Audio company Sennheiser received between $2 million and $5 million as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to newly released US Department of Treasury data. It’s one of many privately held tech companies to receive support through the program, which offers small businesses forgivable loans that can be spent on payroll, rent, or utility costs.
Treasury data indicates that the loan is intended to help Sennheiser retain 128 jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. (The German company employed a total of 2,800 employees in 2019, approximately 10 percent of whom were based in the Americas.) While we don’t know the precise dollar number, it’s one of the PPP’s larger payments — single loans top out at $10 million, and the average loan size is listed as approximately $100,000.
It’s not the only audio company getting money. New York-based Grado Laboratories received between $150,000 and $350,000 to retain 22 jobs.
The PPP was passed in April and recently extended in order to distribute $130 billion that remained in the fund. The law’s restrictions have also been loosened to allow businesses more flexibility around spending the money and rehiring former employees.
