Venues scramble for $16 billion in pandemic aid
When the pandemic forced Crowbar, a music club in Tampa, Florida, to shut down last year, Tom DeGeorge, its primary owner, took out more than $200,000 in personal loans to keep the business afloat, including one using its liquor license as collateral.
More than a year later, the club has reopened with a smattering of events at reduced capacities, but the business still operates in the red, DeGeorge said in an interview. So Thursday, Crowbar was among the thousands of music venues, independent movie theaters, and other arts and entertainment institutions trying to apply for a share of $16 billion in federal aid.
“We lost an entire year of concerts in the blink of an eye, which was close to $1 million in revenue,” DeGeorge said. “That’s why we need this grant so badly.”
The aid comes through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, which was authorized by Congress late last year after months of lobbying by an ad hoc coalition of music venues and other groups that warned of the loss of an entire sector of the arts economy.
Like many others, DeGeorge spent hours Thursday trying to submit his application through the online portal set up by the Small Business Administration, which runs the program. But problems with the site led to confusion and frustration throughout the day, as applicants reported being unable to register or have uploads blocked — an exasperating result for businesses that have spent so long waiting for help. The SBA said Thursday afternoon on Twitter that it was aware of a “technical issue” and was working to correct it.
For music venues in particular, the last year has been a scramble to remain afloat, with the proprietors of local clubs running crowdfunding campaigns, selling T-shirts and racking their brains for any creative way to raise funds. For the holidays, the Subterranean club in Chicago, for example, agreed to place the names of patrons on its marquee for donations of $250 or more.
“It’s been the busiest year,” Robert Gomez, primary owner of the Subterranean, said in an interview. “But it’s all been about, ‘Where am I going to get funding from?’”
Because the grants will be awarded on a “first-in, first-out” basis, those seeking money are in a race for the cash: Once the $16 billion is depleted, those left in the queue will be turned away empty-handed.
As has happened with other relief programs run by the agency — most notably, the Paycheck Protection Program, a $746 billion aid effort — the opening of the shuttered-venue program was riddled with complexity and confusion.
Successful applicants will receive a grant equal to 45% of their gross earned revenue from 2019, up to $10 million. Those that lost 90% of their revenue (compared to the prior year) after the coronavirus pandemic took hold will have a 14-day priority window for receiving the money, followed by another 14-day period for those that lost 70% or more. If any funds remain after that, they will go to applicants who had a 25% sales loss in at least one quarter of 2020.