The city of New Orleans wants to remind local businesses, venues, and musicians that it will continue to support them through the pandemic. Including waiving 2021 ABO and Mayoralty Permit fees and providing small grants to support venues and individual musicians, the city is partnering with local non-profits to provide free assistance for music venues look to apply to the SBA's Shuttered Venue Operator Grants Program.
Other programs that are still available include the Payroll Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans for payroll and other eligible uses and is due by May 31, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL), which will help businesses to increase their loan amounts and is due by December 31. The Parklet Pilot Program and the Temporary Sidewalk Café Permit are other resources that are helping restaurants and bars provide safe dining while indoor sitting limits are reduced due to COVID-19 restrictions. Through these, permit application fees and meter rental fees have been waived until June 30, 2021.
Jeffrey Schwartz, director of the Mayor's Office of Economic Development, made a profound statement concerning the relief efforts, saying, "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. The city is actively working with our technical assistance partners to help our music-based and other businesses access federal resources."
For more information regarding these relief programs or more info from the Mayor's Office of Economic Development, please visit nola.gov/musicrelief.
