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.
Chicago’s Cut Red Tape Agenda
CHICAGO’S CUT RED TAPE AGENDA PUBLIC WAY USE SIGN PERMITS Small and local businesses need City Council approval to display a simple sign that protrudes over the sidewalk by less than an inch. The fight to allow small businesses to display signs that protrude over the public way without City Council approval has been ongoing…
Main Street Lending Proposal
SUMMARY The Federal Reserve established the Main Street Lending Program (the “Program“) to help aid small and medium-sized for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations who were in sound financial condition before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and who were unable to get aid under any of the other COVID-19 related relief programs (e.g. under…
PPP Funding for Businesses and Non-Profits Webinar
WATCH: Congressman Brad Schneider from Illinois’ 10th district, Bo Steiner from the Small Business Administration, and Elliot Richardson President of the SBAC spend one hour answering questions about the second round of PPP relief. The SBAC is grateful to have had the chance to participate in this webinar on PPP Funding for Businesses and Non-Profits.…
