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 American Rescue Plan Act funds. However, only $250 million was allocated to the new grant program for struggling small businesses. These funds will likely be exhausted before many eligible businesses receive grants. With billions of ARPA funds remaining, policymakers should allocate an additional $300 million for grants to struggling small businesses.
Illinois politicians should finish what they started. They should replenish the Back to Business grant program and promptly get funds to struggling small businesses, some of whom have waited almost two years for a grant to help offset the damage caused by the pandemic and mitigations established to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Please fill out the call to action below and ask your legislators to support struggling small businesses. Thank you for supporting the small business community!
DOUBLE GOOD
Located in Chicagoland and popping 15,000 pounds of handmade, ultra-premium popcorn every day, Double Good is a community of like-minded dreamers, doers, believers, and thinkers committed to helping kids do what they love. Double Good is an e-commerce company that produces and sells small-batch popcorn, popped fresh every day in a facility just outside the…
FIFTH THIRD BANK
Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the indirect parent company of Fifth Third Bank, National Association, a federally chartered institution. As of Mar. 31, 2021, Fifth Third had $207 billion in assets and operated 1,098 full-service banking centers and 2,383 ATMs with Fifth Third branding in Ohio,…
FREEBORN & PETERS, LLP
Founded in 1983, Freeborn is a leading midsize law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois; New York, New York; Richmond, Virginia; Springfield, Illinois; and Tampa, Florida. Our deep bench of more than 90 experienced trial lawyers handle all areas of complex disputes and litigation, nationally and internationally.
