A few venues are finally getting SBA SVOG grants but problems remain

A few independent music venues have finally begun receiving SBA SVOG grant approvals, but many other applicants continue to report significant problems.

More than 5 months after the Shuttered Venue Operator Grants (SVOG) were signed into law, a trickle of venues have been notified of their approval.

On Monday, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) reported that several members including the Palace Theater in Albany, NY have begun to receive approval notices from the Small Business Administration.

For Agents: no funding and new hurdles

But an informal Hypebot survey of independent agents and managers also eligible for SVOG funding could not find a single applicant that had moved past the “Final Review” stage.

In fact, most were still only classified as “Submitted.”

A significant number of applicants reported getting confusing emails from the SBA that “the IRS 4506-T that you provided in your application cannot be processed as submitted” despite no such action being called for in the SBA online portal used to track each application.

Other applicants have received notice that “Your application is in ‘hold’ status because your entity/name appears on the Dept. of Treasury’s Do Not Pay List,” even though they do not now or had never appeared on the Treasury or any other government “Do Not Pay” list.