The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a new milestone July 27 of awarding over $7.5 billion in shuttered venue operators grants (SVOGs) to more than 10,000 hard-hit live entertainment small businesses, nonprofits and venues.
The SVOG program assists the nation’s cultural institutions, which were the first businesses to shutter during the COVID-19 pandemic, to get back on track.
The SBA states in a July 27 press release that more work needs happen to help businesses recover, but it is processing SVOG loans as quickly as possible. In approximately seven weeks, the SBA went from awarding just over 100 SVOGs on June 10 to more than 10,000 to date.