Kane County-area leaders relaunch entrepreneurship center for those impacted by criminal legal system, other groups

An entrepreneurship center geared toward helping those impacted by the criminal legal system is getting a new life in Kane County, after several local leaders recently relaunched the program.

Now, the Honorable William H. Hall IV Entrepreneurship Center will be providing both virtual and in-person programs and workforce development to teach those impacted by the criminal legal system, as well as other aspiring entrepreneurs, how to build and sustain businesses of their own.

A former iteration of the center operated as a Small Business Development Center satellite, supported by the Illinois Small Business Development Center, U.S. Small Business Administration and Waubonsee Community College and in partnership with the Kane County Sheriff’s Office. At the time, the corrections-based small business development center was touted by Sheriff’s Office officials as the first of its kind in the nation.

First launched in 2024, the initiative — which evolved from a program that gave detainees the chance to participate in a business plan and pitch competition — was meant to help current and former detainees start businesses. At least two former detainees went on to launch real businesses based on their pitch plans, per the county — one in catering, the other in transportation.

Last May, the entrepreneurship center then launched independently as an initiative of the sheriff’s office, as a result of funding changes.

Then, in October, the Sheriff’s Office stopped operating the center, Undersheriff Amy Johnson confirmed on Friday.

Now, it’s being relaunched outside of the sheriff’s office, according to the local leaders running it, who formerly worked with the center when it was under the sheriff’s office.

Leading the effort are founder and managing director Judy Dawson, formerly the Sheriff’s Office’s director of diversion and reentry programs; Elgin City Council member Corey Dixon, who also formerly worked in the Sheriff’s Office and will now serve as the center’s director; and Rudy Gonzalez, who is working as its executive director.

Both Dawson and Dixon were no longer employed by the county as of November, Kane County termination report records show, while Gonzalez had been working for the center as a contractor, he told The Beacon-News recently.

But, according to Dawson, they kept working on the initiative without pay after they were no longer employed by the Sheriff’s Office.

And now, the center will be continuing to operate, this time as a nonprofit organization.

The center’s leadership is planning for it to provide virtual and in-person programs and workforce development for those impacted by the criminal legal system and other aspiring business owners, according to a press release about the relaunching of the center. It will also provide education and professional development services.

The center is set to serve those reentering society after being incarcerated, as well as veterans and other underserved groups, per its website.

At a press conference for the relaunch of the center July 13 at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum, the leaders spoke of the work they did while part of the Sheriff’s Office, as well as their plans for the center’s future.

Gonzalez said, for example, that they helped business owners secure almost $600,000 in business bank loans in about 10 months in 2025.

And Dawson pointed to the issue of recidivism, and noted how many people in the community have been to jail.

“This is your neighbor,” she said at the press conference.

As for the financial side of things, efforts to keep more people out of jail would not only save money for taxpayers, Dawson said, but supporting the creation of new businesses could even help create more jobs.

A poster at the press conference indicated that the center’s free “Start Your Business” cohort, which will have virtual classes via Zoom, starts Sept. 17 — but individuals are being asked to reserve their spot by Sept. 8. The center is also hosting an event at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum on Sept. 10 about using AI in business.

The center is planning to primarily use the museum for in-person events, Gonzalez told The Beacon-News, but will also use other locations.

But offering remote classes will allow the center to expand to have a “nationwide footprint,” Dawson said at the press conference.

The center’s leaders are also aiming to expand in terms of who the program serves. Dixon said that, previously, being housed within the Sheriff’s Office made the center seem as if it was only open to those who have been impacted by the criminal legal system.

But now, with the relaunched center, he said, it will be focused on helping marginalized communities generally, and will be “even more open and more visible in the public eye to work with any and everybody.”