Ohio Small Business Grants Available Starting June 29

Jun 28, 2021

The Ohio Development Services Agency released eligibility information for a series of small business grants available starting Tuesday, June 29. Below you will find information regarding each of these grants including eligibility, qualifications, and fund usage.

Food & Beverage Establishment Grant
This program provides grants up to $30,000 to restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and other food and drinking businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The dollar amount of each grant will be determined by the business’s loss of revenue in 2020.

  • Eligible businesses for this grant include food service contractors, caterers, mobile food services, bars, taverns, nightclubs, full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops, and businesses that do not otherwise qualify for the Entertainment Venue Grant because they earn more than 50 percent of their revenue from the sale of food and/or beverages.
  • Eligible businesses must have experienced at least a 10 percent reduction in revenue in 2020 at one or more Ohio locations.
  • Grant funds can be used to reimburse eligible businesses for the following expenses relating to their Ohio business location as long as the costs do not violate state or federal law and are not otherwise specified as ineligible costs:
    • Personal protective equipment to protect employees, customers, or clients from COVID-19.
    • Measures taken to protect employees, customers, or clients from COVID-19.
    • Utility payments.
    • Mortgage or rent payments for business premises (personal residences explicitly excluded).
    • Salaries, wages, or compensation paid to contractors or employees, including an employer’s share of health insurance costs.
    • Business supplies or equipment

Grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis under the guidelines outlined, here.

Lodging Grant
This program provides grants up to $30,000 to hotels, motels, and bed and breakfast operations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The dollar amount of individual grants to qualifying businesses will be determined by the business’s decline in occupancy rate in 2020.

  • The business must have at least one Ohio location that has been in operation since at least Dec. 1, 2019, and must have a hotel/motel license from the Ohio Department of Commerce.
  • Businesses can be a hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast.
  • The business must have experienced at least a 10%reduction in occupancy in 2020 as a result of COVID-19.
  • Grant funds can be used to reimburse eligible businesses for the following expenses not otherwise specified as ineligible costs:
    • Personal protective equipment to protect employees, customers, or clients from COVID-19.
    • Measures taken to protect employees, customers, or clients from COVID-19.
    • Utility payments
    • Business supplies or equipment.
    • Mortgage or rent payments for business premises (personal residences explicitly excluded).
    • Salaries, wages, or compensation paid to contractors or employees, including an employer’s share of health insurance costs

Grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis under the guidelines outlined here.

New Small Business Grant
Grants of up to $10,000 to small businesses established between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, under this program.

  • The business must be a for-profit entity that started operations between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, and that has at least two and no more than 25 Ohio employees paid via W2 wages as of Jan. 1, 2021.
  • The business must have a physical location in Ohio and experienced revenue loss or unplanned costs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A lengthy list of ineligible businesses includes those that previously received the Small Business Relief Grant; are a nonprofit entity; are publicly traded; are operated by a governmental agency or entity; are a club; are primarily engaged in political or lobbying activities or political issue advocacy; operate as a sexually oriented business; engage in conduct regulated by the Ohio Casino Control Commission or the Ohio State Racing Commission. A complete list can be found here.
  • Grant funds can be used to reimburse eligible businesses for the following expenses:
    • Personal protective equipment to protect employees, customers, or clients from COVID-19.
    • Measures taken to protect employees, customers, or clients from COVID-19.
    • Mortgage or rent payments for business premises (personal residences explicitly excluded).
    • Utility payments.
    • Salaries, wages, or compensation paid to contractors or employees, including an employer’s share of health insurance costs.
    • Business supplies or equipment.

Additional grants, including the Entertainment Venue Grant which provides up to $30,000 to theaters, music venues, spectator sports venues, museums, and other entertainment establishments affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, are available through the Ohio Development Service Agency website.

What should I do next?
Beginning Tuesday, June 29, 2021, businesses can apply at BusinessHelp.Ohio.Gov. To access the application, individuals will be required to log in using an existing OH|ID or create a new OH|ID, which provides users with secure access to state of Ohio services and programs. For more information on creating an OH|ID, visit OHID.Ohio.Gov/. For help in creating an OH|ID account, click here.

