Shake Shack is now returning the $10 million emergency coronavirus loan they’ve been awarded back to the government in hopes of helping other businesses who truly need the money.
Overseen by the Small Business Administration (SBA), the loan was additionally a part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), whose purpose is to help small businesses pay their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti and chairman Danny Meyer announced that they’d be putting their portions back into the pot after funds ran out from the program’s $349 billion stimulus package. They also stated that their NYSE-listed company no longer needs the money as they are “fortunate to now have access to capital that others do not” — naming the ability to raise up to $75 million via shares sold to investors.
In addition to their efforts in returning the money, the two executives vented about the PPP’s lack of inclusion of many restaurants as the program “came with no user manual and it was extremely confusing.”
Garutti adds, “As we watched this opportunity play out over the weeks, it was very clear that the program was underfunded and wasn’t set up for everyone to win.”
