Henry County Director of Economic Development Jim Kelly is getting the word out that Back 2 Business Grants from the state of Illinois are being handed out. In a release to the media on Tuesday, Kelly wrote:
Good afternoon Henry County Leadership, I am sharing with you the recent Illinois Back to Business Grant announcement from the Governor today. Please share with as many of the qualified businesses as possible quickly through all your communications channels. These will include restaurants, motels and creative arts. Please note that I am in partnership with Mercado on Fifth in Moline for these grants. They are willing to set up shop in the courthouse to help anyone with submitting applications. They are the designated community navigators for these grants and can cut right to the chase to submit. The portal for these grants will open on April 5th (probably at 8:00am) and run for 5 weeks. Please let me know if you have questions. Jim
For the Restaurant grants: Must be primarily operating as a properly licensed restaurant, tavern, brewpub, tasting room, taproom, caterer, brewery, microbrewery, winery, distillery, food truck or street vendor
For the hotel grants: Must be operating as a hotel, including but not limited to inns, motels, tourist homes or courts, lodging houses, rooming houses, retreat centers, conference centers, and hunting lodges
For the Arts: Must be operating in one of the following industries (details of which businesses meet these industry definitions are in the section below, “Detailed Eligible Industry Definitions”): a. Independent live venue operators
b. Performing or presenting arts
c. Arts education
d. Museum
e. Cultural heritage organization
As part of the Governor’s announcement $175 million dollars worth of grants will be available as part of the Back 2 Business grant program. Grant applications will be accepted from Wednesday April 5th, 2023 until Wednesday May 10th, 2023.
Illinois Hotel Jobs Recovery Grant Program (B2B Hotels)
$75 million available statewide
Illinois Creative Recovery Grant Program (B2B Arts)
$50 million available statewide
Illinois Restaurant Employment and Stabilization Grant Program (B2B Restaurants)
$50 Million available statewide
For more information, reach out to leaders of Mercado on Fifth via the emails below. You can set up a time with them to fill out and submit your grant application at the Henry County Courthouse.
Rock Island & Henry County Community Navigators
Greg Aguilar [email protected]
Yolanda Diaz [email protected]
