What You Need to Know About the Restaurant Revitalization Fund

Megan Palmer -

The $1.9 trillion-dollar American Relief Act was signed into law on Thursday, March 11, 2021. Among the various aid packages, the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization fund is the first relief directed to the restaurant industry. We’re breaking down everything you need to know about the fund and how you can access relief.

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund will offer grants of up to $5 million per operation

The U.S. Small Business Administration will administer grants and it’s expected to take just weeks to determine a process for fielding and managing grant requests.

Who’s eligible for a grant?

  • Operations with under 20 locations
  • For the first three weeks, the SBA will award grants that prioritize restaurants owned and operated by women, veterans, or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

How much aid can I expect?

The maximum grant amount is $5 million for a single restaurant location or $10 million for a restaurant with multiple locations.

What can grant money be used towards?

  • Payroll costs
  • Rent or Mortgage (principal or interest) payments
  • Utilities and maintenance costs
  • Supplies including PPE and sanitation products
  • Food and beverages costs
  • Supplier costs covered by the Small Business Act
  • Operational expenses
  • Paid sick leave
  • Any other expenses that the administrator determines to be essential

SpotOn is committed to helping restaurants and small businesses compete and win. We have partnered with world-class financial experts, and once again are working diligently to enable you to apply for aid quickly and easily through your SpotOn Dashboard. We’ll update this article as more information becomes available.

Additional elements of the American Relief Act

State Small Business Credit Initiative: Allocates $10 billion for state governments to help leverage private capital and make low-interest loans and other investments available to help their small business economies recover.

Shuttered Venue Operators Grants Program: An additional $15 billion will be added to the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants program, created by the previous economic aid package, to help those who run museums, theaters, concerts, and other venues that had to shut down due to COVID-19 restrictions. The bill also allows such operators to apply for PPP loans in addition to these grants.

Additional funding for the Small Business Administration: To help the SBA process these new programs, $1.325 billion will be allocated to the SBA.

Consumer Stimulus: Additionally low and middle-income earners will receive additional stimulus that we hope will bring additional revenue to restaurants and small businesses as vaccination numbers continue to increase and warm weather allows for more outdoor dining:

  • Low and middle-income earners will receive payments of up to $1,400 to individuals earning $80,00 or less, single parents earning $120,000 or less, and couples earning $160,000 or less
  • Weekly unemployment payments of $300 per week through Sept. 6
  • As much as $10,200 from 2020 will be tax-exempt for households with less than $150,000 in annual income