SAN FRANCISCO—Mayor London Breed announced that the Music and Entertainment Recovery Fund will be launched and that applications for the fund starts on Wednesday, April 21 at 5 p.m. According to the Mayor’s Office, “The fund was established to provide financial support to San Francisco-based live music and entertainment venues in order to prevent their permanent closure due to the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Grants that amount to at least $10,000 have been allocated to help the local music and entertainment venues, said the Mayor’s Office. This money, the authorities noted, can be used to help pay for the cost of utilities, mortgage, rent, payroll, insurance, and unsecured property taxes.
The San Francisco Music and Entertainment Venue Recovery Fund provided the following list of criteria for the grants on their website:
- Your business must have had a Place of Entertainment (POE) permit on February 25, 2020. You also must maintain that POE permit.
- The principal function of your business must be offering live entertainment, meaning that you have performance and audience spaces, sound system, and lighting system.
- You must show that your business hosts live entertainment regularly. Before February 25, 2020, your business must have provided live entertainment 16 or more days a month on average, or every day you were open to the public.
“The first round of grants will expend all $3 million in equal amounts to every venue eligible to receive funding. Grants will be at least $10,000 for each venue, although that amount will vary based on how many venues qualify for the program,” states the news release.
San Francisco Board of Supervisor Matt Haney said, “Our independent music and nightlife venues have been hit hard over the last year, and desperately need the support that this fund will provide. Nightlife and entertainment are cornerstones of our city’s economy and culture. As we reopen and recover, we need our city’s venues to not only survive but to be even stronger.”
The San Francisco News asked the Executive Director for the Office of Small Business, Regina Dick-Endrizzi, whether the first round of grants will be divided depending on the number of venues that apply for the grant. Dick-Endrizzi replied, “The grant amounts being awarded is not based on when an application is received.”
Dick-Endrizzi added that “The grants will not be issued until all applications received are reviewed and determined eligible or not. The Office of Small Business (OSB) will process applications in order of ‘Priority’ based on the number of additional criteria the Eligible Venue meets in Section III(D) of these Venue Fund Rules:”
-PRIORITY 1 = Eligible Venue + 5 of 5 additional criteria
-PRIORITY 2 = Eligible Venue + 4 of 5 additional criteria
-PRIORITY 3 = Eligible Venue + 3 of 5 additional criteria
-PRIORITY 4 = Eligible Venue + 2 of 5 additional criteria
-PRIORITY 5 = Eligible Venue.
According to Dick-Endrizzi, “All eligible grantees will be receiving equal grant amounts. We put a minimum of $10,000, because that we could guarantee. The plan is exhaust $3,000,000 in this round. Any additional rounds will be dependent on additional funding.” OSB will be processing payments in this order:
-PRIORITY 1 = Eligible Venue + 5 of 5 additional criteria
-PRIORITY 2 = Eligible Venue + 4 of 5 additional criteria
-PRIORITY 3 = Eligible Venue + 3 of 5 additional criteria
-PRIORITY 4 = Eligible Venue + 2 of 5 additional criteria
-PRIORITY 5 = Eligible Venue.
Dick-Endrizzi recommended for those interested to go to the pre-application page, https://sf.gov/apply-live-music-and-entertainment-venue-grant, to prepare for when the application becomes available on April 21 at 5 p.m.
Dick-Endrizzi noted the deadline is May 5 at 11:59 p.m. Those interested in learning more about the program can find more information at sfosb.org/venuefund.
