The Small Business Administration has moved the reopening of its application portal for the Shuttered Venue Operator Grants program to Monday at 12 p.m. EST after a number of applicants complained about a decision to reopen the portal on Saturday.
The SBA made the announcement via Twitter, writing, “We heard you and we are taking action. In response to stakeholder feedback about reopening the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application this weekend, the application portal will now reopen on Monday, April 26 at 12pm ET.”
They followed up with additional tweets stating, “It is our top priority to deliver on the promise and commitment to provide economic lifelines to these hardest-hit venues ASAP,” and, “Yet, we understand the challenges a weekend opening would bring and to ensure the greatest number of businesses can apply for these funds, we decided to reschedule. We remain committed to delivering economic aid to this hard-hit sector quickly and efficiently.”
The account applicants to visit this link to review a checklist of items they might need for the loans, which can be found here.
The relaunch is a result of the SBA’s website crashing on April 8 as venues operators, talent agencies, cinema owners and managers of museums, cultural arts groups and zoos applied for $15 billion in federal aid passed last year and signed into law on Dec. 27.
