Washington, D.C.— Today, House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) issued the following statement after the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program would start accepting applications on April 8th, 2021:
“Today’s announcement is excellent news for the independent entertainment venues that have sat empty for the better part of a year due to the pandemic. These businesses have faced some of this crisis’s harshest outcomes as public health restrictions turned their business models upside down. That’s why we created SVOG last December to get additional relief to these beloved cultural institutions that needed more aid than other economic relief programs could provide. SBA now has over $15 billion in grants to offer these businesses to make it through the end of this crisis. I am committed to working with Administrator Guzman to ensure that this program is successful and reaches as many small venue operators as possible.”
