TMO Asks SBA to Accelerate Opening the Application Window for the SBA’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant
On February 25th, TMO Director Brendon Anthony wrote the U.S. Small Business Administration's Acting Administrator Tami Perriello asking the SBA to accelerate opening the application window for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. "On behalf of the Texas Music Office and its constituents from all across the state, please take the necessary steps to open applications for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant so that the Texas music industry – and the thousands of individuals employed by the state’s small venues – may live to see another day, as the permanent closure of these venues would be immeasurable to our state’s economy and culture," Anthony wrote.
View the letter to the SBA
Read The Letter's Text:
February 25, 2021
Tami Perriello, Acting Administrator
U.S. Small Business Administration
409 3rd St SW
Washington, DC 20416
Dear Acting Secretary Perriello:Thank you for all that you do in service of the SBA, on behalf of the American people. And thank you for your organization’s steadfast work assisting small businesses across the state of Texas, and beyond, during the pandemic. At the TMO, we hear firsthand from our constituents that the daily work of the regional SBA offices has provided an invaluable lifeline of resources and information, supporting the livelihoods of countless hardworking Texans.
As Director of the Texas Music Office (TMO), a division of the Office of the Governor’s Economic Development & Tourism Division, my team and I represent the more than 210,000 constituents and their permanent jobs within the Texas music industry. We implore you to accelerate opening the application window for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Shuttered Venue Operators Grant in order to help provide a bridge to saving one of the first industries impacted by Covid-19 mitigation, and ultimately one of the last industries that will be able to fully re-open.As of February 2020, combined, the music industry and music education in Texas directly accounted for $4.4 billion in annual earnings, and just over $10.8 billion in annual economic activity. The ripple effects associated with the direct injection related to music business and music education in Texas bring the total impact to $8.8 billion in earnings and $27.3 billion in annual economic activity.
Although most music fans around the world are familiar with our state’s largest music brands like Austin City Limits Festival and the SXSW Music Conference, it’s the small venues and historic dancehalls where Texas musicians cut their teeth which are currently impacted by closure. These hallowed venues are the testing grounds for our chart-topping artists like Beyoncé, Selena, Willie Nelson, George Strait, Travis Scott, and so many more.
As each week passes, we lose more and more small music venues to permanent closure. The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant will be a crucial stopgap to helping our state’s music industry survive, providing the state’s music venues a bridge to help them weather this catastrophic event.On behalf of the Texas Music Office and its constituents from all across the state, please take the necessary steps to open applications for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant so that the Texas music industry – and the thousands of individuals employed by the state’s small venues – may live to see another day, as the permanent closure of these venues would be immeasurable to our state’s economy and culture.
Sincerely,
Brendon Anthony
Director, Texas Music Office
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711