SpotOn, a leader in fully integrated restaurant management systems and small business technology, today announced a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to assist clients in accessing funds from the $28.6B Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), part of the American Rescue Plan Act. The partnership is the company’s latest in a series of efforts to help restaurants adapt to and rebound from the pandemic and is expected to help SpotOn clients with a faster and simpler application process.
Aiming to create a truly meaningful partnership, SpotOn has committed to using its resources to help facilitate clients’ SBA applications free of charges and fees. In addition, SpotOn will make it even easier for clients to directly upload data from their SpotOn Restaurant point-of-sale system to the SBA’s portal safely and securely. With these new capabilities, SpotOn will streamline the application process for clients applying to the RRF, a tax-free federal award equal to the amount of their pandemic-related revenue loss.
The relief comes at a critical time for the restaurant industry, which finished 2020 with almost 2.5 million fewer jobs than pre-pandemic levels and saw more than 110,000 eating and drinking places close either temporarily or permanently, according to The National Restaurant Association.
“SpotOn was built to do whatever it takes to ensure restaurants succeed. After a year where restaurants were hit particularly hard by the pandemic, we are thrilled to be able to ease the application process for our clients and help them quickly get the relief they deserve,” says Zach Hyman, Co-CEO of SpotOn. “As restaurants fully reopen, the loans will be essential to rehiring, restocking inventory, and making the modifications and investments in technology they need to operate at full capacity again.”
Since the start of the pandemic, SpotOn has worked alongside restaurants and small businesses to stay open, operating, and to prepare them for the future. From rolling out commission-free online ordering at breakneck speed to hiring additional staff and releasing 400+ product innovations in 2020, SpotOn has continued to invest in their clients’ success. The company also waived $1.5M in software fees, assisted in PPP loan applications, and introduced low-cost private lending through SpotOn Capital. With the new SBA partnership, SpotOn clients will gain easier access to funding, including Federal aid via the Paycheck Protection Program and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
The RRF is an emergency assistance program designed to specifically help independent restaurants, bars, and other qualified food & beverage businesses with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss, up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. The program will soon begin accepting applications from priority groups, including businesses owned by women, veterans, or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, followed by a general application period three weeks later.