The Studio Theatre in Little Rock, AR
Jennifer Schlesinger | CNBC
After months of limbo and mounting money owed, the Studio Theatre in Little Rock, Arkansas, were given some welcome information from the Small Industry Management in early February. The small nonprofit theater has had its denial for support in the course of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program overturned.
The SVOG program is a $16 billion fund that was once created to maintain the reside leisure and humanities trade within the face of serious losses because of the pandemic. Whilst this system has helped many, additionally it is brought about an outcry from companies who imagine they have been eligible for support and wrongfully denied.
The Studio Theatre was once featured in a CNBC investigation in early January. The theater had shuttered in March 2020 because of the pandemic and didn’t absolutely reopen for a yr. It’s dealing with money owed amassed for hire, insurance coverage and extra. The theater mentioned it was once to start with denied a grant via the SBA in July 2021 as it does no longer pay its performers. However as a nonprofit, in line with the company’s personal tips, that do not have made the theater ineligible — some extent delivered to mild via CNBC’s reporting. Throughout a next overview, the Studio Theatre’s preliminary denial was once upheld in August 2021.
On Feb. 4, the theater was once instructed by the use of electronic mail it must put up an up to date finances to the SBA and was once notified by the use of the SBA’s SVOG portal that its enchantment was once licensed via the company, a lot to Treasurer Amanda Kennedy’s marvel. Now, the theater is simply ready on investment. It had projected being eligible for some $135,000 in grants, and between an preliminary and supplemental grant, this is about what she is anticipating to obtain.
“After a yr of this curler coaster, for it to occur, I used to be simply completely crushed. The dam burst. … After which there is the natural elation of the belief that that is coming to fruition after such a lot of hours of tears and toil,” Kennedy mentioned.
The theater were making an allowance for taking felony motion previous to this building, Kennedy mentioned.
Greater than two dozen complaints had been filed towards the company via companies who imagine they have been incorrectly denied support beneath SVOG. An individual acquainted with the federal grant procedure, who wasn’t licensed to talk with the clicking, mentioned that whilst grant programs are reviewed via folks adhering to standardized standards, particular person software reviewers might use quite a lot of thresholds or differing information interpretations all the way through software screening, programmatic or monetary overview processes. Each and every may just have an effect on the grant awarding segment which, in flip, may just result in fallacious denials. The SBA’s coverage isn’t to touch upon particular person programs or pending complaints.
Greater than 12,000 preliminary and supplemental grants had been funded, value greater than $13.6 billion. However greater than 4,500 candidates have been declined, in line with SBA information from December 2021.
The company instructed CNBC in December that it has invited greater than 5,000 candidates to enchantment SVOG decline choices, like Kennedy’s, and about 3,000 companies authorised. The SBA additionally invited round 2,000 grant recipients to have the volume in their investment awards reconsidered, and about 800 grantees have authorised that supply. Alternatively, the company did not specify what number of candidates had a previous determination upheld or what number of have been awarded further investment.