Diageo North America is founding contributor to the ‘Raising the NYS Bar’ Restaurant Recovery Fund

The restaurant industry has been among the hardest hit during the COVID-19 crisis. Restaurants in New York State have had to significantly adapt their businesses to keep their employees and customers as safe as possible under the current environment. Many of these changes require considerable financial investment, further straining small businesses. Diageo is committed to supporting restaurant owners, particularly those in underrepresented communities, who have been disproportionately harmed by COVID-19.

To help these restaurants adjust to COVID-19 requirements during the winter months when outdoor dining is limited, Diageo North America is working with Empire State Development (New York’s chief economic development agency) and has provided financial support, along with Coastal Pacific Wine & Spirits (a division of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits), to the non-profit National Development Council (NDC), which will implement the “Raising the NYS Bar” Restaurant Recovery Fund. Diageo’s vision is that this fund will provide much-needed relief to such an important industry that serves as a vital part of the economic engine of local communities.

Grant funding will be dispersed independently, by NDC, an experienced national economic non-profit that has been in operation since 1969.

“Raising the NYS Bar” grant funding can be used for COVID-19-related improvements and equipment that will allow businesses to comply with social distancing guidelines, expand take-out/delivery operations, or accommodate outdoor dining such as plexiglass barriers/partitions, signage promoting social distancing and hygiene protocols, heaters, heat lamps, weatherization upgrades and insulated delivery bags; improvements that will allow the business to continue operating through the winter months such as filtration system upgrades and food heaters to maintain temperature for to-go orders, and purchasing PPE and sanitation supplies necessitated by the pandemic; and COVID-19-related business improvements like patio heaters or contactless technology.

Eligible businesses can apply to the “Raising the NYS Bar” Restaurant Recovery Fund beginning Monday, January 11^th, 2021. To learn more about the fund and the application process, visit https://esd.ny.gov/raising-nys-bar-restaurant-recovery-fund