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!
Small Business Grants in Illinois
Financial Growth Opportunities Running a business is hard and small business owners often do not have time to navigate grants, tax credits, and other funding opportunities. We are excited to help. While we cannot cover everything, we will do our best to keep you current on economic incentives that may be available for your business…
The Launch of the Chamber Relief Grant Program!
SBAC INSIGHTS PAGE We’re thrilled to announce the official launch of the Chamber Relief Grant Program by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). The program aims to provide vital support to chambers of commerce dedicated to uplifting small businesses and local communities. DCEO announced the launch of the chamber relief grant program, along with opening…
Phil Gafka – Insights & Blogs
Phil has been a mentor with us for a minute now and he’s always willing to help where there is need. Perhaps you joined us last summer when he hosted our first ever Lunch-and-Learn on leadership, a quality he demonstrated well then. Phil’s also a writer, and he frequently updates his website with blogs he’s…
