More help is on the way for small businesses in the Quad Cities area that suffered during the pandemic.
According to a news release, 71 businesses across 10 Illinois counties near the Quad Cities will get a share of new COVID-19 relief money from the state of Illinois. JB Pritzker, governor of Illinois, announced on Jan. 20 that more than $111 million will go to small businesses across the state. A grand total of $3,365,000 will be divided among the 71 businesses in the Quad Cities area, with each business getting at least $5,000.
Here’s a breakdown:
The 10 Illinois counties in which those 71 businesses are located include Rock Island, Knox, Henry, Warren, Jo Daviess, Whiteside, Bureau, Lee, Mercer and Henderson Counties. Of those 71 businesses, 21 are in Knox County, 20 in Rock Island County, nine in Henry County, five in both Warren and Jo Daviess Counties, four in Whiteside County, three in Bureau County, two in Lee County, and one in both Mercer and Henderson Counties.
The towns included are
- Galesburg, 21 businesses
- Rock Island, 12
- Kewanee, six
- Moline, four
- Monmouth, four
- Galena, four
- Rock Falls, four
- Silvis, three
- Geneseo, two
- Spring Valley, two
- Dixon, two
- East Moline, one
- Annawan, one
- Roseville, one
- East Dubuque, one
- Princeton, one
- New Boston, one
- Oquawka, one.
With a different number of businesses receiving grant money in each town and county, some counties got around a million dollars collectively, while others got $30,000 or less.
- The county with the most money going to businesses was Rock Island County, with $1,250,000 being split between 20 businesses
- $905,000 went to the 21 businesses in Knox County, all of which are in Galesburg
- $390,000 will be split among five businesses in Jo Daviess County, four of which are in Galena
- $330,000 will be split among nine businesses in Henry County
- $260,000 will be divided among four businesses in Whiteside County, all of which are in Rock Falls
- $100,000 will be going to the two businesses in Lee County, both of which are in Dixon
- $75,000 will be split between the five businesses in Warren County, four of which are in Monmouth
- $30,000 will be split among three businesses in Bureau County
- $20,000 will go to the one business in Mercer County, which is Rocky’s Sturgeon Bay Inn in New Boston
- Lastly, $5,000 will go to the one business in Henderson County, Southeastern Strength & Fitness in Oquawka
- Of the 71 businesses, the ones that received the most grant money were the Holiday Inn hotels in Rock Island and Moline, each getting $250,000.
Many other hotels got big paydays too:
- $175,000 went to the DeSoto House Hotel in Galena
- $165,000 went to Best Western Prairie Inn in Galesburg
- $130,000 went to Country Inn & Suites in Rock Falls, each of which were the businesses receiving the biggest grants in their counties.
Other big winners included Breedloves Sporting Goods in Kewanee, receiving $150,000, the most out of all Henry County businesses. A few restaurants got large grants as well, including Palmyra Pub & Eatery in Dixon, receiving $85,000, and Maple City Restaurant in Monmouth, receiving $35,000, the most out of any business in their counties.
Another business in Rock Island that received grant money was Quad City Arts in the downtown district, getting $80,000. Kevin Maynard, executive director of Quad City Arts, says the money goes a long way, because they had to completely shut down from March until June of 2020, and had to cancel their biggest fundraiser that year.
“It helps to offset the cost that we incurred, or the revenue we didn’t bring in during the time that we were shut down and we canceled numerous events, including our Festival of Trees event in 2020,” Maynard said.
Maynard plans on using a lot of the money this year, and wants to use plenty of it to give back to the community.
“Really what people are going to see is more programming in our community that is either sponsored in part by, or in whole, by Quad City Arts,” Maynard said.
To see the full list of businesses and how much money they received, click here.
