This grant is intended for lodging business (hotels, motels, etc.) that meet the following criteria:

• Must be an independently owned and operated for-profit corporation or limited liability corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship authorized to conduct business in the State of Illinois, or a nonprofit operating in Illinois and registered as a 501c organization.
• Must have begun operations prior to March 12, 2020 and maintain active operations in Illinois at time of application.
• Must be operating as a hotel, including but not limited to inns, motels, tourist homes or courts, lodging houses, rooming houses, retreat centers, conference centers, and hunting lodges.
• Short-term vacation rentals – such as those commonly listed via AirBnB or VRBO – are not eligible.
• A detailed description of eligibility requirements can be found here.

Applications open on April 5, 2023 and will close on May 10, 2023 at 11:59pm CT. Prior to the application period opening, we encourage prospective grantees to review the available information and seek support through our technical support help desk at ncrccdfgrants@submittable.com.

The program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocated to the State CURE Fund and appropriated by Public Act 102-0699 for the Illinois Restaurant Employment Stabilization Grant Program.

Program materials, the application, and technical assistance will be available prior to the launch of the application in the following languages: English, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

In order to review a high volume of applications, the State of Illinois enlisted the support of NCRC Community Development Fund (NCRC CDF) as a program administrator, which hosts the application portal, provides technical support, and helps review applications.

NCRC CDF is a non-profit community development financial institution and a mission-based lender working to help bridge the racial wealth divide in America’s underserved communities. NCRC CDF invests in affordable housing development and provides access to capital and business support services to Black, Latino, and low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs nationwide.

No. The program is open to hotel/motel establishments of all sizes.

Yes.

No. To be eligible for a grant from this program a business must have started and been in operation prior to March 12, 2020.

Yes. As long as the business is currently operational and the business was operational prior to March 12, 2020, a temporary closure does not affect the business’ eligibility. Permanently closed businesses, however, are not eligible.

Yes. Applicants/owners may apply for multiple businesses as long as they meet eligibility criteria.

No. Businesses or organizations principally engaged in teaching, instructing, counseling, or indoctrinating religion or religious beliefs, whether in a religious or secular setting, are not eligible for this program.

No. This grant program does not extend to hosts/operators of vacation or short-term rental units like those commonly listed on Airbnb or VRBO. You must pay Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax to be eligible.

No. Short-term vacation rentals – which are commonly listed on Airbnb or VRBO – are not eligible. However, if you are an eligible business type, such as a motel or hunting lodge, that happens to have listings on those websites, you are still eligible.

No. Applicants may only apply for one program and are only eligible to receive a grant from one of these programs.

• The grant award amount will be based on the number of rooms in the establishment.
• The grant program will provide hotels with up to $1,500 per room.
• Entities who have received funding through a prior round of B2B or Business Interruption Grants (BIG) will have the amount received from those previous grant programs deducted from their total.
• If the total number of rooms across all applications exceeds the funds available at $1,500 per room, the amount awarded per room will be adjusted to provide all applicants with funding.

• The funds must be spent within one year of receiving the award.
• 80 percent of funds must go toward payroll costs, including but not limited to wages, benefits, and employer contributions to employee healthcare costs.

No. Awards are state grants which do not need to be repaid.

DCEO has $75 million available through the B2B Hotels program. All eligible businesses that meet the criteria and submit all of the program documentation will receive funding.

Generally, yes, this would be considered taxable income. All awardees will receive a 1099 at the end of the tax year. However, qualifying grants are not subject to state business and occupation (B&O) tax, public utility tax, or retail sales tax.

Awardees must submit a written attestation within one year of receiving the grant that at least 80% of the funds were used for payroll costs, including but not limited to wages, benefits, and employer contributions to employee healthcare costs.

1. Government Issued ID | Driver License or Passport for business owner or authorized representative
2. FEIN | For the firm corporate entity

Yes. Small business owners may apply using their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Therefore, small business owners with tax IDs of nine digits and beginning with “9” are eligible for this grant program.

No, it must be valid and in current standing.

