The U.S. Small Business Administration has opened the application process for grants for live venue promoters, including theaters and museums, impacted by the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Live venues were among the first to be required to shut down under government mandates designed to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Now those entities may qualify for grants equal to 45 percent of their gross earned revenue up to a maximum amount of $10 million for a single grant, SBA officials say.
“Concerts, plays, dance performances, movie premieres, museum exhibits — these are the lifeblood of culture and community, and often the anchor for travel, tourism and neighborhood food and retail stores,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman. “Today, with more than $16.2 billion available through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants, help is here.”
Of those funds, some $2 billion is reserved for Shuttered Venues Operator Grants, entertainment or educational entities, available to qualified venues with up to 50 full-time employees.
Types of live venues which may qualify for the grants include live venue operators, theatrical producers, movie theaters and live performing arts organizations.
Also covered are operators of a “relevant museum,” defined as aquariums, arboretums, botanical gardens, art museums, children’s museums, general museums historic houses and sites, history museums, nature centers, natural history and anthropology museums, planetariums, science and technology centers, specialized museums and zoological parks.
Applications can be made online at the SBA’s dedicated SVOG website at www.sba.gov/svogrant .
