COVID-19 Resources

Restore Illinois is about saving lives and livelihoods. This five-phased plan will reopen our state, guided by health metrics and with distinct business, education, and recreation activities characterizing each phase. This framework will likely be updated as research and science develop and as the potential for treatments or vaccines is realized. The plan is based upon regional healthcare availability, and it recognizes the distinct impact COVID-19 has had on different regions of our state as well as regional variations in hospital capacity.

Mclean County falls into Region 2 of the Restore Illinois Plan. As of Monday, January 25th our region is in Phase 4 of the plan. These updates to gatherings & businesses include:

Restaurants & Bars

• Indoor dining and drinking now permitted for parties of up to 10 people
• Seated areas should be arranged so that tables allow for 6 feet between parties; impermeable barriers may be installed between booths which are less than 6 feet apart

Retail & Service Counter

• Continue capacity limit of no more than 50% occupancy

Personal Care

• Continue capacity limit of no more than 50% occupancy

Indoor/Outdoor Recreation

• Reopening select indoor recreation facilities (e.g., bowling alleys, skating rinks); indoor playgrounds and trampoline parks should remain closed
• Indoor recreation to operate at lesser of 50 customers or 50% of facility capacity

Museums

• Capacity limit of no more than 25% occupancy
• Guided tours should be limited to 50 or fewer people per group

Meetings & Social Events

• Limit to the lesser of 50 people or 50% of room capacity
• Multiple groups may meet in the same facility if they are socially distanced and in separate rooms

Additional Resources

• Current Mitigation Status for All Regions & Regional Metrics
• Tier 1 Resurgence Mitigations Requirements: Expanded definition for bars & restaurants, gatherings, and other organized recreational activities

Paycheck Protection Program

• PPP loans have an interest rate of 1%.

• Loans issued prior to June 5 have a maturity of 2 years. Loans issued after June 5 have a maturity of 5 years.

• 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).

• No collateral or personal guarantees are required.

• Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees.

Download this informative PDF for more information.

 

Recent PPP Updates
The Biden administration just announced major changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), aimed at extending aid to minority-owned businesses and to the nation’s smallest firms. Only businesses with fewer than 20 employees will be able to apply for PPP funds through March 9. The administration is also making other changes that could impact small businesses’ access to pandemic relief.

The White House's National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti joined U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley and CO— Content Director Jeanette Mulvey to provide firsthand insights for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees.

Learn More Here
 

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.
     

Learn More Here

 

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.
   

Learn More Here

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.

• McLean County residents with questions about the coronavirus can call the McLean County Health Department's call center at (309) 888-5600. The call center is open from 9 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday. You can also email questions to health@mcleancountyil.gov.

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!

Download Here

The McLean County Chamber of Commerce is providing all businesses with a guide on Reopening Your Business in the Age of COVID-19. This toolkit will help you navigate the new normal and ensure the safety of our community, providing guidance to safely serve your customers and accommodate your employees.

Download Here

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:

#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.

Visit BN Prepared