GRA Weekly

July 14, 2022

This week's newsletter is brought to you by GRA Corporate Partner, Seated.

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN

Nominations for 2022 GRACE Awards Are Now Open

The Georgia Restaurant Association Crystal of Excellence (GRACE) Awards return to honor the best and brightest in Georgia’s restaurant industry on September 27. Nominations are open in numerous categories honoring those who have exhibited exceptional hospitality during the year.

Peer-nominated award categories include:

Lifetime Achievement
Restaurateur of the Year
Restaurateur Rookie of the Year
Industry Partner of the Year
Hospitality Hero of the Year
Restaurant Manager of the Year
Restaurant Employee of the Year
ProStart® Student of the Year
"Georgia On My Mind" People’s Choice Awards featuring four new award categories: Favorite Neighborhood Hangout, Favorite Born and Raised Beverage, Favorite Eatertainment Experience and Uniquely Georgia. These awards are nominated and voted on by the Georgia restaurant community including guests, employees, suppliers and vendors.

Nominations can be submitted online until July 31. Winners will be announced during the GRACE Awards Gala on Tuesday, September 27 at the Georgia Aquarium. To sponsor the awards gala, please contact Sarah Thorson.

FOOD SAFETY TIPS

Five Food Safety Tips for Restaurants

In each restaurant, there are four basic components for safe food preparations: clean, separate, cook and chill. A real or perceived foodborne illness is one of the frequent claims made to restaurant insurance carriers and voiced on social media platforms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that roughly 48 million Americans get sick due to foodborne illness every year. Restaurant operators can successfully battle this issue by being proactive with food safety programs. Using food safety best practices can keep customers safe and protect the restaurant’s reputation. Read more.

SERVSAFE SERVITUP

Get Smart Alcohol Serving Techniques free ebook

This new, downloadable resource from ServeSafe includes measuring and counting drinks, serving food with alcohol, keeping guests hydrated, slow-service techniques, and best practices for serving alcohol to-go. Read more.

FEDERAL UPDATES

COVID-19 | Fact Sheet: Biden Administration Outlines Strategy to Manage BA.5

On Tuesday, the White House COVID-19 Team is announcing its strategy to manage BA.5. The strategy relies on ensuring that Americans continue to have easy and convenient access to the vaccines, treatments, tests, and other tools that protect against and treat COVID-19. These tools – even in the face of BA.5 – work to prevent serious illness, keep people out of the hospital, and save lives – and we can prevent nearly all COVID-19 deaths with them. Read more.

Congress considers new small business tax increase

According to recent media reports, 2 tax increases under consideration in Congress would extend the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) to individuals and families who actively participate in their businesses, and limit the ability of small, individual and family-owned businesses to fully deduct losses during an economic downturn. In collaboration with other business groups, the Association is urging congressional leadership to reject tax hikes. Contact Association VP, Public Policy Aaron Frazier for more details.

What this means for restaurants: If passed, these 2 tax proposals would increase tax revenue by more than $400B over 10 years, preventing small, individual, and family-owned restaurants that weathered the pandemic from regaining financial viability in the coming months.

Data privacy bill contains worrisome language for operators

The American Data Protection and Privacy Act would create national standards dictating that businesses protect consumer information they collect, store, and use. While following one comprehensive federal data privacy law would—in theory—make compliance easier for businesses (vs. a patchwork of state laws), the proposed ADPPA’s language as currently written is troubling for restaurants. Read why.

Take the Association’s Latest Restaurant Operator Survey

As the National Restaurant Association and state restaurant associations continue to advocate on behalf of the industry, please help us quantify and further illustrate how current business conditions are impacting the restaurant industry. The Association Research Group developed a brief survey designed to collect important data to inform our ongoing advocacy activities.