NJ Audubon Got A $830,000 COVID PPP “Forgivable Loan”

The Green Mafia Strikes Again, Sets a New Low In Ethics

[Update – 3/16/21 – Well, what do you know? In light of these facts, I wonder if NJ Audubon has received loan forgiveness. Will the NJ press core explore that?

• MOST SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS STILL HAVEN’T HAD THEIR PPP LOANS FORGIVEN – The numbers are even worse for Black business owners: Three-quarters still haven’t received forgiveness, according to a recent survey. ~~~ end update]

According to US Department of Treasury records, NJ Audubon applied for and received an $830,136.92 COVID CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) “forgivable loan” in 2020.

NJ Audubon received these scarce taxpayer funds at a time when millions of people lost jobs and paychecks due to COVID, when thousands of small businesses were shut down and bankrupted by COVID, and bankruptcies, foreclosures and evictions skyrocketed. Millions stood in food lines.

These folks didn’t get any PPP “forgivable” loans.

Did anyone at NJ Audubon lose a job? Face eviction? Face foreclosure? File for bankruptcy?  Stand in a food line?

NJ Audubon is a private non-profit group. According to the most recent IRS Form 990 (2017-2018) I could readily find, NJA had net assets of over $28 million. Their total annual revenues were $6,645,289. 

Their $6.6 million in revenues came primarily from member dues and donations, Foundation grants, government grants, corporate consulting contracts, and major private philanthropic donors.

The disbursement of those revenues are governed by contracts and grant agreements with fixed terms – the flow of revenues does not vary based on economic conditions.

NJ Audubon’s membership is wealthy and able to write large checks. $28 million in net assets could be tapped in the event of any liquidity crisis.

According to the federal Department of Treasury, to be eligible for the funds, NJ Audubon had to certify that:

Current economic uncertainty makes the loan necessary to support your ongoing operations.

I fail to understand how COVID had any impact on NJ Audubon revenue sources that fund their “ongoing operations”. How is this loan “necessary”?

NJA CEO Eric Stiles has some explaining to do.

How could NJ Audubon be legally eligible for a PPP loan? How could they make that certification?

How could they justify the need for such a loan?

[A reader asks:

how did NJ Audubon take the hit?  They might have responded that they lost revenue from all their cancelled field trips and public presentations.

I replied that yes, NJA likely cancelled events due to COVID and lost anticipated revenues. But such revenue is not only a very small part of their total revenue, it is anticipated and thus not likely to impact this year’s cash flow needs to pay payroll and other operating expenses. ~~~]

Because they have $28 million in assets that could be used to fund operations or offset any reduction in revenues – and many wealthy members and donors who could step up – how could they ethically seek a PPP loan, even if they were technically legally eligible for one?

Maybe I should have no expectations of ethical behavior from a group that would form a “partnership” with and praise Trump. Or take hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wall Street hedge fund billionaire Peter Kellogg and use that money to log public forests – and then lie to the public about that logging.

Back in November 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported:

Evidence of PPP Fraud Mounts, Officials Say 

Reports of waste and abuse in the Paycheck Protection Program inundate government watchdogs and federal prosecutors

WASHINGTON—The federal government is swamped with reports of potential fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program, according to government officials and public data, casting a shadow on one of Washington’s signature responses to the coronavirus pandemic.

Congress and the Trump administration designed the PPP to give small businesses fast and easy access to taxpayer funds, and it worked: About $525 billion in loans were distributed to 5.2 million companies between April 3 and Aug. 8. Many business owners say it was a lifeline in turbulent times.

But evidence is growing that many others took advantage of the program’s open-door design. Banks and the government allowed companies to self-certify that they needed the funds, with little vetting.

Repeat: “with little vetting.”

Since then, the US Justice Department has prosecuted massive fraud in the PPP program.

The Small Business Administration has begun to investigate waste, fraud and abuse, but their PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM
LOAN NECESSITY QUESTIONNAIRE (NON-PROFIT BORROWERS) does not apply to NJ Audubon, because their loan is under the $2 million threshold.

But that doesn’t prevent media and legislators from asking NJ Audubon some tough questions about this loan.

PPP Background:

Traditionally, non-profits were not eligible to receive SBA-guaranteed small business loans. But the CARES Act PPP enabled many non-profit organizations to access loans to support their employees.

The Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) authorizes up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses to pay their employees during the COVID-19 crisis. All loan terms will be the same for everyone.

NJA CEO Eric Stiles makes over $130,000 salary (not counting huge benefits).

[A reader just advised that those benefits include housing in Bedminster NJ (median house value over $373,000 among the highest in the nation) and a car.]

The PPP caps salary at $100,000.

The PPP “Loan Necessity Questionnaire” explores use of other funds to offset any COVID related revenue losses – maybe NJA $28 million in net assets could be tapped.

Given these abuses, we want to know when NJA will pay this loan back – we hope they have not sought loan forgiveness.

But, they are a corrupt member of the Green Mafia, so we have no more illusions.

I’ve long criticized NJA for their focus on fundraising and compromises driven by their hunger for revenues.

But exploiting a COVID PPP loan sets a new low in farming the government.

[End Note: this information was conveyed to me by a reader. I did not go digging it up. But once I became aware of it, I felt obligated to report it and make it public.