Everything you need to know about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund
The pandemic has been an extremely difficult time for small and large businesses alike, but it has been especially tough for the restaurant industry. Many restaurants bolstered their take out menus, started offering curbside pickup, and signed up for delivery services, but still had trouble staying afloat. Fortunately, the stimulus bill passed in March included major help for the hospitality industry: The SBA’s $28.6 billion restaurant revitalization fund seeks to provide support for struggling restaurants and other food businesses.
What is the RRF (Restaurant Revitalization Fund)?
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund is a program that provides emergency assistance for eligible hospitality businesses that were impacted by COVID-19. It was created as part of the American Rescue Plan (also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package) that was passed in March 2021.
Available through the SBA (Small Business Administration), the $28.6 billion program issues grants to food and beverage providers for amounts equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss. While grant amounts are determined on a case-by-case basis, the program can provide up to $5 million in funding per location, not to exceed $10 million total for each applicant and any affiliated businesses. The best news? Businesses that receive funds are NOT required to pay them back, as long as they are used for eligible expenses no later than March 11, 2023.
Who Is Eligible For the Restaurant Revitalization Fund?
Eligibility for the Restaurant Revitalization fund includes entities who have experienced pandemic-related revenue loss, such as:
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Restaurants
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Food stands, food trucks, food carts
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Caterers
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Bars, saloons, lounges, taverns
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Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars
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Bakeries (onsite sales to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
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Brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms (onsite sales to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
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Breweries and/or microbreweries (onsite sales to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
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Wineries and distilleries (onsite sales to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
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Inns (onsite sales of food and beverage to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
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Licensed facilities or premises of a beverage alcohol producer where the public may taste, sample, or purchase products
How to Apply For the Restaurant Revitalization Fund
The application was available directly via the SBA's online application portal or through SBA-recognized Point of Sale vendors. Registration for the SBA application portal began on Friday, April 30, 2021, at 9 am ET, and applications for the RRF openen on Monday, May 3, 2021, at noon ET. However, as of the date of publishing, applications for the restaurant revitalization fund are closed. But if you’re still interested, you can learn how to apply on the SBA website.
To help with the application process, RPOWER's Cloud Reporting utility, under the Multi-Unit & Corporate reporting category, now has an SBA RRF Report. This report provides a location's sales totals for 2019 and 2020 in a single page easy-to-read format. This financial information, along with other location information, was necessary to complete the SBA RRF application. While businesses could also utilize their own tax filing and or company records (Profit & Loss, Income Statements) for this information, RPOWER POS makes the process much more simple.
RRF Funding Amount
RRF grant amounts vary from business to business, depending on a number of factors. With that said, the minimum RRF funding amount was $1,000, with a maximum of up to $5 million per location, not to exceed $10 million total for the applicant and any affiliated businesses. For detailed information regarding how to calculate your RRF grant funding amount, you can consult page 7-9 of the RRF program guide.
Conclusion
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund aims to provide support to struggling hospitality businesses that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides up to $10 million in funding per applicant, which does not need to be paid back, provided that it is used for eligible expenses before March 11, 2023.
If you’ve received the RRF grant and you’re not sure what to spend the funds on, check out our helpful guide: What you can and can’t do with your RRF grant money.