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 : South Shore
REVITLIZATION IN THE NEWS Residents in the South Shore are taking revitalization into their own hands, revitalizing vacant spaces in their community. Crain’s residential real estate reporter Dennis Rodkin talks with host Amy Guth about news from the local housing market, including neighbors taking a redevelopment project into their own hands and more. …
DHBL w/Elliot Richardson November 8, 2021
SBAC President Elliot Richardson urges policymakers to adopt an economic strategy focused on local businesses and communities in his Daily Herald Business Ledger Column. READ HERE Supporters Fifth Third Bank Saul Ewing Arnstein Lehr Inland Bank Ntiva Daily Herald Tandem HR Interprenet Signature Bank Lexitas Empower Korey Richardson Open One Solutions Freeborn and Peters A…
The Small Business Package
Many small and local businesses have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Illinois unemployment rate remains high. Illinois politicians can partner with the small business community to enact policies that will help small businesses through this pandemic, reduce unemployment in our state, grow the Illinois workforce and generate revenue. There has never been a…