Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Triad Mayors Seek Federal Assistance For Struggling Restaurants

Mozelle’s Fresh Southern Bistro is a popular eatery in Winston-Salem’s West End neighborhood. Soon expanded outdoor seating options in response to COVID-19 will be shut down with colder winter weather. Photo courtesy of David Ford/WFDD.

Mayors from across the Triad are urging federal support for local restaurants. The pandemic has hit them hard with more challenges ahead as we enter the winter months. 

Triad Food and Beverage Coalition Director Algenon Cash says more than half of North Carolina's small independently owned eating and drinking locations are facing permanent closure without immediate financial assistance.

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines called on citizen support to help restaurants. "My mantra is: help them make it to May," he said.

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said the mom and pop establishments that make her community great have been hit hardest by the pandemic. In Lexington, Mayor Newell Clark said this year's BBQ festival was canceled for the first time in 35 years due to COVID-19.

"That's a $9 million impact for our local economy when we have to cancel events like that," says Clark. "And it just ripples across a lot of our uptown restaurants. They look forward to those festivals and those are those events that kind of get them through."

All mayors called on the United States Senate to pass what's known as the Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed To Survive Act of 2020 or the RESTAURANTS Act of 2020. It would provide grants to small businesses specifically targeting marginalized and underrepresented communities.   

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Before his arrival in the Triad, David had already established himself as a fixture in the Austin, Texas arts scene as a radio host for Classical 89.5 KMFA. During his tenure there, he produced and hosted hundreds of programs including Mind Your Music, The Basics and T.G.I.F. Thank Goodness, It's Familiar, which each won international awards in the Fine Arts Radio Competition. As a radio journalist with 88.5 WFDD, his features have been recognized by the Associated Press, Public Radio News Directors Inc., Catholic Academy of Communication Professionals, and Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas. David has written and produced national stories for NPR, KUSC and CPRN in Los Angeles and conducted interviews for Minnesota Public Radio's Weekend America.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate