In a press release today from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s office, Jeffrey Schwartz, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, says the city is doing what it can to help out musicians and music venues. “Our musicians and the music industry are the soul of our city and the backbone of our cultural economy. As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the City is striving to support our musicians, music venues, and culture bearers in the short term while laying the foundation to diversify our economic base over the long term.”
Some of the ways in which it’s helping include waiving the mayoralty permit fee—a permit required for artists, vendors, and individuals to promote or conduct business for themselves in the city. The city is also waiving Alcohol Business Outlet (ABO) permits which are usually required for businesses to serve alcohol in the city.
According to Schwartz, “The City is actively working with our technical assistance partners to help our music-based and other businesses access Federal resources, such as the PPP and the Shuttered Venue grants, and also putting our own skin in the game to support our music venues by waiving ABO and Mayoralty Permit fees and providing grants to support compliance with health regulations.”
The small grants the city is providing are to help businesses be compliant with state and city reopening policies. The city is also partnering with local nonprofits, providing free-of-charge grant assistance to music venues to apply for the Shuttered Venue Operator Grants Program.
The press release also reminds people that the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) is still ongoing and that the deadline for application has been extended to May 31st, 2021. Along with that, there’s also the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, which is continuing to allow applications until December 31st, 2021.
Schwartz concludes the press release, saying, “We’re doing everything we can to ensure that the cultural economy is leading the way in our recovery.”
For the full press release click here.
