According to the IRC, independent restaurants represented 4% of the US GDP and employed 11 million workers at the beginning of 2020.

[1] The coalition got its start on March 18, 2020 when 18 chefs, restauranteurs were invited to a conference call by Andrew Chason of Creative Arts Agency.

[9] The Founding Members of the Coalition are Sam Kass, Tom Collichio, Erika Polmar, Andrew Carmellini, Ashley Christensen, Sean Brock, Kwamwe Onwuachi, Camilla Marcus, Amanda Cohen, Kevin Boehm, Donnie Madia, Naomi Pomeroy, Andrew Zimmern.

The Founders group expanded to include Caroline Styne, Katie Button, Michael Shemtov, and Gregory Gourdet.

[12] 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.