Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announce the $250 million Back to Business grant program. SPRINGFIELD – The state announced a $250 million “Back to Business” grant program aimed at assisting small businesses in the recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic shutdowns. The program is funded
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announce the $250 million Back to Business grant program.
SPRINGFIELD – The state announced a $250 million “Back to Business” grant program aimed at assisting small businesses in the recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic shutdowns.
The program is funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Joe Biden, and it includes specific set-aside amounts for certain uses. Those include $100 million for businesses in areas disproportionately impacted by the pandemic; $30 million for arts and entertainment businesses that haven’t received previous aid; $25 million for restaurants and taverns that didn’t receive money from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund; $25 million for hotels; and another $25 million for businesses that didn’t receive Business Interruption Grant funding.
The Business Interruption Grant program was funded through previous rounds of federal aid, distributing $580 million to businesses and day cares. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said those grants helped more than 9,000 small businesses in 600 communities.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday announces a $250 million “Back to Business” grant program, funded through federal relief programs that will launch next week.
A statement from the governor’s office said the Back to Business, or B2B, program, is the “first in a series of economic recovery programs set to launch by the administration.” The program aims to allow companies to offset losses due to COVID-19 and bring back workers through grant funding that does not have to be repaid.
Pritzker also noted the state approved another $9 million investment in the Community Navigator program, helping to connect “underserved businesses” with the resources available.
“This localized personalized assistance will make this program more accessible for entrepreneurs who are eligible, yet may not know just where to get started or how to get started, whether it’s due to language or to staffing or any number of other reasons that shouldn’t be a barrier to receiving this kind of support,” Pritzker said.
The B2B funding will be administered through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which has a map of disproportionately impacted areas and a list of other requirements on its website, Illinois.gov/dceo.
The application period opens Aug. 18.
The grants are available to businesses with revenues of $20 million or less in 2019 that saw a reduction in revenue in 2020 due to COVID-19. Hotels with $35 million or less in revenue are eligible.
Grants ranging from $5,000 to $150,000 will be distributed on a rolling basis, based on the losses sustained, by DCEO through its grant administrator, Allies for Community Business.
Sylvia Garcia, acting director at DCEO, said at a news conference the state was announcing the program a week early to “make sure everyone has time to ask questions and get their application materials in order.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed House Bill 12, which expands access to family and medical leave for educational support staff in school districts, public universities and community colleges.
“It’s really important that this accessibility of the program and making sure businesses that have been most vulnerable have the time and space to gather the information that they need,” she said.
The Community Navigator program has 13 hubs across the state and more than 100 community partners, Garcia said.
“These folks are really going to be the boots on the ground working directly in communities and making sure that they’re reducing barriers for folks, whether it’s a language barrier, assistance with banks and tax documents or other technical assistance that’s needed as they prepare and submit their grant application for the Back to Business Program and hopefully other programs as they roll out,” she said.
Along with the Community Navigator program, DCEO said it will reach out to “anyone and everyone” to raise awareness for the grants, including “chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, legislators and many other partners from around the state.”
4 things to know about Illinois mask rule for students, state workers
STUDENTS
All school children from preschool through 12th grade have to wear face coverings.
The state’s largest teachers’ union, the Illinois Education Association, issued a statement indicating its agreement with the governor’s action.
“Let’s pull together and take care of one another. Vax up and mask up. We owe it to our students and we owe it to each other,” said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association. “We’re so thankful to have leadership in this state that won’t let the virus fester and grow. But, it us up to all of us to bring COVID-19 to its knees.”
Illinois is home to 1.8 million children under the age of 12 who are not yet eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. All Illinois residents over the age of 12 are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at no cost.
STATE WORKERS
The required vaccination for state employees applies to those who work in prisons and juvenile detention facilities, veterans’ homes and state facilities for the mentally and developmentally disabled. Each must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 4.
Pritzker last week ordered that face coverings be worn by anyone entering a state building. He said Wednesday masks would be required in all long-term care facilities, including those privately owned.
THE BACKGROUND
According to the governor’s office, “The new measures are part of the state’s ongoing effort to combat a new surge as the Delta variant rapidly spreads among the unvaccinated. Since COVID-19 metrics reached their lowest points earlier this summer, cases have soared by a factor of nearly 10, hospitalizations and ICU rates have more than doubled in a month, and the number of COVID patients requiring a ventilator has multiplied nearly 2.5 times over since July 16th. In June, 96 percent of people hospitalized in Illinois with COVID-19 were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated, with the majority of those hospitalizations occurring in residents under 60 years old.”
WHAT’S NEXT
Employers both private and public have begun requiring shots against the deadly virus — President Joe Biden is considering such a requirement for all federal employees — and the law appears to be on the side of the boss. Employers can make vaccination a condition of employment, experts say.
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