The State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) released application information for the Back to Business (B2B) Grant. The overview of the program can be found HERE. Applications can be submitted starting Wednesday, August 18 and will remain open until October 11, 2021 or until funding runs out. And we are here to help you with this process!
Eligibility Requirements:
- Must be a small business in Illinois with an annual revenue of no more than $20 million in 2019
- Must have experienced a drop in revenue from 2019 to 2020 of at least $5,000 due to COVID-19
- Must have been operating during or before December 2019
- Be able to provide the following documents
- Copy of 2019 and 2020 federal tax filings
- Signed W-9
- Business owner's ID
- One monthly business bank statement from March to December 2020 that reflects operational expenses
Priority Categories:
- Businesses located in Disproportionally Impacted Areas (DIA)
- Businesses that applied for a BIG but did not receive due to lack of funding
- Hotels
- Restaurants that did not receive RRF
- Arts businesses and organizations
- Annual revenue less than $5 million in 2019
- Has not received previous government relief (i.e. PPP or BIG)
Grant size will be determined as 1/6 of the decline in gross receipts from 2019-2020 according to your federal tax return. Awards will be rounded up to the nearest $5,000 and can range in size from $5,000 to $150,000.
The City of Pontiac is partnering with Illinois Main Street as a Community Navigator Spoke to help answer your questions and provide assistance during this grant application process. We strongly encourage all of our eligible businesses to apply. We are happy to answer any questions you may have; give us a call at 815-844-5847 or email us.
Share with a friend!
Please feel free to forward this email and information along to any fellow small business owner in Pontiac that you feel might benefit!
