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Congressional Federal Relief Packages
SBA officially notified all remaining applicants that Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) program has exhausted its initial funding and is now closed. Our entire industry, whether you were funded or not, MUST use your voice to demand that Congress address this. While many have been funded, many have not, and we are NOT an industry or community that is okay with that, recognizing that anyone has been left behind.
On the logistics part of this, SBA said that those applicants who have not received funding as of now will have their applications held within the application platform to allow for processing in the order received if additional funds are provided by Congress. They also indicated that the RRF platform will remain open for the next two weeks to allow applicants to check their status, address payment corrections, or ask questions. The SBA will disable access to the platform on July 14, 2021.
On the advocacy front, the National Restaurant Association is hopeful that this official closure news will spark some movement now on the replenishment of RRF and they are targeting GOP members of the Senate, as are so many industry leaders, to continue to push for support. It is even more important at this moment, if you have not already done so, that you use your voice to contact members of Congress and ask them to finish what they started with RRF and replenish the fund, so all applicants have access to relief. Click here to easily email members of Congress with one click, or call (202) 224-3121 and ask them to replenish RRF now.
Work Opportunity Tax CreditIf you are not already familiar with the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), you should be. This helpful tax incentive is available to employers who are hiring targeted groups of people. As you bring staff on board, WOTC is worth taking advantage of as it can provide up to $2,400 per hire.
Key Factors:
- WOTC provides up to $2,400 or more when hiring target groups including those unemployed 27+ weeks
- Forms must be submitted to the State Workforce Agency within 28 days of the new hire’s start date
- Each State has a WOTC specialist to help employers
- There are 3.8 million WOTC eligible unemployed as of June 2021, 2.6 million more than in February 2020, as some states are ending expanded unemployment benefits, Maryland being one of them.
Click here for a very helpful deck which explains WOTC in easy-to-understand detail.
PPP Round 1 Loan Forgiveness Challenges
Many in our industry nationwide are dealing with PPP Round 1 loan forgiveness as they find themselves unable to meet the loan forgiveness requirements within the 8-24 week covered period because their operations were closed or severely limited by government restrictions, or because they had too few customers during that period.
There are efforts on a national level to push legislators to understand this complicated situation and to adjust the 8-24 week period so affected operators have an opportunity to receive PPP loan forgiveness.
We need to know if you are also dealing with this issue so that we can let our contacts nationwide know about the impact in the Washington, DC Metro region.
If this applies to you, please email us at info@ramw.org and include the following information:
- Your name:
- Name of your business:
- Email address:
Small Business Administration loans are available for DC, Maryland and Virginia small businesses. The SBA will provide targeted, low-interest loans to small businesses and non-profits that have been severely impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million that can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. All restaurants are encouraged to apply today.
