Supporting Struggling Small Businesses
The pandemic and Covid-19 mitigations began inflicting immense damage to many small businesses in March of 2020. Thousands of small businesses initially applied for Illinois Business Interruption Grants. While these grants helped some small businesses, approximately 80% of eligible small businesses which applied were not awarded a grant.
Subsequently, Illinois received over 8 billion dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funds. However, only $250 million were allocated for Back to Business grant program. These funds will likely be exhausted before many struggling and eligible businesses receive grants.
Illinois still has billions of federal funds and should replenish the Back to Business grant program with an additional $300 million. Our policymakers should not pick winners and loses when there is adequate funding to support the struggling small businesses.
House Bill HB5489 will allocate an additional $300 million for the Back to Business grant program. Please ask your legislators to support this legislation so that struggling small businesses can receive the support they need to recover from a pandemic, and associated mitigations, which they could not control.
REVITALIZATION IN THE NEWS: West Garfield/Chatham Pop!
“The activation of underutilized West and South side properties is a key strategy to revitalize neighborhood commercial corridors with active, people-oriented activities,” Commissioner Cox said. The City of Chicago announced on Thursday, the creation of two new public plazas located in West Garfield Park and Chatham. These projects are a part of the Department of…
You’re Invited to The Rebound!
The SBAC and A Safe Haven are thrilled to invite you for a LIVE and IN-PERSON evening you won’t forget! It will be our first big live event of the year, and with the mask mandate now lifted, we hope to see many of you face-to-face once again. Join us to celebrate the culmination…
Back to Business Grants Action Call
Illinois Policymakers Should Support Small Businesses The pandemic and COVID-19 mitigations began inflicting immense damage to small businesses in March 2020. Thousands of small businesses initially applied for Illinois Business Interruption Grants. While these grants helped some small businesses, approximately 80% of applicants were not awarded a grant. Illinois then received over $8 billion in…