You can reach our technical support help desk at ncrccdfgrants@submittable.com.

Technical support will be available seven days a week from 8am to 8pm CT.

Downloadable translated PDFs of the application will be available in: Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. However, the application portal will be only available in English.

We ask that the application be completed in English, where possible, but we will accept applications submitted in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, or Vietnamese, as well.

Submittable is a company that offers application services for grant programs. NCRC CDF has partnered with Submittable to manage the application process and distribute awards.

If you do not currently have a Submittable account, you will be prompted to register prior to accessing the form. Submittable recommends using Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple Safari as browsers.

Yes. Applicants can attach up to 15 files for each tax return, and up to 2 files for their valid government-issued photo ID, if applicable. All documentation must be provided in an electronic format for online upload, such as PDF/JPEG/DOC or other accepted format. We recommend preparing your file(s) in advance for easy upload during the application.

Yes, although direct file uploads are preferred.

We are using Submittable’s Fraud Prevention Tools to ensure grant funds go to legitimate businesses such as yours. These tools are widely used by service providers and financial institutions to verify a person’s identity. The identity verification step is to be completed by the person filling out the application.

Any representative who is authorized to enter into legally binding agreements for the applicant may attest and sign the application.

Yes. To invite collaborators to your application, click the “Invite Collaborators” link located at the top right of the application once you are logged into Submittable and in the grant application. A Dialog box will appear, asking you to enter the email addresses of your collaborators. Enter those addresses, then click Invite. Invited collaborators will receive an email, letting them know you’ve invited them to collaborate on a draft application using Submittable. For details and guidance about this feature, please review information for submitters and for collaborations.

Yes. The online application is mobile-friendly and available on multiple browsers. NCRC CDF recommends using Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple Safari as browsers, whether on your smartphone, tablet or computer to apply for this grant.

Yes. The application portal will automatically save your work. There is also a “save” button at the bottom of the page. Please make sure to note your account login and password so you are able to access your application later. However, you will not be able to edit or make corrections to your application after it is submitted. You will also not be able to create more than one application per business with the same account login. The grant application portal closes on May 10, 2023 at 11:59pm CT.

Submittable times out after 24 hours of inactivity, so you will be logged out. Progress on the application will be saved and you will not have to start a new application.

You can view technical support guidance regarding the application platform here.

If your application has been submitted, it is no longer editable. Further, Submittable is not permitted to edit the content of your application. However, you can “withdraw” your application and resubmit a new application. Withdrawing your application allows you the ability to start from scratch and resubmit a new application. Withdrawing an application does not affect your eligibility to receive a grant, nor will it be a factor that will count against you.

Please note: should you choose to withdraw an application, you will need to submit a new application before the deadline of May 10, 2023 at 11:59pm CT to be eligible. All applications need to be submitted before this deadline regardless of whether or not you have withdrawn an application. Should you choose to withdraw your application after May 10, 2023 at 11:59pm CT, you are removing your application from consideration for the grant award.

Once all submissions are reviewed, awardees will be notified via email by our partner, Submittable, to take next steps in the granting process. The email will come from notifications@email.submittable.com. We encourage you to add this email to your contact or VIP list in your email inbox.

Successful applicants will be asked to sign a grant agreement and provide their bank information. Once the grant agreement is signed and banking information is verified, grant awardees can expect to receive payment via direct deposit within a few business days.

The programs partner, Submittable, will provide a secure direct bank transfer of funds.

Yes. You will be asked to select your industry sector and NAICS code category. If you don’t know your NAICS code, you can look up your code here https://www.naics.com/search/.

No, not for the Hotel Jobs and Recovery Grant Program.

Yes. Please select the option on the application form specifying you are a sole proprietor. You are required to provide your social security number or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) on the application in place of an EIN.

NCRC CDF does not require a social security number to apply for this grant, unless the business is a sole proprietorship. However, we require that you submit financial documentation with your application to verify revenues. You are encouraged to black out your social security number if it is on any of your financial forms before you upload these documents.

The signee should be an officer or other agent authorized to enter into legally binding agreements for the applicant