{"id":223147,"date":"2021-04-09T19:31:44","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T16:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/entertainment-venue-grant-program-crashes-on-first-day-due-to-technical-glitch\/"},"modified":"2021-04-09T19:31:44","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T16:31:44","slug":"entertainment-venue-grant-program-crashes-on-first-day-due-to-technical-glitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/entertainment-venue-grant-program-crashes-on-first-day-due-to-technical-glitch\/","title":{"rendered":"#Entertainment Venue Grant Program Crashes on First Day Due to Technical Glitch"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Entertainment Venue Grant Program Crashes on First Day Due to Technical Glitch<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

The government’s $16 billion relief fund for live music spaces and other cultural venues was set to begin taking app<\/a>lications on Thursday (April 8), but the Small Business Administration shut the system down after a glitch kept any applications from being processed, as The New York Times<\/em><\/a> reports. The setback for the Shuttered Venue Operator Grant, as the program is known\u2014part of the Save Our Stages Act\u2014left venue owners worried and upset.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an absolute disaster,\u201d the owner of Brooklyn club C\u2019mon Everybody, Eric Sosa, tweeted<\/a> at the Small Business Administration, which oversees the SVOG. An agency spokesperson told the Times<\/em>: \u201cTechnical issues arose despite multiple successful tests of the application process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The SBA ran into similar problems a year ago with the Paycheck Protection Program, which it also runs. As the Times<\/em> notes, the agency\u2019s systems crashed when that initiative started taking applications and when a second batch of funds came online. Venue owners expressed particular frustration because the SVOG application process is \u201cfirst-come, first-serve,\u201d meaning venues that apply sooner have higher odds of receiving relief before funds are exhausted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The program was already beset with difficulties before the first day for applications began. The previous night (April 7), the SBA published and then took down a 58-page guide for applicants, which was later posted in revised form only minutes before the applications portal went live on Thursday. An agency spokesperson, speaking to the Times<\/em>, cited \u201csome last-minute system changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The SBA\u2019s inspector general<\/a> issued an alert<\/a> on the morning that the portal was about to open, flagging \u201cserious concerns\u201d about the agency\u2019s ability to oversee the SVOG program. The current audit plan, according to the inspector general\u2019s report<\/a>, \u201cexposes billions of dollars to potential misuse of funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SVOG program was passed into law in December 2020, after months of campaigning led by the now-year-old National Independent Venue Association. In late February, lawmakers wrote to the SBA questioning the delay in providing funds to venues.<\/p>\n

Read Pitchfork\u2019s \u201c36 of the Best Live Music Venues on Surviving and What\u2019s Next.\u201d<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/twitter.com\/SBAgov\/status\/1380282229067251713<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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