By Nick Gale, 890 WLS News
(CHICAGO) — The Illinois Department of Economic Opportunity is awarding Cook County $744,600 as part of its Community Navigator Program and We Rise Together coalition is awarding $500,000 to support the Cook County Small Business Assistance Program. Combined, the county says the new resources will support the nationally recognized Small Business Assistance program to further support recovery efforts for small businesses.
“This support serves as recognition of the effective and collective efforts of our robust network of business service organizations and our program administrator Next Street,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “These resources from DCEO and We Rise Together leverage the County’s $20 M investment in small business grants and business coaching services.”
Cook County will serve as one of 13 “Hubs” in the State of Illinois’ $9 million Community Navigator Program and will focus its efforts to build awareness and ensure available federal, state, and local funding is easily accessible to minorities and hard to reach small businesses.
As a “Hub”, Cook County has enlisted 10 of the region’s leading business support organizations to provide business coaching services. The network of 10 “spokes” includes the following organizations:
● Allies for Community Business
● Berwyn Development Corporation
● Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council
● Chicago Urban League
● Cook County Black Chamber of Commerce
● Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
● Illinois Restaurant Association
● Southland Development Authority
● The Joseph Center
● Women’s Business Development Center
To learn more about Cook County’s Small Business Assistance Program, visit www.cookcountysmallbiz.org.
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