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SBA approves 16K-plus restaurant assistance applications
Just one week after the U.S. Small Business Administration opened the application process for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, it announced yesterday that more than 16,000 applicants have already been approved for assistance.
In a statement yesterday, SBA said this first round of funding represents over $2 billion of relief awarded since Monday’s program launch. Restaurants and other food and beverage businesses across the nation will begin to see funds in bank accounts as early as Tuesday, May 11.
“Just one week after launching the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund, the SBA has begun to fund applications and that more than 16,000 restaurants and other food and beverage business owners will get much-needed relief in their hands,” said SBA administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman. “We know that this help is urgently needed by so many who have suffered disproportionately from this pandemic and have often been unable to access relief. Restaurants are the core of our neighborhoods and propel economic activity on Main Streets across the nation. The SBA is here to help them build resilience to survive this pandemic as we get our economy back on track.”
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund was established by the American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden recently signed into law. Under this new law, restaurants are eligible for funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue losses, capped at $10 million per business and $5 million per location.
SBA will continue to fund approved applications until all funds have been exhausted. Following the 21-day priority period, all eligible applications will be funded in the order in which they have been received.
While the SBA will continue accepting applications from any eligible establishment until funds are exhausted, the number of applications received so far could exhaust the funds authorized to fund the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Interested onsite food establishments may still apply through SBA-recognized POS vendors or directly via the SBA online application portal: https://restaurants.sba.gov. (PR)
