The CARES Act provides fast and direct economic assistance for American workers, families, and small businesses, and preserve jobs for our American industries.   Official Website

Small Business Association

Paycheck Protection Program

As of May 6, 2021, funding for the Paycheck Protection Program has been exhausted. The SBA will continue funding outstanding approved PPP applications, but new qualifying applications will only be funded through Community Financial Institution, financial lenders who serve underserved communities.



Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program

SBA has announced that for loans approved starting the week of April 6, 2021, the maximum loan amount will be increased to $500,000. For loans approved prior to the week of April 6, 2021, please click here for information from SBA on loan increases.

The SBA is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses and non-profit organizations that are suffering substantial economic injury as a result of COVID-19. These loans may be used to pay debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact, and that are not already covered by a Paycheck Protection Program loan. The interest rate is 3.75% for small businesses and 2.75% for non-profits. The first payment is deferred for one year. Applicants must be physically located in the U.S. or designated territory and suffered working capital losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, not due to a downturn in the economy or other reasons. Eligible applicants include the following:

• Businesses with 500 or fewer employees or defined as small per SBA.gov/SizeStandards
• Cooperatives with 500 or fewer employees
• Agricultural enterprises with 500 or fewer employees
• Most private nonprofits
• Faith-based organizations
• Sole proprietorships and independent contractors

The deadline to apply for this program has been extended to December 31, 2021. The SBA has also extended deferment periods for all disaster loans including EIDL until 2022. All SBA disaster loans made in calendar year 2020, including COVID-19 EIDL, will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 24-months from the date of the note. All SBA disaster loans made in calendar year 2021, including COVID-19 EIDL, will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 18-months from the date of the note. For more information and the application, please click here to go to the SBA’s website.

Back to Business Grant Program Overview

As part of Governor JB Pritzker’s overall economic recovery strategy, the $250 million Back to Business (B2B) grant program aims to deploy small businesses recovery grants for those hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Website

Mitigation Guidelines for  Region 5

IDHP - Health Resources and State-wide Interactive Map

IL Small Business COVID-19 Relief Program - The Business Invest - Illinois Small Business COVID-19 Relief Program (“Program”) is an impact investment loan program under which the State Treasurer has made up to $500 million in deposits available to banks and credit unions throughout the state, at near-zero rates, to assist Illinois small business and non-profits negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this funding is to provide vital economic support to small businesses and non-profits throughout Illinois to help overcome the loss of revenue they are experiencing.  Official Website

Charitable Trust – Helping Small Nonprofits Across Illinois - The Charitable Trust Stabilization Fund (“Fund”) was created in 2007 to help small non-profits across Illinois. Money for the Fund comes from the filing fees not-for-profit organizations pay to incorporate with the State of Illinois. The program is funded by non-profits and exists to support non-profits.   Official Website

Illinois Department of Employment Security

IDES is working with organizations in Illinois to assist their teams and/or clients in applying for Unemployment Insurance, navigating illinoisjoblink.com, creating resumes for our database, and more.

• Discover Apprenticeships
• IllinoisJobLInk.com Information
• RE-Entry Employment Services Program
• IllinoisJobLink.com Brochure
• Unemployment Programs Cheat Sheet

For More Information, please contact:

Molly Looby, MPA '21

Advanced Unemployment Insurance Advocate - Southern Region

Illinois Department of Employment Security

(312) 793-9776

Molly.Looby@illinois.gov

The Office of Community Development hosted their 2021 CDBG virtual workshops earlier this month. The 2021 Guidebooks and recordings of the workshops will be available on our website in the next two weeks. However, communities can review the 2020 guidebooks that are currently posted as there will be minimal changes with the 2021 guidebooks. The Application Deadline has been set for Tuesday, August 3rd for both the Housing Rehabilitation and Public Infrastructure programs. DCEO Team RED will be doing some webinars highlighting these programs in the upcoming weeks. Those webinars are noted below under the Upcoming Webinars.

