Take Action to Help IL Restaurants, Chicago In Mitigation, Effective Oct. 30

The Illinois Restaurant Association continues to engage with local, state, and federal officials to help our employers and employees address concerns about COVID-19.

Please see the below resources and information for your business - updated as of 3:35 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27.

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Take Action to Help Restaurants Survive - City of Chicago Moves into Mitigation on Friday, October 30

Moments ago, Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced COVID-19 resurgence mitigations will be implemented in Region 11, the city of Chicago, beginning at 12:01 am on Friday, October 30, 2020. Starting this Friday, indoor service at Chicago restaurants is being suspended. Click here to read the full announcement.

The IRA is actively fighting to keep restaurants across Illinois open for indoor service. We are also exploring all possible legal remedies. Furthermore, we are fiercely advocating for enhanced financial relief for restaurants at the local, state, and federal levels.

Region 11 has triggered additional mitigations due to a sustained increase in its positivity rate as well as a sustained increase in COVID-related hospitalizations for more than seven of the past ten days. Region 11 is the second of the state’s 11 regions to trigger additional mitigations based on sustained increases in positivity and hospitalization rates, the first being Region 10 (Suburban Cook County) earlier in the week.

In the coming days, IDPH will continue to track metrics in the city of Chicago/Region 11 to determine if mitigations can be relaxed, if additional mitigations are required, or if current mitigations should remain in place. If the positivity rate in Region 11 averages less than or equal to 6.5% over a three-day period, there is a decrease in hospital admissions for COVID-19 like illness over a three-day period, and the three-day rolling averages of ICU bed availability and medical/surgical bed availability is greater than or equal to 20% over a seven-day period, the region will return to Phase 4 mitigations under the Restore Illinois Plan. Conversely, if the average positivity rate continues to increase over seven out of 10 days and the hospital admissions for COVID-19 like illness continues to increase over seven out of 10 days, more stringent mitigations can be applied. If the metrics remain stable, the region will continue to be monitored.

As of today, including Region 11, seven of the state’s 11 regions have triggered one of the state’s failsafe state-action metric. By tomorrow, Regions 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10 will all operate under Tier 1 mitigation measures given that these regions continue to report a 7-day rolling positivity rate above 8%. Region 1 is currently operating under Tier 2 mitigation measures after continuing to see a rise in positivity even under the Tier 1 mitigation framework, now at a rolling positivity average of 12.5% as of this morning.

We need you to to send a message to Governor Pritzker and leaders in the General Assembly to urge them to modify the Restore Illinois mitigation plan to allow for continued indoor service at restaurants.

90 Second Federal Relief Update

Congressional leaders and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin continue to have back and forth negotiations about a new round of COVID-19 stimulus funding. 

Can we expect another round of stimulus funding before the election or even before the end of the year? In the National Restaurant Association's latest video update, learn the latest about where negotiations stand and what it means to the restaurant industry.  

DuPage County Restaurant Relief Program

Today, the DuPage County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution authorizing $2.5 million in additional funding for a new phase of the DuPage County Small Business Relief Program designating $15,000 grants for county restaurants and food service establishments.

Under this new phase, restaurants and food service establishments in DuPage with less than $4M in annual gross revenue and meet the criteria and qualifications outlined below will be eligible to apply for COVID-19 relief funds up to $15,000 to cover business and operational expenses.

Applications will be accepted and reviewed by Choose DuPage, the County’s Economic Development arm, on a first-come, first- served basis.

Click here to learn more.

Introducing the Black Restaurant Accelerator Program

Last week, IRA Silver Sponsor PepsiCo and The National Urban League joined forces to create the Black Restaurant Accelerator, which will boost approximately 500 Black-owned businesses over the next five years—including restauranteurs in Chicago. Through a $10 million grant from the PepsiCo Foundation, the program will provide current and aspiring Black restaurateurs with access to capital, training, mentorship and other support services that are necessary for business success.

The Black Restaurant Accelerator will not only help address barriers, but also take a long-term view by pairing participants with entrepreneurship advisors and PepsiCo employee volunteers to build an actionable plan for growth. The program aims to dismantle longstanding hurdles faced by Black entrepreneurs compounded by COVID-19.

The National Urban League will begin accepting applications for the program in the first quarter of 2021. Interested restaurateurs can sign up to receive updates here.