Chicago Delivery Fee Cap, Hospitality Grants
Thursday, November 5, 2020
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 8:20 p.m. on Thursday, November 5. *** City of Chicago Announces Restaurant Grants, Employee Support, Delivery Fee Cap Ordinance Push Today, Mayor Lightfoot announced a series of initiatives the city is undertaking to support the restaurant industry. Click here to read the full announcement. The IRA thanks Mayor Lightfoot and the city of Chicago for announcing this emergency relief package for independent restaurants and bars. Every bit of financial and regulatory support helps during this critical time, and the city's actions to provide grants, workforce services, and promotional assistance is commendable. We also applaud Mayor Lightfoot’s intent to pass legislation that will temporarily cap third party delivery fees for restaurants - and will continue to be actively engaged in those discussions. The IRA is supportive of a cap on fees charged to restaurants by third party delivery services. The package includes: Chicago Hospitality Grant Program $10 million grant program for Chicago’s restaurants and bars, opening for applications the week of November 13. Grants of $10,000 to available for independent bars and restaurants. To be eligible, establishments must have annual revenue of under $3 million, and must have experienced economic distress and loss due to COVID-19 on or after March 1, 2020 totaling at least 25% of annual net revenue. Regional and/or national chain businesses with more than two total establishments are ineligible. Funds must be used to cover operational costs including payroll expenses, replenishment of inventory and/or mortgage, rent and utilities payments. Grants will be distributed via lottery to recipients throughout the city, with 60% of grants reserved for businesses in low- and moderate-income Community Areas.
Delivery Fee Cap Mayor Lightfoot also announced that she will introduce legislation to City Council to temporarily cap the fees that third party companies can charge restaurants for their delivery services. The IRA has been working on this issue for the past two years, and will continue to do so in the coming weeks.
Take Out Chicago contest Through this program, launched with the support of Choose Chicago, residents that order takeout from ten unique bars and restaurants between today and December 15 will be entered into a contest to win a VIP experience at one of Chicago’s premier cultural institutions. Recipients will be selected via lottery to win VIP tours for themselves and three family members at a select Chicago destination.
ChiServes.com, Partnership Resources To support workers, the City has partnered with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership to launch ChiServes.com, a portal that hospitality workers who have lost their jobs can use to access a network of resources through The Partnership. The Partnership is also launching a new text campaign where registered recipients will receive weekly blasts of current job listings.
Join our Campaign and Share With Your Networks The IRA continues to call on Governor Pritzker to adjust the state of Illinois mitigation plan to all for indoor service at restaurants. You can further amplify our campaign to protect restaurants by joining the 10,000+ people that have urged the state to change its mitigation plan to allow for continued indoor service at restaurants. After you take 10 seconds to send a message, share the link on social media so your industry colleagues - employees, suppliers, fellow operators, and more - can add their voice. All 11 Regions Closed for Indoor Service at Restaurants As of Wednesday, November 4, all 11 regions have triggered one of the state's mitigation metrics. Regions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are operating under Tier 1 mitigation measures, given that these regions continue to report a 7-day rolling positivity rate above 8%. Regions 10 and 11 are operating under Tier 1 mitigations after triggering additional mitigations based on sustained increases in both positivity and hospitalization rates. Region 1 continues to operate under Tier 2 mitigation measures after seeing a rise in positivity even under the Tier 1 mitigation framework, with the highest rolling positivity average in the state. Click here to review the regional metrics and data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Updated Chicago Restaurant Regulations: Indoor Private Events There has been a considerable amount of confusion over the subject of private events in restaurants in the city of Chicago. Today, the IRA reconfirmed with Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) that their interpretation on the state's mitigation rules is as follows: A restaurant cannot host a private event unless there is a space that, during normal operations, would typically be designated as a private event space. If you have a space within your restaurant that is designed and designated as a private event space, then you can hold private events with food and drink. A reminder that patrons must be seated while eating and drinking, there can be no more than six people per table (and 25 guests total) and face coverings must be worn at all times except when guests are seated and actively eating or drinking.
BACP will soon be issuing written, public guidance on this subject. The IRA will share that information as soon as it is available. Click here to read the full updated guidelines for the city of Chicago. Grants Available for Minority Owned Restaurants and Food Vendors Dish Roulette Kitchen, a nonprofit created to help minority-owned restaurants struggling during the pandemic, kicked off a campaign this week to offer $1,000 grants to 40 restaurants and food vendors run by women, people of color and undocumented entrepreneurs. Click here to apply today. Click here to read more from Block Club Chicago. Reminder - State of Illinois Business Interruption Grants Available for Under $20M A $220 million second round of state of Illinois Business Interruption Grants (BIG) aims to provide relief for all types of small businesses, but with a particular focus on businesses downstate, in disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs), and for heavily impacted industry and regions – representing businesses that have been unable to reopen or operating at a severely diminished capacity since the spring. Eligible applicants: 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 501c3, 501c6, or 501c19 nonprofit; Must have been operating for at least three months prior to March 2020. Must have had less than $20 million in gross operating revenue in calendar year 2019, or a prorated amount if in operation for less than a year prior to March 2020. Must have experienced net operating losses since March 21, 2020. Must have been closed or had reduced operations due to government orders, public health guidelines, or depressed consumer demand during the COVID 19 pandemic. Must follow other eligibility requirements.
DCEO has begun issuing awards to more businesses in Round 2 – with over $46 million expended to over 1,200 businesses in the current round. To view a list of current Round 2 awards made, click here. Click here to learn more and apply today. Cook County COVID-19 Recovery Small Business Assistance Program Offering Free Business Advising 
All businesses located within the City of Chicago and suburban Cook County are eligible for technical assistance and business advising programming from the Cook County COVID-19 Recovery Small Business Assistance program to help address the unique needs arising from the pandemic. Click here to learn more.
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