COVID 19 – Disaster Relief: Chicago Small Business Resiliency Fund
For those small business in Chicago that have been economically impacted by COVID-19, a Fund has been set up by the City of Chicago for low interest loans for up to five years. To request further information regarding this Fund, click on the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/COVID19Chicago. Once completed, a representative will reach out to you and your business.
The Chicago Small Business Resiliency Fund
The City of Chicago recognizes that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has put a difficult burden on our small business community. As a response to this challenge, the City is establishing a $100 million Chicago Small Business Resiliency Fund, which will help to provide small businesses with emergency cash flow during this immediate health crisis. Funds will be provided to eligible businesses as low-interest loans that can be repaid over a term of up to five years.
The Fund is seeded through $25 million from the City of Chicago, $50 million from the Chicago Community Catalyst Fund, $10 million through Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, $1 million from Fifth Third, $250,000 from Clayco and $15 million from other sources. If you are a philanthropic institution or corporation interested in contributing to this fund, please submit your information to resiliency.funds@cityofchicago.org.
Loan applications will be administered through our Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) partners. Applications for the Chicago Small Business Resiliency Fund will begin to be accepted on March 31, 2020. More information about the partners who will be administering these loans will be provided before that date.
The loan terms will follow the guidelines below:
- Repayment Term: Low-interest loans for a term of up to five years.
- Loan Amount: Up to $50,000 but sized based on revenues before the COVID-19 outbreak.
- Loan Proceeds: Proceeds are required to be used for working capital.
- At least 50% of proceeds should be applied toward payroll and commitment to retain the workforce at 50% of pre-COVID-19 levels.
To be eligible, businesses must meet the following requirements:
- Suffered more than 25% revenue decrease due to COVID-19
- Employ fewer than 50 employees and have gross revenues of less than $3 million in 2019
- Provide a City business address or City business license
- No pre-existing tax liens or legal judgments
In addition, please be prepared to provide the following information:
- Bank statements dating back to October 2019
- Your most recent tax return
- Photo ID (CityKey will be accepted)