Shuttered Venues Operators Grant Grantee Interviews

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for Formative Data
Collections for Evaluation, Research, and Evidence-Building”
(OMB Control Number: 3245-0425)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Shuttered Venues Operators Grant Grantee
Interviews
PURPOSE OF THE COLLECTION: This data collection is part of the Shuttered Venues
Operators Grant (SVOG) evaluation project which seeks to understand how SVOG awards
impacted employment, revenue, and business survival. The purpose of the data collection is to
implement semi-structured interviews with up to 40 SVOG grantees to understand pandemic
recovery needs that the grant may not have addressed. Interviewees will have completed the
SVOG Grantee Survey and opted into participating in an interview. SVOG was a pandemicresponse program established in December 2020 to aid entertainment venues and related
businesses that were disproportionately affected by the pandemic due to suspension of large
group gatherings. The findings from both survey and interview data collections will help SBA
improve future industry-specific grant processes.
TYPE OF COLLECTION ACTIVITY: (Check one)
[ ] Survey/ questionnaire
[ ] Focus group/small group discussion
[X] Interviews
[ ] Other: _______________________

[ ] Cognitive interview
[ ] User testing
[ ] Observation/field study

CERTIFICATION:
I certify the following to be true:
1. The collections are voluntary.
2. The collection is low burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.
3. The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal
agencies.
4. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have
experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the near future.
5. Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not
retained.
6. Information gathered is intended to be used for general service improvement and program
management purposes.
7. Summaries and aggregate results may be included in public-facing evaluation or similar
report.
8. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential
policy decisions.
Name: Kate Aaby
Title: Associate Administrator for OPPCFO
All instruments used to collect information must include:
OMB Control No. 3245-0425
Expiration Date: 10/31/2025

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DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION
To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:
1.

Administration of the Instrument
a. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)
[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media
[X] Telephone or other audio technology
[X] Microsoft Teams
[ ] In-person
[ ] Mail
[ ] Other _________________________
b. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ X] Yes [ ] No

2.

Description of respondents/participants
The sample will consist of up to 40 operators whose businesses received an award from
the SVOG Program and who opted-in to participation in an interview in the SVOG
Grantee Survey. As operators of the businesses that received awards, this respondent
population understands their businesses’ pandemic-related needs. The contractor will
draw a purposive sample from the list of operators responding “yes” to a question in the
SVOG Grantee Survey asking if they would participate in a follow-up interview. The
contractor will sample grantees for interviews based on the following characteristics:
▪ Representation from both small and large businesses; the aim is for the proportion
of small and large businesses in the sample to be approximately equal to the
proportion of small and large businesses that participated in SVOG overall
▪ Diversity in the sample in terms of venue types
▪ Representation of underserved businesses; the aim is for approximately 20 to 30
percent of the sample to include businesses that are women-owned, veteranowned, in rural areas, and/or owned by members of groups that have been
subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias within American society.
In the SVOG Grantee Survey, respondents who agree to participate in an interview are
asked to provide a phone number that the contractor will use to contact respondents. The
contractor will include in the purposive sample up to 40 alternates that can be used in the
event a grantee is unable or declines participation in the interview.

3.

Activity timeframe
The interviews will occur in in April, May, and June of 2023.

4.

Collection procedures
After developing the purposive sample, a member of the evaluation team will call each of
the grantees using the number they provided in their survey response to schedule or
conduct an interview. Based on pilot testing of the interview guide with 3 business
operators, we anticipate the interviews to be semi-structured and last up to 15-minutes
(though 30 minutes will be the scheduled to allow respondents ample time for comments

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and feedback). An experienced interviewer will conduct each interview using a video
conferencing platform or during a phone call. The contractor will request permission
from interviewees to audio record the interviews for transcription and analysis.
5.

Provide the question list (Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts with this
request).
See Attachments A (Interview Correspondence and Communication) and B (Interview
Instrument)

6.

Use and dissemination of the results
The contractor will identify common themes from the interviews and report results in a
report, briefings, and in fact sheets.

PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION
1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No
2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the
Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No
3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No
GIFTS OR PAYMENTS
Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to
participants? [ ] Yes [X ] No
If Yes, describe:
BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION
Participation time is based on a pilot test of the interview discussion guide with 3 business
operators.
Category of Respondent
Individuals: operators of businesses that received an SVOG
Grant
Totals

No. of
Respondents
40

Participation
Time
15 minutes

Burden
Hours
10

40

15

10

BURDEN COST COMPUTATION
Respondent cost estimates are based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2021 median wage
for Entertainment and Recreation Managers (Except Gambling) occupations of $35.48 per hour.
Category of Respondent

Individuals: operators of businesses that received an SVOG
Grant

3

No. of
Respondents

Hourly
Rate

Response
Time

40

$ 35.48

15

Total
Estimated
Cost
$354.80

Totals

40

$ 35.48

15

$354.80

FEDERAL COST:
The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $10,000, which includes 40 hours for a
GS-14 evaluator, 5 hours for a GS-15 manager, and research support by the contractor, 2M. The
estimate is based off of a 2022 federal pay schedule for personnel located in the DC area.

OTHER SUPPORTING INFORMATION
REQUESTED APPROVAL DATE: February 24, 2023
ICR REQUEST CONTACT:
Name: Sana Ahmed Wilder
Title: Lead Program Evaluator
Telephone Number: 801-524-3208
Email Address: [email protected]

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