A $10,000 grant opportunity for struggling San Mateo County restaurants, bars and wineries launched last week with $1 million set aside for specific south county communities — but North Fair Oaks merchants have been greatly underrepresented in the application process.
The Restaurant, Brewery and Winery Relief Program is a nearly $2.3 million joint effort by the county and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to provide assistance to brick-and-mortar food and beverage merchants.
But efforts to prioritize communities hardest hit by the pandemic, particularly in North Fair Oaks, have fallen short. More than a week since the program’s launch date, only three of the 652 grant applications submitted so far are from North Fair Oaks businesses with the application deadline of March 8 quickly approaching.
“North Fair Oaks is an area we’re specifically looking at,” said Myles Tucker, a management analyst with the county during a Feb. 25 North Fair Oaks Community Council Meeting. “There’s more grants that are available than three for North Fair Oaks.”
Don Cecil, public and government affairs consultant with the San Mateo County Economic Development Association, said fewer application submissions from North Fair Oaks may be due to digital hurdles and time constraints.
The application process has been simplified by requiring fewer documents but applicants will need access to a computer or smartphone, said Cecil.
“It’s new and people are stretched thin,” said Cecil, noting the application can be completed at any time before noon Monday, March 8.
Councilman Everardo Rodriguez said he noticed residents showing strong interest in the program following his own social media postings. But through conversations with business owners, he theorized merchants were discouraged from applying for new opportunities after having been denied when seeking assistance through other state and federal programs.
Rodriguez said some eligible merchants may also be misinformed on the type of assistance being offered through the program and concerned they’d have to repay funds received. Grants offered through the program are not loans and will not need to be repaid, affirmed staff.
“A lot of it is the result of people not getting anything at the beginning,” said Rodriguez. “They saw that time as wasted and perhaps they … don’t want to waste more time.”
Councilman Blair Whitney recommended the county set up a drop-in center at the North Fair Oaks library branch where interested applicants could access assistance.
Cecil encouraged the council to assist in spreading information about the program opportunity. The county has already sought support from various ethnic media sources and community groups with distributing program information in Spanish, Chinese and Tagalog, he said.
Emma Gonzalez, director of the San Mateo County Office of Community Affairs, told the council the department quickly mobilized to distribute information online through email, text and social media blasts. The office also did door-to-door canvassing, she said.
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“Immediately, we got information out as quickly as we could,” said Gonzalez. “It’s all here in English and Spanish but more importantly it was an in-person conversation that took place with each of our North Fair Oaks businesses.”
The Board of Supervisors matched a $1 million donation from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to provide $10,000 grants to struggling brick-and-mortar restaurants, breweries and wineries. Through county action, the San Mateo Credit Union will manage the Restaurant, Brewery and Winery Relief Program.
With additional contributions from the San Mateo Credit Union and Silicon Valley community foundations, the more than $2.3 million program will provide grants to San Mateo County merchants in operation as of March 11, 2020.
Once the application portal closes at noon March 8, eligible establishments will be placed in a pool with other nearby merchants for grantees to be selected at random.
CZI has required its contribution be allocated to merchants in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City, Palo Alto, unincorporated Menlo Park and unincorporated North Fair Oaks. County funds will provide grants to merchants outside those areas.
Pop-ups, food trucks, home-based businesses and catering companies don’t qualify for the program. Neither do establishments that have received more than $200,000 from the Great Plates Program, assistance through the Small Business Relief Program managed by the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center or a San Mateo County Strong Fund Small Business grant in the fall.
After being selected, merchants will have to provide the San Mateo Credit Union an Environmental Health permit, a copy of their W-9, a business license if applicable and some form of identification and business ownership. U.S. citizenship is not required to qualify for the grant.
Concerns for food truck operators in North Fair Oaks, Councilwoman Beatriz Cerrillo questioned whether a path could be made for food truck operators to qualify for the program.
While the county focused on brick-and-mortar locations, Cecil said there may be additional opportunities for other businesses once additional funds can be raised.
“We hope to have more funding,” said Cecil. “Because what we know for sure is we’ll have more applications when the portal closes on March 8 from North Fair Oaks and every other community in the county than who we have money for.”
Visit smcstrong.org/restaurantrelief for more information on how to apply
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106
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