The American Rescue Plan Act established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to provide funding to help restaurants and other eligible businesses remain open. This program will provide restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business, and no more than $5 million per physical location. Recipients are not required to repay the funding as long as funds are used for eligible uses no later than March 11th, 2023.

SBA has not yet opened applications for the program; however, information regarding eligibility and required documentation is being publicized early in an effort to help qualifying establishments prepare.

Eligible entities who have experienced pandemic-related revenue loss include:

Restaurants and other eligible businesses that would like to prepare their applications should review this sample application form. Additional required documentation will include verification of tax information and gross receipts documentation, with additional supporting documentation needed for inns, brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms, breweries, wineries, distilleries, or bakeries.

Once applications open, SBA will prioritize for the first 20 days applications where the applicant has self-certified that it meets the eligibility requirements for a small business owned by women, veterans, or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Following that period, all eligible business applications will be accepted. 

Details were unveiled yesterday for a federal tax credit for small and medium-sized businesses to fully offset the cost of paid leave for employees to get vaccinated and recover from any after-effects of vaccination.

Funded through the American Rescue Plan, the tax credit will offset the cost for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 500 employees for up to 80 hours, limited to $511 per day of paid sick leave offered between April 1st and September 30th, 2021.

This tax credit will allow eligible employers to provide paid leave for employees to get a COVID-19 vaccination and for any time their employees may need to recover from that vaccination at no cost to the employer. The Internal Revenue Service has published a fact sheet to educate employers on how to claim the paid sick leave credit on their quarterly tax filings; click here to access that guidance.

The paid leave credits under the ARP are tax credits against the employer's share of the Medicare tax. The tax credits are refundable, which means that the employer is entitled to payment of the full amount of the credits if it exceeds the employer's share of the Medicare tax.

The Towns of Ashland and Natick, along with the City of Framingham, are coordinating a Business Marketing Technical Assistance Grant program to provide marketing support to the local business community. The pandemic created restrictions on the amount of time business owners can dedicate to marketing their businesses, at a time when maintaining revenues is crucial.  This grant opportunity is designed to address that need. Eligible business owners located within one of the three communities will have an opportunity to work directly with marketing professionals to create, redesign, or update their website; upload online point of sale tool to business websites; and/ or focus on social media marketing strategies for direct marketing to consumers.  

Click here to access complete program and application information. The application deadline is Monday, May 3rd. 

All small businesses with located in Ashland, Framingham, and Natick will be considered for this grant. The grant provides consultant services of up to $5,000 per award.

Area marketing specialists interested in applying to provide services to local businesses should click here. 

The 495/MetroWest Partnership invites business and organizational leaders in our service area to take part in our annual 495/MetroWest Employer Survey!

This survey represents a collaborative effort between the 495/MetroWest Partnership and Framingham State University's MetroWest Economic Research Center (MERC). Your participation is greatly appreciated, and is leveraged to promote the region and to ensure its continued prosperity. Responses close tomorrow, Friday April 23rd.

Key survey details:

Thank you for your assistance in continuing this important economic assessment tool for our region.

Throughout the Spring, the 495/MetroWest Partnership will be acknowledging our Investors in our Information and Resource Updates. Click here to learn about becoming an Investor!

Sanofi is dedicated to supporting people through their health challenges. We are a global biopharmaceutical company focused on human health. We prevent illness with vaccines, provide innovative treatments to fight pain and ease suffering. We stand by the few who suffer from rare diseases and the millions with long-term chronic conditions. With more than 100,000 people in 100 countries, Sanofi is transforming scientific innovation into healthcare solutions around the globe.

The 495/MetroWest Partnership thanks Sanofi for their PARTNER level support! Check out our full list of Investors at 495Partnership.org.