SBA awards $7.5B in shuttered venue grants
More than 10,000 live entertainment small businesses, nonprofits and venues have received benefits.
WASHINGTON, D.C. >> More than 10,000 live entertainment small businesses, nonprofits and venues across the country have received Shuttered Venue Operators Grants from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The administration has awarded $7.5 billion in grants under the program which is designed to assist in getting the nation’s cultural institutions — among the first to shutter during the coronavirus pandemic — back on track.
The Small Business Administration worked closely with the White House and other federal partners to process Shuttered Venue Operators Grants applications faster after the first two weeks of awards “did not set the pace needed for this emergency funding,” according to a press release.
“After making improvements to the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, the SBA is now delivering money quickly, efficiently and fairly to highly-impacted small businesses and venue operators that are critical to America’s cultural fabric and local economies,” Isabel Casillas Guzman, Small Business Administrator, said in a statement. “America’s small businesses can rest assured that the SBA will continue to work around the clock to provide the relief that is needed to revitalize local economies and build back better from the pandemic and economic crisis.”
Over the last seven weeks, the Small Business Administration has gone from awarding just over 100 grants as of June 10, to more than 10,000 to date. More than two thirds of the awards have gone to venues with fewer than 10 employees, according to the agency.
The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program was established by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act, and amended by the American Rescue Plan Act, and includes more than $16 billion in grants to shuttered venues, according to the Small Business Administration’s website.
Eligible applicants may qualify for grants equal to 45% of their gross earned revenue, with a maximum $10 million amount available for a single grant award. Of the funds, at least $2 billion is reserved for eligible Shuttered Venue Operators Grant applications with up to 50 full-time employees.
Eligible businesses for the program include: Live venue operators or promoters; live performing arts organization operators; museum operators; motion picture theater operators (including owners); and talent representatives, according to online information about the program.
In addition, venues must have been in operation as of Feb. 29, 2020. A venue or promoter that received a PPP loan on or after Dec. 27, 2020, will have the grant reduced by the PPP loan amount.
Businesses that are awarded Shuttered Venue Operators Grants can use their grant for: Payroll, rent payments, utility payments; mortgage payments, debt payments, worker protection expenditures, payments to independent contractors, ordinary and necessary businesses expenses, administrative costs, state and local taxes and fees.
The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant portal remains open and funding is still available for all eligible applicants, according to the Small Business Administration. The agency’s Office of Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to provide technical assistance with the application portal and can be reached at 1-800-659-2955 or, for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, 1-800-877-8339.
The Small Business Administration’s resource partners including SCORE Mentors, Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers and Veterans Business Outreach Centers, are available to provide applicants with individual guidance on their applications. Applicants can find a local resource partner via a zip code search at http://www.sba.gov/local-assistance. For weekly Shuttered Venue Operators Grants funding data reports, visit www.sba. gov/svog.