Gov. J.B. Pritzker
Gov. J.B. Pritzker
Despite boasting reserves of $100 million, the city of Chicago’s Small Business Resiliency Fund has only had a limited impact in its early days.
According to Chicago Business, during the first 10 days of accepting applications in early April, organizers had approved only 10 of the roughly 7,000 loan requests it had received since March 31.
“We’re going through them as quickly as possible,” Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection spokesman Isaac Reichman told Chicago Business.
Through the program, small businesses are eligible for five-year loans of up $50,000 with interest rates of just 1% over the first 18-months and 5.75% thereafter. To apply, businesses must be located in Chicago and have been in operation for at least a year.
In addition, establishments must be able to show that revenues at their business dropped by at least 25% due to the coronavirus pandemic. To be considered a small business, establishments must have fewer than 50 employees and annual revenue of less than $3 million.
The statewide stay-at-home order enacted by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on March 20 has forced countless businesses to close and caused others to greatly limit operations.
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