Here’s a list of southern Illinois businesses that received COVID-19 relief grants

More than $6.2 million was awarded to southern Illinois businesses recently through the latest round of COVID-19 recovery grants.

The Back to Business program set aside $250 million from federal relief money for businesses hard-hit by the pandemic. So far, the program has awarded $120 million to 3,202 small businesses, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

In the most recent round, grants between $5,000 and $250,000 went to more than 175 businesses in 26 southern Illinois counties. Businesses can use the money for a variety of expenses from rent, to payroll, to inventory, and more.

Pere Marquette Lodge in Grafton was awarded the biggest grant at $250,000. In St. Clair County, 20 businesses received a total of more than $1 million, including the East St. Louis staple Good Heavens BBQ, which received $10,000. The grants also supported hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts such as the Beall Mansion in Alton, which received $15,000.

Here’s a table of the southern Illinois businesses that received grants in the latest round.

Kelsey Landis

Belleville News-Democrat

618-239-2101

Kelsey Landis is an Illinois state affairs and politics reporter for the Belleville News-Democrat. She joined the newsroom in January 2020 after her first stint at the paper from 2016 to 2018. She graduated from Southern Illinois University in 2010 and earned a master’s from DePaul University in 2014. Landis previously worked at The Alton Telegraph. At the BND, she focuses on informing you about what your lawmakers are doing in Springfield and Washington, D.C., and she works to hold them accountable. Landis has won Illinois Press Association awards for her work, including the Freedom of Information Award.