Illinois State Senate District 41 issued the following announcement on Sept. 16.
The second round of the Business Interruption Grant (BIG) Program is now open. These grants will be available to all small businesses statewide that experienced losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The application is available on the DCEO website here to review. On the afternoon of September 17th, DCEO will begin to accept applications. Grants will be awarded and funded on a rolling basis until funding is depleted.
Funding for this round is approximately $200 million, with more than half of the funds earmarked for businesses downstate. Of this funding, $70 million will be invested in Disproportionately Impacted Areas (DIAs) and $60 million in heavily impacted industries. A map of the DIAs can be found on the DCEO website. The heavily impacted industries are defined as having annual revenues of $10 million or less and have been close or operating at a very diminished capacity since mid-March and are likely to continue to do so until Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois Plan. These industries include the following:
Event spaces
Music venues
Performing arts venues
Indoor recreation
Amusement parks
Movie theaters
Museums
Charter/shuttle buses
While these priority areas are part of the program, the BIG program is open to all eligible businesses (for profit and nonprofit) with $20 million or less in annual revenue in 2019 and experienced losses due to COVID-19. The grant size will be equivalent to two months of expenses. DCEO will be hosting a series of webinars regarding this program.
Original source can be found here.
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