By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Small Business Administration is making a program available starting Monday to help those who sell food and drink to recover from COVID-19 damage. It's called the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
"There is $28.6 billion that's been appropriated authorizing the SBA to award funds to restaurants, food service companies, caterers, food trucks and not only food service entities, but food and beverage entities," said Wayne Bell with the SBA's Wichita office. "We're talking about bars, salons, lounges, coffee shops, snack shops, bakeries, etc."
This program will provide restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss.
"These are grants," Bell said. "This is not money that's going to have to be paid back. It's really intended to help the businesses to get back in total to where they were before the pandemic."
For the first 21 days that the program is open, the SBA will prioritize funding applications from businesses owned and controlled by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
"The maximum awards per location is $5 million, with a cap at $10 million for any entity," Bell said.
There is money set aside for smaller restaurant businesses, as well. $5 billion for applicants with 2019 gross receipts of not more than $500,000; $4 billion is set aside for applicants with 2019 gross receipts from $500,001 to $1,500,000; and $500 million for applicants with 2019 gross receipts not more than $50,000. For more information, visit sba.gov/restaurants or in Spanish at sba.gov/restaurantes.