La Familia Cortez is facing staffing woes like so many businesses across the country, including restaurants, bars and hotels. Rehiring is bringing its own challenges, he said. We see this as an opportunity to really get back on solid footing and try to rehire all the employees. "We feel that we're blessed just to be here still - it's been a long road. Cortez said he was able to access the Paycheck Protection Program but more aid is needed. The restaurants have had to grapple with both mandated closings to help control the spread of Covid-19 and a once-in-a-lifetime storm that walloped Texas in February. It is down 300 employees over the course of the pandemic from a high of 725 before the crisis hit. Now in its fourth generation, the restaurant group has five full-service locations. Cortez is chief operating officer of La Familia Cortez restaurants in San Antonio, Texas. Operators such as Pete Cortez are hoping to access aid before the fund runs dry. The SBA did not immediately comment on the applications received or the program's operations so far. So far, the portal for struggling restaurants has been accepting applications smoothly, Kennedy said, save for a slight hiccup Monday that had to do with an issue outside the platform. The site was closed down on its first day and remained shuttered for more than a week before being reopened for application submissions. The SBA recently faced challenges with another small business aid portal, for its Shuttered Venue Operator Program. The launch of the fund is a result of a yearlong effort led in part by the restaurant group. "The question that everybody is asking, of course, is how long is the money going to last and who's not going to have a place to go when the music stops," Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association said in an interview. The bigger concern is if the program will have enough aid to help all the businesses that need it. The trade group also said restaurant and food service sales are down $280 billion from projected levels. The National Restaurant Association estimates that from March 2020 through April of this year 110,000 restaurants have closed either permanently or long-term. The industry has been among the hardest hit over the course of the last year. "With the launch of the application portal, an overwhelming number of restaurant owners have taken the first step and successfully submitted their applications. We will begin processing and funding applications shortly," an SBA spokesperson said in a statement. The SBA said there was "extremely high demand" for the program in its opening days. The funds must be used by March 2023 and do not need to be repaid so long as the money is used on eligible expenses including payroll, suppliers, mortgages, maintenance and rent. The American Rescue Plan Act established the RRF to provide restaurants with funding equal to pandemic-related revenue losses of up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. Also, more than 61,000 applications were made by businesses with less than $500,000 in annual pre-pandemic revenue, meaning some of the smallest restaurants and bars in America are seeking relief. According to the White House, 97,600 applications were from eligible businesses in these groups.
![restaurant rush 2 restaurant rush 2](https://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/319971-restaurant-rush-windows-screenshot-cooking-showdown.jpg)
The White House released a fact sheet Wednesday that said in its first two days 186,200 restaurants, bars, and other eligible businesses across the country applied for relief.įor the first three weeks, small businesses owned by women, veterans and the socially and economically disadvantaged have priority in application processing.