Money Available for Some Bar & Restaurant Owners

The Ohio Department of Commerce is urging several sites in Muskingum and surrounding counties that have on-premises liquor permits to take advantage of an assistance fund.

The department said eligible businesses must apply for the Bar & Restaurant Assistance Fund by the January 31 deadline.

“Right now, about $10.6 million remains in the fund. We want nothing more than to get every dollar out to permit holders who need it,” said Sherry Maxfield, Director, Ohio Department of Commerce. “Because the funding is non-competitive, there is no lengthy application process. All we ask is permit holders visit businesshelp.ohio.gov, enter their liquor permit number and their federal tax identification associated with it. The intent was to keep the process as straight-forward and simple as possible.”

In late October, the DeWine administration announced that $38.7 million would be set aside in the Bar & Restaurant Fund to support permit holders that because of the pandemic were limited in full use of their permits. The program, funded by federal CARES Act dollars, was originally set to end Dec. 30, but the deadline was extended to Jan. 31.

Applications from permit holders who successfully logged in to businesshelp.ohio.gov and started the application before the deadline, but were unable to complete their application, will still be processed.