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Improvements Needed in SBA’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Post-Award Review Process

Summary

A management advisory from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) on the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) post-award review process for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program. The OIG issued it to bring attention to concerns about how SBA monitors SVOG award recipients' eligibility, award calculation and use of funds. It explains that the SVOG program was established on December 27, 2020 as part of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act and was later amended. Its title states that improvements are needed in the post-award review process.

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Improvements Needed in SBA’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Post-Award Review Process

The Office of Inspector General is issuing this management advisory to bring attention to concerns regarding the SBA's post-award review process to monitor SVOG award recipients’ eligibility, award calculation, and use of funds.

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The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this management advisory to bring attention to concerns regarding the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) post-award review process to monitor Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) award recipients’ eligibility, award calculation, and use of funds. The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program was established on December 27, 2020, as part of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act (Economic Aid Act). The program was amended by the American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021, which increased program funding and reduced SVOG assistance for some recipients who also received loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. Collectively these laws provided the SVOG program with $16.25 billion to provide grants to eligible businesses that engage in venue operations.

Since the agency is currently conducting post-award reviews of SVOG awards, we believe management should take immediate action to apply a more robust risk-based approach in selecting awards to review for eligibility. Specifically, the agency has selected 155 awards for eligibility reviews; however, OIG has identified an additional 1,818 high-risk awards totaling $1.6 billion that warrant review.

We also believe the agency should assess the post-award review process to ensure reviews are conducted timely. Program officials assigned 30 staff members to review 2,162 of the 13,011 SVOG awards in total. As of February 5, 2024, SBA completed 165 reviews since it began conducting post-award reviews in July 2022. At this pace, we estimate it will take 19 years, or until February 2043, to complete the remaining reviews. Therefore, program officials must prioritize the reviews to increase the opportunity to save taxpayer funds and improve the integrity of this vital pandemic relief program. SBA management partially agreed with two recommendations and disagreed with one recommendation.

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File size: 617KB

Effective : July 10, 2024

Owned by : Office of Inspector General

OMB Control Number : 24-21

Related Programs : Related programs: Agency Management, Pandemic Oversight, Shuttered Venues

Last updated July 10, 2024

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