NJRHA Seeks federal funding for restaurant, hospitality industry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                               Contact: Dana Lancellotti, NJRHA President & CEO
August 9, 2022                                                                                                                                                     dlancellotti@njrha.org

NJRHA seeks federal funding for restaurant, hospitality industry
Participates in Murphy Administration’s hearings on American Rescue Plan State Fiscal Recovery Funds

TRENTON, NJ – The New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association (NJRHA) renewed its request to the Murphy Administration to utilize a portion of the State’s $6.24 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to support restaurants and hotels impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

NJRHA President Dana Lancellotti made the request through testimony submitted to Administration officials last week as part of their latest hearings on how to utilize American Rescue Plan State Fiscal Recovery Funds.

“The New Jersey restaurant and hospitality industry was and continues to be among the most impacted by Covid-19,” Lancellotti said. “The financial impact of the initial shutdown and guest capacity limits continues to be felt by restaurants. The slow return of leisure travel coupled with an even slower return of business travel continues to hurt our hotels.”

NJRHA first called on the Murphy Administration during hearings held shortly after the State received the federal funds.

“Our industry was uniquely impacted by the pandemic,” Lancellotti said. “Hospitality is an in-person business – we cannot work remotely like other industries. That made it tough when our industry saw a sharp decline in patrons.”

Restaurants were eligible for assistance through the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund. However, the fund quickly ran out of money, leaving 4,706 of the 7,792 New Jersey applicants without much-needed financial assistance.

Hotels were never offered the same type of industry-specific funding from the federal or state governments.

“The NJRHA seeks additional funding for the hospitality industry to effectively and immediately assist businesses facing revenue loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Lancellotti said. “This funding will assist our small businesses and the New Jersey families who own and operate them.”

To learn more about the NJRHA, visit www.njrha.org

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