Tennessee Restaurant Owners Still Waiting For Federal Relief Money

Photo: G-Town Dining Room, Germantown Commissary, Germantown, TN ; Photo Credit: Rien T. Fertel for Southern Foodways Alliance / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

Restaurants across the state are appealing to Congress to step in and help them get the pandemic relief they applied for.

According to a July report from the Small Business Association, less than a third of Tennessee restaurants have received any money from the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund. 3,785 restaurants applied, but 2,622 of those were not approved.

Restaurants have struggled since the pandemic hit. Many were forced to close temporarily. Smaller crowds, difficulty finding employees, and increased costs have made it hard for many to remain open.

“Restaurants that have been operating between a 3-7% profit margin, which is basically the average, are now working check by check. We still have landlords to pay, electricity, all our utilities, our team and staff, insurances. All that stuff has actually gone up as well,” said RJ Cooper, owner of Saint Stephen in Nashville.

The Independent Restaurant Coalition says that 177,000 restaurants across the nation were not given a grant.  They are calling for additional money to be put into the fund to help assist those additional businesses. 

The Coalition would like to see another $60 billion be added before the end of the year. New legislation is being presented before Congress, but there is no word yet on whether Tennessee legislators will be supporting it.

Some business owners have asked Tennessee Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty to join them in the push to help more businesses find a way to survive.

Judd Deere, a spokesperson for Senator Hagerty, issued the following reply:

“Senator Hagerty has been clear that Democrats spent on an entirely partisan basis back in March under the falsely advertised “American Rescue Plan” $1.9 trillion dollars—completely unpaid for—that failed to truly address the needs of small businesses still struggling from the pandemic, such as those in the restaurant industry that was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. Now Americans across the country are facing soaring prices and crushing inflation that we haven’t seen in decades because of Democrats’ untargeted spending in March, and Biden wanting to do even more reckless big government spending once again. Senator Hagerty believes Democrats should work with Republicans through a bipartisan, committee-driven process to identify where government spending may be truly needed, especially with small businesses and restaurants.”

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Nashville restaurant owner Sarah Gavigan was fortunate enough to receive money from the initial round and credits the funding with helping to save her businesses through the struggle of the pandemic.

“Getting this money to those who applied and that are qualified for it is paramount to helping us save independent restaurants in Tennessee,” Gavigan said. “It is so important to support small towns created around small restaurants.”

Knoxville restaurant owner Brian Strutz says he has been forced to spend a good deal of his time working to help the industry – time that he could be putting into his own business. He leads the Knoxville branch of the Restaurant Coalition and has been trying to help others receive support to keep their doors open.

“We create things,” Strutz said. “We create wealth. We create culture. We create jobs. Honestly, I would love to just focus on our business, focus on employing people – giving them raises, making food.”

Restaurant owners are also concerned that things will just get worse through the winter as more people stay home because they are concerned about contracting COVID and do not want to sit outdoors.

U.S. Representative Jim Cooper has spoken out in support of a second round of funding. 

“Very few times in American history have individual and relatively small industries like this been singled out by Congress for help,” Cooper said. “But the restaurants and music venues were the first to close, the last to reopen, and the ones hardest hit in the pandemic. So, they need help. They need help now, and we’re trying to get them that help.”

Cooper continued, “The $60 billion we’re pushing hard for right now for our restaurants will be returned to taxpayers, to Americans many times over. Some of our finest establishments are one of a kind, and that’s why they are so awesome because they are able to build a market in normal times. But with a disease, with a pandemic, it’s really been hard on them. It’s unfair. It’s not their fault. The money that’s spent at those establishments immediately goes back into the economy. It is re-spent by everybody.”

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com