- Restaurant Revitalization Fund to begin accepting applications at noon today
- Fund has $28.6 billion in grants available to food and drink establishments severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
- Applicants can receive as little as $1,000 or as much as $10 million
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
The U.S. Small Business Administration will begin accepting applications for its Restaurant Revitalization Fund beginning at noon today. The program will remain open until the $28.6 billion in available funding is exhausted.
Registration for the program opened on Friday, although the SBA says eateries using Toast or Square as their point-of-sale service provider do not need to register. Eligible businesses can access the application portal here.
The SBA encourages applicants to review its program guide on the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a sample application, a set of screenshots explaining how to navigate the application portal, and an updated chart explaining how applying in the fund affects eligibility in other COVID-19 relief programs administered by the SBA.
Other important considerations regarding the Restaurant Revitalization Program include:
- The program is open to businesses where “the public or patrons assemble for the primary purpose of being served food or drink.” This includes traditional restaurants and bars as well as a variety of other businesses, including food trucks, and certain other businesses such as breweries and inns that can demonstrate that at least one-third of their 2019 gross receipts came from on-site sales of food or drink
- Applicants can apply for as little as $1,000, and grants are capped at $5 million per individual location and up to $10 million for an applicant and their affiliates
- Three options are available for calculating a potential grant reward based on gross revenue losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, differing based on when the business opened
- A total of $9.5 billion has been reserved for businesses earning less than $1.5 million in gross receipts
- Small businesses owned by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals will receive priority for the first 21-day period when applications are being reviewed