Washington Though most Connecticut companies that approved loans under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program borrowed far less, nearly 50 Connecticut companies – including large real estate, manufacturing, and law firms – applied for the maximum of between $ 5 million and $ 10 million U.S. dollar.

According to information released by the SBA on Monday, the Connecticut law firms Shipman and Goodwin and Robinson & Cole have received loans of $ 5 million to $ 10 million under the paycheck protection program.

So do a number of manufacturers from Connecticut, including Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals; Fuel Cell Power, Inc .; and the Berlin steel construction company.

None of the companies immediately responded to requests for comments.

Choate Rosemary Hall, an exclusive prep school in Wallingford whose alumna also includes President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, was also on the SBA’s list of major PPP loan approvals. But Choate spokeswoman Alison Cady said the school withdrew from the multi-million dollar loan on May 12, “as soon as we understand the full scope of the organizations for which it was intended.”

“When we understood the intent of the process, we pulled back,” said Cady.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been credited with saving millions of jobs during the pandemic. It offers businesses SBA-covered loans at very low interest rates and allows payroll loan waivers for a period of 24 weeks.

The program has granted loans to approximately 60,000 Connecticut businesses, including the Connecticut News Project, publisher of the Connecticut mirror. The total loan amount to businesses and nonprofits in Connecticut ranges from $ 5 billion to $ 9 billion. The SBA provided a wide range of information about the size of loans in excess of $ 150,000.

But there were problems.

Dozens of public companies that originally received millions of dollars from the program returned the money after the Treasury Department told them the program was not for large, well-funded companies and that they should return the money.

The PPP program has also been criticized for initially granting loans to hundreds of other financially strong companies and for enacting sometimes conflicting rules from the Treasury Department and the SBA.

The nationwide data release on Monday revealed that private equity-backed chains and companies owned by members of Congress were receiving money from the paycheck protection program, provoking lawmakers for new restrictions on the program.

“This data – long overdue – raises increasingly serious questions about a possible misallocation of PPP funds,” said Senator Richard Blumethal, D-Conn., “I will examine the list carefully and have any wrong decisions investigated. Preference or misconduct. “

The information released by the SBA on Monday was a compilation of data on loan applications approved by local SBA-backed banks. “However, the lender’s approval does not reflect the SBA’s determination that the borrower is eligible for a PPP loan or is eligible for loan waiver,” the SBA said. “Having a borrower listed on the data with a PPP loan does not mean that the SBA has determined that the borrower has complied with the program rules or is eligible for a PPP loan and loan waiver.”

And not all of the information published by the SBA may be completely current.

For example, Elm Hill Manor, an assisted living in Vernon, was listed among companies approved for a $ 5 million to $ 10 million loan. It was, but Elm Hill manager Lisa Cortese said her bank made a mistake, the house only applied for $ 50,000 and was eventually approved for a PPP loan in that much smaller amount.

“We’ve redone the paperwork, of course,” said Cortese.

She also said her company urgently needs federal help, especially if it is forced to fight for personal protective equipment for its employees. “We did what we had to do,” said Cortese.

The PPP program was originally established by the CARES Act and was originally funded with $ 349 billion. After these funds were quickly used up, the federal government topped up the program with an additional $ 310 billion.

The program has about $ 130 billion left, and Congress has extended the application deadline to August 8.

This story was corrected on July 9th due to an error in federal data released by the Small Business Administration. Caffeine Inc was incorrectly listed as approved for a $ 5-10 million loan. In fact, it received a $ 208,600 PPP loan.