FAQs Category: Post Application Period

No. We encourage you to gather the information and documents required to apply before submitting your application.

Yes. Recipients of a grant award will receive tax information related to their grant proceeds, which will need to be reported on their tax returns. Please consult with a tax professional for additional information.

Cook County Small Business Source received close to 16,700 applications and has funding to support 3,000 applications. Our grant administrators have reviewed all applications and found significantly more eligible applications than we are able to fund.

Due to the volume of applications received, we are unable to provide feedback to individual applicants as to why their application was not selected for funding. Applications were found to be ineligible for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:

• The applicant was a non-profit organization (which are not eligible).

• The applicant reported 2019 revenues of less than $20,000 (which is below the minimum revenue needed for eligibility)

• The applicant failed to include all required tax forms (including but not limited to 2019 tax return, 2022 tax returns or the proof of the filing of an extension to file 2022 returns).

All grant application materials noted that incomplete applications would not be reviewed or considered. We encourage all applicants to explore additional resources, grants, and funding opportunities featured on cookcountysmallbiz.org/programs.

The 2023 Source Grant was initially launched in July 2023 with $40 Million in funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act. As more than 16,000 applications were received, Cook County recognized the demand for additional funding assistance and allocated an additional $10 million into the award pool, totaling $50 million in grant funds. View the official press release here.

Immediately after the application deadline, Grant Administrators assigned a randomized identification number to each qualifying application. Applications were then reviewed for eligibility based on program requirements. Eligible applications were selected for funding by randomized identification number until award funds were fully committed. In total, we received more eligible applications than we had funds to support.

All applicants were sent notification of the status of their application at the email address contained in their application from info@cookcountysmallbiz.org on December 15. If you have not received an email, please check your “spam”, “junk” or “other” folders. In the event you do not see a status update, please contact info@cookcountysmallbiz.org.

Unfortunately, we are not able to fund the many worthy applications we received, as all award funds have been committed.We encourage applicants to visit cookcountysmallbiz.org to access the Source’s no-cost business advising, events calendar, and online resources if they would like additional support.

Please check back for additional updates in 2024. In the meantime, discover additional grant and funding opportunities featured on cookcountysmallbiz.org/programs.

Yes, grant recipients have to pay taxes on the amount of funds received in 2024 in their 2025 tax filings. The Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) will provide grant recipients with a Form 1099-MISC in early 2025 which will need to be reported on grant recipients 2024 income tax return. To determine the proper tax reporting for the grant, please consult an attorney, accountant or tax professional.

Cook County via its Grant Administrator, the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC), will distribute grant awards in January 2024.