Section 20 ILCS 700/2003 - Grant evaluation and amounts(a) The Department shall evaluate grant applications based upon criteria provided under this Section. The Department shall not award any Challenge Grant that is not recommended for funding by the Illinois Science and Technology Advisory Committee and the Illinois Coalition. In determining which grant applicants shall be awarded a Challenge Grant, the Department shall conduct an evaluation of prior compliance with loan or grant agreements for any grant applicant previously funded by the Department. In addition, the Department shall consider the following criteria in determining grant awards: the relationship of a proposed advanced technology project to the State's future economic growth; the qualifications and expertise of consultants, firms or organizations undertaking the effort; the potential for leveraging federal or private research dollars, or both, for the initiative; the extent of the capacity of the applicant or the applicant partnership or consortium to finance the initiative; the potential for adapting, commercializing or adopting the results of the applicant's project for the economic benefit of the State; and the likelihood that the project has a potential for creating new jobs or retaining current jobs in the State.(b) The Director of the Department shall determine the level of the grant award and shall determine the share of total directly attributable costs of an advanced technology project which may be considered for funding under this Article.(c) The Department and the Department of Natural Resources are hereby authorized to cooperate with and provide support to the Illinois Science and Technology Advisory Committee and the Illinois Coalition. Such support may include the provision of office space and may be technical, advisory or operational in nature. P.A. 91-357, eff. 7/29/1999; 91-476, eff. 8/11/1999.