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+--- Thread: Do The Right Thing?!.....Shake Shack gives back government loan money.... (/showthread.php?tid=240315)
Do The Right Thing?!.....Shake Shack gives back government loan money.... - NewtonMP2100 - 04-20-2020
.....$10 million back....says it should be for real 'small businesses'.....they were able to get other funding......
Shake Shack returns $10 million emergency loan to the US government
.....Shake Shack (SHAK) is returning a $10 million loan it received from the US government under an emergency program that was touted as a way to help small businesses pay workers and keep their operations running during the coronavirus crisis.
The burger chain was awarded the loan as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The $349 billion stimulus package, overseen by the Small Business Administration (SBA), ran out of funding last week.
Over the last few days, there has been a growing backlash over the distribution of the funds. Several media outlets have revealed how large chunks of the package were taken up by chain restaurants, hoteliers and publicly traded corporations, rather than small, local businesses.
Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti and chairman Danny Meyer revealed their decision to give back the funding in an open letter Monday, saying that the NYSE-listed company no longer needs the money because they are "fortunate to now have access to capital that others do not." The company said in a filing Friday that it expects to be able to raise up to $75 million from investors by selling shares.
The executives also shared their frustrations with the PPP, arguing that many restaurants had been left out unfairly because the program "came with no user manual and it was extremely confusing."
It didn't 'seem right to us'
Garutti further explained to CNN's Poppy Harlow that the program was a "great opportunity" for restaurants to receive funding, but the company changed its mind and returned the loan after hearing small business owners' stories about not getting access to it.
"That doesn't seem right to us," he said on CNN Newsroom. "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."
Shake Shack has around $100 million in cash on hand. Harlow asked him why they applied for it in the first place and Garutti said it was aimed at "taking care" of its workforce and maintain liquidity. "Our team members have equal value to any other team member in the world," he said.
"By returning our $10 million, that $10 million can go back into the pot and go to the people that deserve it. We hope it can go inspire the next round," he said.
Shake Shack's reversal was praised by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. He tweeted Monday that he was "glad to see" the burger chain return the money..........
giving......back......?!
Re: Do The Right Thing?!.....Shake Shack gives back government loan money.... - rjmacs - 04-20-2020
Fingers caught in cookie jar. Bad Mnuchin - who let the media in here?!?
Re: Do The Right Thing?!.....Shake Shack gives back government loan money.... - deckeda - 04-21-2020
This is good news about Shake Shack.
In other news, today the company I work for announced across-the-board pay cuts of 14%, 25% effective if you are contributing the max into 401k which will no longer be matched.
The CEO gets updates frequently from Accounting and they just told him the well would run dry next month if something wasn't done.
This will continue for 3 months, after which they'll decide to extend the austerity, restore paychecks, or lay people off. Fun times.