General Program Description

The U.S. Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) on March 27, 2020, to provide aid and economic relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, the CARES Act established the U.S. Treasury’s Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) and Kane County received a direct allocation under the program. The Kane County Board allocated a portion of its CRF award to a Business Grant Program aimed at assisting local businesses that have been adversely impacted by the pandemic.

These guidelines apply to the “Round Two” application cycle for Kane County’s Business Grant Program. This document discusses applicant eligibility criteria, maximum award amounts, expenses that are eligible for reimbursement under the program, application instructions and the award process. While an application deadline has not been established for this program, the county anticipates closing the application portal when funds are exhausted, or when it is no longer feasible to process applications and issue awards before the end of December 2020, whichever occurs earlier.

Applicant Eligibility

Businesses must meet the following requirements to be eligible for funds under the second round of the county’s Business Grant Program. They must:

1. Be a for-profit business (e.g. LLC, C Corporation, S Corporation, Partnership, or Sole Proprietorship) authorized to conduct business in the State of Illinois;
2. Have a place of business that is physically located within Kane County;
3. Must have experienced either a decline in revenue and/or an increase in expenses since March 1, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
4. Be in good standing with all applicable federal, state, and local standards and requirements.

The following businesses are not eligible:

1. Private clubs or businesses that limit membership for reasons other than capacity;
2. Businesses engaged in pyramid sales, where a participant's primary incentive is based on the sales made by an ever-increasing number of participants;
3. Businesses engaged in activities that are prohibited by federal law or applicable law in the jurisdiction where the business is located or conducted; and
4. Businesses principally engaged in teaching, instructing, counseling, or indoctrinating religion or religious beliefs, whether in a religious or secular setting.

Owners of multiple businesses may submit one application per business under this initiative. Businesses that received an award under the first round of the county’s CRF Business Grant Program may apply in the second round as well, provided they have eligible expenses that were not already reimbursed by the county or another source of financial assistance.

Available Funding

The County Board has allocated $5 million for Round Two of the CRF Business Grant Program. Applicants meeting the above criteria are eligible for awards of up to $25,000 each. All awards under this program will be issued as grants and will be disbursed to grantees on a reimbursement basis. Grantees will be expected to enter into a funding agreement with the county and will be required to present appropriate documentation in order to substantiate their request(s) for reimbursement.

Eligible/Ineligible Expenses

Applicants may seek reimbursement of the following types of expenses under this program, provided they were incurred between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020, and were not reimbursed under another source of financial assistance:

1. Rent or mortgage payments for the physical place of business.
2. Utility costs associated with the physical place of business.
3. The purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) for use by the employees and/or patrons of the business.
4. The cost of cleaning/disinfecting the place of business.
5. The cost of minor physical modifications to the place of business in order to comply with social distancing requirements. (Please note this excludes the cost of capital improvements unrelated to social distancing standards.)
6. Costs incurred to enable employees to work remotely, such as computer equipment/ software, cell phones, internet access, etc.
7. Lease or loan payments for equipment integral to the business’s operations

Please note that payroll and other types of expenses not listed above are ineligible for reimbursement under this program.

Application Instructions/Award Process

All applications must be completed using this “ZoomGrants” on-line application portal. Applicants should enter some basic information about their business and its legal structure, and answer questions about the impact and costs they have experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Note that many of the questions require you to have expense totals, so it may be beneficial for you to gather and tally the financial documentation discussed below prior to starting your application.

Information entered in the ZoomGrants portal will automatically be saved, so applicants do not need to complete their application in one sitting. Applicants may log back into the portal as many times as needed to complete their applications.

A key component of preparing an application involves uploading various supporting documents. All documents should be scanned or saved in pdf format before uploading. Below is a summary of the documentation requirements and standards. Where possible, applicants should put the documents in each category in chronological order and upload them as a single pdf, unless file size requires them to be divided and uploaded separately. Please note that the portal cannot accept files larger than 4MB.

