Connections between bank and Ky. Rep. Rogers raises questions about PPP loans

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The bank made PPP loans of between $ 150,000 and $ 350,000 to the First Baptist Church of Somerset, Roger’s home church, and the Woodson Bend Property Owners Association, which has hosted a Hal Rogers Golf Outing on its golf course in recent years.

The bank made loans totaling at least $ 1.2 million to four companies run by Bob Hutchison’s family, serving as either President or Vice President. Hutchison contributed at least $ 16,500 to Rogers ‘campaigns between 1992 and 2017, which, according to federal election papers, put him at the forefront of individual donors for Rogers’ campaigns. Hutchison is also the chairman of the 5th District of the Kentucky Republican Party.

The bank also made a $ 452,000 PPP loan to the Center for Rural Development, which Rogers co-founded. He is not daily and not involved in applying for or obtaining the loan, said Lonnie Lawson, president and CEO of the center.

The loan helped keep the center, which is also a conference and convention hall, afloat while it cannot hold events during the pandemic. It helped keep 12 to 14 full-time workers in the workplace who would otherwise have been on leave or laid off, Lawson said.

First Baptist Church administrator David Pendley said he learned about the PPP through the media and contacted the bank, which has had a relationship with the church for more than 30 years, he said. The loan helped the Church make up for “deficit” and pay full-time and part-time workers and utilities.

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