DCEO Weekly Update

April 15, 2024

Here is the weekly update on funding opportunities per the request of the Latinx Business Colectivo – Funding Opportunities working group.

**To help differentiate between resources I have sent previously and ‘new ones’ (resources I haven’t emailed about) I will highlight the new ones in yellow. Hope that helps.**

THANK YOU- to Cindy Patino from Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA) who continues to share with me some resources she is aware of that can be shared with the entire group. Thank you Cindy for sharing resources again! If anyone else knows of resources that can be shared with the group, feel free to share those with me.

Funding Opportunities: 

• DCEO (few highlighted below)
  • Tourism Incentive Grant Program 
    • Eligibility includes:
      • Unit of local government
      • Local promotion group,
      • Not-for-profit organization;
      • For-profit organization;
      • Convention center authority
    • Award Range: $50,000 - $5,000,000
    • Deadline: Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 5:00PM

• Illinois Grocery Initiative - New Stores in Food Deserts Program
  • Eligibility includes:
    • “Eligibility for this program will be constrained by geographic location, characteristics of prospective store ownership, and the intended offerings of the store.”
    • “Grants will be limited to projects that will result in a new grocery store establishment in a food desert census tract.”
    • “This grant opportunity will be limited to the following types of entities:
      • Units of local government
      • Independent grocers or cooperatives with fewer than 500 employees and no more than four grocery locations. This includes for-profit and nonprofit entities.”
    • For more information on the criteria, read the NOFO pages 2-3
  • Award Range: $160,000 - $2,400,000
  • Deadline: May 24, 2024 at 5:00pm
•  
  • Equitable Energy Future Grant Program
    • Eligibility includes:
      • “Equity Eligible Contractors, per the definition in the Illinois Power Agency Act”
      • “An Illinois business or nonprofit or cooperative organization that meets the equity building criteria in paragraph (9.5) of subsection (g) of Section 8-103B of the Public Utilities Act”
      • Please read the NOFO for full criteria, pages 4-5
    • Award Range: $250,000 - $1,000,000
    • Deadline: June 30, 2024 at 5:00PM
• 
  
  • For a complete list of DCEO grants, please visit our website. Please note there are several due June 2024 that I didn’t list in case you want to go to our website and review those now.

• Cannabis Social Equity Loan Program - Direct Forgivable Loan
  • Eligibility: Current round of the Cannabis Social Equity Direct Forgivable Loan Program is only open for social equity Adult-Use Dispensing organizations who were issued a Conditional Adult-Use Dispensary License (284.XXXXX-CL) or Adult-Use Dispensary License (284.XXXXXX-AUDO) prior to calendar year 2023 from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR
  • Loan Range: approximately 40‐50 loans with a principal amount of up to $240,000
  • Deadline: Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.
• 
  
  • Illinois Works Bid Credit Program
    • Eligibility: “Contractors or subcontractors that employ apprentices that have completed the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program on any project (stated or privately funded) are eligible to earn bid credits they can use to make their bids for future state-funded public works projects more competitive.”
    • Bid Credit Range: varies, here is more info on bid credits

• Additional State of Illinois Entities

• Restore, Reinvest, and Renew Notice of Funding Opportunity Service Delivery NOFO # 2378-030124
  • Eligibility: “A single organization applicant must be an organization certified by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, a local unit of government, a faith-based organization determined to be tax-exempt by the IRS, a local business, or a community or neighborhood organization that does not have 501(c)(3) status” See the NOFO for more criteria, pages 23-25.
  • Award Range: Based on Applicant Tier and Funding Region, see NOFO for more info
  • Deadline: April 30, 2024 by 2:00p.m. 
• 
  
• Local Governments

• Village of Mundelein - STAR Business Grant Pilot Program
  • Description: “The ST.A.R. Business Grant Program is intended to help businesses overcome hardships and needs that they could otherwise not undertake without financial assistance”
  • Award Range: up to $5,000
  • Deadline: April 30, 2024
•  
  • City of Peoria - Commercial Renovation Grant Program
    • Description: “The program is a grant designed to assist small businesses throughout the City, providing business owners the opportunity to reinvest in their businesses and/or properties.”
    • Award Range: $5,000 and $25,000
    • Deadline: Friday, May 10, 2024

• Private/Community Resources 

• Kane County Manufacturing Grant Program from IMEC 
  • Description: Open to manufacturing businesses located in Kane County 
•  
  • Request for Proposals from Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL - Concrete Pathway Repair & Replacement
    • Description: “Lincoln Park Zoo is seeking an experienced paving, construction or general contractor firm to repair and replace various sections of concrete pathways around Lincoln Park Zoo”
    • Deadline: April 15, 2024
•  
  • Kitty Fund Mompreneur Business Grant
    • Eligibility: Open to Mother owned businesses across the country, with employees between 2-100, and business annual revenue does not exceed $5M
    • Award Range: $1,000 micro grants
    • Deadline: April 16, 2024

• Whole Foods Local and Emerging Accelerator Program (LEAP)
  • Description: Small businesses not already working with Whole Foods. It is a six month program. “Participants benefit from the mentorship of Whole Foods Market experts, tailored educational programs and the potential for direct financial support.”
  • Deadline: April 19, 2024

