OAKLAND, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Following a successful inaugural program last year, the California Restaurant Foundation (CRF) is once again providing grants to independent restaurant owners and their staff through the Restaurant Resilience Fund. The PG&E Corporation Foundation is contributing $500,000 to the fund to support investment and recovery for California’s restaurant community, which is still reeling from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Restaurants Care Resilience Fund is accepting applications April 15-30, 2022. Grant recipients can use the money to upgrade equipment to mitigate deferred maintenance and to retain employees to address staffing issues. industry scale. Small restaurants continue to be impacted by debt and losses incurred over the past two years amid rising costs.
The grants are available to California resident restaurant owners with fewer than three units and less than $3 million in revenue. Funding from the PG&E Corporation Foundation will prioritize minority and women-owned businesses in PG&E’s northern and central California service area. Last year, 109 grants were awarded to independent restaurateurs in the company’s service area.
“The generous contribution from the PG&E Corporation Foundation will help independent restaurant owners in Northern and Central California invest in their people, equipment, and ultimately the long-term health and success of their businesses.” , said Alycia Harshfield, executive director of CRF.
“Kitchens and teams are what make restaurants work, and the Restaurant Resilience Fund helps owners pay their employees, keep their doors open and fuel our local economies. We are proud to once again support our hometown restaurants through this fund, and all of our small business customers as they continue to recover from the financial effects of the pandemic,” said Robert Kenney, Senior Vice President of PG&E Regulatory and External Affairs, and Chairman of the Board of the PG&E Corporation Foundation.
Helping small and medium-sized businesses
PG&E remains committed to providing its small and medium-sized business customers with ways to save energy and money in the face of economic hardships during the pandemic. Here are some ways PG&E helps customers:
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Automatically enroll qualified customers in PG&E’s COVID relief payment plan to help pay off balances over time, protecting them from disconnection.
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Reach out to business customers who would save money by choosing a better rate plan for their operations, in line with changing peak times for time-of-use rate plans.
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Provide COVID-19 relief and support information to all small business customers, including PG&E resources and external support for businesses like State of California programs.
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Increase awareness of small business customers with a focus on payment assistance and energy saving programs through email campaigns, PG&E Energy Advisors and direct mail.
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Conduct outreach to eligible customers to register at a discounted rate for businesses struggling to stay open.
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Offer rebates and financing solutions to help small businesses achieve sustainable savings.
For more information about PG&E Small and Medium Business customer support, visit pge.com/smbsupport.
For more information about the California Restaurant Foundation, Restaurants Care, or the Restaurant Resilience Fund, visit restaurantscare.org.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people over 70,000 square miles in northern and central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/.
