Restaurant owners can get help from industry and business experts through ARPA funding. Here's how

For restaurant owners in Oklahoma City, an opportunity to pair individualized help from industry experts, customized business advice, planning and more is being offered up by a local nonprofit helping the city make use of American Rescue Plan Act funding.

In Oklahoma City, the Alliance for Economic Development has long been a champion of local businesses, helping the city to manage various public incentives and connect business owners with programs to maximize benefits available to them. The alliance also places a focus on connecting minority business owners to funding to bridge gaps for those historically left out of those conversations.

With the deadline to obligate ARPA funding looming — projects must be earmarked by Dec. 31, 2024 — cities, counties and states are now working overtime, often with the help of nonprofits, to ensure that funds reach those who qualify for them.

So, when the city received over $100 million in ARPA funding, it once again turned to the alliance for assistance with managing the process.

"The alliance entered into contract to manage a portion of the city's ARPA allocation. Total, it's about $20 million of the $122 million, just a portion of it," said Joseph Laws, program manager for the Alliance. "They gave us the charge to support small businesses and do some workforce development programming."

ARPA funding is currently available for Oklahoma City food businesses

Three years into distributing ARPA funds, the alliance has seen success in aiding small businesses across industries with different needs.

However with funding still available and after examining current business challenges and the state of the economy, the alliance has created two programs specifically geared toward food businesses.

"It's become a lot tougher for restaurants to operate and we've always noticed it's been a tough industry to operate in just historically with low profit margins, things like that," Laws said. "So we decided to use some of the funds that we had set aside in 2022 to fund some programming to help specifically restaurants."

The Real Deal is a six-month executive growth program that the alliance has created a specialty food and beverage tract for as an offshoot of an already established initiative. This option is specifically designed for brick-and-mortar operations, including restaurants, breweries, coffee shops, bars and other establishments where food and beverages are consumed on-site.

The program will give business owners access to a network of experts and resources to help them maximize their businesses potential, troubleshoot issues and develop long term plans. The cost of the program is being underwritten using ARPA funds, and participants who complete the program will be eligible for grants up to $15,000.

"They meet with different business experts, and they go through different trainings. They create a playbook and so it helps them look at their plan and try to strategize and see where there's gaps, where they're having challenges, and then they try to come up with strategies to address those challenges," said Daisy Muñoz, project manager with the Alliance.

The second program, The OKC Food Truck Business Accelerator, is a 10-week hands-on opportunity catered to food trucks and carts. Those selected to take part in the program will receive training and tailored support for their business needs from Synergy Restaurant Consultants while also building a network amongst fellow like-minded business owners. Participants who complete the program can apply for grant funding of up to $8,000.

After completing either of the programs and receiving a grant, Muñoz said that, while the funding uses are somewhat restricted because of it being federal funding, businesses have both flexibility and support in determining the best way to utilize the money.

"They can do any operating costs like rent, mortgage, utility bills, licenses, insurances — anything that's like reoccurring costs — the grant can cover payroll, benefits, and then any consulting that you need like marketing, accounting, legal," Muñoz said. "We really just try to set them up for success when they receive these grants."

How can businesses qualify for the alliance's ARPA programs?

Applications for the OKC Food Truck Business Accelerator and Real Deal programs are open now and limited to 20 participants each on a first-come, first-served basis, with application deadlines set for July 14 and 15.

To qualify, businesses must be located in Oklahoma City, have been in operation prior to March 2021 and meet one of the following criteria:

• be 51% or more minority owned
• be located in a Qualified Census Tract (majority low-income)
• or be able to demonstrate financial impact from COVID.

Business owners interested in learning more about the programs or applying can go online to www.theallianceokc.org.

Laws encourages all those who are qualified to submit their applications for an opportunity to be a part of the programs while the ARPA funding is available.

"Eventually, in a couple of years there won't be these programs," Laws said. "We're trying to make a meaningful intervention while we have these funds, right now."

Other local restaurants have seen success with alliance programs

The alliance's programs have a track record of success, having benefitted several well-known OKC restaurants before the launch of these latest initiatives.

The Real Deal helped food businesses even before it launched a specific cohort for those owners, aiding businesses like Madhopper Brewing, 923 W Britton Road, and Zero Tolerance Coffee, 919 W Britton Road, among others.

Café Kacao, 3325 N Classen Blvd., and Geronimo's Bakery & Burgers, 1817 N Martin Luther King Ave., both took part in the organization's Storefront Improvement Program, which helped business owners to revitalize the outsides of their buildings and signage.

"If you go [to Geronimo's Bakery] today it looks a lot different than a couple years ago, so we were able to help him redo his whole facade. It has a sign that clearly identifies that he does burgers and not just baked goods," Laws said. "It's totally new outside. New windows, new doors, everything."

Betty’s, 3604 N May Ave., participated in the alliance's Oklahoma Minority Founders Association program, another ARPA-funded initiative. Additional ARPA initiatives like the StitchCrew program have been beneficial to the growth of businesses like the Drunk Goat food truck, Tizo's Pops & Ice Cream, 5125 S Western Ave. and QueBella Bakery, 617 W Sheridan Ave.

Jabee Williams, owner of Eastside Pizza, 1734 NE 23, participated in one of the programs offered by the alliance, as well.

"The reason why we did it was because we needed strategic planning for Eastside because we went through such a rough time and we just needed some energy, new ideas and things we could do different," Williams said. "We met several times, we got a good strategic plan and we built a timeline on how we wanted to do it, and where we wanted to start, and things we wanted to see. We were able to implement some of those things, and we had a good outcome from it."

Williams said other entrepreneurs and small business owners should take the time to look into the alliance's programs and fill out the applications.

"You could always use help. The person who knows everything, they don't know everything," Williams said. "For us, it was just an opportunity to get help. We knew we needed it, and we were able to come out with some great ideas. But I would just say, it's always good to get assistance, to get help if somebody's offering it, because it's hard for small businesses out here."