Illinois Chamber Of Commerce Announces New Business Assistance Programs

Press release from the Village of Flossmor:

Posted on: March 30, 2020

The County, State and Federal governments have announced disaster assistance programs for small businesses. See below for grant and loan opportunities and please share this information with your networks. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is hosting a webinar on March 31, 2020 at 10 a.m. to discuss these programs. Email lclarke@ilchamber.org to register for the webinar.

Cook County

Cook County is asking small businesses to complete a survey to help determine the priorities for small business assistance. President Preckwinkle also announced fine and fee waivers.

To complete the survey, and find a full list of fee and fine waivers, visit https://www.cookcountyil.gov/content/covid-19-response-information-business-community.

State of Illinois

Visit https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/SmallBizAssistance/Pages/EmergencySBAIntiatives.aspx for more information and applications.

Hospitality Emergency Grant Program (DUE APRIL 1)

To help hospitality (restaurants, bars, and hotels) businesses make ends meet in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, DCEO is launching the Hospitality Emergency Grant Program with $14 million drawn from funds originally budgeted for job training, tourism promotion, and other purposes. Grant funds are available to support working capital like payroll and rent, as well as job training, retraining, and technology to support shifts in operations, like increased pick-up and delivery. Bars and restaurants that generated between $500K and $1M in revenue in 2019 are eligible for up to $25,000, and bars and restaurants that generated less than $500K in revenue in 2019 are eligible for up to $10,000. Loans awarded through a lottery process. Application deadline for the lottery is April 1, 2020.

Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan Fund

DCEO and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) are establishing the Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan Fund to offer small businesses low interest loans of up to $50,000.

Businesses located outside of the City of Chicago with fewer than 50 workers and less than $3 million in revenue in 2019 will be eligible to apply. Successful applicants will owe nothing for six months and will then begin making fixed payments at a below market interest rate for the remainder of a five-year loan term.

Federal Government

The Small Business Administration is authorized to provide loans of up to $2 million for small businesses for working capital in response to the Covid-19 disaster. The low-interest loans have a term of 30 years. In addition, the SBA is providing emergency loan advances for businesses experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. The advances do not need to be repaid. Additionally, the CARES Act will make some loans forgiveable, although the applications are not available yet. Visit https://www.sba.gov/.

If you need support, reach out to the Small Business Assistance center in Homewood. The contact is Vicki Brown: vicki.brown@southlandsbdc.com

Revised March 30, 2020

This press release was produced by the Village of Flossmor. The views expressed here are the author’s own.