The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) this week revealed key details on application requirements, eligibility and a program guide for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). The SBA also announced the first round of technology partners participating in the initiative for the RRF- a program that will allow eligible restaurants and other food establishments to access the RRF application or data they need to fill out the application through their trusted point-of-sale (POS) service providers. SBA is partnering with Clover, NCR Corporation, Square, and Toast to provide a customer-centric approach to the delivery of relief funds.
The restaurant industry has been among the hardest-hit sectors during the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
To help bring jobs back and revive the industry, the American Rescue Plan, signed into law by President Joe Biden, established the $28.6 billion RRF at the SBA. The SBA will administer the funds to the hardest-hit small restaurants. The program will provide restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. Recipients are not required to repay the funding as long as funds are used for eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023.
Along with restaurants, other entities that have experienced pandemic-related revenue loss which may be eligible include:
o Food stands, food trucks, food carts
o Caterers
o Bars, saloons, lounges, taverns
o Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars
o Bakeries
o Brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms
o Breweries and/or microbreweries
o Wineries and distilleries
Details on application requirements, eligibility and a program guide are now available in English at www.sba.gov/restaurants or in Spanish at www.sba.gov/restaurantes. Once the SBA announces when applications will be accepted, qualifying restaurants will be able to work directly with their point-of-sale service providers to help them apply for the RRF.
The SBA Orange County / Inland Empire District Office will host an informational webinar on Wednesday, April 28 from 11 am to noon PDT.
