Illinois Direct Financial Incentives 2011
Illinois' economic development, finance, and tax organizations provide a range of incentive programs to initiate new business and commercial investment. Specific programs include financial assistance, a participation loan program, and a biotech training investment program.
March 2011
Through the Participation Loan Program, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) works with banks and other conventional lenders to provide financial assistance to small businesses that will employ Illinois workers. The state will participate in loans up to 25 percent of the total amount of a project, but not less than $10,000 or more than $750,000.
The Minority, Veteran, Women and Disability Participation Loan Program is similar to the Participation Loan Program, except that participations may not exceed 50 percent of the project, subject to a maximum of $100,000.
The Revolving Line of Credit Program (RLOC) provides economic development assistance to Illinois small businesses that provide employment opportunities for Illinois citizens and need seasonal or variable working capital. Through banks, DCEO may purchase participating interests in business loans up to 25 percent of a project, subject to a minimum $10,000 and maximum $750,000 participation. (Minority, Veteran, Women, or Disabled participations up to 50 percent but not more than $100,000.)
The Illinois Capital Access Program (CAP) is designed to encourage lending institutions to make loans to small and new businesses that do not qualify under conventional lending policies. CAP is a form of loan portfolio insurance that provides coverage to the lender on loan defaults. By participating in CAP, lenders have available to them the proven financing mechanism to meet the financing needs of Illinois small businesses. Loans enrolled in this program are limited to a maximum amount of $100,000.
The Business Development Public Infrastructure Program (BDPIP) provides low-interest and grant financing to units of local government for public improvements on behalf of businesses undertaking expansion or relocation projects.
The Large Business Development Program (LBDP) provides incentive financing to encourage large out-of-state companies (500 or more employees) to locate in Illinois, and also encourages existing Illinois companies to undertake major job expansion or retention programs.
The Community Development Assistance Program (CDAP) helps communities meet their economic development, housing, and public infrastructure needs. Grants are made to smaller local governments to benefit low- and moderate-income citizens.
The Community Services Block Grant Program (CSBG) addresses poverty issues in Illinois communities. CSBG provides low-interest loans to businesses that agree to hire low-income persons.
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Illinois provides manufacturers with access to information and technology expertise, enabling them to modernize their operations and become more efficient.
The Large Customer Energy Efficiency Program (LEAP) is a program through the Illinois Energy Now Energy Efficiency Portfolio. This program targets larger customers such as municipalities, colleges, hospitals and industrial sites. The process creates a sustainable energy plan starting with workshops to benchmark and develop an energy performance scorecard. The next step is to define the organization's baseline and draft a sustainable energy plan, which includes 25 hours of free technical assistance to finalize plan and begin implementation. The final step is a follow-up networking session with the participating organizations to share best practices and lessons learned. This program has successfully assisted Illinois Large Energy Customers manage their energy costs by making cost-effective efficiency improvements.
The Recycling Expansion and Modernization (REM) Program awards matching grants to Illinois organizations and businesses to expand their recycling programs and meet waste reduction goals while demonstrating public economic benefits. Grants are provided to divert materials from the municipal solid waste stream, thereby conserving our natural resources, and improving the performance and "bottom line" of Illinois businesses and organizations (reduced operating costs, increased sales, etc.).
The Illinois Recycling Grants Program helps communities, businesses, and not-for-profit organizations collect and process materials for recycling. Periodically, the program will issue requests for applications to fund traditional (fiber, metal, glass, and plastic) recycling efforts. The program will also periodically issue requests for applications to fund other items, with a recent focus on computer and electronics recycling.
The Illinois Renewable Fuels Research, Development, and Demonstration Program funds research, development, planning, and education projects that are designed to accelerate the use of renewable fuels technologies and reduce related production costs. The primary focus of the program is biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel) production and utilization.
The Energy Efficient Affordable Housing Construction Program provides grants to Illinois based non-profit and for-profit housing developers to include energy efficient building practices in the rehab or new construction of affordable housing units. Average energy savings range from 50-75 percent.