Illinois Resources

•  State Emergency Small Business Grants and Loan Assistance (DCEO)
• • Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan Fund
  • Downstate Small Business Stabilization Program
• Small Business COVID-19 Relief Program (IL Treasurer)
• COVID-19 and Unemployment Benefits (IDES)
• SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans for Illinois Small Businesses
• • SBA Online Loan Application
  • SBA Illinois Economic Disaster Loan Declaration Factsheet
  • SBA Coronavirus (COVID-19): Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources 
  • COVID 19 SBA Economic Disaster Loans (PDF)
• Small Business Development Center Lookup
• Has your business been impacted? (DCEO)
• COVID-19 Implications for Commercial Leases
• Council for Development Finance Agencies Resources (CFDA)
• US Chamber’s COVID-19 Toolkit
• US Government’s Response to COVID-19
• IL Government’s Response to COVID-19

Federal Resources

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) provides the below Information about important federal programs) resources related to Covid-19 which may be helpful or relevant to businesses in the solar industry including sole proprietors, independent contractors and  501(c)(3) entities: an overview of the Federal Relief Legislation signed into law on Friday. Many solar energy industry businesses will likely qualify to take advantage of grants and loans available under the new federal CARES  legislation described below which provides eligible  businesses con funding available to pay essential costs including payroll, rent, utilities and other qualified costs, with goal of keeping people employed and businesses operational

I.          New Federal CARES legislation:

With respect to the new CARES legislation, please see (1) our general summary overview available at the following link:  (https://www.bclplaw.com/en-US/thought-leadership/what-businesses-and-lenders-need-to-know-about-the-cares-act-sba-lending-and-loan-forgiveness.html); (2) the attached Chamber of Commerce Overview of the Small Business Emergency Loan Program; and (3) Small Business Owner’s Guide (attached). These resources will help small and medium size business understand how the program works and generally describes who is eligible. 

A key feature of the CARES legislation is that $350 billion is being made available to eligible small and mid-size businesses via the SBA Section 7(a) program.  The SBA program is  the vehicle being used to help disburse the money quickly and efficiently (not all traditional SBA loan requirements will apply).  Eligible companies must have 500 or fewer employees and otherwise meet various other requirements generally described in our Client Alert linked above and the Chamber of Commerce summary. If an eligible business is able to point to an impact on its business from COVID-19 (i.e., must make a good faith certification that the loan is necessary due to the uncertainty of current economic conditions caused by COVID-19), then the eligible business should be able to apply for  these 7(a) loans to provide working capital for the business to retain workers  and pay certain other operating costs – including payroll (can include commissions), interest on mortgage debt, pay utilities, health insurance, etc.  Money used for these purposes during an 8 week period following origination of the loan will be forgiven – this portion actually ends up being a grant, not a loan.  Money used for other purposes or used outside of the 8 week period will need to be repaid over a 10 year period (no interest for first 6 months, max of 4% thereafter).   The maximum any company is eligible to receive is $10 million through 12/31/20, but there is a formula to determine the eligible loan amount.  It is based on average monthly payroll expenses (subject to per employee caps) multiplied times 2.5.   So, in a simple illustration, if an eligible company has 20 employees each making $60,000 annually, the monthly payroll expense would be 20 x $5,000 = $100,000, then multiply that by 2.5 and the company could be eligible for a $250,000 loan subject to forgiveness opportunities.  There is an 8 week period after loan origination during  which the company may then incur certain qualified expenses (e.g., payroll, rent – idea is to incentivize businesses to retain employees during this time) which are directly applied against the loan and forgiven under the CARES program.  Any loan amounts that are not forgiven are then interest free for 6 months and subject to a 10 year term with maximum interest rate of 4%. The government is developing new regulations which are expected to be issued within the next 7 to 10 days which will provide greater clarity on the exact amounts available for loans and grants.  We are encouraging eligible businesses to commence the loan application process as soon as possible.

If you are in the clean energy industry and need assistance applying for CARES Act funding, the Environmental Advocacy Center at the Bluhm Legal Clinic is available to assist a limited number of applicants at no cost. Please email cary.shepherd@law.northwestern.edu to request assistance. Read more here.

Additionally, the U.S. Small Business Administration has additional resources and information available at www.sba.gov. 

OTHER BCLP COVID-19 RESOURCES