NCR Teams With SBA To Help Restaurant Industry Tap Grants

Software and professional services company NCR is partnering with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to help its customers in the hospitality industry apply for Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grants.

“Restaurants have been scrambling to survive the downturn caused by the pandemic,” Dirk Izzo, president and general manager, NCR Hospitality, said in a press release on Monday (April 26). “We are committed and honored to do our part to facilitate access to much-needed financial support for our customers so they can keep their business running.”

As a way to help the restaurant industry bounce back, the American Rescue Plan set aside $28.6 billion for the RRF at the SBA. The SBA will oversee the administration of the funds to the smaller, hardest-hit restaurants.

Through its partnership with SBA, NCR will make it easier for its clients to apply for grants using the SBA portal by coordinating financial information for its customers currently using Silver Back Office or Aloha Insight business analytics. NCR is also working with SBA to offer its clients information about how to apply for RRF grants.

SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said that the agency is striving to collaborate in order to best help U.S. restaurants struggling to hang on following the pandemic’s economic grip.

Guzman added that working with NCR is just another step in helping restaurants “get the relief and support they need” in order to navigate the new post-pandemic environment.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, NCR has a global workforce topping 36,000 and works to drive front-end digital transformations to help power restaurant operations. It works with over 100,000 independent restaurants, domestic chains, and global brands. 

Restaurant point-of-sale (POS) platform Toast also teamed with the SBA this month in order to help its customers streamline the RRF grant application process. Initial grants will be earmarked for restaurants that are 51 percent owned and operated by women, veterans or disadvantaged individuals.

The RRF SBA funds are also getting a leg-up in distribution from a variety of restaurant POS providers who have pledged to assist their customers with the application process. The goal is to leverage technology as a way to help smaller eateries apply for the funds.