Keeping Local Restaurants Cooking: 77 Restaurants to Receive $5,000 Resilience Grants

The PG&E Corporation Foundation Supporting Small Restaurants for Third Consecutive Year

By Tracy Correa Lopez

Locally-owned Northern and Central California restaurants will receive a financial boost from the California Restaurant Foundation (CRF) and The PG&E Corporation Foundation (PG&E Foundation) through grants to invest in equipment upgrades, workforce training and more — all intended to help increase their longevity and business success.  

The PG&E Foundation’s $900,000 charitable contribution to CRF this year will fund $5,000 grants to 77 hometown restaurants in 23 counties in Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) service area, as well as operating support for CRF. The funding will also support a second round of grants to be announced in the fall.

The Foundation’s contribution to CRF’s Restaurants Care Resilience Fund current grant cycle will help grantees pay for equipment and technology upgrades, unforeseen hardship, employee retention bonuses and training to help restaurant owners invest in their business and people. Grants were made available to California resident restaurant owners with fewer than five units and less than $3 million in revenue, and prioritized minority- and women-owned businesses.

"With the generosity of The PG&E Corporation Foundation, the Resilience Fund helped California's independent restaurant community for a third consecutive year," said Alycia Harshfield, Executive Director of CRF. “It's apparent that there is still a significant need for restaurant assistance, as we received 25 percent more applications this year than last. While these grants will allow local restaurant owners to build more resilient businesses, we also hope to inspire Californians to support their vibrant local restaurant community in any way they can, whether that's through dining, sharing on social media or spreading the word to friends and family."

In 2021 and 2022, PG&E and PG&E Foundation’s charitable contribution totaled $1.4 million and supported 367 restaurants with grants. With this year’s contribution, the combined total is now $2.3 million supporting a total of 444 restaurants, with an additional grant period still to come in the fall. You can watch videos of past grant winners in PG&E’s service area here.

“Our hometown restaurants are the hearts and souls of our communities, and many are family-owned or operated by local residents with deep roots in the neighborhoods they serve. We’re grateful for the California Restaurant Foundation’s partnership and leadership in helping to ensure our local restaurants can continue to be the gathering spots for friends and families. When our small businesses thrive, our communities thrive,” said PG&E Corporation Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer Carla Peterman.

Assisting small and medium businesses

PG&E remains committed to providing ways for its small and medium business customers to save energy and money. Here are some ways PG&E is helping its customers:

• Contacting business customers who would save money by choosing a better rate plan for their operations — projected to save customers over $5 million this year. Utilize PG&E’s online rate tools to run your own analysis at com/rateanalysis.
• Providing COVID-19 relief and support information to all small business customers, including PG&E no-cost energy assessment, resources and external support for businesses such as California state programs at pge.com/opportunities.
• Launching a new energy efficiency program that provides assessments and upgrades at no-cost: simplifiedsavingsprogram.com
• Increasing outreach to small business customers highlighting payment support and energy-savings programs through email campaigns, PG&E’s Energy Advisors, and direct mail.
• Conducting outreach to eligible customers to enroll in a discounted rate for businesses struggling to stay open.
• Offering rebate and financing solutions to help small business customers realize sustained cost savings. 

For more information on PG&E Small and Medium Business customer support visit pge.com/smbsupport.

For more information on the California Restaurant Foundation, Restaurants Care, or the Restaurant Resilience Fund, visit restaurantscare.org.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/.

About The PG&E Corporation Foundation

The PG&E Corporation Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, separate from PG&E and sponsored by PG&E Corporation.