Grundy Reporter

More than four dozen Grundy County restaurants and bars applied for financial help from grant dollars awarded to the county by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"We're currently still in the process of reviewing each application and determining the number of eligible businesses," Matt Melvin, Grundy County financial analyst, said in an audio recording published on WCSJ News. "The current plan would be to allocate the grant evenly to each of the eligible applicants."

Melvin said the county first learned about the opportunity to help local restaurants and bars get relief from the economic struggles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic with grant funding in the middle of December. The grant funds would come from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity through the Economic Support Grant Program. The county had a small window to get its application and funding request completed and sent off for consideration.

"We were able to get everything submitted and ultimately requested $400,000 on the application," Melvin said. "The county was not approved for the full request, but we were awarded $240,529."

Recently, the Grundy County Board decided to accept the grant.

Fifty-five county-based businesses applied to receive some financial support. The county hasn't awarded any funding yet. Officials are still going through the applications to determine if the businesses that applied are eligible to receive the grant based on requirements established by the DCO for the program. Those who meet the requirements will receive a W-9 request form.

"In order to remain eligible for the reimbursement, the county does have the Have the W-9 submitted by January 20th to ensure that we have sufficient time to send the grant distribution prior to the grant closeout deadline," he said.

Melvin said the county would award the grants at the end of the month.