Thank you, Senator Manchin for that warm introduction.
And thank you for your support for West Virginia’s entrepreneurs. I know that you have been a key proponent of the American Rescue Plan -- ensuring that it had the right relief solutions for our nation’s small businesses -- and it’s a testament to your commitment and dedication that you are here today, as part of this important training for the restaurants and food and beverage businesses in your state.
The SBA’s West Virginia District Office, under the strong leadership of Karen Friel, has been holding these trainings on the SBA’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund twice a week, and I’m so proud of all they’ve been doing to get the word out about this program … and all the resources that the SBA has to offer.
This outreach … this connecting to our small businesses where they are instead of waiting for them to come to us … is one of my key priorities as SBA Administrator, and it’s great to see it happening in real-time with West Virginia’s food and beverage entrepreneurs.
In fact, across the country, we’ve held more than 600 webinars and events on the RRF program – in multiple languages – reaching hundreds of thousands of small business owners. Those results, that hard work, is because of the dedication of our district-level staff and resource partners, all of whom are so committed to our small businesses.
Here in West Virginia, small businesses are the state’s business – comprising 98.9 percent of the business community statewide.
Restaurants and food and beverage businesses are a big piece of that – making up 10 percent of the state’s workforce. In fact, every dollar spent in the table-service segment contributes $1.56 to the state economy.
But it’s also so much more than that. Restaurants are a vital piece of the fabric of our society … defining the character of our neighborhoods and Main Streets. They offer a gateway for opportunity for so many … more than one in three Americans can remember their first job at a restaurant, bakery, diner or coffee shop. And they care about their customers and their communities … as President Biden mentioned yesterday, it’s restaurants that stepped up to feed frontline workers throughout this pandemic, even as they struggled to keep their doors open.
Over the past year, our nation’s restaurants and other food and beverage small businesses have faced enormous challenges.
You’ve been among the first and worst hit by COVID-19.
As California’s Small Business Advocate and, now, as the voice for America’s 30 million small businesses and innovative startups, I’ve seen how you’ve pivoted and adapted to the changing marketplace – finding new ways to connect with your customers while covering expenses and supplies, and continuing to pay your employees.
I’ve been inspired by your creativity, ingenuity and determination.
Today, I want you to know that help is here.
Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden, the SBA’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund is offering $28.6 billion dollars in direct relief to restaurants and other hard-hit food establishments – everything from bars and bakeries to food stands, food trucks and caterers – to help you get back on track.
The American Rescue Plan also includes vital funding and services for COVID-19 vaccines, including a paid leave tax credit to ensure that small businesses and nonprofits won’t lose money for providing paid leave to workers receiving a vaccination. I know that, with Senator Manchin’s help, West Virginia was an early leader in getting those shots in arms.
President Biden recently announced a new goal – 70 percent of adult Americans with at least one shot and 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by July 4th – which doctors believe will lead to sharp declines in COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The Biden-Harris administration is rolling out more services to help us all get to that goal and your state’s leaders continue to be important partners in that effort.
Getting these shots in arms is so important for your businesses to fully reopen safely. Person to person connection is at the core of what you do as restaurants and food and beverage businesses. I know Senator Manchin understands this, and he’s been instrumental in increasing West Virginia’s vaccine allocation. The SBA will continue to do whatever we can to make sure that West Virginia reaches that 70 percent goal.
But until we get there, and until you can reopen fully and safely, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund will help you stay open and reopen -- the funds can be used to cover payroll, rent, utilities, supplies. And, to give you extra flexibility, you have until March 2023 to use the funds.
Our nation’s smallest and underserved businesses -- especially those owned by people of color -- have suffered the most from the pandemic, and have often been unable to access relief. Congress understood this and mandated a 21-day priority period for restaurants, food and beverage businesses owned by women, veterans, and socially or economically disadvantaged people.
Congress also allocated 5 billion dollars in set-asides specifically targeted to smaller businesses – and the SBA added another $4.5 billion dollars – for a total of $9.5 billion dollars.
Our focus on reaching our smallest and underserved businesses is in line with the Biden-Harris administration’s emphasis on equity – a vision that I’m committed to at the SBA. We know that ALL our small businesses must be supported and given opportunities to succeed if our nation is going to thrive and retain our global competitiveness.
And we know it’s not just about how we design the program, but also how we implement it which is why today’s event is so important.
If we want to reach the restaurants that need us the most, we’ve got to prioritize accessibility, which is why we’ve made the RRF online application portal available in English and Spanish with translation in 8 additional languages and support in up to 17 languages.
And because businesses have adopted technology at high rates during the pandemic, we’ve integrated technology partners to increase your entry point options for the RRF application.
In addition to direct application at sba.gov, we’ve partnered with point-of-sale vendors to help you apply or get connected to the SBA portal where you are already doing business… right now we’re partnering with Clover, Aloha, Square, and Toast and we’ll be adding new partners as we go.
And we’ve eliminated bureaucratic requirements that don’t make sense for your industry, making the application as streamlined and efficient as possible. All told, it should only take you 25 minutes to fill out your application.
In the first two days of the program, we’ve seen tremendous interest and we’ve heard from applicants that the process has been smooth and simple.
So far, more than 186,200 restaurants, bars and other eligible businesses have applied, including almost 500 here in West Virginia.
We’ve also been helping restaurants – and other small businesses – get relief through our Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans, which combined have given out more than $1 trillion dollars in relief during this pandemic.
And we’re still scaling up. We’re here to help our nation’s small businesses do what they do best – drive our economy, create jobs and sustain our communities. Right now we’re focused on immediate relief. But we’re also looking to the future to make sure we don’t just build back to where we were before, but we build back better.
President Biden’s $2 trillion dollar American Jobs Plan is an important part of that and it includes so many opportunities to help the West Virginia small business economy grow into a hub of innovation in the clean energy, technology and healthcare sectors, and beyond.
It will give your small businesses and innovative startups the tools and opportunities they need to grow and thrive by …increasing funding through credit and venture capital … increasing revenue and contracting opportunities through key investments in infrastructure, broadband, supply chains … …and increasing R&D to help businesses grow, including funding for incubators and innovation hubs that will support entrepreneurship in communities of color and underserved communities.
This plan rewards work, not wealth – and, as you know, small business owners are the workhorses of our economy.
It is a bold investment in America’s future.
I take my role as the voice of America’s small businesses to heart. I know the impact small businesses have on our communities and on our economy, and I want you all - to feel like the giants you are in our economy.
So, thanks again to Senator Manchin and your staff, the SBA West Virginia District Office … and thank YOU ALL for everything that you do for your communities, your employees and our nation’s economy.
I’ll now turn it over to the District Office.
Thank you and keep up hope. We’re here to help!