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    • Business Resources

    Starting a Business
    Finding Office and Retail Space
    Training, Workshops, and Counseling
    Small Business Loans and Grants
    Business Licenses
    Demographic Data

    Starting a Business

    City of Chicago Business Resources

    The Chicago region boasts a wealth of public and private entities providing resources, intelligence, guidance, and direct assistance to businesses and entrepreneurs. These organizations are available to help simplify the process of starting a new business or growing established ones.

    Business Affairs & Consumer Protection
    The Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection’s mission is to empower businesses to grow and succeed by providing information and services to help businesses act responsibly and create economic vitality and vibrant communities for the people of Chicago. DBA’s “one-stop-shop” for businesses provides business consultants to guide businesses through the government process.

    Readily available on the Department’s website are information and resources aimed at facilitating and supporting business creation and serving as answer source to a wide range of business concerns.

    State of Illinois Business Resources

    For prospective or current business owners the State of Illinois provides a wide variety of information and resources on some of the most common business concerns.

    • Start and Manage a Business: For information and resources on starting, running, expanding, relocating, or closing a business
    • Laws & Regulations: Learn about business laws and regulations in Illinois.
    • Business Forms: Find applications and forms your business needs.
    • State Procurement: To bid on contracts and learn how to sell goods, services, commodities,
      equipment and for supplies to the State

    Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity
    The Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is the lead state agency responsible for improving Illinois’ competitiveness in the global economy. Guided by an innovative regional approach, DCEO administers a wide range of economic and workforce development programs, services and initiatives designed to create and retain high quality jobs and build strong communities. DCEO leads the Illinois economic development process in partnership with businesses, local governments, workers and families.

    Agriculture & Industry: To obtain information about agri-business, economic and workforce development, and industries.

    United States Sponsored Business Resources

    Small Business Administration (SBA) Illinois District Office
    The SBA helps Americans start, build, and grow businesses. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. Although SBA has grown and evolved in the years since it was established in 1953, the bottom line mission remains the same.

    Finding Office and Retail Space

    Available Office, Retail, and Commercial Space in Edgewater

    Edgewater Development Corporation: Available Properties
    The Edgewater Development Corporation (EDC) maintains a list of commercial properties in Edgewater currently available for lease or sale.

    Chicagoland Organizations Providing Business Training, Workshops, and Counseling

    Edgewater Chamber of Commerce: Workshops Page
    The Edgewater Chamber of Commerce presents educational workshops throughout the year to help introduce you to new ways of growing your business, increasing your bottom line, and improving your productivity.  Past workshop topics have included, among others, promotion, staffing, social media, and email marketing.  Our business workshops include our ongoing Chamber Connections series and special workshops on specific topics, like email marketing or social media.

    City of Chicago’s Free Business Workshops
    The Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) offers workshops every Wednesday and Friday.  Workshops will vary each month and are conducted by City Officials, experts and partner business organizations.  All workshops are free, and open to the public.  Workshops are held at BACP’s offices located at 121 N. LaSalle St., City Hall Room 805, Chicago, IL  60602.

    City of Chicago’s Free Business Counseling at BACP Solution Station
    The station provides information on obtaining free business counseling, legal assistance and financial and loan assistance from trusted non-profit partner agencies.

    Jane Adams Hull House Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
    The Hull House Small Business Development Center provides a wide range of small business training and counseling programs to new and existing businesses. Hull House offers specific business programs aimed at the community. These include projects that help refugees obtain micro-loans to start or expand a business, or programs that encourage youth entrepreneurship at a local public high school.  Programs and services include:

    • Individual counseling
    • Small Business Training
    • Small Business Workshops
    • Networking events
    • Special project with Latino and Refugee entrepreneurs

    SCORE (Service Corps Of Retired Executives) Chicago
    SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth, and success of small businesses nationwide. The Chicago Chapter of SCORE provides counseling, management consulting, and low cost workshops and other resources (like templates for a business plan) to entrepreneurs and small businesses through locations in the Chicago area.

    JVS Chicago – Illinois SBDC Duman Microenterprise Center
    Improving life through employment and productivity recognizing that personal development is a lifetime endeavor. The SBDC at the Duman Microenterprise Center provides one-on-one counseling at no charge for start-ups and existing small businesses in the Chicago metropolitan area. The Center offers entrepreneurial training, business assistance, mentoring and access to capital. The Center has been helping small business owners since 2001.

