The path forward for Lake County small businesses

When the pandemic hit, there was a lot of uncertainty and small business owners across Illinois faced an unprecedented event. While many were unsure how to begin or search to find ways to meet their business needs, small businesses in Lake County discovered they had a dependable partner in the Illinois Small Business Development and International Trade Center (SBDC-ITC) at College of Lake County (CLC).

The SBDC-ITC at CLC recognized that Lake County has over 18,000 small businesses and immediately went to work to get assistance into the hands of small business owners who help drive Lake County's economy.

When the Lake County Board received more than $100 million in funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in July, it created several programs to help county residents in crisis. The Lake County Small Business Assistance Grant Program was among them and aimed to cover up to four months of occupancy costs, including rent, mortgage and utilities.

When the application window opened for only two weeks in July, the SBDC-ITC at CLC stepped up to help business owners navigate and complete the application process. Nearly 2,000 applications came in from across Lake County, of which about 1,200 were approved for grants equal to 4.5 times the applicant's monthly rent. The SBDC-ITC and local leaders were interested in ensuring that all small business community members were represented and benefited from the available resources.

"We saw woman and minority-owned businesses well represented with 46 percent and 31 percent, respectively, receiving grants," SBDC-ITC manager Mitch Bienvenue said. "This exceeded the program's goal of 10 percent for each category."

The SBDC-ITC continues its mission to assist local business owners and prospective entrepreneurs. Among its many available resources is a monthly, no-cost workshop devoted to starting a business in Illinois delivered in English and Spanish and seminars on international trade, computer skills, stress management, marketing, finance, communication and more. The SBDC-ITC provides these training workshops utilizing the tool Training Assessments and Development (TAD) that offers a new way for small businesses to train, develop and assess their staff. The SBDC-ITC provides this tool to small business owners at no cost with funding from the CARES Act.

Recognizing the need to adapt, adjust and advance, the SBDC-ITC is launching BizHub. Local entrepreneurs can now access BizHub for vetted local business resources, discussion boards, curated community events and more.

"The Small Business Development & International Trade Center at College of Lake County works hard to ensure that Lake County small businesses have access to important resources," Bienvenue said. "As manager of that organization, I am thrilled to provide BizHub, which is a digital platform that makes it easy for any business to find the people, organizations and information they need to succeed."

Where does the small business community go from here? As the light at the end of the tunnel finally becomes visible, it is apparent that the Small Business Development & International Trade Center at College of Lake County commits itself to take the lessons learned over the past year to develop new tools, advising and training to assist small businesses in navigating the ebbs and flows, all the while continuing to celebrate the successes along the way.