Information provided by PG&E
PG&E Corporation Foundation announced it is contributing $500,000 to the California Restaurant Foundation (CRF). PG&E said this foundation funds independent restaurant owners and their employees through the Restaurants Care Resilience Fund to support investment in and recovery of California’s restaurant community, which is still reeling from economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Small restaurants in PG&E’s service area can apply for $3,000 grants.
The Restaurants Care Resilience Fund is accepting applications from April 15-30. Grant recipients can use the money for equipment upgrades to alleviate deferred maintenance and for employee retention to help with industry-wide staffing challenges.
“Small restaurants continue to be impacted by the last two years of debt and losses incurred amid rising costs,” the release said.
Grants are available to California resident restaurant owners with fewer than three units and less than $3 million in revenue. The release said PG&E Corporation Foundation funding will prioritize minority- and women-owned businesses in PG&E’s service area in Northern and Central California. It added last year, 109 grants were awarded to independent restaurant owners in the company’s service area.
“The PG&E Corporation Foundation’s generous contribution will help independent restaurant owners across Northern and Central California invest in their people, their equipment and ultimately, the long-term health and success of their businesses,” said Alycia Harshfield, Executive Director of CRF.
“Kitchens and crews are what keep restaurants running, and the Restaurants Care Resilience Fund is helping owners pay their workers, keep their doors open and fuel our local economies. We’re proud to again support our hometown restaurants through this fund, and all of our small business customers as they continue to recover from the financial effects of the pandemic,” said Robert Kenney, PG&E Senior Vice President of Regulatory and External Affairs, and chair of the PG&E Corporation Foundation board.
PG&E said it is also helping its customers by:
- Automatically enrolling qualified customers in PG&E’s COVID Relief Payment Plan to help pay down balances over time, protecting from disconnection.
- Contacting business customers who would save money by choosing a better rate plan for their operations, in line with changing peak hours for time-of-use rate plans.
- Providing COVID-19 relief and support information to all small business customers, including PG&E resources and external support for businesses like California state programs.
- Increasing outreach to small business customers highlighting payment support and energy-savings programs through email campaigns, PG&E’s Energy Advisors, and direct mail.
- Conducting outreach to eligible customers to enroll in a discounted rate for businesses struggling to stay open.
- Offering rebate and financing solutions to help small business customers realize sustained cost savings.
For more information on PG&E Small and Medium Business customer support visit pge.com/smbsupport.
For more information on the California Restaurant Foundation, Restaurants Care, or the Restaurant Resilience Fund, visit restaurantscare.org.