1. Certificate Good Standing from Illinois Secretary of State, Certificate of Ownership, and/or Assumed Name “DBA” Registration: Limited liability companies, C Corporations, S Corporations, and partnerships should upload a copy of their most-recent Certificate of Good Standing from the Office of the Illinois Secretary of State. Sole proprietorships and partnerships operating under a name other than the real name of the owner(s) should upload a Certificate of Ownership to verify that the business has completed all Assumed Name filing (“DBA”) registration requirements with the Office of the Kane County Clerk.
2. Completed W-9 Form: This IRS form (and instructions for completing it) are found at https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/formsInstructions.html?value=w9&criteria=formNumber.
3. Pre-COVID-Era Financial Activity: The purpose of the pre-COVID-era financial activity documentation is to aid Kane County in determining that applicants experienced a decrease in revenue or increase in expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This pre-COVID-era financial information will provide a baseline against which the county can compare the COVID-era financial information (discussed in #4 below), enabling the county to determine a decrease in revenue or increase in expenses. Applicants should upload sufficient documentation of their business’s financial activity prior to March 1, 2020. Monthly profit and loss statements for calendar year 2019, as well as profit and loss statements for January and February 2020, are preferred. However, it is up to the applicant’s discretion to determine the financial information available that will best allow the county to determine lost revenue or increased expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ST-1 Forms or Sales Tax Receipt Runs may also be acceptable for applicants that indicate (in Question #3 of the application) that they only experienced a decline in revenue following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. COVID-Era Financial Activity: Applicants should upload documentation of their business’s financial activity from March 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020. The same type of documentation that is provided for pre-COVID-era financial activity under #3 above should be provided as documentation of the business’s COVID-era financial activity.
5. Documentation of Rent or Mortgage Expenses (March 1, 2020 to Today): Scan and upload documentation of your rent or mortgage expenses for your place of business, as well as proof that you paid those expenses. Acceptable documentation includes either monthly mortgage statements from your lender or a copy of the lease that was in effect at the time of the rent payments. Proof of payment may be copies of cancelled checks, credit card statements, or bank statements showing electronic transfers to your lender/landlord.
6. Documentation of Utility Expenses (March 1, 2020 to Today): Scan and upload documentation of your utility expenses for your place of business, as well as proof that you paid those expenses. Acceptable documentation includes monthly utility statements listing your business address. Proof of payment may be copies of cancelled checks, credit card statements, or bank statements showing electronic transfers to your utility company(s).
7. Documentation of Cleaning/Disinfecting Expenses (March 1, 2020 to Today): Scan and upload documentation of your cleaning/disinfecting expenses for your place of business, as well as proof that you paid those expenses. Acceptable documentation includes contracts or invoices describing the services provided. Proof of payment may be copies of cancelled checks, credit card statements, or bank statements showing electronic transfers to the vendor(s).
8. Documentation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Expenses (March 1, 2020 to Today): Scan and upload documentation of your purchases of PPE for your place of business, as well as proof that you paid those expenses. Acceptable documentation includes invoices or receipts listing or describing the goods purchased. If items were invoiced, provide proof of payment in the form of copies of cancelled checks or credit card statements.
9. Documentation of Minor Physical Modification Expenses (March 1, 2020 to Today): Scan and upload documentation of the modifications you made to your place of business, as well as proof that you paid for the modifications. Acceptable documentation may include contracts or invoices describing the modifications made. Proof of payment may be copies of cancelled checks, credit card statements, or bank statements showing electronic transfers to the vendor(s) that performed the work.
10. Documentation of Remote Working Expenses (March 1, 2020 to Today): Scan and upload documentation of expenses you incurred to enable employees to work remotely, as well as proof that you paid those expenses. This category may include items such as computers, software, internet services, and cell phones. Acceptable documentation includes contracts, invoices, and receipts describing the goods/services purchased. Proof of payment may be copies of cancelled checks, credit card statements, or bank statements showing electronic transfers to the vendor(s).
11. Documentation of Lease or Loan Payments for Equipment (March 1, 2020 to Today): Scan and upload documentation of your lease or loan payments for equipment integral to your business’s operations, as well as proof that you paid those expenses. Acceptable documentation includes either a copy of the lease that was in effect or monthly loan statements from your lender. Proof of payment may be copies of cancelled checks, credit card statements, or bank statements showing electronic transfers to the lessor/lender.
12. Budget for Future Expenses (Tomorrow to December 30, 2020): Download, complete, and upload the budget form. Provide detailed descriptions and amounts for each expense you anticipate incurring prior to or on December 30, 2020. You may include items you have already ordered but not yet received nor paid for. However, do not include any expenses for goods or services that will not be delivered or performed on/before December 30, 2020.
13. Documentation of Other COVID-19 Financial Assistance: If your business has received COVID-19-related financial assistance from other sources, upload copies of award notices and detailed descriptions of the expenses that were covered. Also include information regarding sources and amounts for which you currently have an application pending. Provide the name and contact information for all sources. Important Note: In order to prevent a duplication of benefit, do not submit to Kane County any expenses that have been reimbursed by another source of assistance.
14. Applicant Certification: Download and review the applicant certification form. The owner or other authorized representative of the applicant business should sign and date the form before it is uploaded to the application portal. Your application will not be considered without this properly executed form.

Once you have entered all of your information/answers and uploaded the necessary documents, you may click on the “Print/Preview” button to review and save a draft of your application. Once you have verified your application is complete, click on the “Submit Now” button. Your application will automatically be date/time-stamped and transmitted to the county. Note: The county will not accept any application materials in hard copy format. All application information and materials must be submitted via the application portal.

Applications will be reviewed for completeness in the order in which they are received. The county will verify both applicant eligibility and the eligibility of the expenses submitted. Award notices and funding agreements will be sent electronically. Businesses awarded CRF funds will be expected to enter into an agreement with Kane County outlining the terms and conditions associated with the award. Once the funding agreement is properly executed, the county will provide instructions regarding the reimbursement process.

Questions/Need Assistance?

Kane County staff are available to answer questions and provide support to applicants for this program. Please contact the Office of Community Reinvestment at 630-762-2084 or CRF2@co.kane.il.us if you need assistance. We’re available to help you complete an application for funding. Please let us know if you need help accessing the web-based application portal or scanning and uploading your supporting documentation. These services are available free of charge by appointment only at our office in downtown Batavia.

Please provide complete answers to all questions. Note that many of the questions require you to have expense totals, so it may be beneficial for you to gather and tally your financial information in advance of completing this part of the application. See the “Program Guidelines and Application Instructions” tab for additional information and guidance.

Please upload the supporting documents referenced below. See the “Program Guidelines and Application Instructions” tab for additional information and guidance regarding the various documents to include. Note that pdfs greater than 4MB should be divided into multiple files and uploaded separately in the same row.