SBA’s Oversight of Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Recipients

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this report to present the results of our audit of SBA’s Oversight of Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) Recipients. The SVOG program was established on December 27, 2020, as part of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act. In total, Congress provided $16.25 billion for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to award grants to eligible businesses in the live arts and entertainment industry.

As of October 2024, SBA identified $544 million in potential improper payments that need to be recovered. SBA established performance goals, measured progress, and reported that the SVOG program met all three performance goals. However, we found one of those goals, the number of SVOG recipients that continued or reopened operations, was not measured with representative data. SBA should establish and implement timeframes for each closeout activity. Without prompt action to closeout these awards, SBA has no assurance that taxpayer funds were used for the intended purpose. 

We made six recommendations for SBA to improve recovery of SVOG funds where needed, expedite the award closeout process, better monitor the use of SVOG funds, and report on the limitations of data used for SVOG performance results.