The City of Chicago’s Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF) database shows that from 2001 to 2011, 565 companies received grants from the TIF SBIF fund to repair or remodel their commercial and industrial properties throughout the City. To be eligible, commercial applicants must have annual sales less than $3 Million during the previous three years and industrial applicants must employ no more than 100 full-time employees. The maximum grant per project is $150,000 but applicants are allowed to file multiple applications for grants from the SBIF program. Between 2001 and 2011, the total amount of all grants awarded was approximately $33 Million and the average grant was approximately $37,000. Approximately 34% of the 565 companies that received SBIF grants received multiple awards.
In 2011 alone, 162 companies received approximately $10 Million in SBIF grants for 222 projects. 87 TIF districts participated in the SBIF program in 2011, or approximately 50% of all of the City’s TIF districts.
Since 2001, the highest number of grant awardees has been in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor TIF District. From 2001 to 2011, 133 projects received SBIF grants in this TIF District for a total amount of approximately $5.3 Million. The Fullerton/Milwaukee TIF District and the Lawrence/Kedzie TIF District have also widely used this community redevelopment tool. In each of these TIF Districts, more than 50 projects have received SBIF grants between 2001 and 2011 in the total amount of $2.2 Million and $1.3 Million respectively.
The SBIF database is available on the City of Chicago’s website at:
https://data.cityofchicago.org/Community-Economic-Development/Small-Business-Improvement-Fund-SBIF-Grant-Agreeme/jp7n-tgmf