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Disaster loans available for Illinois businesses and residents affected by civil unrest

Illinois businesses and residents in Cook County and the adjacent counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will in Illinois and Lake in Indiana who were affected by civil unrest on May 26 through June 8, 2020 can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Business owners, homeowners, and renters should contact the SBA Customer Service Representatives at (571) 422-6016 and (470) 363-6079 to schedule an appointment for immediate one-on-one assistance in completing their applications. A Virtual Disaster Loan Outreach Center will be open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Friday, July 3). These services are only available for the Illinois disaster declaration as a result of the civil unrest on May 26 through June 8, 2020 and not for COVID-19 related assistance. 

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Aug. 24, 2020. The deadline to return economic injury applications is March 23, 2021.

Apply now


COVID-19 relief options available

If your business has been affected by COVID-19, make sure you’re aware of the key differences in resources available to you

  • Paycheck Protection Program: Loans made by private lenders that are forgivable if proceeds are spent on payroll and other designated uses within 24 weeks. The last day for lenders to submit applications to the SBA is Tuesday, June 30.
  • Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Working capital loans made by the SBA that can be used, generally, to pay expenses that a business owner would have been able to pay, were it not for the disaster. These are not grants and must be repaid.
  • Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance: A grant worth up to $10,000 that comes from the SBA that does not have to be repaid and can be accepted even if a business owner’s disaster loan application is denied. The amount of your EIDL Advance, determined by the number of employees you have, will be deducted when applying for PPP forgiveness.

Learn more


Questions? Join our webinars

TODAY | Friday, June 26, 2 p.m. CT: African-American Small Business Update, hosted with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Register here.

Monday, June 29, 11 a.m. CT: COVID-19 Resources for Small Businesses, hosted with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Register here.

Tuesday, June 30, 2 p.m. CT: SBA Tools for Small Business Exporters and Global Supply Chains, hosted with U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Register here.

Listen to recordings of previous webinars:


Stay updated

Visit sba.gov/coronavirus for updates on the loan programs, guidance for businesses and employers, and other SBA resources.

If you have questions about your already submitted EIDL application, contact the SBA Disaster Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Follow @SBA_Illinois on Twitter.

E-mail questions to illinois.do@sba.gov.

By CCNM

I have functioned as a Business and Media Consultant over the past sixteen years and spent many years developing my capacity to function in our ever evolving use of technology, communication, education and training.