Millions in COVID-19 Relief Dollars Approved for Local Venues

(Washington D.C.) –Congressman Bennie Thompson announced that venues in Mississippi's 2^nd Congressional district will receive approximately $2.3 million in Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) funds. Congressman Thompson voted to establish the program, which provides support to hard-hit businesses in the music and entertainment sector that were forced to shut their doors due to pandemic restrictions.

The SVOG program was initially plagued by technical challenges, which have since greatly improved. On the day the application portal opened, Congressman Thompson took swift action to address the challenges businesses were experiencing and joined over 200 bipartisan Members of Congress in calling for the Small Business Administration to expedite the release of funds.

The Small Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program was established through the bipartisan COVID-19 relief package passed in December 2020. The American Rescue Plan instituted a fix to ensure shuttered venues that received Paycheck Protection Program loans after Dec. 27, 2020 can also receive a Small Venue Operators grant, as long as the grant is reduced by the amount of PPP funds provided. Applying for both grant programs was previously prohibited.