Sixteen businesses associated with Nebraska Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen received about $7.8 million dollars in federal loans during the pandemic and later returned over $5 million of that.
The loans were part of the Paycheck Protection Program, created to help businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. 114,684 loans worth a total of $5.39 billion were granted to Nebraska businesses.
Sarah Pillen, co-CEO of the family’s Columbus-based company, said the loans helped them keep employees at a time when the spread of the virus disrupted the meatpacking industry.