GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres is encouraging every qualified applicant to avail themselves of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund provided through the Small Business Administration.
The $28.6 billion program, which is part of the American Rescue Plan Act signed into law by President Joe Biden, aims to provide economic aid to restaurants and other establishments struggling to make ends meet as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
CNMI Small Business Development Center director and business advisor Nicole Babauta said applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Interested applicants are encouraged to go to pacificsbdc.com, call CNMI SBDC at 237-6888, or email cnmisbdc@pacificsbdc.com
According to independent business advisor Maxine Laszlo, who was hired as a consultant for SBA, the cap for the program is $5 million per location.
The funds can be used for eligible purposes, such as payroll and rent.
Laszlo said if a restaurant opened before Jan. 1, 2019, the amount it could receive is the loss from Covid-19, or the difference between its 2020 revenue and 2019 revenue.
For restaurants that opened in 2019, they can either use this calculation or the difference between how much they have spent on the business and their revenue.
Laszlo said funds received through the Paycheck Protection Program will also be counted toward the final calculation of revenue.
For businesses that opened in 2020, they could report the difference between eligible business expenses from the revenue that they received at the time.
SBA said priority will be given to applications from small businesses owned and controlled by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals for the first three weeks of the program.
After that period, all eligible applications will be funded on a first come, first served basis.
Applications will be accepted until funds for the program have been fully exhausted.
On average, it takes two weeks for applications to be processed, reviewed, and approved for funds distribution.
Governor Torres said in the CNMI, most “of our businesses are considered small businesses…. At the end of the day, small business is small business, and we need to help everybody across the board.”
He added that the CNMI government cannot function without its business partners.
“I want to thank them for all the hard work, the dedication they’ve put throughout the years, the good times and the bad times. Now everyone is struggling across the board and we’re here to assist,” he said.
