Tim Stop knows how much a little financial assistance meant when his bookings evaporated last year as the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
The local songwriter/musician received stopgap funding from Choose DuPage, a Lisle-based economic development alliance, as part of its small business relief grant program. It came at a time when Stop’s wife had been furloughed as well.
“To have something to get you through that uncertain time, and now we’ve gotten to the point where we can kind of see the light through the end of the tunnel,” he said Wednesday morning at a Choose DuPage hybrid event discussing the regional economic outlook. “Music is kind of coming back to life. It’s not quite survival mode like it was last year.”
Featured speaker Rick Bayless, owner and chef at Frontera Grill, Mesirow Senior Vice President Cara Esser and DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin all said they see good things ahead for the economy.
