The minor league affiliate for MLB’s Boston Red Sox and an infamous Providence strip club are among nearly 2,500 companies in Rhode Island that …
The minor league affiliate for MLB’s Boston Red Sox and an infamous Providence strip club are among nearly 2,500 companies in Rhode Island that were awarded emergency loans of more than $150,000 as part of Congress’ $2 trillion stimulus package to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released Monday by the U. S. Small Business Administration.
The Pawtucket Red Sox received a loan worth $900,000 through the federal Paycheck Protection Program that helped keep roughly 40 front office staffers employed, team spokesman Bill Wanless confirmed.
The SBA data lists two separate loans to the team, each worth between $350,000 and $1 million, but Wanless stressed that’s incorrect.
“We’ll look into it on our end as well, but we definitely only received the one loan,” he said. SBA spokespersons didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
The team, which is co-owned by former Boston Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, is decamping to Worcester, Massachusetts, next season after efforts to get public financing for a new stadium in Rhode Island fell through.
Luccino has been a major Democratic Party donor for years, including stumping for his former Yale Law School classmate Hillary Clinton in her failed presidential campaign against President Trump in 2016, and donating to the campaigns of former President Barack Obama, U. S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Joseph Kennedy III, among others in recent years.
