Restaurant Revitalization Fund: How to Apply

While the economy appears to be broadly rebounding, it still remains tough for many small businesses which is why we are reaching out today to provide you with more resources to help your bottom line. 

The Small Business Administration announced on April 17th the key details for the new  Restaurant Revitalization Fund for restaurants, bars, food trucks, caterers, and related businesses. 

This 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.

Details on application requirements, eligibility, and a program guide are now available in English at https://sba.gov/restaurants or in Spanish at https://sba.gov/restaurantes.

You can sign up to receive email alerts from SBA as additional information about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund becomes available:

The SBA will reopen Shuttered Venue Operators Grants for Applications on April 24 at 12:30 p.m. EDT for operators of live venues, live performing arts organizations, museums and movie theatres, as well as live venue promoters, theatrical producers and talent representatives to apply for critical economic relief.

In preparation for the application portal reopening, the SBA recommends eligible applicants take the following actions:

• Register on the portal in advance. Applicants will need a smartphone and a multi-factor authenticator app to register and apply;
• Review the SVOG Frequently Asked Questions and Applicant User Guide; and
• Prepare required documentation, per the Application Checklist.

For more information and to view applicant resources, visit www.sba.gov/svogrant.

Paid Leave Credit for Vaccines 

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) allows small and midsize employers (<500 employees), and certain governmental employers, to claim refundable tax credits that reimburse them for the cost of providing paid sick and family leave to their employees due to COVID-19, including leave taken by employees to receive or recover from COVID-19 vaccinations. The ARP tax credits are available to eligible employers that pay sick and family leave for leave from April 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021. You can read more about the eligibility requirements and process for claiming the credit here.

Employee Retention Credit

Eligible employers can claim the employee retention credit, a refundable tax credit equal to 50 percent of up to $10,000 in qualified wages (including health plan expenses), paid after March 12, 2020 and before January 1, 2021.  Eligible employers are those businesses with operations that have been partially or fully suspended due to governmental orders due to COVID-19, or businesses that have a significant decline in gross receipts compared to 2019.

The refundable credit is capped at $5,000 per employee and applies against certain employment taxes on wages paid to all employees.  Eligible employers can reduce federal employment tax deposits in anticipation of the credit.  They can also request an advance of the employee retention credit for any amounts not covered by the reduction in deposits. The advanced payments will be issued by paper check to employers. You can read more about the eligibility requirements and process for claiming the credit here.

Paycheck Protection Program

If you have not applied for or received your first or second draw forgivable PPP loan, the program is scheduled to end on May 31, 2021 or sooner if funds are exhausted. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible to ensure we have enough time to process your application and don't forget to upload all of the required documentation. You can apply here.