Illinois Announces $175M in B2B Grant Funding

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (IDCEO) on March 21 announced that $175 million in new Back to Business (B2B) grant funding will be available starting April 5 and running through May 10.

This round of B2B funding includes $50 million for restaurant grants of $5,000 to $50,000, $75 million for hotel grants of up to $1,500 per room and $50 million in creative arts grants of $5,000 to $250,000.

Funding was authorized by the Illinois General Assembly via the Restaurant Employment and Stabilization Grant Program, Hotel Jobs Recovery Grant Program and Illinois Creative Recovery Grant Program, appropriated from the state’s federal relief monies.

Through the state’s B2B and Business Interruption Grant (BIG) Programs, IDCEO has provided more than $535M in grants to more than 15,000 businesses since the start of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

All applying restaurants, hotels and creative arts businesses meeting eligibility requirements and submitting proper documentation and program-required attestations will receive a grant.

The restaurants category, which covers restaurants, taverns, bars, caterers, breweries and wineries, allows flexible spending to support losses.

Restaurants that received federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding are eligible, unless they also received any prior state funding relief (B2B, BIG or Restaurant Revitalization Fund) or more than $10,000 in local funding.

The hotels category, which covers hotels, motels, inns and lodging sites, allows 80 percent for payroll-related costs and 20 percent for flexible spending.

The amount of state and local grants received will be deducted from hotel grants.

The creative arts category, which covers preforming and presenting arts, theaters, museums, cultural heritage organizations and arts education, allows flexible spending to support losses.

Creative arts grants are based only on Fiscal Year 2021 losses for applicants that received prior state funding (BIG or B2B).