Naperville small businesses may be eligible for $5,000 grants under a new assistance program unveiled this week.
City officials announced that $100,000 will be available to local small businesses through the Small Business Assistance Grant program, intended to help businesses hurting from the pandemic and new restrictions on indoor services and gathering sizes.
Up to $5,000 will be granted to businesses that submit applications for consideration; a lottery system will determine grant recipients. The grant application period begins at noon Thursday and will continue until 5 p.m. Nov. 19.
“This new grant funding provides another form of support to our small businesses as they do their very best during these challenging times to stay afloat,” Mayor Steve Chirico said in a news release.
Grant recipients can use the award to cover payroll, rent/mortgage, personal protective equipment, and/or building modifications to comply with public health requirements, the news release said.
According to the grant requirements, applicants’ businesses must operate within city limits and have a valid city certificate of occupancy; applicants must be U.S. citizens or legal residents; employ 50 or fewer people; generated $2 million or less in revenue last year; and be able to document how the pandemic hurt them.
Applications that meet basic requirements will be evaluated based on need, ability to use funds for eligible expenses, and an ability to create or retain jobs, the release said.
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The City of Naperville is working with the Naperville Development Partnership and Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce on this project, the first pandemic-related grant program adopted in the city. The grants will be funded through Community Development Block Grant funds provided by the federal CARES Act.
City spokeswoman Linda LaCloche said this grant program continues the city’s efforts to assist restaurants, bars, and other businesses hurt by a pandemic and everything associated with the public health crisis.
For instance, the city placed a moratorium on utility shutoffs due to unpaid bills through Jan. 1. Meanwhile, establishments selling liquor and tobacco had a six-month reprieve on renewing their licenses.
“We think the timing on this is really good,” she said. “We were able to now come into November able to offer some assistance where businesses are seeing other resources dried up.”