3 Ways The Health and Fitness Recovery Act of 2020 Could Help Your Gym If Passed

Gym clubs are in one of the industries hit hardest by the impact of COVID-19. Yet they also have not received much help to get them through this tumultuous year. Whether or not you have successfully reopened and resumed some sense of normalcy, we know your gym is experiencing the effects of an extremely difficult business year.

A glimmer of hope is the possibility of the Health and Fitness Recovery Act of 2020, which if passed could provide some important relief for your gym club. This is bipartisan legislation introduced on October 1st by U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley of Illinois and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Through the legislation, they recognized the toll the coronavirus has taken on the industry, including lost revenue of $13.9 billion as of September 1st, and that the public benefits from having access to gyms.

Here are three ways the Health and Fitness Recovery Act of 2020 could benefit your gym during these hard times.

1. Your gym will qualify for support.

If you’re like most in the industry, your gym club may not have qualified for assistance from the CARES Act that passed earlier in the year. Now, this new act could provide the help you need, as it offers government support to the businesses that didn’t qualify for CARES Act assistance. This is great news, as most gyms and health clubs have not received the same kind of support to date that many other types of businesses have received. 

2. The act is designed to provide significant support.

With this act, the government is acknowledging the help needed by the health and fitness industry, just as it has previously done with the airline industry. This act would establish a recovery fund of $30 billion to go toward gyms and fitness clubs that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a significant fund that would greatly help the many clubs that have been affected and give a boost to this struggling industry as a whole. This support has the potential to help keep clubs open and staying afloat. 

3. It offers business grants.

The Health and Fitness Recovery Act of 2020 would offer business grants to gyms and health clubs. The proposal is for the grants to cover business losses that could go up to 10 percent of your previous year’s revenue. These grants could greatly help your business counteract some of the losses caused by the pandemic. You could use the grants toward various business expenses, including building rent or mortgage, payroll costs, maintenance costs, utilities, and supplies. This could be incredibly helpful for gyms struggling to pay for ongoing expenses. 

We hope this act is passed, as it would help the individual gym clubs that need it and give much-needed support to the struggling industry as a whole. You could consider contacting your representatives to show your support for this legislation. As we wait to see whether it moves forward, you might find some helpful ideas from our posts on how to cut expenses at your gym and gym promotions that can safely bring in new members.

CLICK HERE for more information