Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | July 26, 2021 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F V E R BAT I M Home displacement "If you're not worried about displacement right now in a lot of these communities and these neighborhoods [of color], you should be." Gov. Charlie Baker, on July 19 advocating for his pursuit of $300 million in federal relief he aims to use to expand downtown payment assistance for prospective homeowners Tenure tracks "I hope we can be a model for other universities in truly valuing the important contributions of teaching faculty." Worcester Polytechnic Institute President Laurie Leshin, announcing on July 15 the school had created pathways for teaching faculty to obtain tenure, which has typically gone to research faculty Filling an incubator "When we took it on, we thought it would take us three years to fill it. We're about 95% full after 10 months." Jon Weaver, president and CEO of Worcester incubator Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, on July 20 about the doubling of its capacity last year with the opening of a Briden Street facility B efore the program closed earlier in July, 306 Central Massachusetts businesses received more than $65.6 million in coronavirus federal aid from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, according to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Massachusetts was approved for $993 million of the fund in total, divided among over 2,500 businesses, which was the sixth highest sum in the country, according to the SBA data. In Central Massachusetts, the largest grant was $2.5 million, and went to Namee Enterprises, Inc. in Natick, which owns Japanese chain Minado Restaurant. Other top-funded businesses, which all received more than $1 million, include Princeton wedding venue Harrington Farm, Worcester restaurant Sole Proprietor, and the Acton corporation owning the Paper Store. Worcester's nearly $13 million topped the chart for the Central Massachusetts community with the most funding, followed by Natick and Marlborough, both around $4.6 million. e Massachusetts chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business said 41% of Massachusetts business owners applied for an RRF grant and 56% of those who applied received funds. Businesses are not required to repay the funding, but must spend it before Central Mass. restaurants approved for $65.6M in COVID relief BY KATHERINE HAMILTON Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer March 2023, according to the SBA. e fund was established as part of the American Rescue Plan Act in March to provide emergency assistance for restaurants, bars, breweries, and inns impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. e Small Business Association decided funding amounts based upon each business's pandemic- related revenue loss up to $10 million. Before the program closed, RRF doled out $70 billion nationwide to restaurants. e SBA included three priority groups for deciding on funding: businesses owned by women, veterans, or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Of the Central Massachusetts businesses receiving funding: 141 are woman-owned, 17 are veteran- owned, and 91 are socio-economically disadvantaged. None of the top five Central Mass. businesses with the most funding fell into these priority groups, except for Hopduvel Enterprises Inc. in Worcester, which is considered to be socio-economically disadvantaged. Hopduvel Enterprises runs the downtown restaurant Armsby Abbey. The top 20 Restaurant Revitalization Fund awardees in Central Mass. Business name Restaurant City Grant amount Namee Enterprise Inc. Minado Restaurant Natick $2,676,248.00 Harrington Farm Inc. Harrington Farm venue Princeton $1,973,613.04 Sole Proprietor Inc. Sole Proprietor Worcester $1,328,622.00 GHCC DT-Crossing Store LLC Paper Store Acton $1,161,531.00 Hopduvel Enterprises Inc. Armsby Abbey Worcester $1,038,632.00 Manlo Entreprises Inc. Mario's Showplace Webster $1,030,488.00 Galliford's Restaurant & Tavern LLC. Galliford's Restaurant & Tavern Mendon $946,361.96 KBB ENTERPRISES LLC Imperial Buffet Shrewsbury $928,343.00 3 Common Inc. Bull Run Restaurant Shirley $858,210.00 Fish Restaurant & Wine Bar Inc. Fish Restaurant & Wine Bar Marlborough $855,108.00 STATION HOUSE RESTAURANT LLC Groton Station House Restaurant Groton $832,653.52 The Villa Inc. The Villa Restaurant Wayland $784,398.29 Wildwood Inc. Wildwood Steakhouse Marlborough $743,778.97 Great Road Hospitality Limited Partnership Great Road Kitchen Littleton $722,749.00 29 culinary llc Nan's Rustic Kitchen + Market Stow $717,900.33 DIMAS Inc. Dolphin Seafood Natick $704,449.00 Standon Restaurant Group LLC Oak Barrel Tavern Medway $675,528.00 5 Star Restaurant Group Inc. Samba Steak & Sushi Framingham $673,324.50 Moon Hill Brewing Co. Gardner Ale House Gardner $660,094.00 MaddisWorcester LLC Maddi's Cookery & TapHouse Worcester $655,985.56 Source: U.S. Small Business Administration W

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