IL Coronavirus: More Emergency Help For Small Businesses

ILLINOIS — As Illinois' coronavirus death toll rose to 19 and Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the extension of the Illinois tax filing deadline — now July 15 as opposed to April 15 — he also announced more help for small businesses across the state.

A new $90 million emergency assistance fund is aimed at helping small business owners hurt by the statewide stay-in-place order. Illinois businesses can apply to these programs on the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) website.

"Our department is leveraging every resource we have available to support small businesses in these challenging times," said Erin Guthrie, Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. "These funds will provide small businesses on the brink with much-needed working capital to continue making payroll and paying other bills while our administration continues to advocate for additional resources from the federal government."

How To File For Unemployment Amid Illinois Coronavirus Shutdown

330 New Illinois Coronavirus Cases; State Tax Deadline Extended

A $60 million Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan Fund will also support low-interest loans of up to $50,000 for small businesses in every industry outside of Chicago.

DCEO and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) are partnering with Accion, the Illinois Bankers Association and the Community Bankers Alliance of Illinois to create this fund. Loans will be supported by a $30 million loan loss reserve, consisting of $20 million of DCEO funds and $10 million in funds secured with the partnership with the Illinois banking community.

Businesses with fewer than 50 employees and less than $3 million in revenue in 2019 are eligible to apply. Businesses that receive loans will have six months to begin repayment and will then make fixed payments at 3 percent interest for the remainder of a five-year loan term.

Applications will be available on DCEO’s website by Friday, March 27.

Help for bars, restaurants

Another new program, the $14 million Hospitality Emergency Grant Program, aims to help small hospitality businesses make ends meet, providing up to $25,000 to eligible bars and restaurants and up to $50,000 for eligible hotels.

These grants are available to support working capital — like payroll and rent — job training and technology to support shifts in operations, like increased pick-up and delivery.

Bars and restaurants that generated between $500,000 and $1 million in revenue in 2019 are eligible for up to $25,000, and bars and restaurants that generated less than $500,000 in revenue in 2019 are eligible for up to $10,000. Hotels that generated less than $8 million in revenue in 2019 are eligible for up to $50,000. The program repurposes job training and tourism promotion funds to provide this emergency grant assistance.

DCEO has partnered with Accion Serving Illinois and Indiana to administer the grant program and distribute grant awards on behalf of DCEO.

Applications are available now on DCEO’s website and are due by April 1 at 5 p.m. All valid, eligible applications received within the five-day window will be entered into a lottery, and grant winners will be notified on April 4.

"The Illinois Restaurant Association appreciates DCEO's program to provide immediate relief for the smallest independent restaurants and bars," Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association said in a news release. "These grants will provide aid to the smallest operations in the hospitality segment, and every dollar helps during this time of crisis. We applaud this effort and will continue to advocate at the federal level for broad-based economic relief for the state’s 25,000+ eating and drinking establishments and their employees."

Don't miss updates about precautions in the Chicago area as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.