City Awards $5,000 COVID-19 Recovery Grants To 959 Microbusinesses
CHICAGO (CBS) -- City officials are providing $5,000 grants to nearly 1,000 so-called "microbusinesses" in Chicago in an effort to help them survive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $5 million Microbusiness Recovery Grant Program awarded the grants to 959 businesses that employ fewer than five people in 36 designated low- and moderate-income communities.
"Throughout the unprecedented and urgent COVID-19 crisis, this City has been working each and every day to ensure we fulfill our fundamental obligation to support Chicago's smallest businesses so that they can continue to hire in and build wealth in our neighborhoods," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. "From family-owned coffee shops to mom-and-pop retail stores, our microbusinesses are the beating heart of our communities and local economy."
The city accepted applications for the grants from April 28 through May 4. More than 4,500 businesses applied. The mayor's office said the winners were chosen through a lottery system.
"I want to thank Mayor Lightfoot for recognizing that neighborhood businesses like ours can act as community anchors for local residents," said William Ball, owner of Abundance Bakery. "While we are still weathering this storm, it's supports like these that will give our 29-year-old business the resiliency to get back on our feet and lay the foundation for a strong and speedy recovery."
To be eligible, businesses must have four or fewer employees, less than $250,000 in annual revenue, and experienced at least a 25% drop in revenue due to the COVID-19 crisis. Eligible businesses also must have been open for at least a year, and be located in low- or moderate-income areas of the city, defined as any Community Area with at least 65% low- or moderate-income individuals.
According to the mayor's office, more than two-thirds of the microbusinesses receiving the grants did not get any other emergency funding during the pandemic.
"Small and micro businesses operating in low-income areas are the heart of their communities and we know that many of these businesses have been left out of other emergency funding options," said Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Rosa Escareno. "It was important to us to build a program that filled those gaps and I am proud of the relief that we have delivered to nearly 1,000 businesses."
The city said more than 55% of the businesses receiving grants are owned by women, 45% are owned by African-Americans, and 34% are Latinx-owned.
The program was funded by donations to the Chicago Community Trust in collaboration with the One Chicago Fund. Nonprofit agencies Accion Serving Illinois and Indiana, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Chicago Urban League, SomerCor, and Women's Business Development Center helped administer the grants, and a portion of the $5 million fund was used to help cover their costs.
