As talks over another stimulus package continue to stall on Capitol Hill, the District is rolling out more financial aid to local businesses that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
D.C. will distribute up to $100 million in COVID-19 recovery grants to hospitality and retail establishments in the coming weeks, Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday. The money will be allocated to four sectors: $35 million to restaurants, $30 million to hotels, $20 million to entertainment businesses, and $15 million to retail businesses.
The program, called the “Bridge Fund,” is being bankrolled by $20 million in federal CARES Act money and $80 million in local money. The CARES Act portion must be spent by the end of 2020 and will exclusively support hotels, which can begin applying for the funds next week.
“The Bridge Fund will focus on strategic investments in the hard-hit sectors, so we can support workers and help businesses make it to the other side of this crisis,” Bowser said.
The rollout follows emergency legislation approved by the D.C. Council in July that set a $100 million target for local business aid. It also follows other economic-recovery programs that the city has implemented this year, including more than $30 million in small business grants, child care funding, and “streatery” funding for outdoor dining.
Most of the jobs the District has lost since the pandemic started were in hospitality, retail, and entertainment, according to officials. More than 56,000 jobs were lost between December and September as tourism and nightlife plummeted.
John Falcicchio, Bowser’s chief of staff and top economic development aide, said 80% of the money businesses receive from the Bridge Fund must be used on payroll, which was the case with a recovery program that sports and entertainment authority Events DC carried out in the spring. He said the city will release details about program requirements in the next five weeks.
Applications for the four sectors in the program will be open for two weeks each, according to Falcicchio. Then, officials will review the applications and start disbursing the funds.
The award amounts and number of grantees depend on the sector. Up to 700 restaurants will be eligible for between $10,000 and $50,000; up to 140 hotels will be eligible for between $10,830 and $270,750; up to 400 entertainment businesses will be eligible for between $4,000 and $100,000; and up to 575 retail businesses will be eligible for between $5,000 and $25,000.
Additionally, $7.5 million of the $100 million will go to restaurant and retail businesses that are owned by women or people D.C. considers “economically disadvantaged.” The owners must be District residents.
Still, without additional federal relief, it’s unclear to what degree the Bridge Fund will help local businesses survive before COVID-19 vaccines become widely available. “We know that, despite this most recent infusion of funding, there’s still going to be some businesses that are really hard hit,” said D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, the chair of the council’s business committee.
