Illinois announces first $24 million in ‘Back to Business’ grants
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[October 01, 2021]
By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker’s
administration on Thursday announced the awarding of the first $24
million in “Back to Business” grants, a program funded with federal
relief aid to help businesses recover and reopen from the pandemic.
The announcement took place at a Mexican restaurant in the Little
Village neighborhood of Chicago, Mi Tierra en la Villita, which was
awarded a $150,000 grant.
“This is a tremendous blessing. Like many businesses in our community,
we have faced hard times during the pandemic,” said Priscilla Fuentes,
whose father owns the restaurant. “My dad, Ezequiel Fuentes, had cut
into his personal savings when the pandemic first hit. At times, we
barely broke even. But we always felt committed to delivering the food
and service our community counts on.”
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The Back to Business, or B2B grant program, administered through the
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, will provide a total of
$250 million in aid to small businesses that have experienced losses
during the pandemic. The funds come from the federal American Rescue
Plan Act and can be used for such things as rehiring staff and paying
other operating expenses.
Grant amounts can range from $5,000 to $150,000, depending on the amount
of losses a business experienced. Preference is given to businesses with
$5 million or less in annual revenue as well as those that did not
receive funding under the previous Business Interruption Grant, or BIG
program.
“After the success of last year's Business Interruption Grants, which
provided $290 million in relief to over 9,000 small businesses across
our state, it was clear that these investments have had a big impact,”
Pritzker said.
Applications for the remaining funds will remain open through Oct. 13.
More information about the program and a link to an online application
form can be found on the DCEO website.
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![](../images/100121PIX/news_v41.jpg)
Gov. JB Pritzker announces that the distribution of
the first $24 million in Back to Business, or B2B, grants during a
news conference at a restaurant in the Little Village neighborhood
of Chicago. (Credit: Blueroomstream.com)
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Of the grants announced Thursday, 81 percent went to
businesses that applied to the BIG program but did not receive
funding; 71 percent went to businesses in disproportionately
impacted areas or low-income zip codes that experienced high rates
of COVID-19; 66 percent went to hard-hit industries such as
restaurants and taverns, hotels, arts organizations and salons; and
just over half went to minority-owned businesses.
To encourage more businesses to apply, Sylvia Garcia, acting
director of DCEO, said the agency has recruited a network of
“navigators” to help steer businesses through the application
process.
“We have teamed up with community groups like Little Village Chamber
of Commerce and the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and over
100 other community partners to make sure that we're going
door-to-door providing one-on-one technical assistance and really
getting the support to anyone who needs it to apply for this
program,” she said.
She said the community navigators are “instrumental to our equity
efforts and connecting with the people who need it most – people of
color, rural communities and others that are hard to reach – and
making sure this relief goes to those that were hardest hit and
those that need the help the most.”
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
news service covering state government and distributed to more than
400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois
Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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