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Rural Business Development Grants.

RBDG funds eligible public and nonprofit sponsors for rural business facilities, training, technical assistance, incubators, studies, and revolving loan funds.

Offered byUSDA Rural Development Illinois State Officeverified 2026-07-10

Overview

What it does.

A Chester business cannot apply directly. The City, an eligible public body, tribe, or rural-serving nonprofit must sponsor a project that benefits small and emerging rural businesses and compete through USDA Rural Development Illinois.

Best for: Community-led business incubators, shared facilities, equipment, infrastructure, training, planning, or revolving-loan initiatives.

Eligibility

Who and what may qualify.

Eligible applicants

  • Public bodies and government entities
  • Federally recognized tribes
  • Nonprofit entities primarily serving rural areas

Applicants excluded by the source

  • For-profit businesses and individuals as direct grant applicants

Eligible uses

  • Technical assistance and training for small rural businesses
  • Land, building, machinery, equipment, street, parking, and utility development
  • Revolving loan fund capitalization
  • Business incubators
  • Feasibility studies, business plans, and entrepreneur training

Uses excluded by the source

  • Direct grants to individual businesses
  • Projects outside eligible rural areas or without public economic-development benefit

Application

How to start.

  1. Develop the project with an eligible public or nonprofit sponsor
  2. Contact USDA Rural Development Illinois before preparing the application
  3. Register the sponsor in SAM.gov and submit a complete application under the next notice

Timing: The FY2026 general deadline passed June 30, 2026; the SECD deadline passed June 15, 2026. Monitor for the next cycle.

Planning notes

Limits to account for.

  • For-profit businesses are not direct applicants
  • Awards are competitive
  • Projects must benefit eligible rural areas and satisfy federal grant requirements

Can provide a public or nonprofit layer in a broader business-development project if costs and beneficiaries remain eligible and nonduplicative.

Evidence

Official sources.