Governor Announces Back to Business Grant Program

Funding Information: $250 million to small businesses across the state that experienced losses in 2020 due to COVID-19, including the following set-asides. $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 Grants will range from $5,000 to $150,000 per business and can be used to cover a wide range of operations/staff/overhead costs    Eligibility requirements: Businesses with revenues of $20 million or less in 2019 and a reduction in revenue in 2020 due to COVID-19 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 (see the linked program above) 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   Application: Application Portal opening August 18. The application portal will be available through dceo.illinois.gov.   Please visit the IMA’s dedicated COVID-19 page for updates and resources. Daily information is also available at the State of Illinois COVID-19 Response page and IDPH Restore Illinois page. State of Illinois vaccination locations are available here. If you need assistance with the application, please contact Mallord Hubbard (Economic Development Coordinator) at mhubbard@highladnil.gov