Below you'll find a collection of local, state, and federal resources to help your business during this crucial time. For additional resources or to have your specific questions answered, look to our upcoming programs or contact the Chamber.
Mclean County falls into Region 2 of the Restore Illinois Plan. As of Sunday, January 17th our region is in Tier 1 Mitigations, under Phase 4 of the plan. These updates to gatherings & businesses include:
- Bars and restaurants: indoor dining allowed; limited to 25 persons per room or 25% of occupancy; maximum table size of 4; no indoor service if not serving food
- Hotels: Open under Phase 4 guidelines
- Fitness: Open under Phase 4 guidelines
- Gatherings: 25 people or 25% of overall capacity
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Organized recreation: Allowed under Phase 4 guidelines
Additional Resources
Paycheck Protection Program
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PPP loans have an interest rate of 1%.
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Loans issued prior to June 5 have a maturity of 2 years. Loans issued after June 5 have a maturity of 5 years.
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Loan payments will be deferred for borrowers who apply for loan forgiveness until SBA remits the borrower's loan forgiveness amount to the lender. If a borrower does not apply for loan forgiveness, payments are deferred 10 months after the end of the covered period for the borrower’s loan forgiveness (either 8 weeks or 24 weeks).
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No collateral or personal guarantees are required.
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Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees.
McLean County Recovery Loans
- Recovery Loan
- The McLean County Board has allocated $300,000 for the Recovery Loan program. The Recovery Loan is a 1% gap loan up to $20,000 (20% of total loan) for nonresidential for-profit businesses under 50 employees in McLean County. The loan requires a partnership from a bank to cover the other 80% of the loan.
- Micro-Bridge Loan
- The McLean County Board has allocated $300,000 for the Micro-Bridge Loan program. The Micro-Bridge Loan is a 1% bridge loan up to $5,000 for nonresidential for-profit businesses under 10 employees in McLean County. The loan requires a support letter from a lender.
- The McLean County Board has allocated $300,000 for the Micro-Bridge Loan program. The Micro-Bridge Loan is a 1% bridge loan up to $5,000 for nonresidential for-profit businesses under 10 employees in McLean County. The loan requires a support letter from a lender.
City of Bloomington Small Business Assistance Grant Program
The second round of The City of Bloomington's CDBG-CV Small Business Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 to assist small businesses located within the City of Bloomington in preventing, preparing for, and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible small businesses may request reimbursement for business expenses incurred during the period of January 21, 2020, through March 31, 2021. Qualifying expenses include:
- Rent / Mortgage Payments
- Utilities (Electric, Natural Gas, Water, Internet, Telephone, etc.)
- Personal Protective Equipment and other COVID-19 related costs
Eligible Businesses Include:
- Must be restaurants which prepare and sell food either for on-premise or off-premise consumption, OR
- Must have been deemed by the State of Illinois as a “non-essential” business which was required to “cease all activities except for minimum basic operations” by Illinois Executive Order 20-10.
- More information regarding “essential” vs. “non-essential” business classifications can be found here.
Main Street America: "At Your Side" Small Business Grant Program
- The applicant must be located in an Accredited or Affiliate Main Street America community or UrbanMain commercial corridor. This list is available here.
- The applicant must be a for-profit business. 501c3 and 501c6 entities are not eligible. The applicant must be a business entity in good standing in the state in which it was formed and the state in which it does business.
- The applicant must operate a “brick and mortar” storefront located in an older or historic downtown or neighborhood commercial district.
- The applicant must employ less than 20 full-time employees.
- The applicant must be an owner of the business.
- The applicant must be at least age 18 years or older.
If you have questions about your eligibility, please email atyourside@savingplaces.org.
McLean County Health Department
- You can find a list of available testing sites in McLean County here.
- Keep up to date on vaccine information for our community here.
Illinois Department of Public Health
- Workplace Health and Safety Guidance for Employees and Staff of Businesses
- Guidance For Employers and Employees on Workers' Rights and Safety
Center for Disease Control & Prevention
- The CDC provides workplace guidance and strategies to prevent and reduce transmission and maintain healthy business operations and work environments. Learn more here.
This 29-page document contains ready to print posters for you to use at your business!
The Chamber is carefully watching mitigation measures in our region. In-person events will resume when safety and recommendations allow.
COVID-19 Program & Meeting Procedure
For the health and safety of our staff, members, and the McLean County community, the Chamber will be implementing the following procedures at events and ribbon-cutting ceremonies:
| Chamber Events & Functions | Ribbon-cutting Ceremonies |
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Upon entering an indoor, Chamber sponsored event or meeting attendees will be required to:
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#CommUNITYConfident
#commUNITYConfident encourages local businesses to protect the health and safety of customers and employees by adhering to guidelines recommended by the CDC, Illinois Dept. of Public Health, and the McLean County Health Department. Businesses and organizations throughout McLean County are "taking the pledge" to follow these guidelines and help our community safe.
Learn More
BN Prepared
With new content & resources daily, BNPrepared.org is there for you, your family, local businesses, & all community members to help with COVID-19.