Our mission is to support and maintain a climate that enables a strong economy for our customers - taxpayers, businesses, workers and communities - by keeping, attracting and growing businesses, maintaining a skilled workforce, and enhancing communities so that the climate here is one in which businesses, small and large, and workers, can succeed to the greatest extent possible.   Official Website  &  Available Grants

Team RED (Regional Economic Development Team)  Team RED will be hosting numerous program webinars in addition to those noted above over the next few weeks. Please join us and learn about these programs. While different team members from around the state are hosting the webinars, they are open to anyone to attend. You can view the full list of upcoming events on our website here.

Minority-Owned Business Capital and Infrastructure Program  - The Office of Minority Economic Empowerment (OMEE) is committed to providing minority-, women-, persons with disabilities and veteran-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs across the state with equitable access to opportunities and resources. Through dynamic partnerships, targeted outreach, and tailored programs and initiatives, OMEE aims to create an inclusive business ecosystem for communities that have traditionally faced systemic barriers to entry and growth. This investment spurs local economic development in underserved areas resulting in a revitalized and thriving Illinois economy. OMEE is gathering contact and business information for an internal database to support our businesses and stakeholders more effectively. Please click here to update your information with us. Feel free to reach us at ceo.omee@illinois.gov with any questions. You can find more information about OMEE including programs they are hosting on their webpage here. 

Local CURE Support Program

Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency (Local CURE) Support Program: DCEO is continuing to work with our communities across the state to submit their reimbursable expenses related to COVID-19. It’s not too late to submit expenses. The deadline to submit reimbursable costs has been extended to January 31, 2022. DCEO has posted information on our website here. The website also has some good Q&A documents that can help with determining if an expense is eligible for reimbursement. Additional guidance has been released on Substantially Dedicated Payroll and Claiming the Costs of Implementing CDC Guidance for Public Employees and within Public Spaces or Facilities. Check out these new documents and other guidance here. If you have not been able to access the portal or have not received the access email, please send a message to our partner, Crowe, at LocalCURE@crowe.com and they will be able to assist you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You have other questions you can send them to LocalCURE@crowe.com and we will get back to you.

PC’s for People Partnership

Through a first-of-its-kind collaboration by the State of Illinois, PCs for People and various community partners, Illinois has launched a statewide network that will receive, refurbish and redistribute used computers to those in need. This initiative responds to the 1.1 million Illinois households currently without computers and aims to bridge the digital divide for those without internet access to help improve connectivity essential for remote learning, work from home, telemedicine, and other requirements of everyday life. To source the network with newly refurbished computer devices, the State of Illinois is working with private and philanthropic partners to build a pipeline for Illinois households in need. For more information, click here.

If you are interested in donating equipment to this program, PCs for People will accept any and all used computer equipment, redistributing what it can refurbish and recycling what it cannot refurbish. PCs for People is NAID AAA and R2 certified, requiring the non-for-profit to practice the highest standards of information destruction, hard drive sanitization, and environmental computer device recycling along with a zero-landfill policy. If your entity is undertaking a pc refresh or you know of an entity that is looking to undertake one and would be interested in donating to this program, please let me know and we’ll help make the connection to PC’s for People.

IDOT Announces funding for Public Ports

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced $110 million in funding from the bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan is available to improve public ports across the state of Illinois. The Department is seeking project proposals to improve public ports and help modernize and revitalize the state’s marine transportation system. Applications are due June 11 to be eligible for a total of $110 million in funding to be released later this year. All 19 public port districts in Illinois are eligible to apply. Application information is available by clicking here or visiting IDOT’s Illinois Long-Range Transportation Plan page. Awards are anticipated to be announced later this year.

The Port Facilities Capital Investment Grant Program coincides with the release of IDOT’s new Illinois Marine Transportation System Plan, which determined the state’s ports create $36 billion in economic activity annually and support 160,000 jobs. Grant proposals will be evaluated on their ability to advance the plan’s goals and objectives, which prioritize asset management performance-based decisions and projects that benefit disadvantaged or economically distressed areas.