Like many in the hospitality industry, it was a rough year for Brady’s.
The family-owned Acme restaurant that has operated in the Laurel Highlands since 1964 was closed for a while during the pandemic lockdown last year and has operated under pandemic restrictions for most of the latter part of 2020 and 2021. Only recently were they cleared to go back to normal operations. And they’re still on limited hours — open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. instead of the pre-pandemic 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. — as they work to rebuild.
On Friday, Brady’s learned the eatery will receive a nice bonus on top of the $20,000 grant it received this spring through a $3.9 million state grant program administered by Westmoreland County.
The restaurant was among the first to apply for the awards that went out on a first-come, first-served basis. State guidelines limited participation to businesses with fewer than 300 employees, with a net worth of less than $15 million, that were open as of Feb. 15, 2020, and intended to remain open for at least a year after applying for the grant.
Originally, county commissioners had capped the grant program at $20,000, hoping to help out about 200 of the county’s 1,200 or so restaurants, bars, hotels and inns that officials believed met the criteria. But when the grant application period closed June 15, officials found they had fewer than 120 qualified applicants.
So, officials agreed to tap the surplus to almost double the original awards. Brady’s is now in line for another $17,429.
It was a pleasant surprise.
“When we got the original grant we gave it as a bonus and hazard pay for our employees who stuck us during the pandemic,” Ellen Brady said.
Brady and her sister Liz help out at the homestyle restaurant owned by their parents, Mike and Joy.
The enhanced hospitality grants ranged from $10,000 to the maximum of $37,469 and went out to a diverse group of restaurants, hotels, B&Bs and Inns across the county from Central Westmoreland to the Laurel Highlands to the Kiski Valley and down to the Mon Valley.
Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher said she was surprised to hear that the state-funded program didn’t attract more applicants.
But Jim Smith, CEO of the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland County, which administered the awards, said he heard many businesses were so busy trying to rebuild that they didn’t have the time to apply for such small amounts.
“You have to realize when you’re looking at revenues of $1 or $2 million a year, $20,000 doesn’t sound like much and those people were working around the clock, trying to get their businesses open with many facing a shortage of staff after the pandemic,” Smith said.
“Some other counties capped the grants at $50,000,” he said. “But I still think the commissioners did the right thing trying to get the grants out to help as many businesses as possible.”
Deb Erdley is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Deb at 724-850-1209, derdley@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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