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Illinois Grocery Initiative – New Stores in Food Deserts (Round 2) Grant   
Governor JB Pritzker recently announced a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) through the Illinois Grocery Initiative. Round 2 of New Stores in Food Deserts Program will offer competitive grants to improve access to fresh food within food deserts by providing funding to establish grocery stores.  The Illinois Grocery Initiative New Stores in Food Deserts program, authorized by Public Act 103-0561, 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 fresh 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.  In Round 2 of this program, $11 million is available to fund these grants.
 
Awards can range between $150K to $2.4M, with a 1:3 match requirement from businesses. Requirements for grocery locations include: 
Must be or will be best classified as a supermarket or other grocery retailer in the 2022 North American Industry Classification System under code 445110, a meat retailer under code 44524, a fruit and vegetable retailer under code 44523, or a fish and seafood retailer under 44525.
Must be located in a food desert census tract (as defined in the NOFO), 
Must earn less than 30% of revenue from alcohol and tobacco sales, 
Must accept SNAP and WIC, and 
Must contribute to diversity of fresh foods available in community. 

Qualified entities include units of local government and independent grocers or cooperatives with fewer than 500 employees and no more than four grocery locations. New Stores in Food Deserts grants will fund construction and renovation costs for new stores, as well as many first-year operations costs, such as employee wages, utility costs, initial inventory of food, and more.  

 DCEO has contracted with Western Illinois University (WIU) and Chicago State University (CSU) to provide technical assistance services for Illinois Grocery Initiative applicants and grantees. Applicants desiring assistance in preparing applications may contact these institutions directly.  Their contact information is listed in the NOFO
 
To view the competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and apply for the grant, please visit the DCEO website here . A technical assistance session will be held on October 9, 2024 at 10am.  You can register for this session here.   Application deadline December 2, 2024.  



Kim Watson, Senior Account Manager-Southern Region
Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity
Cell:  618.889.6731
Kim.watson@illinois.gov
Web:  www.illinois.gov/dceo