See Which Restaurants Got Revitalization Funds In Greenfield

GREENFIELD, WI —Restaurants in Greenfield were among the more than 2,095 in Wisconsin who received money from the Small Business Administration's Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which was passed by Congress last year as part of a sweeping coronavirus relief package.

A total of $380 million in funding was given to Wisconsin restaurants. But the 2,095 Wisconsin businesses that received funding under the program were just 35 percent of the 5,871 that applied to the program, which SBA is shutting down Wednesday.

In Greenfield, grants were given to:

• KYOTO CORPORATION - $213,443
• GD Classic Inc - $97,813
• Habaneros of Greenfield Inc. - $93,583

But restaurants across the country are facing an uncertain future after the U.S. Small Business Administration said last month it was shutting down the Restaurant Revitalization Fund passed by Congress as part of the coronavirus relief package.

The President and CEO of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, Kristine Hillmer, told Patch that Wisconsin restaurants are facing huge difficulties as they attempt to recover from the pandemic. Restaurants are finding themselves grappling with much more than just the lost business from the many months of COVID-19 shutdowns, Hillmer said.

Hillmer said that a majority of the businesses that should have qualified for the funding did not receive any money. The funds were supposed to cut losses for restaurants, but the fact that so few received the cash, combined with the other issues that the industry is facing right now —many restaurants are being left in the dust, according to Hillmer.

"The plea to consumers is please be patient, and please be kind," Hillmer said. "These operators have been through the wringer."

Restaurants must figure out a way to bridge the gap that the pandemic created while also dealing with intense workforce shortages and rocketing ingredient prices. The SBA money was supposed to relieve that, but it isn't, according to Hillmer.

Across the industry, restaurants tend to operate at close profit margins. Many operate with a margin of 3-5 percent, and it only makes matters more difficult, Hillmer said.

The new difficulties leave restaurants in a position where they may have to decide cutting their service, menus and staffing. The effects are already being felt. According to Hillmer, it's becoming difficult to find an open restaurant on Mondays.

It's a perfect storm of issues that's hurting the restaurant industry. Hillmer said that around this time of year most restaurants are trying to pack in the summer profits to offset the winter slowness, but they have no way to do so when they're already behind.

Worker burnout, menu cuts, mealtime cuts, empty tables, short-staffed kitchens and more are all inflicting their pain on the industry, just as the country is shifting out of the pandemic, according to Hillmer.

The threats to restaurants in Wisconsin are more than just economic, according to Hillmer.

Restaurants are a key to community, they provide a sense of identity, Hillmer said.

"Think about how many times you have celebrated or mourned at a restaraunt," Hillmer said.

The problems are felt nationally.

“For a hundred thousand restaurants, the R.R.F. has made their future clear and stable, but for the more than 200,000 operators shut out of funding, receiving this letter today only heightens their fear and anger,” Sean Kennedy, a spokesman for the National Restaurant Association, told The New York Times. “We need Congress to act.”

In an email to applicants last month, the SBA said the program will be "disabled" July 14. At that time, it will stop accepting applications. Nationally, the program has handed out grants to 105,000 restaurants, but another 265,000 applicants are still waiting. A bill to replenish the fund has been introduced in Congress, but it has not moved forward.

Despite restaurant industry lobbying for Congress to replenish the fund, lawmakers have been more focused on reaching a compromise on the Biden administration's infrastructure improvement bill.