‘confusing’ small-business loan program needs to change to provide a lifeline to ailing restaurants

Shake Shack Inc.’s top executives are calling for improvements to the tangled process of applying for a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program that is meant to provide a lifeline to restaurants hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The PPP is part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act.

The burger chain SHAK, +5.26% announced early Monday that it is returning the $10 million loan it was granted after it secured funding on Friday. The company decided to apply for the loan in the first place after trying to make sense of the rules.