Gear Up for State of Illinois Grants

Gear Up for State of Illinois Grants
Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) Training

The State of Illinois has many grant opportunities for various organizations/businesses to apply for grants, and while those opportunities are often more limited for small businesses, you want to be prepared when they do become available. The State of Illinois provides this training in order to prepare businesses to apply for State grants and increase their understanding of the application process and regulations.

In 2019 the state came out with a Notice of Funding Opportunity for minority-owned businesses and many were unprepared to apply because they were not GATA certified. The GATA process can take several weeks or more, and many did not have time to get their certification in order before the grant was due.

In June of 2020, the state announced the recipients of this small business grant, and of the 20 that received funding, 40% received the maximum $500,000 grant. These businesses that were awarded grants were prepared to take advantage of this opportunity. When this grant is made available again make sure your business is prepared to respond.

The purpose of this training is to increase understanding and compliance of the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA), which has been established in the state of Illinois to increase accountability and transparency in the use of grant funds while reducing the administrative burden on both state agencies and grantees.

The law provides for the development of a coordinated, non-redundant process to establish effective and efficient oversight of the selection and monitoring of grant recipients, ensuring quality programs; limiting fraud, waste, and abuse; and defining the purpose, scope, applicability, and responsibilities in the life cycle of a grant.

Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance.







Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U. S. SBA, the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity and Rogers Park Business Alliance.