M. Enriquez for Visit Alexandria
Alexandria-based Burke & Herbert Bank.
Virginia business owners — including thousands in Virginia — received Paycheck Protection Program loans, helping bring back business employees and get the local economy moving again.
Burke & Herbert Bank, based here in Alexandria, announced it has granted close to 1,100 PPP loans, totaling about $136 million for local customers. An estimated 10,000 people in the region will benefit from these loans by returning to work or remaining employed over the next few months.
Banks nationwide were overwhelmed with requests for the two rounds of PPP loans from small business owners. The low-interest loans are meant to cover payroll costs for business owners and their employees. Most of the loan is forgivable if used for payroll.
Burke & Herbert Bank handled nearly three times the number of loans typically made in a given year in just a few weeks, according to the bank. The loans provide critical emergency relief to small and mid-size businesses in northern Virginia struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am so proud of the work that the Burke & Herbert Bank team has done,” said David P. Boyle, the Bank’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The need in our community and among our customers is so great that the volume of applications, quite honestly, was overwhelming. But our team rallied around this, working virtually around the clock to help ensure that we could take care of as many of our customers as possible.”
Some of the bank’s customers received texts, emails or even calls from bank staff working nights and weekends as they processed requests.
As of May 1, the most recent date for which statewide data is available, Virginia business owners received more than in loans.
