SVOG
Shuttered Indie Venues Grant Deadline Approaches
Pollack and his partner Schuyler Hoversten charge a “small success fee” for their services that’s “variable based upon how much work is involved and how organized or not they are,” says Hoversten. It’s similar to how other consultants have helped small businesses apply for other government-sponsored COVID-19 aid programs like the Payroll Protection Program and the SBA’s restaurant grant program during the pandemic. And with the SVOG deadline approaching, they want to encourage businesses not to give up, even if the process seems complicated. “It’s so complex. It’s so convoluted,” Hoversten says. “They’re asking for a lot of information and I think if you’re not completely telling the sto...
Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Appeals Underway for Denied Applicants
Since appeal notices began rolling out Monday, 494 invitations have been accepted so far. Those entities will need to review the SVOG Eligibility Matrix to see where they believe errors were made on the behalf of an SBA reviewer. The SBA has not provided specific reasons why each entity was declined, leaving the guesswork up to the companies. “There is a balancing act we have to do. The level of specificity slows things down,” The SBA’s senior advisor for COVID-19 programs Deidra Henry-Spires told Billboard at the end of July. “There are conversations we can have after we’ve seen the whole unit of declines once we’ve gotten through [all the applications that came in the first 60 days]. But often in grant programs, you don’t...
Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Payments Will Start Arriving Next Week
The amount of funding for the second and third tiers, along with any supplemental funding, will be based on what remains after the SBA awards grants to the first priority group. “This emergency relief can’t come soon enough for those on the precipice of going under. We’ll be very grateful when the money is distributed as Congress intended,” says National Independent Venue Association board member Audrey Fix Schaefer. “It’s been very hard to hold on, but even tougher to plan for reopening without the money to hire back staff, rent venues and secure acts with deposits. It will be incredible when the $16 billion Congress earmarked to save our stages becomes a reality.” As of today, 11,500 SVOG applications have been sub...
Not So Fast: Shuttered Venue Grant Application Relaunch Moves Dates Again
They followed up with additional tweets stating, “It is our top priority to deliver on the promise and commitment to provide economic lifelines to these hardest-hit venues ASAP,” and, “Yet, we understand the challenges a weekend opening would bring and to ensure the greatest number of businesses can apply for these funds, we decided to reschedule. We remain committed to delivering economic aid to this hard-hit sector quickly and efficiently.” The account applicants to visit this link to review a checklist of items they might need for the loans, which can be found here. The relaunch is a result of the SBA’s website crashing on April 8 as venues operators, talent agencies, cinema owners and managers of museums, cultural arts groups and zoos applied for $15 billi...
SBA Shares More Details About Shuttered Venues Grant Relaunch
The SBA’s decision to reopen the portal on Saturday, more than two weeks after it crashed upon on launch on April 8, was met with a flurry of negative comments Thursday due to the short advanced notice. But representatives with the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), which played a key role drafting the $15 billion Shuttered Venue Operators aid package, released a statement supporting the decision to reopen the application process on a weekend day. “Simply put, this is emergency relief that can’t come too soon,” says Audrey Fix Schaefer, NIVA board member and communications director. “Every single day that passes small businesses are receiving eviction notices, all the while $16 billion has been waiting for them. This is a lifeline for thousands of independent venues and promote...
Shuttered Venue Grant Applications to Resume Over the Weekend
“We have completed rigorous testing and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application portal will reopen on April 24,” the SBA announced on Twitter at 9 p.m. EST on Thursday. “We will provide updated documents and guidance tomorrow. Interested applicants should register for an account in advance.” The link to the portal is svograntportal.sba.gov. Since the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant was passed in late December, the SBA has been tasked with creating the program and processes from scratch. Andrea Roebker, a regional communications director at the SBA, told Billboard in March that while the SBA was able to distribute Paycheck Protection Program loans soon after the CARES Act passed in March 2020, those were handled by delegate...
