State grants have been held up for businesses decimated by looting in 2020; one owner says it may soon be too late
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Illinois state grant program is touted as a means to help businesses decimated by looting – with the money meant for immediate repairs so businesses can survive.
But two years after the launch of the program, CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov found out only a small fraction of those millions have been given out. And some of that money has been used to pay the salaries of those overseeing the program.
Kozlov met Najee Landon as she looked with despair around her Englewood company's office space.
"The rioting and everything that happened at the summer, it really hit us hard," Landon said. "It's like a knife to the heart."
And she said things have only gotten worse since her Harmony International Development offices were looted and vandalized during the unrest around the city at the end of May 2020.
"We had our plumbing lines pulled. Those were stolen," Landon said. "Our electrical wires were also stolen."
Landon did not have the money to make all the repairs while also struggling to pay rent. So when she heard about a state program called Rebuild Distressed Communities in a webinar in the summer of 2020, she applied.
"I thought that this was the perfect opportunity, because we faced so much damage," Landon said.
According to the state's own website, the whole point of the $25 million program is to "support economically distressed Illinois businesses" that were damaged "due to civil unrest."
The grant money would cover the cost of repairs for many things – including "structural damages," "storefronts and entrances," and "electrical systems."
Landon qualified in the fall of 2020, ultimately being awarded $133,307,57.
"I thought that this like the answer to our prayers and that everything was going to turn out fine," she said, "and here we are two year later."
Two years later, and Landon has only gotten a third of the grant money promised to her. She didn't even get that until a few months ago.
Landon has used that money for approved repairs. But she calls the delay devastating, and her offices have further deteriorated.
"We've done the best that we can to our ability to start repairing and start removing some of the damages, but it's just beyond our scope," she said.
Landon's business is barely surviving – and she isn't alone.
"It's taken longer than I think anyone has wanted," said David Doig.
Doig, a former superintendent of the Chicago Park District, now heads the nonprofit CNI – or Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives – which is overseeing Landon's grant. CNI is one of two organizations tapped by the state to give out the grants.
Kozlov: "It's been two years. What is the holdup?"
Doig: "As you can imagine with government programs, there's a number of requirements."
The requirements include massive requests for documentation – all of which Landon said she has provided CNI, over and over again.
Kozlov: "They've given you and the state everything that has been requested, but yet, the requests just keep coming and the money doesn't."
Doig: "Yeah, I mean, it's a fair question. Part of this is the state is - this is a new program, and so the state continues to bring up new requirements."
Our public records request found CNI has gotten $4.75 million in grant money from the state. So far, CNI has only awarded $2.6 million in grants, but has actually only given out $249,000 to qualifying business owners and recipients.
So where is that other $4.5 million?
Doig: "It's there. It's available. We have not had projects sufficient to be able to draw down that amount of money."
Kozlov: "When you say projects, aren't we talking about grant recipients here?"
Doig: "Yeah, exactly."
Kozlov: "Okay. But I mean, we have a spreadsheet of all the people who were qualified for these awards; these grants – and you're saying you don't have the projects. But I'm looking at the projects, and I'm still unclear as to why it's taking so long."
Doig: "Yeah, no. I hear you. Again, it's a new program."
The CBS 2 Investigators have also found CNI has used some of the money it received to pay its salaries.
"It's being used to fund our project managers and some of the accounting staff," Doig said.
In the meantime, Landon is left fighting and hoping the rest of her money comes through – before she loses her business for good.
"We also have a lot of community services," Landon said. "For this to happen to a company that's already been so established and is just so pivotal for the community, yeah, it's hard."
Doig pushed back when Kozlov asked him if he thought this was a failed grant.
Kozlov also reached out to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity about Doig's claim that the state keeps changing the requirements for grantees. A spokesperson said the requirements have remained the same.