Encision lands $600,000 in PPP funding

BOULDER — Medical device maker Encision Inc. (OTCMKTS: ECIA) said it received just under $600,000 in Payroll Protection Program funds to maintain its staffing levels.

In a filing Thursday morning, the Boulder company said it received $598,567 through Bank of America to rehire some of its employees.

Encision produces tools to prevent stray electrical currents from burning the internal organs of surgical patients. It laid off four employees last summer after the ongoing U.S.-China trade war raised prices for steel and raw materials used to make the tools. It had 27 employees as of February.

Public companies have been the focus of ire recently, as many reported receiving PPP loans despite having far more access to capital than a smaller privately held company. These companies include Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) and Broomfield-based DMC Global Inc. (Nasdaq: BOOM), which have market capitalizations of $1.83 billion and $377 million respectively.

Shake Shack gave back its loan after it caused a public-relations fiasco, while President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mncuchin chided large public companies for applying in a press briefing earlier this week.

New guidance from the Treasury Department released Thursday specifically suggests that public companies with access to non-governmental forms of capital are unlikely to qualify for a PPP loan, and gives two working weeks for companies that did recieve loans to pay them back at no penalty.

Encision’s market cap is $5.2 million, and its stock hasn’t traded above $1 per share since April 2014. That size makes it more likely to prove it needs the funds to keep employees on payroll if the SBA requests additional details.