Virus relief package a lighthouse for Duluth restaurants and bars March 15, 2021 5:48am Text size Copy shortlink:
DULUTH – Restaurant and bar owners are calling the $28 billion in grants included in the federal coronavirus stimulus package a lifeline for Duluth s hard-hit tourism industry.
For Jason Vincent, owner of the Boat Club and Vanilla Bean restaurants in Duluth and Two Harbors, the grants give a needed layer of certainty as vaccines reach more people and business slowly returns to normal.
Vincent s restaurant group lost nearly $1 million last year, a 25% drop in revenue tied largely to the disappearance of banquet business. We have taken out all the loans we can, he said. We have mortgaged ourselves to the max. This money is grants, and that s what our industry needs right now.