Keeping the Restaurant Industry Ships Afloat
Hello, this is the millions of restaurants who are on sinking ships calling, please pick up. Below are updates from the Independent Restaurant Coalition.
March 2020 was far from the norm. We should have been enjoying St. Patricks Day at an Irish Pub. That wasn’t the case in 2020. Sorry, no green beer this year.
Altogether, we were forced to stay home and schedule Zoom Happy-Hours. Cheers.
What is the Independent Restaurant Coalition
As a result, Independent Restaurant Coalition was formed. The IRC is comprised organically of chefs and those in the restaurant industry.
Similarly, these individuals all have the same mission in mind: To help get restaurants back up and running smoothly and efficiently; fast.
IRC Timeline
IRC Leadership Team on House Passage of CARES Act
March 27, 2020 marked the release date of the government issued CARES Act to include the Paycheck Protection Program. The Paycheck Protection Program failed to consider smaller, local restaurants. The requirements outlined within the package were simply not attainable as a small business owner.
“While the CARES Act is not sufficient to ensure local restaurants survive this crisis, it does give us a lifeline to keep our businesses afloat, pay our immediate bills and help our employees.” – IRC, 2020.
IRC Call to Congress
Moreover, two days after the CARES Act was released, the Independent Restaurant Coalition was created. Due to the unrealistic nature of the package, the IRC requested to amend the original relief package (CARES Act).
The call to revise the CARES Act is just one Independent Coalition Update since the start of the national pandemic.
Paycheck Protection Program
And so, the PPP came to be. Credited to the CARES Act, the PPP is a short-term relief effort to allow restaurants to stay open and to continue to employ their workers. However, the loan stipulations and time-frame given to restaurants matched 4-star Michelin Restaurants and not local, smaller restaurants already struggling to pay their overhead.
With this, over 9,000 chefs on April 6, 2020 called on congress to fix the CARES Act. The new call to action reflects a “friendlier” plan. The requested amendments will allow for a better chance of reopening and rehiring.
Original CARES Act
Under the original relief package in the CARES Act, the restaurant owner would receive assistance and have two years to pay off that loan amount. Seems like it would go without saying that following a national pandemic, ROI wouldn’t allot for such a quick turnaround that is required. And so, the IRC continued to fight.
Increase in Unemployment Claims
According to data since April 9, there has been a significant increase in unemployment claims. Updates from the Independent Restaurant Coalition suggest that current PPP does not guarantee staff will remain employed when crisis is over. Additional funds are needed and there’s no guarantee 8-weeks is sufficient to hire back quality staff.
Today, the Independent Restaurant Coalition consists of nearly 11,000 restaurant members.
IRC Survey In Support of More Financial Assistance
April 16, 2020. The numbers don’t lie. 80% of restaurant owners stated the stimulus assistance will not be enough to save independent restaurants. The IRC feels that under the current program, there is very little to assure independent restaurant owners from sinking their battle ship.
The data is clear: The Paycheck Protection Program isn’t working as designed for restaurants and Congress needs to fix it.” Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation.
Don’t Leave Out The Locals
Except, that’s exactly what Congress did on April 21. Congress failed to consider independent restaurants.
Today we learned that Congress does not care if local restaurants close forever.
To that, today, 9% of the loans approved have gone to the restaurant industry, and even fewer to the independent restaurants.
Town Hall Speech – It Just Got Real
On April 29, the IRC sent a letter to our leaders. In this letter, the IRC demanded Congress to create a $120 Billion dollar restaurant stabilization fund to assist small businesses in their attempt at survival.
Top chefs and thousands of restaurant owners stepped up. How could they not? An industry they thrived upon is on the brink of extinction. The restaurant industry directly employs 11 million people. That is not to include the indirect hires through distribution, etc.,
The letter was truly heartfelt and factual. To read the letter click here.
COVID-19 Impacts More Than the Restaurant Industry
To conclude, the reality of all of this is that the current shuttering of restaurants isn’t going to just affect the restaurant industry. In turn, this is going to affect multiple industries. The entertainment industry, hospitality industry, and the realty industry will all be affected.
These are big-ticket industries that account for more than half of the worlds economic return and employment. Thus, these are not industries we can live without. From this, comes Fliptable. A revolutionary mobile app launching soon. Amidst the rebel, we will be your silver lining. Here to provide you quick and easy access to quality help fast. Lose a restaurant job due to COVID-19? Fliptable provides you quality matches for hiring managers looking for help and job-seekers looking for their perfect restaurant industry profession.
