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Small Business Grants Available...
A $220 million second round of 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.
The second wave of funds includes the following provisions to ensure a wide distribution of funds geographically and across business type:
- Heavily Impacted Industries - $60 million for heavily distressed industries, such as movie theatres, performing arts venues, concert venues, indoor recreation, amusement parks, and more.
- Disproportionately Impacted Areas - $70 million set aside for DIAs, defined by zip codes identified by the General Assembly for communities that are most economically distressed and vulnerable to COVID-19.
- Downstate Communities – DCEO has committed to ensuring that at least half of all remaining funds, totaling more than $100 million, are reserved for businesses in downstate and rural communities of Illinois.
- Businesses directly affected by regional mitigations implemented by the state or local governments
- independently owned retail, tourism- and hospitality-related industries including accommodations, and more.
- Agriculture - $5 million of the remainder of funds will be set aside for livestock production disruptions. Applications will be available in the coming weeks from the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
- Grants and Loan Forgiveness for Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan recipients - As authorized by the General Assembly, DCEO will offer grants for businesses that have incurred eligible costs to offset loans received under the Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan program. This round of loan forgiveness and grants will go to businesses that have received loans or remain on the wait list and the program will sunset going forward as DCEO and its partners focus on making BIG awards.
Businesses outside the categories listed above are also eligible to apply and receive funding under the program but may be reviewed later than priority businesses. All businesses will receive a decision on their grant application within four to six weeks of application submission.
For More Information
Door-to-Door Census Visits Begin...
AUG. 11, 2020 — This week, the U.S. Census Bureau began following up with households nationwide that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census. Based on the current self-response rate of 63.3%, the Census Bureau estimates it will need to visit about 56 million addresses to collect responses in person. Up to 500,000 census takers across the country will go door to door to assist people in responding to the 2020 Census.
Census takers began following up with households on July 16 in a limited number of areas and added additional areas each week thereafter. Starting Aug. 9, all remaining offices began following up with households nationwide. Census takers have completed training on social distancing and safety protocols, will follow local public health guidelines, and will be required to wear a face mask when conducting follow-up visits.
“America has answered the call and most households responded to the census online, by phone or by mail,” said Census Bureau Director Dr. Steven Dillingham. “To ensure a complete and accurate count, we must now go door to door to count all of the households we have not heard back from. During this phase, you can still self-respond online (at 2020census.gov), by phone (at 844-330-2020), or by mailing your completed questionnaire.”
The Nonresponse Followup (NRFU) operation is the final stage of conducting the once-a-decade population count of everyone living in the United States. Households can still respond now by responding online at 2020census.gov, by phone at 844-330-2020, or by completing and mailing back the paper questionnaire they received. Households can respond online or by phone in one of 13 languages and find assistance in many more. Those that respond will not need to be visited to obtain their census response.
What Households Can Expect
In most cases, census workers will make up to six attempts at each housing unit address to count possible residents. This includes leaving notification of the attempted visit on the door. The notification will include reminder information on how to respond online, by paper or by phone. In addition, census workers may try to reach the household by phone to conduct the interview.
Census takers will go to great lengths to ensure that no one is missed in the census. After exhausting their efforts to do an in-person interview with a resident of an occupied housing unit, they will seek out proxy sources — a neighbor, a rental agent, a building manager or some other knowledgeable person familiar with the housing unit — to obtain as much basic information about the occupants as they can.
Census takers are hired from local communities. All census takers speak English, and many are bilingual. If a census taker does not speak the householder’s language, the household may request a return visit from a census taker who does. Census takers will also have materials on hand to help identify the household’s language.
How to Identify Census Takers
Census takers can be easily identified by a valid government ID badge with their photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark, and an expiration date on the badge. To confirm a census taker’s identity, the public may contact their regional census center to speak with a Census Bureau representative.
Census Follow Up Calls Underway...
Census follow-up calls are underway.
Follow-up calls ensure that everyone is counted, counted only once, and counted in the right place.
If you get a call from (844) 809-7717, it is not a scam. It is the US Census with a question about some part of your self-response.
The Census Bureau will attempt multiple calls, and you may call them back.
For those concerned about spoofed calls, calling them back is the safest way to handle the call. When you call back, they ask for the 12-digit census ID which they include in the call back message. If the person does not have it they can look up the house using the phone number and address.
An example for checking would be confirming that a college-aged member of the family should not be counted at home, but instead be counted on their campus.
Gary Metiever Produces Galva Levitt Amp Video...
Census Response Rate Map Now Available...
The 2020 Census response rate map shows how cities and towns across the country are now responding. The map will be updated daily around 3 p.m. for everyone to see the response rate in their area and compare it to other areas across the nation.
Bishop Hill Announces Cancellation of Autumn Events...
Due to the pandemic, the following Bishop Hill Heritage Association’s 2020 autumn events have been cancelled:
- Dancing Queen, An ABBA Salute concert on August 29, Jordbruksdagarna (Agricultural Days) on September 26-27,
- March of the Women concert by Phil Passen on October 10,
- Protest Songs of Illinois Workers concert by Bucky Halker on October 24.
These events will not be rescheduled this year. Jordbruksdagarna will return in 2021. We are planning to have other events later on this fall in Bishop Hill, so please call 309 927-3899, email bhha@mymctc.net, or visit https://www.visitbishophill.com/ for more information.
Eagle Enterprises Publishes New Recycling Standards...
View or Print the Recyclables List
American Legion September Events:
Veteran's Breakfast - All veterans are invited to the Galva Legion bets breakfast. This breakfast is held the second Saturday of each month at the Legion Building. Open at 0700. Food is served at 0730. Cost is $8.00.
Galva Arts Council Secures Third Award...
The Galva Arts Council will once again enliven Wiley Park through the second Levitt AMP Galva Music Series, further activating the large, underused green space into a dynamic hub for self-expression, connection and layered arts experiences set to free, live music from across the globe.
The 2020 series aims to deepen community engagement and expand upon community partnerships, creating a weekly communal celebration of the best Galva has to offer.
For photographs of last year's series of concerts, visit our Gallery or visit the official Levitt AMP Galva Facebook page.
Sons of the American Legion...
The Galva American Legion Post #45 has received their charter for a new Sons of the American Legions Squadron.
The Legion is looking for new members to get the squadron rolling.
If you have a parent, grandparent or great grandparent or step parent or step grandparent that was in the military, you are eligible to join.
If interested, please contact Wayne Glisan at (309) 335 - 2931, Lloyd Anderson at (309) 853 - 7347 or Earl Stuckey at (309) 853 - 7917
Chamber of Commerce
