Kankakee Times

Illinois State House District 79 issued the following announcement on June 25

State Representative Lindsay Parkhurst (R-Kankakee) announced businesses in her 79th Legislative District are eligible to apply for Business Interruption Grants from Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).

There is $270 million in Business Interruption Grants (BIG) for Illinois businesses experiencing extreme hardship as a result of COVID-19 related closures. The first round of these grants distributes $20,000 grants to 4 types eligible businesses: bars and restaurants, fitness centers, barbershops and salons, and businesses in zip codes who experienced property damage from civil unrest.

Grant priority is given to small businesses heavily restricted or completely shut down during COVID and businesses located in Disproportionately Impacted Areas (DIAs) or low-income areas with high rates of COVID-19 cases.

“I urge local 79th District COVID affected business owners to apply immediately for this grant opportunity because it is a means for these businesses to recover and reopen,” said Rep. Parkhurst. “There are so many great small businesses here and I know they struggled to stay afloat these last few months under incredibly difficult circumstances.

Please contact my office if you want a Letter of Support. Again, I encourage all COVID affected local business owners to apply for this grant immediately as the first round of grants deadline is July 7th.”

Also, Rep. Parkhurst says please contact her office about this grant program for assistance by phone at (815) 523-7779.

Businesses not located in DIAs are still able to apply for the first three rounds of funding. The application process is open starting Friday, June 26th and closed Tuesday, July 7th. Here are links for information on the program; the application: https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/SmallBizAssistance/Documents/Application%20Questions%206.23.20.pdf, and zip code DIAs: https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/SmallBizAssistance/Documents/SeverelyImpactedDIAs_BIGRound1_062320.pdf.

Original source can be found here.