Small Business Administration Opens Grant Process For Restaurants Affected By Pandemic

Restaurants impacted by the pandemic can now apply for grant money from the Small Business Administration or SBA.

For the first 21 days, the SBA will accept applications from all eligible applicants but will prioritize small businesses owned by women, veterans, or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Algenon Cash is with the Triad Food & Beverage Coalition, an organization that helped lobby for the money last year. Cash says the funds will go quickly, and there are experts on hand to help. 

“Restaurant owners are struggling at the moment with staffing shortages, and they're having to spend a lot of time inside of their business, and so they may not have time to manage this process or fill out the application or pull together the financial data that's necessary to apply. And we don't want those smaller businesses to miss out,” says Cash. 

The funding is awarded through the Restaurant Revitalization Program and is part of the American Rescue Plan Act which was passed in March and allocates $28.6 billion for the industry.

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