It’s been criticized for its rollout and for some of its very notable recipients. It also ran out of funds pretty quickly.

But for one local business, the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program — a federal loan program aimed at relieving small businesses and organizations affected by the coronavirus pandemic — was a “lifeline.”

“This was a huge, huge safety net,” said Joe Rizzo, the executive director and owner of Accord Adult Day Center in Webster, and another day center in Wareham.

Rizzo said he was awarded $232,600 from the program through Central Mass.-based bankHometown, and was able to bring back a “skeleton crew” of about 10 people to his locations, as well as rehire furloughed employees. He normally has a 38-person, $85,000 payroll.

“PPP was a huge lifeline for me,” he said.

And Rizzo, along with other business and nonprofit leaders, credited the success with a strategy of keeping it local.

“I kept seeing the stories about what a disaster (PPP) was on the national news and wondered what the difference was, and ultimately it comes down to is we were at a smaller local bank,” said David Fields, managing partner at Wormtown Brewery in Worcester.

Fields said that Wormtown, which also banks with bankHometown was able to bring back all of full-time employees and a majority of part-time employees, and continue paying 100% of employee health benefits with a “six-figure” loan. Fields declined to be more specific on the exact dollar amount he received.

“We had someone to talk to and guide us through the process and kind of get us prepared for it,” Fields said. “It’s where the local banking relationship helped us ... because they were able to point us in the right direction from day one.”

Rizzo echoed that sentiment, describing the process as “seamless” and “smooth.”

“It was a continuation of a great relationship that we built over the years,” Rizzo said of bankHometown. “I’ve heard nightmares of dealing with the big banks.”

The PPP was created in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, and offers firms employing 500 or fewer workers low-interest loans of up to $10 million to cover costs such as payroll and benefits, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities while they are shuttered.

A portion of the loan that covers eight weeks of expenses does not have to be paid back if at least 75% of the money is spent keeping or rehiring workers. Otherwise it carries a 1% interest rate and must be paid back within two years.

The program has doled out $349 billion in funding since going live on April 3; and on Friday, President Donald Trump signed legislation adding $310 billion to the program.

But the program’s rollout was beset by challenges including technical glitches, a flood of requests, a lack of response, and an exhaustion of money.

Customers of and leaders at community banks, however, said those problems were not what they experienced.

“We were very proactive in reaching out to businesses who we know, and getting the information before the Friday April 3 opening,” said Robert J. Morton, president and CEO of bankHometown.

The Oxford-based bankm, with its 15 locations throughout Central Mass., including Auburn, Lancaster, Leominster, Millbury, Oxford, Putnam, Strurbridge, Thompson, Webster and Worcester, and $1 billion in assets, reported awarding 432 loans totaling $52 million through the program.

The average loan was $118,000 and the median loan was $53,000, Morton said.

Morton added that the “vast majority” of the loans were processed the few days (which included a weekend) the program was available. In fact, all of the banks and customers interviewed said they were ready to go April 3. In contrast, Bank of America was the only major bank to begin processing applications that first day.

“The benefits of being a community bank... is we were able to assess the circumstances of the situation, evaluate the risks involved, and quickly make a business decision - we needed to do this right,” Morton said. “In general, to ask bankers to jump into a program without fully evaluating it is not natural to us...but the motivation, from my perspective, was doing the right thing and providing financial relief for a lot of companies.”

Michael W. Welch, CEO of Whitinsville-based UniBank, agreed.

“When these challenging times come up, we’re built to respond quickly,” Welch said.

UniBank approved 322 applications totaling $66.3 million in loans. More than half of those loans were for less than $100,000, including 140 loans for less than $50,000.

“These went to the pizza shops, the day care, the fitness center, the not-for-profit, then also went to larger manufacturing companies with hundreds of employees,’ said Tom McGregor, a senior vice president and chief commercial banking officer at UniBank. “Overwhelmingly, however, these went to companies with five to 15 employees.”

These customers were appreciative.

“I would like to share that your team at UniBank has been amazing throughout our experience of applying for the Paycheck Protection Program loan,” Heather Elster, executive director of the Whitin Community Center in Whitinsville, said in a statement. “I have heard the horror stories on the news and on webinars I have been on of other non-profits and small businesses working with other banks. Again, we are so lucky to have UniBank as our community partner!”

Girls Inc. of Worcester CEO Victoria Waterman said the $191,000 the organization sought and received from the program enabled them to retain 15 full-time and 10 part-time employees so they can continue to offer programming - albeit on a new virtual platform.

“Now this way they can keep in touch with staff and see their friends everyday,” Waterman said. “And that’s what the PPP has given us, the ability to do that.”

Like Rizzo and Fields, Waterman praised her local bank — in this case, Bay State Savings Bank — for working with the organization before the application was even available.

“When I first heard about this program I called and said we were interested, and (our banker) told me we were already on the list,” Waterman said, who noted that Girls Inc. of Worcester was the first Girls Inc. to be approved for the PPP.

“That’s remarkable,” Waterman said. “(Bay State Savings Bank) held our hand every step of the way and I’m happy to share it because I know it’s not been the same for everybody.”

Ed Manzi, chairman and CEO of Fidelity Bank of Leominster, said that the PPP has allowed community banks — with their client relationships and knowledge of the local landscape and business community — to shine.

Fidelity Bank has awarded almost 250 loans totalling over 40 million through the program, Manzi said, and the median loan was about $70,000.

“Never has it been more important who you bank with than right now,” Manzi said. “It’s a renaissance for community banking, it really mattered a lot and community banks stepped up.”