaller amounts. But when the loans were made, the regulations were also being written, with unclear provisions on how to payback the money or qualify for converting the loan into a grant. Business advocates, such as the S.C. Bankers Association, were advocating for a simple See PPP, Page 10