COVID-19 relief package includes financial lifeline for struggling restaurants
Restaurant Revitalization Fund
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act includes a $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund aimed at smaller players who aren't backed by deeper corporate pockets.
HOUSTON - Restaurants are among the businesses hit particularly hard, during the pandemic, but the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act includes a financial lifeline for some of those struggling eateries.
The $28.6 billion dollar Restaurant Revitalization Fund is aimed at smaller players who aren't backed by deeper corporate pockets.
READ MORE: Biden marks passage of $1.9T COVID-19 relief package with Rose Garden ceremony
They are restaurants like Field & Tides in Houston's Heights neighborhood.
On a Friday lunch-hour, the kitchen is loud with activity and the crew is just glad there are folks in the dining room to cook for.
"The challenges we faced in the last year have been unbelievable," says executive chef Travis Lenig.
He says a six-week shutdown, trying to survive on to-go orders, and restrictions that followed, have left finances very thin. Still, he decided, early in the pandemic, that he wanted to keep the doors open.
"I did not want to have to start the restaurant over with a new staff," says Lenig, "I wanted to be able to keep them on, pay them, and keep this restaurant afloat."
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Austin chef Kevin Fink was among those who lobbied for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, saying it was a difficult argument to win.
"You were just fighting for your livelihood, and having to validate why you were important," says Fink.
The costs have been staggering to the hospitality industry: Two million lost jobs; more than a hundred thousand establishments closed; nearly a quarter trillion dollars in lost revenue.
The financial aid will help with some of the building debt that survivors have amassed; even in Texas, where restrictions have been lifted.
"Imagine going a full year where you lose 25% of your income, but your debts are actually higher, or exactly the same," says Fink, "All of the sudden, you switch back on. That's not an immediate thing. It just doesn't work that way."
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Back at Field & Tides, business is picking up, but the financial anxiety remains.
Travis Lenig says he can handle 'that', as long as diners keep coming, and he can keep serving them.
"Is it tough?" he asks, "Absolutely, but I can't see myself doing anything else.
The fund is restricted to owners, with 20 or fewer restaurants, who can get grants that equal their 2020 minus, any payroll-protection loans, they received. Total payout would be $5 million per restaurant or $10 million per restaurant group.
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Unlike PPP loans, this money can be spent on typical operating expenses.
The Small Business Administration is still drafting the process, by which, grant applications can be made.
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