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A Damen Green Line Station is Coming to
the West Side! |
Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently announced plans for a Damen Green Line station. About the exciting news, Alderman Burnett said, "Myself and ICNC have been working on an 'L' stop at Lake and Damen for many years. I remember over 15 years ago, we stood at that spot... Finally, it's coming to fruition." The $50 million station is planned to be completed mid-2020.
Congratulations to all of the ICNC companies and community members who have persisted and made this possible! The City and CTA planners deserve credit for this significant transit investment in the West Side's economy. Read more about the news on
Crain's and
DNAinfo Chicago!
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ICNC Annual Membership Event
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| Join us for ICNC's Annual Membership Event, with special guest speaker Mayor Rahm Emanuel. As we enter our 50th year, we would like to celebrate successes, like advocating for the newly announced Damen Green Line station and discuss plans for the future! The event is ICNC's premier issues-oriented gathering and your chance to shape the organization's advocacy priorities.
| Thursday, March 2nd Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM Location: ICNC - 320 N. Damen Ave. Register here! |
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Crossing Borders to Canada: Food Export Workshop
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Interested in getting your product into the Canadian market? Need an update on the changing Canadian food labeling and nutrition regulations? Currently selling into Canada but not meeting your expectations? Seeking advice on shipping, using foreign exchange to your advantage, or obtaining export grants?
This workshop will provide insight on all of the above, allow you to speak directly with experts in these fields, and provide the opportunity to meet with other food and beverage producers in the Chicago area.
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Tuesday, February 21st
Time: 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location:
ICNC - 320 N. Damen Ave.
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Lunch & Learn: Employment Law
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Learn about 2017 human resource regulatory changes and requirements commonly experienced by employers, such as paying overtime, ban-the-box, discrimination, and exemption status. Attorney John C. Lillig from Hoogendoorn & Talbot LLP will present on employment law issues such as overtime, I9 audits, filing systems, and more.
Thursday, March 16th
Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: ICNC - 320 N. Damen Ave.
Register here! Bring your brown bag lunch.
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| Infrastructure Meeting Recap |
ICNC hosted a meeting with the 27
th
Ward, CDOT, and the Department of Planning & Development to discuss future infrastructure projects in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor. Many streets, such as Lake and Fulton Market, are slated to be reconstructed. ICNC advocated for Laflin Street to also be added as a future project, as well as better alleyway and sidewalk repair, sewer drainage, viaduct repaving, and street lighting throughout the Corridor. If you have a project not currently on the aforementioned list, please contact Hannah Jones at [email protected].
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| The Hatchery Chicago in Forbes |
Natalie Shmulik of
The Hatchery
, a collaboration between
ICNC
and
Accion Chicago
to bring education, capital, and support to the Chicagoland food entrepreneur community, was interviewed by Forbes Magazine about the industry and what to expect from the future food incubator.
"Our main goal is to get these businesses to a place where they can create new job opportunities."
Read on!
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| Upcoming Food Workshops |
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Technical assistance to food entrepreneurs made possible by our sponsors Bank of America and the United States Small Business Administration.
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| Employee Training Reimbursement Opportunity |
Receive money back for investing in employee training! ICNC has received funds through TIFWorks 50/50, an employee training
 reimbursement program issued by the City of Chicago. Applications are currently being accepted. Applicants must be located within the
Kinzie Industrial TIF District boundaries. All training must be pre-approved by the City. For more information, contact Hannah Jones at
[email protected].
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Welcome New ICNC Incubator Companies!
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Damholt Metalworks - Damholt Metalworks specializes in creating custom steel furniture, unique jewelry pieces, and individually designed museum mounts. Each project combines precision and creativity.
Federal Moto - Federal Moto is a custom vintage motorcycle and lifestyle product brand. They offer full and partial custom motorcycle builds. The company also sells retail goods like hats, shirts, posters, and more, which they plan to expand in the upcoming year.
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Welcome Our New Office Administrator!
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We would like to introduce our new office administrator, Veronica Contreras! Veronica handles all administrative responsibilities,
which include welcoming visitors, maintaining ICNC's databases, managing conference room reservations, and ensuring that the office is running smoothly. Veronica will also be assisting with finance and property management tasks such as tenant on-boarding, key cards, parking leases, maintenance requests, and tracking of rent and membership dues.
Veronica is currently studying Social Welfare Policy at Northeastern Illinois University and also volunteers with Casa Central's interim housing program. Outside of work and school, Veronica enjoys traveling as much as possible, spending time with loved ones and her dog, and bowling. Stop by the front desk to say hi!
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Development Opportunities
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Emerging Leaders: Take your small business to the next level and access free training, mentoring, and networking opportunities through SBA's Emerging Leaders program, a "mini-MBA" training initiative for local businesses on the brink of growth. Watch this video to learn more and apply today!
Business Workshops:
The Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) offers workshops every Wednesday and Friday. Workshops vary each month and are conducted by city officials, experts, and partner business organizations. All workshops are free and open to the public. To view the business workshop calendar, click
here
.
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Available 25,000 Square Feet ICNC Incubator Space
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From the high ceilings and natural light to the large open space with street access, the possibilities are endless! ICNC has a 25,000 square foot space available that would ideally be filled by a long-term anchor tenant like a brewery or distillery with a tasting room, or office and production space.
Click
here to view other smaller available spaces.
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Member Announcements
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ICNC Newsletter and Website -
ICNC members who have an announcement such as a new product launch or a special promotion can have it included in our monthly newsletter. Members with media attention can have the article link included on ICNC's '
In The News
' section of the website. Send all relevant information and links to Michelle Collett at [email protected]
by the last day of the month.
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| Monthly Alderman's Meeting |
Every month ICNC hosts a breakfast with 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. These meetings are an opportunity for area companies to discuss issues they have with crime, infrastructure, zoning, and other topics. For more information on ICNC's monthly Alderman's meeting, please contact Hannah Jones at
[email protected].
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