Local businesses benefitting from Paycheck Protection Program WWNY Local businesses benefitting from Paycheck Protection Program By Abbey Buttacavoli | January 25, 2021 at 4:27 PM EST - Updated January 25 at 6:20 PM WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWNY) - The second round of the Paycheck Protection Program has begun and some North Country businesses are getting a portion of the $285 billion set aside for federal pandemic relief. For 8 decades, Freeman Bus Corporation has operated in Watertown. But in 2020, President Leif Petterson says business nearly stalled. “Being in the people transportation business has been pretty severely impacted by COVID-19,” he said. Petterson says he employs about 45 workers. To keep them on the payroll and to pay the bills, Freeman Bus applied for the second round of PPP.