Independent Restaurant Coalition

Formation	2020 (2020)
Founder	Independent restaurateurs and chefs
Type	Trade group
Purpose	Lobbying local, state and federal governments on behalf of independent restaurants
Location	United States
Website	https://www.saverestaurants.com/

The Independent Restaurant Coalition is a US trade group formed during the COVID-19 pandemic by independent restaurateurs and chefs. During the pandemic the group lobbied local, state and federal governments for relief after their businesses were closed by government mandates to slow the spread of the virus. Their aim was to mitigate the impact of the closings on independent restaurants.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]} Multiple prominent chefs and restaurateurs formed the leadership team.

Background

According to the IRC, independent restaurants represented 4% of the US GDP and employed 11 million workers at the beginning of 2020.^[8] The US has 500,000 independently-operated restaurants.^[1]

History

The coalition got its start during the pandemic after state and local governments started shutting down restaurants and bars to slow the spread of the virus. In February of 2020, wine distributor Harry Root and veteran political strategist, Angela Kouters spoke about the looming pandemic and how it might impact their local economy in Charleston, SC. Mr. Root began reaching out to some of his local chefs contacts and restaurant owners in Charleston, SC. The group included Steve Palmer, Michael Shemtov, Mike Lata. Kouters who was a Chief of Staff for three members of Congress and later served as a Director of Legislative Affairs for President Barack Obama knew the strategy that must be deployed to pass something through Congress. She then began organizing chefs through out the south such as Steve Satterfield, Ashley Christensen, and Robert St. John. Ultimately, Bobby Stuckey suggested she connect with some chefs in New York City since the Charleston group was further along in organization and planning than the NY chefs. Kouters was then connected with Tom Colicchio who asked if Kouters would speak with Andrew Chason, a talent agent with Creative Arts Agency to see if the two groups could work together so there were not competing interest. From there the IRC was born to discuss the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic and the lack of representation in Washington, DC. Within 12 hours of this call a Coalition was formed and lobbyists were engaged. The Founding Members of the Coalition are Angela Kouters, Harry Root, Mike Lata, Steve Palmer, Adam Saper, Michael Shemtov,Caroline Styne, Sam Kass, Kevin Boehm, Donnie Madia, Naomi Pomeroy, Andrew Carmellini, Andrew Zimmern, Ashley Christenson, , Will Guidara, Steven Satterfield, , Bobby Stuckey, Kwame Onwuachi, Tom, and José Andrés.^[8]

Mission

The initial goal was to secure financial and legislative protections for restaurants and their workers.^[9] After the federal government passed the CARES Act the group said the bill's primary provision, the Paycheck Protection Program, did not help independent restaurateurs.^[1] At the end of April the group called for a $120 billion fund for small and independent restaurateurs, asking congress to exclude publicly-traded restaurants and large restaurant chains from accessing the fund.^{[10][11][12][13]}

References