Fifteen Quincy businesses receive federal COVID-19 restaurant relief funds totaling more than $1.5 million

Hotel Nauvoo receives $1.03 million in grant money

QUINCY — More than $1.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds has been given to 15 restaurants, bars and catering companies in Quincy during the last six months.

The businesses are among 101,000 across the United States receiving emergency assistance from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The U.S. Small Business Administration administered the program and opened applications on May 3 for businesses seeking funding.

Priority in the first 21 days was given to “small businesses owned by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.” However, theCounter.org reported litigation filed by conservative groups alleging discrimination against white men forced SBA to stop processing applications from priority groups.

The SBA closed the application portal on July 14 after funds ran out. The Arizona Republic reported the SBA received 278,304 applications for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund totaling more than $72.2 billion — far exceeding the allocated pool of $28.6 billion.

In Illinois, 4,542 businesses received $1,419,060,915. In Missouri, 1,200 businesses received $284,160,480.

The largest share of the grant money given to Quincy restaurants went to JJ’s Catering, 1400 N. 30th, which received nearly $300,000. Three other Quincy businesses — RPW7 LLC, which owns the Revelry at 121 N. Fourth; Thyme Square Cafe Inc. at 615 Hampshire; and Beacon of Light LLC, which owns Firehouse Subs at 3720 Broadway — received at least $200,000.

John A. Kraus Company, which owns the Hotel Nauvoo at 1290 Mulholland in Nauvoo, received $1,031,090, the largest grant of any restaurant in west-central Illinois or northeast Missouri.

Recipients must spend money by March 11, 2023

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which became law in March, established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The program provided restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business, providing no more than $5 million per physical location.

Funds can go toward food expenses, operational costs, supplies, payroll, rent and mortgage payments, utility payments, maintenance expenses, outdoor seating construction, supplier payments and debt. Recipients are not required to repay the funding as long as funds are used for eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023.

For businesses that were operational on or before January 1, 2019, grant amounts were determined by calculating gross receipts from 2019 minus 2020 gross receipts and Paycheck Protection Program loan amounts. Other methods were used to calculate grant amounts for businesses that started in 2019 or later. 

Quincy-area businesses that received RRF funds (scroll right for more information if you are reading this on a smartphone)