After an application is approved, businesses also will be required to provide an Ohio Supplier ID assigned by the Ohio Office of Budget and Management. If the applicant business does not currently have an Ohio Supplier ID, the business will be required to register at Supplier.Ohio.Gov. A Supplier ID is required so that grant funds can be distributed by direct deposit.

If you require assistance or have general questions about your application, our team is ready to help. Contact our restaurant practice leader, Kristin Metzger below.

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Kristin Metzger, CPA
Restaurant Practice Leader
kristin.metzger@wvco.com | 419.891.1040

Categories: COVID-19, Other Resources, Restaurant & Hospitality

Restaurant Revitalization Fund – Updated 4/20/21

Apr 20, 2021

Further details on the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) were released by the SBA late last week. Details regarding application requirements, eligibility, and a program guide were all included in this announcement. A sample application for the RRF can be found here.

Over the next two weeks and before the application launch, the SBA is initiating a 7-day pilot period for the RRF application portal. Selections for the pilot period will be made at random and the participants will be from existing borrowers of PPP funds in priority groups. The funds requested from these early participants will not be made available until the application portal is open to the general public. Also, the SBA is working on an application program interface to allow for the application to be embedded in POS systems such as Toast, Aloha, Clover, and Square. This interface will allow operators to be able to submit applications directly within the POS system.

The SBA is expected to announce the official application launch date soon. Once the application is open to the general public, the first 21 days will be reserve for the priority groups including businesses owned by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Furthermore, there will be funds set aside for various revenue groupings. Currently, there is $5 billion set aside for applicants with 2019 gross receipts of less than $500,000. There is also $500 million set aside in grant money for applicants that had gross receipts less than $50,000. The fund also has set aside $4 billion for applicants that had 2019 gross receipts ranging from $500,000 and $1.5 million.

The National Restaurant Association recently published a Q&A which can be found here to help clarify several questions surrounding the RRF program. Some highlights and further information of additional points of clarification can be found below.

Covered Period
There is a discussion that the RRF covered period will potentially be extended for an additional 14 months, which would allow applicants to have until March 2023 to spend the grant money.

Eligibility
An entity that has permanently closed or has filed for bankruptcy protection (without an approved plan of reorganization) will not be eligible for the RRF grant. Furthermore, the eligibility requirements include demonstrating at least one-third of an entity’s revenue comes from the sale of food or beverages being consumed on-site.

Required Documentation

The following documents should be prepared for those entities entitled to RRF grants:

  • An application form and the IRS Form 4506-T.
  • Applicants in operation before January 1, 2019, must supply gross receipts for both 2019 and 2020
  • Applicants in operation through part of 2019 must supply gross receipts for both 2019 and 2020
  • Applicants that began operations on or between January 1, 2020, and March 10, 2021, and applicants that have not yet opened as of March 11, 2021, but have incurred eligible expenses, must supply documentation of both gross receipts and eligible expenses for the length of time in operation.
  • Gross receipts and eligible expense documentation:
    – Business tax returns (IRS Form 1120 or IRS 1120-S)
    – IRS Forms 1040 Schedule C; IRS Forms 1040 Schedule F
    – IRS Form 1065 (including K-1s)
    – Bank statements
    – Financial statements such as income statements or profit and loss statements
    – Point of sale report(s), including IRS Form 1099-K

We will continue to monitor and provide updates on the RRF grant program as they are made available.

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Kristin Metzger, CPA
Restaurant Practice Leader
kristin.metzger@wvco.com | 419.891.1040

Categories: COVID-19, Restaurant & Hospitality

Restaurant Revitalization Fund – Updated 4/1/21

Apr 01, 2021

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) which provides federal grants to the hardest hit sector of the economy during COVID-19 is about to become a reality. President Biden is expected to sign a $1.9 trillion relief package, the American Rescue Plan today. As part of this plan $28.6 billion has been allocated to small and mid-sized restaurants for The Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

What is this new program?

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund allows eligible businesses to receive grants equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss, with a maximum of $10 million per business entity, or $5 million per physical location. How much you receive depends on the revenue your business lost due to the pandemic and if it received a PPP loan.

