Federal Relief Restaurant Revitalization Fund Updates

05/03/2021

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund application portal opened on Monday, May 4, and in just two days, more than 186,000 restaurants, bars, and other eligible businesses across the nation and in Puerto Rico have applied. Nearly 98,000 of those applications came from restaurants, bars, and other businesses owned and controlled by women (46,400), veterans (4,200), and other economically disadvantaged individuals (30,800), or some combination of the three (16,200). More than 61,000 of the applications came from businesses with less than $500,000 in annual pre-pandemic revenue, representing some of the smallest restaurants and bars in America. 

The SBA has released tips for RRF applicants waiting on updates following their grant application submissions, which are summarized below.
 
RRF: What to Expect Next

  1. SBA is reviewing and processing priority applications first during the initial 21 days (May 3 to May 24), and then all applications will be reviewed. Applicants under review status should not anticipate any outreach from the SBA during this period. 
  2. To make any corrections following submission and before award funding, applicants must revisit the application portal or call the support hotline (1-844-279-8898) to submit the correction, new documentation, and initiate a restart of the timeline for review. If an applicant initiates a restart, it may take 14 days from the time of resubmission for SBA to finalize review. The SBA will not allow corrections to awards that have been paid to awardees.
  3. If the submitted application is successful, all applications enter “IRS verification.” No action is needed from applicants for this process, which simply allows the SBA to validate information. The process may take up to seven days.
  4. An additional 4506T form submission is not required after applicant’s sign the application during the e-sign process.
  5. If you are entering a state in the address section(s) use the abbreviation in capital letters (e.g., FL, PA, TX, ME, WA, etc.).
  6. Applicants can submit a message using the platform inbox for help when on the web portal. 

 
If you have not yet applied, you can do so here. If you have any issues registering or throughout the application process, call SBA’s dedicated RRF hotline at 1-844-279-8898.

Below you will find the updated FAQ document from our partners at the National Restaurant Association that reflects all of the latest guidance provided by the SBA grant administrators. Also linked below is a step-by-step guide to help you apply.  For more details, visit FRLA’s webinar page here or the dedicated RRF page with the National Restaurant Association here.