Applications for a second round of funding are now being accepted and can be found here. A total of $220 million will be made available for small businesses of all types in Illinois.  Grants will be awarded and funded on a rolling basis until funding is depleted.  The grant size will be equivalent to two months of expenses.
 
The BIG program is open to all eligible businesses (for profit and nonprofit) with $20 million or less in annual revenue in 2019 and experienced losses due to COVID-19.   Of the total funding, $70 million will be invested in Disproportionately Impacted Areas (DIAs) and $60 million in heavily impacted industries.  A map of the DIAs and the eligibility guidelines can be found on our website.  The heavily impacted industries are defined as having annual revenues of $10 million or less and have been close or operating at a very diminished capacity since mid-March and are likely to continue to do so until Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois Plan.   These industries include the following:
 
 
·       Event spaces                 
·       Music venues
·       Performing arts venues
·       Indoor recreation
·       Amusement parks
·       Movie theaters
·       Museums
·       Charter/shuttle buses
 
 
DCEO will be hosting numerous webinars regarding this program.  You can register for the webinars that I will be hosting next week by using the links below:
 

• September 30, 9:30am-10:30am. To register, please use this link: https://illinois.webex.com/illinois/onstage/g.php?MTID=ee94b00d843ec9aab65c49acc33d41942
• September 30, 2:00pm – 3:00pm.  To register, please use this link:

https://illinois.webex.com/illinois/onstage/g.php?MTID=e23486213ba906b4f0c15c3363e4f2829
 

As I'm sure many of you saw, a few weeks ago we sent a letter to the Governor's office over concerns of additional COVID-19 mitigation efforts that were put in place in Region 4. We did receive an email communication back from the Governor's office that we felt was less than satisfactory. We have since responded to the Governor with our additional concerns, calling for more transparency in how positivity numbers are determined. We requested that the state start using more than one data set point for making decisions on mitigation efforts. We also asked that politics be removed from closure decisions and that those be made using science and hard data that the state has available. 

Please know that your Chamber is ALWAYS advocating on your behalf. Most of our efforts are through developed relationships at the local, state and federal level and are not always made public. Anytime that you have questions please feel free to reach out!

HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital Highland has received a five-star rating for patient experience from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the top score in the federal agency’s ratings system.  

The score is based on a summary of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, which assesses patient experiences. CMS’s star rating system scores hospitals on a one-to-five-star scale based on 10 publicly reported measures. The HCAHPS survey’s questions cover these areas:

Anderson Healthcare is excited to unveil plans for the next phase of the Anderson Healthcare Goshen Campus in Edwardsville.  “We are developing a 50,000 square foot medical building,” revealed Anderson Healthcare President and CEO, Keith Page.  “This unique 2-story building will help us consolidate many of our Anderson Medical Group primary care practices into one convenient location,” he explained.  “The facility will have clinical space for approximately 20 providers.”  

In addition to Anderson Medical Group physicians, the building would house several outpatient services including an imaging center, urgent care, lab services and outpatient rehab therapies.
 

A small group of representatives from Scott Credit Union and the Lebanon, IL, Chamber of Commerce met recently to cut the ribbon to mark the opening of SCU’s newest Illinois branch.  
The credit union, with headquarters in Edwardsville, IL, recently opened a full-service location at 101 E. Schuetz Street (Route 4) in Lebanon, IL. 

The newest SCU location, which was a former bank building, is 3,840 square feet and features a traditional teller line in the lobby and two drive-up teller windows. The location has a drive-up ATM.

FCC is announcing its first Fall Treasure Hunt!  Since COVID has changed how we operate right now, we are replacing our Annual Fall Fest with a Family Fun Treasure Hunt.  So join us for the fun on Sunday, October 4.  It will begin in front of the church at 3 pm, just pull up in your car and  complete registration and get your instructional packets, then you are off. The Treasure Hunt is within the Highland boundaries.
 
This is a Free event and will be a COVID safe friendly event, all participants must wear a mask.  Participants will be limited. You may register online on our church website at fcchighland.org (click on the treasure hunt banner and it will take you to the registration page) or click here or in person at the event. This is not a race but points are earned for prizes. Participants may use cellular devices, reference materials, and may even go to their homes to seek information or help. Some texting of information may be requested.
 
There will be minimal walking and no hiking. If it rains, bring an umbrella or light rain covering.
 
Participants must return back to the church by 5:45 pm. Prizes will be awarded and mailed to the winning teams after all the scores are tabulated. Some judging will need to done after the info is received.
 
The Treasure Hunt requires a vehicle, someone at least 25 yrs old in vehicle, and a cell phone.

I want to extend my sincerest thanks to all of our sponsors and artists for their contributions to making sure we still had a little bit of Street Art this past weekend. The art was amazing, surpassed only by the perfect weather! We really couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

If you didn't get around town to check out the art, most of it should still be in good shape. Here's the list of the locations where you can see if for yourself.

Thank you to our sponsors:

Scott Credit Union	Rural King
Highland Lion's Club	Rotary Club of Highland
Serendipity Labs	The Korte Company
Scheffel Boyle CPAs	Lisa Sauer - State Farm
Tri Ford Inc.	APEX Physical Therapy & Fitness Center
Bradford National Bank.	Trouw Nutrition
Starlight Dance Studio	Lee's Fine Jewelry, Loans & More
Highland Arts Council	Highland Jaycees
Brad & Tina Frank	Highland Machine
First Mid Bank & Trust	Cedar Creek Dental

Pop on over to our Facebook page to check out the pictures!

We've been getting a LOT of questions about our annual Christmas Parade and I am happy to share that we WILL be having it again this year, albeit it'll look a bit different. 
 

In an effort to encourage local shopping, #ShopHighlandLocal,  we're helping organize a sidewalk sale on October 10.

Participating businesses will offer sales, giveaways and other promotions during this one day open air market. Keep your dollars local while getting a jump on the upcoming holiday season!

If you'd like to be a participating business, please email the Chamber office and we'll get you added to the Facebook Event Page. If you'd like to help support our local economy, please SHARE, SHARE, SHARE this event so we have a great turnout! 

You may have heard the SBDC, Small Business Development Center, mentioned quite a bit in the past year but wondered exactly what they do. We have arranged to have Jo Ann Di Maggio May, Director of the IL SBDC for the Metro East at SIUE, speak with us on October 15th from 12 -1pm. 

This is a great opportunity for you to learn about all the resources offered by the Illinois Small Business Development Center for the Metro East at SIUE. The SBDC offers no cost advising and low cost webinars, workshops and training opportunities to help you start and/or grow your business.
 

SAVE THE DATE: Sept. 30, 2020

Multi-Chamber Virtual Lunch & Learn Event

Presented by:

The Ameren Illinois Energy Efficiency Program

Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Registration for our Fall 2020 Job Fair is now open! We are delighted to provide this networking opportunity to our students, alumni, employer partners, and community! 

In order to ensure the safety of you and all job seekers, we will hold a VIRTUAL job fair on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 from 9am- 4pm. With this change, the format of the fair will be different than past years. Next week, we will launch a virtual area where you will be able to link your calendars and video conferencing links to your profile to be available for the virtual job fair. By October 2nd, I will send you specific information about the virtual function. Here is our plan for how the virtual fair will work:

Congratulations to the July & August Honorees!