The U.S. Small Business Administration will stop accepting applications for direct aid to restaurants from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund on Monday, a signal the aid programming may be running out of its $28.6 billion in funding.
Agency officials said a final deadline for eating establishments eligible for the pandemic economic recovery grants have until Monday at 7 p.m. CDT to submit applications.
“If our nation’s food and beverage industry is going to fully recover, we must ensure as many of the hardest-hit businesses get the economic aid they need,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman.
To date, the RRF program has received more than 303,000 applications representing over $69 billion in requested funds, and nearly 38,000 applicants have been approved for more than $6 billion.
The funds, which can be used without repayment if spent before March 11, 2023, can be used for most operating expenses, like rent, payroll and food and beverage costs.
The $28.6 billion RRF established an initial $5 billion set-aside established by Congress for restaurant owners with gross receipts of not more than $500,000.
Guzman created two additional funding allocations to ensure the smallest of the small restaurants and other eating establishments received equitable access: One was $500 million for applicants with 2019 gross receipts not more than $50,000, and two, $4 billion for applicants with 2019 gross receipts between $500,000 and $1.5 million.
For more on the RRF, go online to the SBA website at www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/restaurant-revitalization-fund.
