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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
PROPOSED RESOLUTION FOR ARPA VITAL AND SMART COMMUNITIES PROGRAM INITIATIVES IMPLEMENTED BY THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
WHEREAS, on March 11, 2021, the federal government authorized the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) which includes $1.9 trillion in federal stimulus funds to hasten the United States’ recovery from the economic and health effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, specifically, the federal government has authorized and allocated a federal award of approximately $1,000,372,385B of ARPA funding to Cook County to assist the County in its recovery from the economic and health effects of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on June 24, 2021, the Cook County American Rescue Plan Act Framework (the “ARPA Framework”) was presented to the Cook County Board of Commissioners; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Board of Commissioners via Resolution 21-3654 accepted the ARPA federal award allocated to Cook County to assist the County in its recovery from the economic and health effects of COVID-19 in the amount of approximately $1,000,372,385.00; and
WHEREAS, Resolution 21-3654 further authorized the Cook County Budget Director and Comptroller to create and implement a Special Purpose Fund for the ARPA award and other accounting measures to track the acceptance and spending of the federal award; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Board of Commissioners authorized the Chief Financial Officer, Budget Director, Chief Procurement Officer and applicable using agencies to issue grants, contracts and agreements for ARPA programs approved via Resolutions 22-3657 and 22-0637; and
WHEREAS, to further the Policy Roadmap Goals, the Bureau of Economic Development (BED) has developed a menu of Vital Community and Smart Community programs and initiatives which have undergone review and approval through the Project Management Office process to utilize ARPA funding for such programs and initiatives pursuant to the issuance of grants, contracts, and agreements; and
WHEREAS, Resolutions 22-3657 and 22-0637 provided that any grants issued regarding ARPA programs in an amount over $1M shall require the approval of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby approves the issuance of the following agreements by the BED to utilize ARPA funding for multiyear terms through Fiscal Year 2026, subject to annual appropriation by the Board, for the BED programs and initiatives as follows:
1. Enter into a Subrecipient Agreement with the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) in an aggregate amount of up to $70,000,000 to foster equitable small business recovery in Cook County from economic consequences of COVID-19 and catalyze sustainability of small businesses formed since the onset of COVID-19. Program will provide Recovery Grants to businesses that have experienced hardships resulting from COVID-19 and will prioritize microbusinesses (less than 10 employees), operational pre-COVID-19, owned by historically excluded populations in Suburban Cook operating in industries heavily impacted by COVID. Program will also offer Early-Stage Business Grants to microbusinesses owned by historically excluded populations, that have operated for one to two years in communities hard hit by COVID-19. Early-Stage Grants are for businesses formed since the onset of COVID, and not eligible for prior funds available to businesses impacted by COVID.
The Cook County Small Business Source will provide business recovery and resiliency advising services in tandem with both grant programs.
The Bureau of Economic Development, Women’s Business Development Center and Allies for Community Business will partner to implement a grant program that provides capital paired with business advising to historically excluded businesses - Black-, Latino(a)-, Woman-, Veteran-, Person(s) with a Disability-owned businesses - to close racial wealth and other opportunities gaps. In collaboration with other ARPA-funded County initiatives that target small businesses, the grant program will support businesses with their recovery from the pandemic, scale their operations, and thrive in Cook County. To achieve these objectives, the Bureau of Economic Development will activate a network of approximately 36 Referral Partners to connect businesses to the Cook County Small Business Source advising services and grant programs. In 2022, the Chicago Community Trust’s We Rise Together program will provide $270,000 of philanthropic funding and Cook County will provide up to $270,000 in FY 2022 Corporate Funds (See Item # 22-4542). Referral Partners will each receive $15,000 for their services to promote the Small Business Grant programs and the Cook County Small Business Source.
2. Enter into a Subrecipient Agreement with the Arts Alliance Illinois in an aggregate amount of up to $5,000,000 to encourage investment in the arts, promote economic recovery in this hard-hit sector, spur new creative works with a focus on suburban Cook County, and support the use of art within County facilities through artist-residence programs. Arts Alliance Illinois will administer grants to artists and non-profit arts organizations. It will also design and administer community convenings, cohort training, guidance, and targeted curriculum development paving the way for self-sustaining arts programming withinsuburban Cook County municipalities. Cook County will design and administer artist in residence programs within Cook County public facing agencies and support the creation of public art for municipalities and Cook County facilities
3. Enter into a Subrecipient Agreement with Elevate in an aggregate amount of up to $15,000,000 to implement the Lead Service Line Replacement Program, an initiative that will remove and replace the majority of lead service lines (LSLs) at high-risk facilities in suburban Cook County and build community readiness for full-scale lead service line replacement. This program will reduce childhood lead exposure by focusing on LSL replacement at day care facilities and other high-risk locations. The initiative will also support and accelerate LSL replacement in suburban Cook municipalities by helping communities understand state-required data collection and planning processes and positioning them to take advantage of future resources for LSL replacement, with a focus on communities with limited resources to support a LSL replacement effort.
4. Enter into a Subrecipient Agreement with GiveDirectly in an aggregate amount of up to $40,949,986 to serve as the payment administration partner for the Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot, an initiative that will provide $500 monthly payments to 3,250 low-income residents for 24 months to support participants’ economic stability and well-being. $39,000,000 of the funding amount above will fund the Guaranteed Income payments to recipients and the balance will be allocated for administration of the program. The pilot builds on the County’s previous one-time cash assistance program and the success of guaranteed income programs in other jurisdictions. The program will include a research evaluation component to help the County understand participant impacts and outcomes.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Cook County Board of Commissioners recognizes that time is of the essence and authorizes the Chief of the Bureau of Economic Development to negotiate and enter into the various agreements that outlines the specific metric and impact data, and compliance with all ARPA reporting and monitoring requirements with the agencies listed above to implement the above programs.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the Chief of the Bureau of Economic Development or its designee to modify the agreements and funding allocations to all BED selected organizations based upon need and utilization.
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