GRA Weekly

May 16, 2021

This week's newsletter is brought to you by Georgia Power.

FPUC ENDS JUNE 26, 2021

Governor Kemp, State Labor Commissioner Announce Economic Recovery Plan.

Governor Brian Kemp and GDOL Commissioner Mark Butler announced this week that Georgia's participation in Federal pandemic unemployment benefit programs will officially end. Beginning Saturday, June 26, 2021, Georgia will no longer participate in the following programs:

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), which provides for an additional $300 weekly payment to recipients of unemployment compensation
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides benefits for those who would not usually qualify, such as the self-employed, gig workers, and part-time workers
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which provides for an extension of benefits once regular benefits have been exhausted
Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC), which provides an additional $100 benefit to certain people with mixed earnings

Eligible claimants will continue to have their payments processed and issued through June 26, 2021. GDOL will also continue to offer the $365 maximum weekly state unemployment insurance benefit to Georgians who qualify. Read More.

PLEASE SIGN NOW!

New Grassroots Petition for Additional RRF Funding.

The US Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Monday that it has begun approving and distributing grants to the first wave of Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) applicants. Just one week after the program's launch, the SBA has approved approximately $2 billion worth of grants to 16,000 restaurants. Within the first two days that the grant application opened, 186,000 businesses from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. had already applied. The current round of $28.6 billion is estimated to be able to help about 100,000 businesses, which, the SBA noted, is not enough to meet demand.

Our partners at the National Restaurant Association have created a grassroots petition calling on all federal lawmakers—Congress and the Executive Branch—for additional funds for the RRF to ensure it can provide real relief to the restaurants that need it. We will use the petition to press Washington for action. Please sign to add your name, indicating that you support adding more money to the RRF.

Take Action - Sign Your Name

GRA EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR

As of May 5, 2021, Georgia restaurants officially have the ability to offer cocktails to-go with food orders. However, not all cities or counties may allow this. Join us for an exclusive webinar with Georgia Department of Revenue to explain the ins and outs of SB 236 "Cocktails to-Go" and how restaurants can legally and safely comply.

Dial-in or watch live via Zoom. We invite you to submit any questions you may have when you register and we'll be sure to address them live.

Friday, May 21, 2021 | 12:00PM - 1:00PM

ENERGY STAR®

Hot Food Holding Cabinets: an equipment upgrade worth the investment

When looking for ways to save money, consider investing in ENERGY STAR® certified commercial kitchen equipment such as electric hot food holding cabinets. According to energystar.gov, ENERGY STAR hot food holding cabinets are 70% more energy efficient than standard models. And that efficiency pays off – saving you, on average, $3,260 on utility bills over the product’s lifetime. In addition to monetary savings, high-efficiency hot food holding cabinets reduce heat loss and can provide better temperature uniformity within the cabinet. Connect with your foodservice equipment distributor today or contact us at 1-877-310-5607 to learn more.

SBA UPDATES

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund has received more than 147,000 applications from women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged business owners, requesting a total of $29 billion in relief funds. To date, a total of $2.7 billion of relief funds have been distributed to 21,000 restaurants since the Restaurant Revitalization Fund opened on May 3, 2021.

In addition to a $5 billion set-aside established by Congress for applicants with gross receipts not more than $500,000, SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman created two additional funding allocations to ensure the smallest of the small restaurants and other eating establishments such as food trucks and carts get the aid needed: 1) $500 million for applicants with 2019 gross receipts less than $50,000; and 2) $4 billion for applicants with 2019 gross receipts between $500,000 and $1,500,000. In the first days of the RRF program, after weeks of targeted outreach that included 600 local and national informational events, SBA has received:

13,114 applications from businesses with under $50,000 in pre-pandemic revenue requesting $330 million in funds
100,410 applications from businesses with under $500,000 in annual pre-pandemic revenue requesting $8.14 billion in funds
61,535 applicants from businesses with $500,000 - $1,500,000 in annual pre-pandemic revenue requesting $15.1 billion in funds

Because SBA still has potential funding available for eligible establishments with 2019 annual revenue of not more than $50,000, the application portal will remain open. Eligible establishments that meet this revenue standard are encouraged to apply through SBA-recognized point-of-sale vendors or directly via the SBA online application portal.

Learn More.

CDC ISSUES NEW GUIDANCE

CDC Issues New Mask Guidance Saying Fully Vaccinated People Do Not Need to Wear Masks Indoors and Outdoors.

On Thursday, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under certain circumstances. Read More.

CDC: When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated - How to Protect Yourself and Others.

Choosing Safer Activities

If you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic.
Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.
If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, find a vaccine.
Read More.

IMPORTANT TAX CREDITS

First-Round PPP Loan Deductions.

Did you get a first-round PPP loan to cover payroll, mortgage interests, rent payments, and utility payments? You can now also tax deduct the corresponding expenses. Read More.

Employee Retention Tax Credit Extended Through 2021.

One especially bright spot of the American Rescue Plan Act is the extension of the ERTC from June 30 of this year to December 31. Now, if you’re eligible, you can access ERTC for up to $7,000 per eligible employee per quarter for all of 2021, for a potential total credit of $28,000 per eligible employee. Read More.

SBA PROGRAM SCAMS AND FRAUD ALERTS

The SBA recently launched the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Bad actors may take this opportunity to impersonate lenders or government officials in emails, robocalls, social media accounts and phony websites. Their goal is to attract victims and commit fraud, scams and schemes. The result is financial or personally identifiable information (PII) loss for the victims.

As a reminder, the SBA directly communicates from email addresses ending in @sba.gov. The SBA also communicates via email updates/notifications using an email marketing platform, (the same one you are receiving this newsletter from). Those emails end in @updates.sba.gov.

If you applied for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and emailed the SVOG Support Center, you may receive an email back from a zendesk.com account. This is an authorized SBA contractor.

If you are being contacted by someone claiming to be from the SBA who is not using an official SBA email address, you should suspect fraud. To report potential fraud, visit sba.gov/covidfraudalert.

COVID VACCINE

GA DPH Will Come to Your Restaurant to Provide Vaccines for Your Employees.

In an effort to support the restaurant community's recovery from COVID-19, GA DPH is willing to come to your restaurant with a team of vaccine specialists to provide free vaccines and information for your employees. If you're interested in signing up, please email us at info@garestaurants.org.

RESTAURANT RESET WEBINAR SERIES

The Restaurant Reset series, presented by the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center, is designed to train restaurant owners and operators in the areas they need for their business to be successful.

Over seven sessions, topics include: financing, marketing, customer retention, alternative lending, finding and retaining employees and expanding food services. Taught by a team of restaurant experts – you will leave with a better understanding of steps needed to ensure your venture is a success. Register.

GRA ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT

We invite you to join us on the course for the 10th Annual GRA Golf Tournament, presented by Coca-Cola.

The GRA Golf Tournament raises funds for the GRA PAC, the only Political Action Committee dedicated to serving the restaurant industry in Georgia. Your donations help us contribute to candidates that support the foodservice industry, fight legislation that can hurt your business and organize grassroots campaigns to advocate for our industry.

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Atlanta National Golf Club