COVID-19 Resources PageJoin the Arts Action Fund
April 20, 2021
Dear Arts Action Fund Members,
Following the launch and same-day shutdown of the Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Application Portal on April 8, 2021, newly confirmed SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman stated in a zoom town hall meeting that the SBA plans to re-open the SVOG portal by the end of this week. This projected goal was also underscored by White House COVID Relief Implementation Leader Gene Sperling. SBA pledged to provide advance notice of the re-opening, along with an updated Application User Guide and FAQs that will hopefully correct both the technical and content problems with the original application portal.
In an effort to place further pressure on the SBA to re-launch the SVOG application portal as quickly and fairly as possible, 164 Members of Congress issued a letter to SBA expressing their concern and oversight. Specifically, Congressional leaders urged the SBA to provide SVOG applicants with an opportunity to correct any information on the application before it is rejected.
On April 8, 2021, Americans for the Arts, the Arts Action Fund and Arts North Carolina jointly submitted a list of SVOG application portal, user guide, and FAQ problems to the SBA immediately upon the site going live on April 8th. We continue to stay in contact with SBA and Members of Congress on behalf of our members. Please note: the current SVOG FAQs dated April 8, 2021 has some incorrect information that SBA will be updating this week, especially Question 68 on page 26. The law clearly states that the SVOG Award Amounts will be 45% of earned revenue, not gross revenue.
Please continue to check the SVOG website for up-to-the-minute updates. SBA also releases news through their Twitter feed @SBAgov.
I will continue to provide analysis and feedback through email and my weekly Zoom Office Hours on Fridays at 11:00am ET.
Stay tuned and stay safe.
Nina Ozlu Tunceli
Executive Director
To read an archive of Arts Action Fund federal updates, visit COVID-19 Arts Federal Policy Updates & Action Alerts.
