We thank Sen. Rubio for looking out for small music venues

I own the Crowbar in Ybor City and am leading the charge for independent venues in Florida, along with National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), for emergency relief. We were the first to close, have had no revenue; and while PPP helped so many others, it didn’t help our industry because when you’re shuttered, you don’t have employees.

We’ve grateful that Sen. Marco Rubio recognizes our unique plight and thank him for his leadership, for he has included the Save Our Stages Act in the next COVID relief proposal. This will help us hold on until the pandemic passes, and we can once again contribute to our local economy.

Without the SOS Act, 90 percent of NIVA members report that they’d be forced to shutter forever. If that were to happen, not only would these small businesses go bankrupt through no fault of their own, but also gone would be all the jobs, artists coming to town and the financial benefit we bring Florida communities. A study last year showed that for every $1 spent at small music venues, $12 of economic activity was generated for area businesses. When we go down, they go down.

Those of us trying to set an example have presented limited shows featuring local artists at 20 percent capacity or less, requiring both masks and socially distancing. But we’re losing more money than when we were completely shuttered.

The only way for independent venues to survive is with emergency relief. More than 2 million people have written Congress asking to pass the Save Our Stages Act. We thank Sen. Rubio for his leadership in helping small businesses like ours outlast this terribly difficult chapter.

Editor’s note: This letter has been updated from the Dec. 2 print version to reflect Sen. Marco Rubio’s action.

This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 3:23 PM with the headline "We thank Sen. Rubio for looking out for small music venues."