    Local First Chicago
    The mission of Local First Chicago is to build thriving, local communities by

    • Educating citizens, community groups and policy makers to build and support sustainable communities.
    • Connecting and promoting locally owned independent businesses;
    • Training businesses and other parties in socially, environmentally and economically sustainable practices

    Local First Chicago periodically organizes workshops and training programs.

    Women’s Business Development Center
    The Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) is a nationally and internationally recognized not-for-profit organization established in 1986 to work with women to launch new businesses and strengthen existing businesses in the Chicago area. WBDC services are available in Spanish and English, and include business assessments, loan packaging, public and private sector procurement assistance, classes/workshops, and individualized counseling on all aspects of business development, management, and strategy.

    Chicago Community Ventures (CCV)
    CCV works with established small businesses in the Chicagoland area with a focus on companies in low and moderate income areas, and firms owned by minorities or women. CCV provides its services at little or no cost to small businesses to help them achieve growth so they in turn can provide opportunities within their communities.

    • Loans
    • One-on-one advising

    DePaul University Coleman Entrepreneurship Center
    As part of DePaul University’s Entrepreneurship Program, the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center is an outreach center offering consulting services, educational programs, and resources for students and entrepreneurs throughout Chicagoland and in the various stages of The Entrepreneurial Quest®.

    • Angel investment preparation and fundraising assistance
    • Business modeling and planning
    • Maximizing sales with practical marketing strategies
    • Exit and owner transition planning

    The Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center
    The Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC) and affiliated support organizations help manufacturers with productivity, technology modernization, and enhanced business practices. They are targeted to small and mid-sized Illinois manufacturers and they help identify a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; compile a report where a company stands on more than 50 performance indicators; and help address various manufacturing needs such as manufacturing modernization, quality assurance, best manufacturing practices, product development, and market development.

    Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center
    The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC) is a nonprofit affiliate of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce that seeks to make a perceptible and lasting economic impact on the Chicago region by helping entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses build viable, sustainable, and profitable enterprises. The CEC works with entrepreneurs to create and sustain opportunities for business success, job growth, and profitability.  The CEC:

    • Works with entrepreneurs located throughout the six counties of Northeastern Illinois.
    • Works primarily with businesses in the early-growth stage.
    • Offers entrepreneurs advisory services and face-to-face introductions to help with their financing and sales needs.
    • Provides guidance through our extensive network of experienced entrepreneurs and business leaders.
    • Hosts events at which entrepreneurs can learn strategies necessary to succeed in a competitive marketplace.

    Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance
    The CSBA supports members in integrating sustainable business principles to generate a more profitable, environmentally respectful, and socially responsible Chicago economy. This mission is achieved through:

    • Networking to create business opportunities
    • Education to enable informed decision-making
    • Promotion of a more sustainable business environment with the government, media, and public
    • Fostering a community of information, referrals, and peer-based learning

    Grants

    City of Chicago’s Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF)
    The City of Chicago provides grants of up to $150,000, funded through TIFs, to businesses making improvements to fixed assets.  The program is administered by SomerCor.

    Loans

    ACCION Chicago
    ACCION Chicago is a small business lender, dedicated to providing financing and business education to small businesses. They offer loans of up to $15,000 for start-up businesses and $25,000 for established businesses. They also offer Credit Builder loans between $200 and $2,500.

    Chicago Community Ventures
    Chicago Community Ventures provides a range of financial services to small businesses to assist them with reaching their growth milestones.  They provide financing both directly through their loan programs, and indirectly, by assisting clients with loan packaging, tax deductions, and access to alternative financial resources. CCV also works with their clients to increase their sales through procurement services and strategic consulting.

    City of Chicago

    Business Assistance Center
    For general overview and guide to obtaining business licenses.

    State of Illinois

    Registration, Licenses, & Permits
    Information and resources on registering, incorporating, and obtaining licenses and permits.

    Chicagoland Demographics

    Metro Chicago Information Center
    The Metro Chicago Information Center (MCIC) provides demographic profiles on the Chicago region and community areas within the City of Chicago.  A user account is required, but it’s free; you just need to register.

    State Demographics

    Why Illinois?
    Learn about the state’s first class workforce, unparalleled infrastructure, abundant energy resources, diverse landscape, key industries, and business incentive programs

    Data & Statistics
    Find facts, figures, data, and statistics on topics such as the census, population, economy, infrastructure, or workforce.

    U.S. Census Data

    U.S. Census Bureau
    The U.S. Census Bureau provides a wealth of data and can be searched in a multitude of ways (by zip code, community, city, MSA, county, state, census tracts, etc.)