$0: That’s how much money the Small Business Administration has paid independent venues since Save Our Stages Act — which guarantees independent venues and theaters $16 billion in federal pandemic relief — was passed into law five months ago.
Indie venues have been struggling to keep afloat since the pandemic began more than 15 months ago, and they have received no federal aid, while countless other businesses have received billions in relief grants. Tens of thousands of venues have submitted applications for Shuttered Venue Operators Grants.
A rep for the SBA, which had said it hoped to begin distribution last week, confirmed to Variety that payments have not been processed, pointing to the latest in a long string of technical issues with its website.
That’s true; the SBA is committed to quickly and efficiently delivering this pandemic relief to help our theatres, music venues, and more get the help they need. While there continues to be some fine-tuning of technical components of the program, we expect SVOG Priority 1 (90% revenue loss) awards to tentatively begin next week, kicking off a 14-day priority period. We will then move on to begin processing Priority 2 awards,” the rep said.
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