Restaurant Week starts on Friday! and other important updates
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Resume McHenry County Update!
Through our collaboration with McHenry County, we will continue to share important information on stimulus programs, PPP loans, COVID-19 updates and more through its Resume McHenry County Updates.
Please take a moment to scroll down to see new advancements this week as we move open McHenry County. As always, MCEDC is here to help, if you have any questions or if we can be of service, please let us know.
Restaurant Week starts on Friday!
Happy belated Valentine’s Day! We hope you bought your special someone their favorite dish from one of McHenry County’s many wonderful restaurants. And if you didn’t, you have a wonderful chance to redeem yourself and find a great deal at the same time!
Our friends at Visit McHenry County are hosting their third annual Restaurant Week, starting this Friday. Several McHenry County eateries through Sunday, Feb. 28, are offering takeout and/or dine-in specials; you can find the list here.
There are many local restaurants that may not be offering specials but are outstanding destinations that put McHenry County on the culinary map. Visit McHenry County has a great list of local favorites here.
Whether you’ve got a hankering for a steak dinner or a Chicago-style hot dog, let’s dine out this month to help our local restaurants as they recover from the COVID-19 mitigations.
COVID-19 rental and utility assistance is coming
Help is coming – more than $9 million of it – for qualified McHenry County renters unable to pay their rent or utilities because of pandemic-related hardship.
The County Board will vote tonight to accept the funding through the stimulus bill approved by Congress and signed by the president last December. The McHenry County Emergency Utility and Rental Assistance Program will be administered through the county, with applications processed through the McHenry County Housing Authority.
This is a very big deal that will help many people in need. We’ll update you much more on this in next week’s edition, and we’ll be calling on all of our Resume McHenry County partners to help let our vulnerable renters and landlords (they can apply too!) know about this important program.
MCDH opens COVID-19 call center
The McHenry County Department of Health has opened a call center to remove barriers to enroll for the COVID-19 vaccine, and to streamline residents’ access to accurate information.
Residents can reach the call center between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 815-334- 4045.
The health department has also launched a COVID-19 vaccine locator page to help residents become aware of vaccine opportunities in McHenry County, which you can find at this website.
The State of Illinois is also partnering with retail pharmacies such as Walgreens and Jewel-Osco to provide COVID-19 vaccinations. Information about where and how to schedule an appointment with these pharmacies is available at coronavirus.Illinois.gov.
Regional hospitals are inviting patients who are 65 and older to receive the vaccine. The MCDH is encouraging residents to look for these direct communications from their healthcare provider’s health system about the option to receive the vaccine at their clinics.
Registering for the Shuttered Venue Grant
Illinois is spending $3.4 million to expand community navigator outreach programs and technical assistance to help businesses take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program and other business assistance programs set to launch soon.
The navigator program builds on the system the state piloted when it rolled out its Business Interruption Grant, which awarded $275 million to almost 9,000 small businesses statewide. In the coming weeks, more than $35 billion will be allocated through the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan, and the new Shuttered Venue Operators grant program.
The shuttered venue grant has not yet started, but the SBA has published an FAQ list you can read by clicking here. While the SBA is currently building the application platform, interested applicants are encouraged to register on the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) to save time.
As a reminder, you can learn more about the PPP by clicking here, and you can click here to find a list of SBA-approved participating lenders. Remember that businesses that received PPP loans under the first round are also eligible for loans under this new round. It’s advised that said businesses use the same bank for the sake of expediency because many more businesses are eligible for this second round because Congress relaxed the criteria.
Watch the county’s vaccine town-all meeting
More than 1,200 people tuned in last Tuesday evening to watch the county government’s town-hall meeting regarding the ongoing rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine!
Thank you to all our Resume McHenry County partners for helping spread the word.
What? You missed it? No problem!
For your viewing pleasure, the county has put the one-hour video on YouTube, which you can watch here, and on the county website (click here). The county link includes a list of answers to the most common questions asked of the audience.
Take advantage of the Harvard/ Woodstock Enterprise Zone
Construction season is coming, and if you intend to build in Harvard or Woodstock, you can take advantage of the Harvard/Woodstock Enterprise Zone.
Benefits include sales tax exemptions on building materials and a half-percent deduction of the total project cost from state taxes. Also, depending on where you build or expand in the zone, your business can receive a potential eight-year real-estate tax abatement of 100% for four years, 50% for two years, and 25% for the final two years.
We hope we got your attention. We need your help reaching more McHenry County residents and businesses to share this important information about the COVID-19 response and connect them with vital resources.
Please take these four steps:
1. Share/forward to your email/newsletter contacts.
2. Post information to your website.
3. Follow us on social media (see below); share our posts with your followers.
4. If you are not on the McHenry County Constant Contact list, please subscribe here
Follow McHenry County Government On Social Media
Staying connected and informed is more important now than ever! Follow McHenry County on social media for regular updates on COVID-19 in our region, resources to help you navigate the pandemic, safety tips and more!
Resume McHenry County is a collaborative initiative being implemented by McHenry County and the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) in partnership with the McHenry County community, including cities and villages, businesses and residents. The goal is to ensure a successful reopening of our economy so that we can return to our lifestyles safely and responsibly.
