Earlier on Tuesday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker – with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) – announced $175 million in available funding through the Back to Business (B2B) grant program for those businesses that require the assistance!
While the state has already acted for businesses to the tune of $1.5 billion, this period of funding – made available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) – is meant for sectors that were particularly damaged during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated circumstances.
Such businesses include restaurants, hotels, and those organizations – business or otherwise – in the art and creative worlds!
Applications are open from April 5 through May 10 2023, here – and the awards will be made several weeks after the deadline!
Governor Pritzker remarked on the progress that has been made across Illinois over three years into the COVID-19 struggle.
“In the three years since COVID-19 brought our state, our nation, and our world to a standstill, Illinois businesses have come back swinging—in part thanks to our Back to Business program. My administration is committed to helping small business owners move past survival and onto long-term success—and this latest investment of $175 million in B2B grants does exactly that.”
Meanwhile, DCEO Director Kristin A. Richards noted that “Illinois’ businesses have made a strong recovery since the most difficult times of the pandemic, and we’re proud to build upon that progress through additional support for hard-hit industries. Restaurants, hotels, and creative arts are industries designed to bring people together, and with an additional $175 million we are investing in communities and supporting continued economic development.”
As per the state of Illinois, more information regarding eligibility, applications, and awards are available below!
Eligibility, Application, and Awards
The B2B Restaurants (20 ILCS 605/605-1100), B2B Hotels (20 ILCS 605/605-1095) and B2B Arts (30 ILCS 709/40) programs were designed in accordance with state statute, which specified industries, buckets of funding, spending guidelines and more. A summary of the programs are included below:
| B2B Restaurants | B2B Hotels | B2B Arts | |
| Funding Available | $50 million | $75 million | $50 million |
| Award Range | $5,000-$50,000 | Up to $1,500 per room | $5,000-$250,000 |
| Impact of Receiving Prior Award | Ineligible if business received any prior state relief funding (B2B, BIG, RRF) or more than 10K in local funding.
Businesses who received federal funds, such as PPP are eligible. |
Amount of state or local grants received deducted from overall award amount. | Grant based only on 2021 losses for businesses that received prior state relief funding (BIG or B2B). |
| Spending Guidelines | Flexible spending to support losses | 80% for payroll related costs; 20% flexible spending | Flexible spending to support losses |
| Examples of Eligible Businesses (for the full eligibility list and guidelines please visit Illinois.gov/B2B) | Restaurants
Taverns Bars Caterers Breweries Wineries Food Trucks |
Hotels
Motels Inns Lodging sites |
Performing and presenting arts
Theaters Museums Cultural heritage organizations
|
In addition to webinars and outreach hosted by community navigators, DCEO will be hosting statewide information kick-off sessions on the dates below:
- Statewide DCEO English-Language Webinars
- Friday, March 24, 2023, 10:00 a.m.
- Thursday, March 30, 2023, 10:00 a.m.
- Thursday, April 6, 2023, 2:00 p.m.
- Register here:
https://illinois.webex.com/illinois/k2/j.php?MTID=ta23ccf35e0f4dd0dc6d8037f87e014c1
- Statewide Spanish-Language Webinar:
- Subvenciones Back to Business (B2B por sus siglas en inglés) para restaurantes, hoteles, y empresas de artes creativas
- Jueves, 30 de marzo de 11:00 a.m.
- Registrese aqui https://bit.ly/ildceob2b
