NEPA music and entertainment venues receive $10.7 million in COVID-19 relief funds
From a press release:
Last week, State Representative Matt Cartwright (D-Moosic) announced that 12 venues in Pennsylvania’s 8th District will receive a total of $10.7 million from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants program.
Cartwright voted to establish the program through the bipartisan COVID-19 relief package passed in December of 2020, then enhance it by helping pass the American Rescue Plan. The fund supports businesses in the music and entertainment industries that had to shut their doors due to the pandemic.
“We have a rich culture of arts and music here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but many of the businesses in those industries are hurting because of the pandemic,” he said.
“Establishing the fund specifically for venue businesses was a critical first step, and now businesses are starting to see that money hit their bank accounts. I’ve been working hard to ensure that the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants program gets people in the music and entertainment industry back in good-paying jobs so they can put food on the table and take part in our economic revitalization.”
In addition to the Small Venue Operators Grant program established through the COVID-19 relief package, Cartwright helped pass the American Rescue Plan in March of 2021 to secure an additional $16 billion for shuttered venues in order to keep businesses afloat and employees on the payroll.
The American Rescue Plan also 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.
The following businesses were awarded SVOG funding in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Lackawanna, Wayne, and Pike Counties, as well as most of Luzerne and Monroe Counties:
- Hoosier Daddy Entertainment – $51,216
- F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts – $1,624,537
- Encore Wilkes-Barre – $225,422
- Luzerne County Convention Center Authority – $6,550,459
- Cinema & Drafthouse, Inc. – $124,995
- Music Box Players – $94,673
- Broadway Theatre League of Scranton, Inc. – $663,867
- Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple – $679,385
- Mountain Sky, LLC – $17,352
- Ligend, Inc. – $298,758
- Joey Casella Productions, Inc. – $175,425
- Pocono Environment Education Center – $244,504
Photo by Rich Howells/NEPA Scene
