Keeping Local Restaurants Cooking: 154 Restaurants to Receive $5,000 Resilience Grants Funded by The PG&E Corporation Foundation

PG&E Foundation Funding for Fourth Consecutive Year Supports Hometown Restaurants, Commercial Caterers

By Tracy Correa Lopez

Locally owned Northern and Central California restaurants — and a few commercial caterers — are receiving 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. The grants reflect a commitment to strengthen restaurants for long-term business success so they can continue contributing to local economies and communities.

The PG&E Foundation’s $900,000 charitable contribution this year is funding $5,000 grants to 154 hometown restaurants in 30 counties in Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) service area, as well as operating support for CRF, which administers the grant program. The funding comes from PG&E shareholders, not customers.

The PG&E 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 locations and less than $3 million in revenue, and prioritized minority- and women-owned businesses.

For the first time this year, the grants were open to commercial caterers based on appeals for support for catering companies because they also are part of the local food scene.

Plant Slayer, which started out as a food truck in 2020 before becoming a brick-and-mortar establishment in downtown Fresno two years ago, is one of the recent grant recipients.

“Running a restaurant is really difficult in California… fees, employees, the cost of goods going up — and you put the word vegan in front of that and it costs more,” co-owner Gina Perez said. “We were excited that we were one of the restaurants chosen.”

Perez said she is mostly looking forward to giving bonuses to Plant Slayer’s five employees who have been especially dedicated to seeing the business succeed.

Since 2021, PG&E and the PG&E Foundation have contributed $3.2 million in funding to the CRF’s Restaurants Care Resilience Fund providing grants ranging from $3,000 to $5,000. (See our “From Kitchen to Community” video featuring past grant recipients in PG&E’s service area.)

With this year’s funding, PG&E has now helped provide grants for a total of 675 restaurants and caterers in Northern and Central California.

“We all have fond memories of celebrating special occasions with the people we love at our hometown restaurants — with good meals at the center, they truly are the gathering spots in our communities. Through our partnership with the California Restaurant Foundation, we want to make sure these neighborhood businesses, many of them family-owned and operated, continue to thrive for years to come,” said PG&E Corporation Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer Carla Peterman.

"Since the launch of the Restaurants Care Resilience Fund in 2021, PG&E and the PG&E Foundation have been steadfast and generous supporters, helping hundreds of independent restaurant owners throughout Northern and Central California strengthen their businesses for the future," said Alycia Harshfield, Executive Director of the California Restaurant Foundation.

CRF began the Resilience Fund in 2021 to support restaurants recovering from economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to many restaurants closing their doors temporarily or permanently. PG&E and The PG&E Corporation Foundation have supported the program since its inception.

To date, CRF’s Resilience fund has provided financial assistance to more than 1,600 independent restaurants and caterers across California.

Among this year’s grant recipients, 80% are single location establishments with an average 10 years in business, 79% of recipients identify as female and 76% of owners identify as minority. Some 70% of this year’s recipients plan to use the $5,000 grants for kitchen equipment or technology upgrades, and 21% will dedicate the funds to employee retention bonuses.

Assisting Restaurants and Small and Medium Businesses

PG&E remains committed to providing ways for its small and medium business customers to save energy and money amid recent economic hardships including the pandemic and recent inflation. Here are some ways PG&E is helping its customers:

• On-Bill Financing: PG&E offers 0% interest loans for replacing old and worn-out equipment with more energy-efficient models. Watch this videoto explore how energy savings are reinvested back into your business to help improve your bottom line.
• Rebates for food service equipment: PG&E offers several rebate programs that will help you save money and improve productivity when you upgrade your food service equipment.
• Budget Billing: If you are a small business owner, you can have a predictable bill each month by enrolling in Budget Billing. The program averages out your monthly bill to determine your monthly payment, instead of having unpredictable summer bills.  
• Energy Efficiency Programs: PG&E contracts with external companies to provide a customized solution for different business sectors.
• Find Your Best Rate Plan: Customers can use this online tool to run a rate analysis to see if they are on the best rate plan for their operations. The tool is projected to save customers over $9.5 million this year.
• Economic Development Rate: This offers eligible business customers the opportunity to lower costs through one of three reduced electric rate options. PG&E developed this rate to help businesses grow or maintain jobs in California. The standard 12% rate discount is available throughout our service territory.

For more information on PG&E Small and Medium Business customer support, visit pge.com/smbsupport. Customers can also find more ways to reduce their energy costs at PG&E’s Small Business Podcast “Straight Talk with PG&E,” on iHeart, Apple and Spotify