Live Q&A: Restaurant Revitalization Fund for Square Food and Beverage Sellers

[Ani_]

Hi Seller Community!

I'm excited to announce the Small Business Administration has developed a partnership with Square to distribute the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) relief to the food and drink industry. The Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) is part of the U.S. Government’s American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This plan includes a $28.6B fund for awards to eligible food and beverage business owners, administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). 

On Thursday, April 29th at 1:30-2:30 PM PST /4:30 PM-5:30 EST, we'll host a Live Q&A with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to answer any of your questions about the application process. Please make sure to ask any questions directly on this thread below. Keep in mind, the SBA will only be addressing questions related to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), not PPP.  

How does the application process work?

We expect to start enabling applications for the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) on Monday, May 3rd at 12:00 PM EST. The award application program is owned by the SBA, and they are finalizing the process. We know how important these funds are to you and your business, so we are working as quickly as possible to get the application ready!  

Unlike the PPP program, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund are awards and are not loans. They are not serviced as loans, and have no forgiveness component. There are no intermediary banks involved. Awards are determined by and allocated by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and not Square.

If you qualify for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant, you’ll have the option to apply Monday, May 3rd on Square Dashboard or through the SBA’s secure website. To help support applicants throughout the process, the SBA will offer phone and district office support.

• Call center hotline (844-279-8898): Applicants can call this number for multi-lingual application or program support. 
• SBA District Offices: Applicants can reach out to their local District Office for tailored regional SBA support.

For more information about eligibility or to start your application, please visit the SBA Portal. You can also find more information about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund on the Support Center. Let us know if you have any questions for the SBA below!

Note: The SBA has announced that they will officially stop accepting applications for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) on Monday, May 24, at 8 p.m. ET.

[Ani_]

Hi @kimapollo, it would be best for you to apply through the SBA. You will need to provide supporting documentation for the revenue you took through your old POS.

[bazaru]

Hello, my all of my applications are ready. If Square will be offering in the upcoming days, I would love to participate in the beta test. Thank you for your time. 

[Ani_]

Thanks for letting us know, @bazaru! We’ll let you know if there is an opportunity to beta test.

[jk84mc]

I too would like to be part of the beta testing for this SBA Award revitalization funding.  I took over ownership of an existing cafe back in Nov. 2019.  I closed from March 23rd thru June 8th,2020.  I have received both PPP's thru Square; but I only had 2 employees so it wasn't all that much.  I have barely climbed over the halfway point of where  was pre-covid.  Fighting to keep "feet on the floor" behind the counter at the moment; while trying to look for new staff for the last 3 months.  50+ applicants, 40+ of them scheduled an interview with me, 7 have showed up, I hired 6 of them, I have ONE LEFT.  They come in acting excited to have a job, work a day or two and I never see them again .  It's maddening!!!

[Ani_]

@jk84mc It sounds like you should be able to apply for an SBA award through your Square Dashboard. I’ll let the team know that you’re open to beta testing the flow if the opportunity is available. So sorry to hear about your staffing experience!!

[ericrud76]

We use Square for payroll but its not our POS.

Will we be able to apply through square using Bank Statements (according to the SBA, that is an acceptable proof of revenue)?

Thanks Square Team!!

[Ani_]

@ericrud76  Unfortunately without processing data, you will not be able to apply through Square, we recommend that you apply through SBA’s portal. To learn more, please visit sba.gov/restaurants. Beginning Friday 4/30 at 9 AM EST you’ll be able to register with the SBA.

[QCGBill]

We had sales at our flagship location for all of 2019 & 2020 but opened a 2nd location in July of 2020.  Should we apply separately for the 2nd location? From what I read in the SBA program guide, the grants are awarded by location.

[Ani_]

Hi @QCGBill, Square wouldn't be able to support your 2020 location unfortunately, we recommend you apply through the SBA.

[NmontaSBA]

Hello @QCGBill! If you file taxes at a parent company level or applied for PPP at the parent company level, you should apply using the parent company EIN. If you file individually by location, you can apply by location.

[TeaBazaar1]

Hi there. I’m curious if square will allow businesses who began operations in 2019 to apply for RRF using either table 2 or table 3 for its calculations. Restaurants are allowed to choose if applying through the SBA. However, I’m concerned that food and beverage businesses that began operations in 2019 will be limited to using table 2 only in square. Thank you 🙂 

[Ani_]

Hi @TeaBazaar1! No, if you began operations in 2019, you will be directed through Table 2 by applying through Square.

[rje1206]

If I apply through Square for the RRF, will Square report through the application 2019 and 2020 gross revenue amounts?

[Ani_]

@rje1206 Yes, that's correct!

[rje1206]

Will we be able to see the answers to all the questions asked?  

[SolBrew]

Are we required to have our 2020 taxes filed knowing that the deadline to file them is may 17th?

[Ani_]

@SolBrew No, you can apply without having filed your 2020 taxes. This will be the case for many businesses!

[Hazelscatering]

Will there be specific categories that you must spend the RRF grant on?

[Joe]

Hi there, @Hazelscatering - thanks for reaching out!

Just a quick note. I've gone ahead and merged your post into an existing thread of Sellers who were also looking for information regarding RRF. We have a live Q&A on this post happening currently, so we should be able to generate a response for you directly from the SBA.

Please stand by!

[Ani_]

Hey @Hazelscatering! Yes - these include: Business Payroll Costs, including paid sick leave, Business Rent / Business Mortgage, Business Debt Service, Business Utilities, Business Food and beverage expenses, including raw materials, Business Maintenance Expenses, Business Supplies, Covered Supplier Costs, and Business Operating Expenses.

[dabrad-01]

Will square be open to 1st group or only when it is available to everyone?