NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans said it has launched efforts to support music venues that include waiving City fees, providing small grants to support venues and individual musicians, and partnering with local nonprofits to help venues to apply to the SBA’s Shuttered Venue Operator Grants Program. For more information, including a listing of technical assistance providers, please visit nola.gov/musicrelief.
The City is also reminding businesses to take advantage of the Payroll Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, both of which are still taking applications.
“Our musicians and the music industry are the soul of our city and the backbone of our cultural economy,” said Jeffrey Schwartz, director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, in a press release. “As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the City is striving to support our musicians, music venues and culture bearers in the short term while laying the foundation to diversify our economic base over the long term. The City is actively working with our technical assistance partners to help our music-based and other businesses access Federal resources, such as the PPP and the Shuttered Venue grants, and also putting our own skin in the game to support our music venues by waiving ABO and Mayoralty Permit fees and providing grants to support compliance with health regulations. We’re doing everything we can to ensure that the cultural economy is leading the way in our recovery.”
