Thread by @dmihalopoulos

Lots of interesting, well-known Chicago names in the federal PPP loan data released today. Remember this was supposed to help "small businesses" avoid layoffs ...

Among those getting the biggest amounts ($5-10M): the Field Museum, Four Seasons Heating & Air, Mario Tricoci 1/

Also in the 255-member $5-10M PPP club of Illinois: Illinois Bone & Joint Institute, Willow Creek Community Church, the Brookfield Zoo, Chicago Botanic Garden, American Academy of Pediatrics, Pangea Equity Partners II LP and Oberweis Dairy - the family business of Jim Oberweis 2/

Oberweis is a GOP state senator running for Congress in November against Dem incumbent @LaurenUnderwood.

The @JimOberweis campaign sent me statements just now on behalf of the candidate and the @Oberweis Dairy chain of ice-cream and milk shops ... 3/

'Oberweis Dairy applied for & was granted PPP funding to save the jobs & paychecks of its employees during this unprecedented time. Jim Oberweis is Chairman of Oberweis Dairy ... no salary, his role in the company is advisory. Son Joe is President/CEO & runs the company' 4/

FWIW, the Oberweis congressional campaign site describes him as a staunch supporter of free-market economics /5

As for Pangea, you may have heard of it from this story by @mdoukmas in @chicagoreader /6 chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicag…

And Willow Creek, BTW, is one of the biggest megachurches in America. They've had some other problems even before the pandemic. More on that here from @chicagotribune /7 chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-wi…

I've written a story that should be up shortly at WBEZ.org that will name many more names of local PPP recipients in the $2M-$5M range and also some Chicago area private schools that got lots of federal aid /8

Full disclosure: Chicago Public Media, which runs our station, is on the PPP list. The @WBEZ spokeswoman said the amount of the loan to CPM was $2.8M /9

Among the Chicago area private schools that got $2M-5M each in PPP loans: Fenwick High School Inc., Loyola Academy, Lycee Francais de Chicago, Lake Forest Academy, Marist High School, Quincy University /10

Charter schools - which already get public $$$- on PPP list:

* $5-10M: Lawndale

* $2-5M: Kipp, Perspectives

* $1-2M: Urban Prep

* $150-350K: Betty Shabazz, Legal Prep, Academy for Global Citizenship, Legal Prep, Legacy, Namaste, Erie, Elgin, Prairie Crossing /11

2 Chicago-based groups that advocate for publicly funded, privately run charter schools got PPP $$$ - Illinois Network of Charter Schools and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

Wonder what @DianeRavitch @CTULocal1 @stacydavisgates make of that ... ??? /12

As for Illinois restaurants that gorged on $2-5M PPP loans - they include:

Buona Beef
Eataly Chicago
Home Run Inn INc.
Ditka's
Rosebud

/13

Illinois nonprofit orgs with $2-5M PPP loans include:

After Schools Matter Inc.
Awana Clubs Int'l
Navy Pier Inc.
Shedd Aquarium
MCA
Morton Arboretum
Joffrey Ballet
Planned Parenthood of Illinois
Museum of Science and Industry

/14

IL Network of Charter Schools: 'For many, this near-term funding was an immediate lifeline to maintain school operations for students and staff and allowed schools to quickly purchase the technology and resources necessary to support students and families as they moved .. /1

.. to remote learning in response to the crisis. Some public charter schools are also in private facilities where they have rent or other mortgage and facility maintenance costs they generally have to raise additional money for through fundraisers or private donors ... /2