On August 18th, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity launched a new round of funding. This $250 million program aims to deploy small businesses recovery grants for those hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding:
Grants will range mainly from $5,000 - $150,000 per business and can be used to cover a wide range of operations, staff, and overhead costs. Funding is available for the following:
- $100 million – Businesses located in Disproportionately Impacted Areas (DIAs).
- $30 million – Arts and Entertainment businesses that didn’t receive Shuttered Venue Operators grants
- $25 million – Restaurants and taverns that didn’t receive the Restaurant Revitalization Fund
- $25 million – Hotels
- $25 million – Businesses that didn’t receive a BIG grant due to exhaustion of funds
Eligibility is determined based on the following:
- Businesses with revenues of $20 million or less in 2019 and a reduction in revenue in 2020 due to COVID-19
- $35 million or less for hotels
- Priority will be given to the following categories:
- Hard-hit industries (see eligibility guidelines for a full list of priority industries and their definitions)
- Hard-hit areas – DIAs comprising of 176 zip codes
- Businesses who have yet to qualify for state funding or federal assistance (including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), Business Interruption Grant (BIG), Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG), and more)
- Businesses that had less than $5 million in revenue in 2019
- Learn about Certification Agreement
- Upon receiving an award, all grantees will need to sign the program Certification Agreement.
Clients can go to the IL DCEO B2B page for all the details and to easily search their business address to determine if they are in a designated Disproportionately Impacted Area.
