Long-awaited COVID relief arrives for Rockford-area restaurants

Help is on the way for Rockford-area restaurants that have been struggling to pay skyrocketing unemployment insurance rates since the pandemic forced scores of layoffs four years ago.

The Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and State Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, announced at a press conference Monday that they've finalized plans to distribute a $1.5 million grant to help local restaurants that followed COVID protocols and are now underwater with the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

"Restaurants were hit hard," West said. "And, unfortunately, the impact of the pandemic has continued to follow them because they followed the rules. State-mandated closures and restrictions, plus skyrocketing unemployment insurance costs, have squeezed our restaurants."

The grant comes almost two years after West unsuccessfully filed a bill in the House, hoping to pass legislation to help local restaurant owners, many of whom say they feel punished for following state orders to close during the pandemic, only to be hit with massive unemployment insurance increases.

"After COVID, we were assigned the highest possible unemployment tax rate," said Emily Christensen, owner of The Norwegian Nordic restaurant. "We went from the lowest to the highest."

The grant will not lower unemployment insurance rates, but will help restaurant owners offset some expenses they incurred during the pandemic, most notably the first quarter of 2021.

The state did freeze unemployment rates through the fourth quarter of 2020 to give restaurants room to breathe as coronavirus moved through state. But because indoor dining didn't fully return until well into the following year, owners struggled to pay increases and penalties that kicked in during the first quarter of 2021.

"We've paid about $80,000 to the Department of Employment Security since COVID," Christensen said. "I took out personal loans to pay for my unemployment taxes."

Winnebago County restaurants can apply for grant funds at gorockford.com. To qualify, they must certify that they complied with indoor dining closure mandates during the first quarter of 2021 that were set forth by five executive orders issues by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Restaurants must also show that they've incurred or will incur a higher unemployment rate in 2022, 2023 and 2024 because of rate increases in Q1 2021.

Applications must be completed by 5 p.m. March 28. Each application will be reviewed by the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and a review panel of Rockford-area finance professionals. The amount each will receive will vary. Restaurants must currently be in operation to qualify.

"This grant program that we are thrilled to bring forward as the state's partner is a way of making part of (the situation) right," said John Groh, CEO of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. "But it doesn't make everything go away."

Unemployment rate increases are typically for three years, meaning restaurants that were hit hard in 2021 could see their rates start to come back down this year.

Groh said the goal is to start distributing funds in June.

To assist applicants with the submission process and address concerns, the RACVB will host online help sessions from 9-10 a.m. March 4 and 2-3 p.m. March 8.

To register for a session, visit GoRockford.com/Restaurant-Grant. Each session will be recorded and made available for later viewing.

Jim Hagerty covers business, growth and development and other general news topics for the Rockford Register Star. Email him at jhagerty@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: COVID relief coming to Rockford-area restaurants that shut down