• Small Business Growth Initiative Grant (SBGI)
  • Eligibility: Open to businesses in Waukegan. 8 businesses will be selected for a grant and a 4 month business training cohort. 
  • Award Range: $30,000
  • Deadline: April 22, 2024
•  
  • Request for Proposal (RFP) for Scale Service Repair, Bi-Annual Calibrations and Scale Purchasing (Brookfield Zoo)
    • Description: “The Chicago Zoological Society (CZS) is soliciting proposals to provide scale repair, support, service and bi-annual calibrations on all scales used throughout the entire Animal Care department”
    • Deadline: April 22, 2024
•  
  • Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP)
    • Eligibility: “grants to community-based and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to fund the development of programs connecting volunteer financial planners to individuals and families in crisis or need”
    • Award Range: $5,000 – $40,000
    • Deadline: April 30, 2024
• 
  
  • Cadence Cash Thrive Grant
    • Eligibility: Open nationwide to businesses that generate at least $35,000 annually in revenue and business has an impact in the community. 
    • Award Range: $5,000 grant
    • Deadline: April 30, 2024
•  
  • Main Street Grants
    • Description: “Small and medium-sized businesses [and nonprofits] located in the following neighborhoods are invited to apply for Main Street Grants: Bronzeville, Greater Englewood, North Lawndale, Pilsen/Little Village, and South Shore. Note, Allstate Foundation is partnering with the following organizations to administer the Main Street Grants: Build Bronzeville, Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, Greater Englewood Community Development Corporation, South Shore Chamber Community Development Corporation, and Women's Business Development Center. 
    • Award Range: $1,500 - $25,000
    • Deadline: April 30, 2024

• Giving Joy Grant (Spring Grant Round)
  • Description: “Giving Joy grants are one-time micro grants. Women ages 18 and up from any country in the world are eligible to apply.”
  • Award Range: $250 to $500
  • Deadline: April 30, 2024

• Chicago Vibrant Neighborhood Collective
  • Description: “open for community-based organizations [501(c)3] to receive free, customized capacity building services” in the following Chicago neighborhoods: Austin, Brighton Park, East Garfield Park, Gage Park, Roseland, and West Garfield Park
  • Deadline: April 30, 2024

• 2024 Halstead Grant
  • Description: “The Halstead Grant is an annual award for emerging silver jewelry artists. Applicants submit answers to 15 business questions in addition to their design portfolios. The experience is designed to help jewelry entrepreneurs create a strategy to kick-start their careers.”
  • Award Range: “The grand prize is a $7,500 cash grant plus other benefits”
  • Deadline: May 1, 2024
•  
  • PepsiCo: Greenhouse Accelerator Program Juntos Crecemos
    • Eligibility: Open nationwide, “…a five-month, mentor-guided program to support the acceleration of emerging Hispanic food and beverages innovations that are transforming the way consumers live their lives”
    • Award Range: Finalists will receive $20,000 and winner will receive $100,000
    • Deadline: May 6, 2024
•  
  • Bid - Upgrade Patio Fencing, Madden Mental Health Center - Hines, Cook County
    • Description: The Capital Development Board is soliciting bids to upgrade patio fencing at Madden Mental Health Center. 
    • Deadline: May 14, 2024 at 11am
•  
  • 2024 Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant
    • Description: Open nationwide to arts writers who are at least 25 years old by October 1st, applying for a project about contemporary visual art. See grant for further criteria.
    • Award Range: $15,000 to $50,000
    • Deadline: May 15, 2024
•  
  • A Road Together (ART)
    • Description: “the Field Foundation, in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation, launched A Road Together (ART), a new grantmaking program designed specifically for small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations with annual operating budgets up to $1 million and with a strong commitment to equity that are reflective and inclusive of Chicago’s diverse and historically underserved communities.”
    • Deadline: May 17, 2024, portal now open
•  
  • 2024 Ignite Fund
    • Description: “grants for community centered, public-facing visual arts projects that represent experimental, unconventional, and accessible practices by Chicago-area artists and artist-led collectives.” Individual artists and artist-led collectives are eligible to apply. 
    • Award Range: $6,000
    • Deadline: May 29, 2024
•  
  • We Rise Together Grant 
    • Description: “The program will connect vacant property owners with entrepreneurs in Auburn Gresham, Austin, Back of the Yards, Englewood, Gage Park, North Lawndale, South Lawndale, South Shore, Washington Park, and West Lawn. The program will also provide small business owners with funding to help them transition into brick-and-mortar spaces.”
    • Award Range: up to $12,500
    • Deadline: May 31, 2024

• Jobber Grants
  • Eligibility: “Any home service business owner or aspiring business owner 18 years old or older, residing in the U.S. and Canada, excluding Québec.”
  • Award Range: $10,000
  • Deadline: June 12, 2024

Thank you and have a great week!

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Sincerely,

Diana

Diana Alfaro (she/her)

Latinx Business Development Manager

Office of Minority Economic Empowerment

Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity

Cell: 312-919-3620 Email: diana.alfaro@illinois.gov

Website: www.illinois.gov/dceo

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