The U.S. Small Business Administration reopened the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application portal on Saturday for operators of live venues, live performing arts organizations, museums and movie theatres to apply for economic relief.
The SBA said it had worked to fix the technology problems that occurred with the initial April 8 opening of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) application portal and made easier for users to navigate.
The SVOG program was appropriated more than $16.2 billion for grants via the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. Of these funds, at least $2 billion is reserved for eligible SVOG applications with up to 50 full-time employees. Eligible applicants may qualify for grants equal to 45% of their gross earned revenue up to a maximum amount of $10 million for a single grant.
“We recognize the urgency and need to get this program up and running,” said Barb Carson, deputy associate administrator of SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance. “With venue operators in danger of closing, every day that passes by is a day that these businesses cannot afford.”
SBA’s collaboration with several live venue, cultural and related industry organizations has been vital to the agency’s understanding of the user experience for potential SVOG applicants, and the SBA will continue to partner with them through the application and grant awarding processes.
The SBA is accepting SVOG applications on a first-in, first-out basis and allocating applicants to respective priority periods as it receives applications.
The first 14 days of SVOG awards, which are expected to begin in mid-May, will be dedicated to entities that suffered a 90% or greater revenue loss between April and December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second 14 days (days 15-28) will include entities that suffered a 70% or greater revenue loss between April and December 2020. Following those periods, SVOG awards will include entities that suffered a 25% or greater revenue loss between one quarter of 2019 and the corresponding quarter of 2020.
Go here to access the application portal.
