Governor Evers Announces We're All In Grants for Restaurants

Friday, December 4th, 2020 -- 11:03 AM

-Gov. Tony Evers announced with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) that restaurants and other targeted small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will receive $45 million in assistance, bringing the total assistance distributed to Wisconsin businesses this year to more than $220 million.

The program, We’re All In For Restaurants, is aimed at businesses throughout Wisconsin that, as gathering places, have been challenged from the beginning of the pandemic, and are incredibly important employers and community members.  The program will be administered by the Department of Revenue (DOR) in collaboration with WEDC. Unlike previous We’re All In grants, businesses will not have to apply for the grants, but will be identified and contacted directly by the DOR based on the businesses’ state tax records.  According to preliminary DOR estimates, restaurants will account for roughly 95 percent of the approximately 2,000 businesses to receive the funds. The program will target businesses with annual revenues of more than $1 million and less than $7 million.

Previous state grant programs have focused on businesses with annual revenues of less than $1 million.  This is the third phase of the We’re All In grant program from WEDC aimed at helping businesses weather the economic storm created by the pandemic. The first phase provided more than $65 million in grants to more than 26,000 businesses statewide, while the second phase is currently disbursing more than $120 million to more than 24,000 small businesses statewide.  Funding for We’re All In programs comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which expires on Dec. 31. Additional federal funds for small businesses have not yet been approved.

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