Develop New Albany, New Albany Urban Enterprise Association, and City of New Albany Partner to Assist Service Industry Employees with Relief Program

Develop New Albany (“DNA”), in conjunction with the Urban Enterprise Association (“UEA”), the City of New Albany and private donors, created a fund to help the local service industry workers affected by the COVID-19 crisis in New Albany.  “Develop New Albany is proud to partner with our city to serve some of those hit hardest and support our local restaurants who continue to serve the community.” Rob Dunn, Board President

Restaurants and bars have been ordered closed throughout the State but can still provide curb side food service.  Unfortunately, this adversely affects a substantial segment of service industry workers.  The program is designed to provide employees affected by the closures a $25 daily stipend to order curb-side service at a participating New Albany restaurant. 

City Council-member, Jason Applegate stated, “A life-long resident of New Albany asked me how he could donate to laid off workers. After a quick call to Develop New Albany and Mayor Gahan, the idea that the laid-off worker feeds the business financially while literally being fed was born. I could not be more proud of our city for uniting in such a beneficial way.”

“We are glad to partner with DNA, UEA, and other donors to help service workers affected by the business closures in our downtown.  It’s our responsibility to help others during this time,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan.

Employees and businesses affected by the closures can participate by following the guidelines and contacting DNA at info@developnewalbany.org. 

Program Details – Employees affected will be able to get food at participating downtown restaurants. A list will be generated of those affected and distributed to participating restaurants. When an employee places an order and verifies identity at pickup, we will reimburse the restaurant up to $25 per person per day. The reimbursement will come in the form of a check and will be distributed multiple times per week (to be determined).

Who can participate in the program?

All service industry employees of restaurants / bars within New Albany whose job was affected by the COVID-19 crisis are eligible. Verification from employer will be required. Identity of employee will be verified by restaurants at the time of food pickup.

How can a restaurant / bar in New Albany participate?

-All restaurants and bars can submit a list of employees. This list should be of active employees as of March 16, 2020. This information should be emailed to Heather Trueblood, Program Coordinator of Develop New Albany at developnainfo@gmail.com

-Downtown New Albany restaurants that are interested in participating as a food provider should contact Heather Trueblood at developnainfo@gmail.com or by calling/texting at 812-941-0018.

This program will continue until the allocated funding runs out. If you know of a business or organization that would be interested in contributing to this program, please contact Heather Trueblood at developnainfo@gmail.com or 812-941-0018

Information for participating restaurants

You will be provided with a list of eligible employees. If someone contacts you directly and they are not on the list provided, they will need to provide a paystub from a New Albany restaurant within the last 2 weeks and identification for verification. If this happens, please email the name of the employee to Heather to update the master lists.

The program will reimburse up to $25 per person per day while funds last. A tracking sheet will be provided to you to help with accounting.

Checks for reimbursement will be handled by Develop New Albany. Restaurants will submit their tracking form and a check will be delivered to the restaurant multiple times a week.