Illinois Grocery Initiative

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (the “Department” or “DCEO”) is issuing this Notice of Funding Opportunity (“NOFO”) to improve access to fresh food within food deserts by providing incentives to establish grocery stores.
Donor Name: Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
State: Illinois
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline:  05/24/2024
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
The Illinois Grocery Initiative New Stores in Food Deserts program is intended to address the challenge of food deserts. Food deserts are census tracts meeting specific criteria related to poverty standards, population density, and limited food accessibility. This program aims to combat food insecurity by offering competitive grants to support the establishment of new grocery stores in these areas by reimbursing successful applicants for eligible capital and non-capital costs. 
Performance Goals and Measures 
Grantees will be required to submit performance data to the Department on a quarterly basis. Performance reporting may encompass both the implementation of projects supported by the grant and impacts on the community. Performance measures may include but will not necessarily be limited to:

New Store Project Milestones Completed
Quarterly food sales
New Grocery Store Remaining Open 1 year after project completion
Number of employees in full time equivalents

Funding Information

Total amount of funding expected to be awarded through this program is $14 million across multiple rounds.
Awards will range from $160,000 to $2,400,000.

Project Period
The period of performance is expected to be July 1st, 2024 through December 31st, 2026.
The following expenditures will be eligible for reimbursement under this program:

Land acquisition and related expenses
Site development
Construction of a new facility
Renovations of an existing facility
Furniture, fixtures, and equipment
Working capital for first-year operating expenses, including:

Employee wages
Utility costs
Initial inventory of food
Other operating expenses that support the retail sale of food. This will not include expenditures on items unrelated to provision of fresh foods (e.g., video poker machines, inventory of cleaning supplies for sale)

Eligibility Criteria
An entity must be registered in the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) Grantee Portal, the time of grant application. The portal will verify that the entity:

Has a valid FEIN number
Has a current SAM.gov registration, SAM.gov registrations must be marked as “public” to allow the GATA Grantee Portal to expedite the review of the federal information;
Has a valid UEI number
Is not on the Federal Excluded Parties List
Is in Good Standing with the Illinois Secretary of State, as applicable
Is not on the Illinois Stop Payment list (verified once entity is registered in GATA Grantee Portal); and
Is not on the Department of Healthcare and Family Services Provider Sanctions list

For more information, visit DCEO.