Click HERE to watch video presentation of Special President’s Message on COVID-19

Dear Members:

While striving to adhere to the City of Elmhurst’s “Stay Home, Save Lives” mandate as best we can, all of us—small businesses and not-for-profit organizations alike—are working diligently (and safely) to both sustain operations financially and keep our workforce employed during the health care and economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic.

That being said, I believe that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker will extend his “Stay at Home” Executive Order past its April 30 expiration date and, mostly like, through the month of May.  My hope is that—by the start of June—Gov. Pritzker will allow Illinois to hang out an “Open for Business” sign, even if social distancing and related health care restrictions are still required.

Of the states that currently have “Stay at Home” in place, the majority of states are shutdown to at least April 30, most of those in the northeast are shutdown at least until May 15 or even later, and a few states, California among them, are closed indefinitely.

Member Advocacy
In the past six weeks, our Chamber has advocated on our member’s behalf to assure that federal, state and local agencies and elected officials understand the economic damage that COVID-19 and the related public policy responses have inflicted on the Elmhurst business community in general and our members in particular.

In partnership with the City of Elmhurst, we have promoted some 90 Elmhurst restaurants and bars offering curbside pick-up, walk-in takeout, drive-thru and delivery services to hungry patrons during the “Dine In” shutdown via our Chamber’s website, member e-mails, Facebook and Twitter social medias, and display advertising in local newspapers.

As part of this week’s Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executive (IACCE) statewide ‘IL’ove Local campaign to rally consumer support of small businesses, we created a special web page, “Dine Out” From Home, featuring the name, address, phone number, hours of operation, hyperlinks for both menu and online ordering (if an option), and delivery options for some 30 members restaurants and bars that are still serving food and beverages.  By next week, we will be adding the some 60 non-member food and beverage providers to our web page.

We have also used our Facebook and Twitter pages to shine a spotlight on the good deeds of numerous Chamber members, including promoting the efforts of essential businesses and encouraging e-commerce patronage of our non-essential small businesses.

Education and Resources
In our role as a business educator, we e-mail our members with daily updates on federal and state financial assistance programs now available to small businesses and not-for-profit organizations.  Those updates also are uploaded to the home page of our website (and then archived in News under the Community News tool bar link) and shared community-wide via posts to our Facebook and Twitter pages.

As Chamber President and CEO, I have worked closely with numerous businesses—member and non-member alike—who sought my guidance, and will continue so to so to the best of my ability.

Federal Relief Update
As of April 16, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) reported that the $349 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) relief funding appropriated for all small businesses and some not-for-profits organizations as part of the federal $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stability (CARES) Act has already been exhausted.

While Congress is expected to enact a fourth piece of relief legislation appropriating at least $250 billion in additional PPP monies, the U.S. Senate adjourned for the week following days of negotiations and now plans to revisit the issue when back in session next week.  Democrats are seeking an additional $250 billion in relief for states ($150 billion) and hospitals ($100 billion).

In partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Illinois Chamber of Commerce and Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, we and our members have signed letters of support encouraging Congress to add chambers of commerce, business and trade association, and other 501(c)(6) not-for-profit organizations to the list of NFPs eligible for PPP relief.

I give kudos to our member banks for stepping up since the SBA’s April 3 start of the PPP application process to serve the needs of Elmhurst business community—whether or not the applicant banked with their institution.  One Elmhurst bank alone processed a 157 PPP applications valued a total $20 million in the past weeks.

The SBA also is processing Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program small business and NFP applications for both the forgive-able $10K emergency grant and low-interest loans (up to $2 million)—each of which our Chamber has applied for.  The emergency grant is limited to $1K per employee up a limit of 10 employers.  The loans offer interest rates of 3.75 percent for businesses and 2.75 percent for NFPs over a 30-year term.

State Relief Update
Back on April 1, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (IDCEO) began accepting applications from small businesses for five-year loans of up to $50K at an interest rate of only three percent interest through the $60 million Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan Fund.

IDCEO already has awarded $14 million in Hospitality Emergency Grants to some 200 hotels and restaurants and bars.  No Elmhurst businesses were among the 12 grant recipients from DuPage County.

Small businesses across Illinois also can tap into $250 million in low-interest bridge loans from the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office through participating banks and credit unions.  The interest rate will not exceed 4.75 percent.

I will conclude this Special President Message as I did my last with another movie classic reference.  To paraphrase Animal House’s Senator-In-Waiting John “Bluto” Blutarsky:  “Over?  Did you say, ‘over’?  Noting is over until we decide it is!  Was it over when the Chinese Coronavirus bombed America?  Heck no!  And it ain’t over now!”