SBA closes Restaurant Revitalization Fund program | SBA Announces Extension of $100 Million Grant ‘Community Navigator Pilot’ Program Proposals

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is announcing the closure of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Through the American Rescue Plan Act, the SBA launched the Restaurant Revitalization Fund to provide funding to help restaurants and other eligible businesses keep their doors open.  SBA received over 370,000 applications from restaurant owners across the United States.

The program provided critical funding to over 105,000 restaurants representing $28.6 billion dollars. The program supported 3,777 small restaurants with gross receipts of less than $50,000 in 2019.

Due to overwhelming demand, the SBA was unable to fund all qualified applications with the original appropriation provided in the American Rescue Plan Act. Those applicants who have not received funding as of this email will have their applications held within the application platform to allow for processing in the order received if additional funds are provided by Congress.

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund application platform will remain open for the next two weeks to allow applicants to check their status, address payment corrections, or ask questions. The SBA will disable access to the platform on July 14, 2021.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has extended the application date for its new Community Navigator Pilot Program.

SBA will now accept proposal submissions through July 23, 2021 and anticipates making award decisions by September 2021.

This new initiative, established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, will leverage a community navigator approach to reach the nation’s smallest businesses, with a priority focus on those owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, as well as women and veterans.

The Community Navigator Program will have a significant impact in revitalizing small businesses through a Hub and Spoke “Navigator” featuring a lead “Hub” – at the center of a network of “Spoke” organizations that deploy trusted community advocates to work with small businesses during recovery.

These networks leverage the business development expertise of the central hub organization and the community credibility of spoke organizations to better connect critical resources with small businesses, with the priority focus on those owned by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Competitive grant awards will range from $1 million to $5 million for a two-year performance period.

Applicants have until July 23, 2021 to submit their applications at grants.gov.

Eligible applicants are County governments; Native American tribal governments; Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status; City or township governments; State governments; as well as Economic Development Organization or Similar Organization, SBA Resource Partners, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Women’s Business Centers, SCORE, Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs), Community Development Financial Institutions, and Nonprofit Colleges and Universities.

Performance periods are projected to commence in September 2021. Those eligible to apply must meet and demonstrate abilities to support requirements of this funding opportunity.

For more information on the Community Navigators Initiative, please visit