City of Jacksonville offers nearly $400,000 in small business relief through December 28

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Thanks to a grant program being offered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, specific businesses located within the City of Jacksonville may be eligible to receive assistance up to $10,000.

Funded through the Local CURE Economic Support Payments Grant Program, the City of Jacksonville will provide economic support payments to qualified, brick-and-mortar businesses located within the city that have experienced interruption of business attributable to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

“When I learned that funding to help our small businesses was available to our region of the state, I consulted with our city treasurer and city clerk, and we agreed it was important for the health of our small businesses to apply for this funding,” explained City of Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard. “The city will provide the initial funding for our small businesses through our reserves, and then be reimbursed by the state.”

Businesses eligible to apply are Jacksonville restaurants, bars, indoor recreation or event-related businesses that have experienced at least a 25 percent decrease in revenue from March 1, 2020, to December 30, 2020. These small businesses must be able to demonstrate the loss of revenue due to the pandemic or mitigation efforts, and are required to spend the proceeds to reimburse costs related to payroll, mortgage or rent, utilities or expenditures accrued to make the business safe for its employees and customers, including personal protective equipment and e-commerce technology. In addition, the business cannot have received Business Interruption Grant (BIG) funding to be eligible for the assistance program.

“The turnaround for the program is swift with applications due by the end of business on December 28,” said Ezard. “However, we will award the funding equally as fast, with award announcements being made by the end of the calendar year. This funding is coming through at a very critical time for our small businesses.”

Business owners can download applications with complete details for the City of Jacksonville’s Economic Support Program at www.jacksonvilleil.com. Direct specific questions the Office of the Jacksonville City Treasurer at 217.479.3512 or mhall@jacksonvilleil.gov. The City of Jacksonville collaborated with the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce and Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation to launch this small business assistance program.

Download the program information and application here.

Download the PDF Press Release here.