219 Massachusetts Restaurants Receive Money from the State’s COVID-19 Fund

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced at his January 28 press briefing that the state’s COVID-19 relief fund just awarded $45 million in grant money to an additional 1,100 small businesses across the state. Baker said that a third of the businesses receiving money in this funding round have not received any other form of aid throughout the pandemic.

Of those 1,100 grants, 219 went to restaurants and bars.

“In today’s round, funding includes a daycare in the Berkshires, a coffee shop in Provincetown, restaurants in Worcester and New Bedford, and a pet groomer not too far from here [in Plymouth],” said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. “When you think about these places, before the pandemic hit they were places that we just took for granted would be there ... We’d hit our favorite restaurant, we’d shop locally. And we just want to make sure that all those favorite places that we enjoy, the familiar faces that we see, are still there when we see COVID-19 exit the Commonwealth.”

The grant program, which is funded to the tune of $720 million, has awarded $280 million in COVID-19 relief aid to more than 5,800 businesses to this point.

“We obviously have a long way to go and a lot of opportunity to support small businesses as they continue to work their way through this second surge,” said Baker.

• Massachusetts Announces $668 Million in Relief for Small Businesses, Including Restaurants [EBOS]