Johnson City businesses hope Congress can replenish depleted relief fund | News

Main Street Pizza Company is one of approximately 1,160 Tennessee companies that benefited from a $ 28.6 billion federal program called the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

The company, which received around $ 1.4 million, is still operating at a loss, but owner Jamie Dove feels better knowing that his company now has a stronger safety net. The funding that Main Street Pizza Company secured will hold the company’s payroll for nearly a year, he said.

“It’s just groundbreaking,” said Dove, who was a veteran on a priority group for funding. “It makes the difference whether we’ve really been set back a decade … or basically almost equalized.”

However, the fund recently closed, leaving at least one local store, Dos Gatos Coffee Bar, empty-handed. Owner Dick Nelson said he hoped to use the $ 67,000 he requested through the initiative to install additional seating on the roof of his building.

“That would have given us the opportunity to literally go one step further,” he said.

About two-thirds of the companies in the United States that applied did not receive funding, according to US Small Business Administration figures. In Tennessee, 1,160 of nearly 3,800 companies that applied were given funds under the program.

Nelson recently emailed Senator Marsha Blackburn’s office asking for her help in promoting another round of funding for the initiative.

SBA spokeswoman Lola Kress said the increase in the fund is now in the hands of Congress.

“We can only comment on it if it becomes law,” she said. “The RRF program has been extremely effective.”

What is the Restaurant Revitalization Fund?

The U.S. Small Business Administration recently announced that the program, which President Joe Biden signed under the American Rescue Plan Act, has awarded $ 28.6 billion to more than 100,000 restaurants and food and beverage companies is completed.

Due to the overwhelming demand, the SBA said it was unable to fund all qualified applications with the original US bailout funds.

As of June 30, 278,000 companies had submitted eligible applications for a total of $ 72.2 billion in requested funds.

Of the $ 28.6 billion distributed, $ 18 billion went to underserved populations: $ 7.5 billion went to women-owned companies and $ 1 billion to veteran-owned companies and $ 6.7 billion in companies owned by people from socially or economically disadvantaged groups.

Another $ 2.8 billion went to companies owned by several underserved populations. The average grant size was $ 283,000 and most of the grants awarded, 25.7%, ranged from $ 150,000 to $ 350,000.

Restaurants and bars were eligible for benefits equal to their pandemic-related lost revenue, with a cap of $ 10 million per business and $ 5 million per location. Payroll and rent were among the eligible uses.

The SBA announced that the application platform will remain open for two weeks so that applicants can check their status, address payment corrections or ask questions. The SBA will deactivate the platform on July 14th.

How are the companies doing?

At the downtown Dos Gatos Coffee Bar, Nelson said operations are returning to normal. The month of June of this year is roughly the same as the month of June 2019, he said.

The store closed its indoor seating area in favor of a walk-in window during the pandemic. The coffee shop reopened its back office in June.

Main Street Pizza Company has locations in Johnson City and Kingsport. Dove also owns and operates County Line Pie in Chuckey, Tennessee.

Like other restaurants in the area, the Main Street Pizza Company is struggling with staffing levels and is currently operating at reduced hours.

Despite being suspicious of the COVID-19 variants, Dove is excited about the effectiveness of vaccines and senses the enthusiasm of customers to return to personal eating.

“I think people are ready to go and this part is good,” said Dove, “but the problem is we have to scale up again and you can’t just flip a switch. These are especially the new challenges for restaurants. “

Restaurants, he noted, operate on very tight margins, which means it can be tough to lose a few days or even a few hours. Although he feels better knowing the Main Street Pizza Company now has additional funding, he hopes Congress will add another round of funding to the restaurant revitalization fund.

“For a few hundred thousand restaurants that have applied for the same fund, they don’t know,” he said.