Businesses that were established before January 1, 2019, can calculate their grant amount by subtracting your 2020 gross receipts from your 2019 gross receipts. Businesses that were established during 2019 can receive a grant equal to the difference between:

  • Average monthly 2019 gross receipts, multiplied by 12
  • Average monthly 2020 gross receipts, multiplied by 12

Businesses that were established on or after January 1, 2020, can receive a grant equal to eligible payroll expenses, minus gross receipts from that year.

Who is eligible?

Eligible businesses include any location where patrons gather for the purposes of being served food and beverages: restaurants, bars, caterers, lounges, inns, taverns, saloons, brew pups, taprooms, tasting rooms, food trucks, food carts, or food stands.

Who is not eligible?

  • Restaurant chains that, together with affiliated businesses, own or operate more than 20 locations as of March 13, 2020
  • Restaurants that have a pending application for or have received a grant for shuttered venue operations
  • Publicly-traded companies, or
  • State or local government-operated businesses.

What can the grant funds be used for?

  • Payroll costs
  • Rent payments (excluding pre-payments)
  • Utilities
  • Principal and interest payments on a mortgage (excluding pre-payments)
  • Maintenance expenses including construction to accommodate outdoor seating and walls, floods, deck surfaces, furniture and fixtures, and equipment
  • Supplies (including PPE)
  • Food and beverage expenses
  • Covered supplier costs
  • Operational expenses
  • Paid sick leave
  • Any other expenses that the SBA deems essential to maintaining the eligible business

How and when can you apply for the grant?

Much like the Paycheck Protection Program, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants will be distributed by the Small Business Administration. Applications will be available on their website in the coming days. During the first 21 days of the fund launching, the SBA will give priority to restaurants owned and operated by veterans, women, or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. If after 60 days, the funds have been exhausted, the SBA will have the discretion to administer grants to eligible businesses without regard to annual gross receipts.

Updates:

4/1/2021

During a Senate Small Business Committee hearing, senior SBA official Patrick Kelley confirmed the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is targeting early April to launch a phased rollout of the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). In addition, state restaurant associations have been meeting with Congressional leaders to learn more about details regarding applications, etc.

Key updates resulting from these  meetings include:

  • SBA will likely start posting relevant qualifications, instructions, and other information for restaurant operators over the next 7-10 days and give guidance on supporting documents needed to apply
  • SBA will open applications in April
  • SBA is currently planning the whole process will take place over the next 30-45 days
  • SBA also confirmed applicants for the  Fund program will not need to register for a DUNS number or on SAM.gov.
  • The process is slow on account that the SBA has to build a technology platform from scratch with the capability of dealing with the crush of applications and likely automating the process so it’s as efficient as possible. Once it’s up and running, the grants will function like direct payments to the applicants. The SBA is also in talks with third-party POS vendors to discuss accessing relevant sales data needed for application processing

We will continue to provide updates as the SBA releases additional guidance. Please check back periodically as we will post updates here.

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Kristin Metzger, CPA

Restaurant Practice Leader

kristin.metzger@wvco.com | 419.891.1040

Categories: COVID-19, Restaurant & Hospitality

How to Prepare For the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Opening

Mar 24, 2021

This story was updated on 4/1/21 to reflect a potential change in SBA requirements for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). Restaurants will not be required to acquire a System of Award Management (SAM) number nor a D-U-N-S number as previously thought.

In a previous post, we examined the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) under the American Rescue Plan and outlined the program details, eligibility, and the qualifying uses for the funds. With more than $20 billion available for restaurant businesses of different sizes, we anticipate a high demand for RRF grants.

As the restaurant industry patiently awaits further guidance from the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are steps restaurant owners can take now to best prepare for the opening of the fund. We encourage you to take action now by:

Gathering your paperwork – Finally, you should begin compiling your receipts and financial statements to show your 2019 and 2020 revenues.

Unfortunately, as of the date of this advisory, the SBA’s application process is not yet open. Nonetheless, we expect the application to be available on the SBA’s website, and, once available, applications will be submitted directly through the SBA. It is important to keep in mind not everyone who applies for an RRF grant will receive funds. Much like the first round of PPP, funds will go fast. We highly recommend you take the steps above to best position your restaurant. If you have questions or need help, we are here!

Connect With Us.

 

Kristin Metzger, CPA
Restaurant Practice Leader
kristin.metzger@wvco.com | 419.891.1040

Categories: COVID-19, Restaurant & Hospitality