COVID relief bill includes $28.6 billion for restaurants

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KRON) -- Restaurants whose revenue fell in 2020 because of the pandemic could be getting some help thanks to the COVID relief bill.

The bill includes $28.6 billion in grants for those restaurants and adds money to the Paycheck Protection Program.

Businesses all over the country have struggled during the pandemic, but some in the Bay Area say this relief package is going to help.

"it's been tough," Terro Wong said. "Business is down 60%."

San Francisco Creamery has been serving sundaes in Walnut Creek for 16 years -- and COVID hit this restaurant hard.

Hearing that the pandemic relief package includes $28.6 billion for restaurants like this one has owner Terry Wong feeling optimistic.

"These programs that they roll out to help small businesses, it's a big help, because there's so much loss that has been suffered by a lot of businesses not just restaurants but all kinds of businesses," Wong said.

Restaurants were decimated by the pandemic. As of Dec. 1, more than 110,000 restaurants in the United States were closed either temporarily or permanently according to the National Restaurant Association.

"The need is going to be so high that those funds could run out very quickly," Laurie Thomas said.

The bill calls for grants equal to the amount of restaurants' revenue losses up to a maximum of $10 million per company -- eligible companies cannot own more than 20 locations and cannot be publicly traded.

"I think we should always remember that the main goal is to get the employees back to work and to reopen as safely as possible," Thomas said. "So this money is intended to make sure the current businesses that have been shuttered or have been limping along like mine, like OK we can do 12 inside and the rest outside right, you're trying to make up for losses last year you are trying to like get people back."

The biggest issue now for these restaurant owners is figuring out now how and when they will get this money.

They are still trying to figure that out.

from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3vcj2XX