An assistant to Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas and one of the sponsors of the proposal, said Mr. Cornyn told the Small Business Administration that he was concerned that the congressional expansion would overwhelm the program with applicants at the last minute and leave too little money for the venues that he and others intended to take advantage of.
An agency spokesman declined to comment on how long it expects the money to last. She said officials “are building the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program from the ground floor and introducing protection at the front to ensure these essential grants are provided to those the law intends to help.”
Once the program opens, applicants will participate in a race for funds.
Most recipients are eligible to raise 45 percent of their 2019 revenue, up to $ 10 million. For the first 14 days, grants will only be available to those with a loss of 90 percent or more between April and December – such as Tallent’s Orange Peel. Thereafter, applicants with a loss of 70 percent or more will have a 14-day priority window. These two groups alone can exhaust funding for the program before other applicants – those with a loss of at least 25 percent – can get their turn.
This leaves most business owners with a cumbersome choice: should they seek a box office allowance or rather apply for the relief of the Paycheck Protection Program? The program reopened last month, which hit hard to get a second forgiving loan.
Premises that received a loan through the salary program last year may be eligible for the grant, but those who want to get a loan this year are not. The Small Business Administration, in its advice to applicants, said that they should make an informed business decision on which program will best benefit them and apply it accordingly. ‘
Take Billy Bob’s Texas, a base tank in Fort Worth that received a $ 1.1 million loan from the Paycheck Protection Program in April. It closed in March and reopened in August, but the once lucrative corporate sales industry became crater. Its famous bullring is empty. Yet it offers smaller concerts, serves dinners and retraining to get it right with a capacity of 2,500 people, less than the 6,000 it had before.
“Every week I feel like we’re changing our business model,” said general manager Marty Travis. He estimates that sales for the last eight months of 2020 were at least 50 percent lower than a year earlier – enough to qualify for the grant, but not enough to place the club in one of the first two priority groups. By the time it is allowed to apply, the money may be gone.