A new year inspires new ideas and innovations! As we reflect on a year full of shifts across many industries, it’s time to envision the trends of tomorrow. Join Lynn Dornblaser from Mintel, Joan Driggs IRi + NPD, and Mike Kostyo from Datassential to look at the consumer trends of 2022 and what we can expect to see in 2023 and beyond!
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
At The Hatchery (135 N. Kedzie Ave.)
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Thank you to those who attended our Annual Fundraiser on Thursday, December 8th at The Hatchery! It was wonderful to be back in-person with 250+ people from our community to celebrate the year and what’s next for our organization and the small businesses we work with. Thanks to our generous sponsors and attendees, we were able to surpass our fundraising goal to go toward our work of creating inclusive economic and community development and business growth. |
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Impact Culinary Training is searching for a new cohort of students to launch their culinary careers in 2023! The 12-week program provides young adults from the West and South Sides with the kitchen skills and job readiness training to begin a culinary career. The application will be open year round with applicants being accepted on a rolling basis. The next cohort will begin on January 23, 2023. Limited spots are available, so apply or encourage others to apply as soon as possible.
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Make City Mentions + The Hatchery Chicago® Headlines
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News Feature
Meliora Cleaning Products
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Kate Jakubas began mixing formulas for cleaning products in grad school and later turned that into Meliora Cleaning Products. Read more about her entrepreneurial journey alongside husband Mike Mayer in Crain's Chicago.
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Perteet Spencer and her husband Fred launched AYO Foods, the West African food company with products that remind them of traiditional family recipes, to inspire people to take pride in their culture. Read a feature in Food & Wine.
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News Feature
VietFive Coffee
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News Feature
Modern Sprout
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VietFive’s goal is to share the story of their culture with each cup of coffee sold at their West Loop café. The Food Guy Steve Dolinsky recently met with Tuan Huynh to hear about his story and the robusta coffee beans harvested at his family’s farm in Vietnam. Watch the feature.
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Modern Sprout's Cosmic Seed Kits to plant and grow a flower based on the four elements of the zodiac was highlighted by Harper's Bazaar. Read more.
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We Want to Hear From You!
ICNC is proud to represent and advocate for business owners in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor to preserve the space and the conditions needed for industrial businesses to grow. We're currently examining industrial policy issues, including property taxes, incentives, and workforce– and we want to hear from you! Please reach out to Ashlee, our Economic Development and Advocacy Specialist, to start the conversation and let us know what your business needs.
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Connect with Us at Upcoming Classes + Events |
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* = In-person at The Hatchery (135 N. Kedzie Ave.)
+ = Hybrid Event (In-person at The Hatchery and Online)
All unmarked events will take place virtually.
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How ICNC's Workforce Team Can Support Your Business |
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The Workforce Development team at ICNC works to provide support, quality, and services that connect a skilled and qualified jobseeker with employment, as well as a variety of labor market services to meet the needs of local businesses.
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Free ServSafe Training
Free ServSafe Food Handler (a value of $15) and ServSafe Manager (a $240 value) training is now available. This program is open to all Illinois residents, but priority will go to West and South Side of Chicago residents. Please contact Alicia for more information.
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Make City Floater Program
ICNC's Workforce Team launched a floater program of staff that can support multiple businesses housed in the Make City incubator. Soap Distillery, tgin, and Zefiro are all participating and each have one person working with them.
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HR Spotlight: Alchemeat
When Huan Xia of LusOasis and Alchemeat needed support in all areas of recruiting and onboarding candidates, she was connected with Alicia and Nancy of ICNC’s Workforce Development Team. Alicia provided support by crafting a job description, selecting candidates to meet the needs of the business, and providing funding through the PepsiCo Foundation to sponsor an intern named Kiara who was officially hired on full-time. Nancy provided support by helping create effective documentation and create well-rounded questions for successful recruiting.
Huan said, “Alicia and Nancy have all the know-how for HR, not only will they train you in all the needed process and documentation, but also they will teach you how to do it step by step from their rich real-world experiences. You can't find another place who cares so much about the small business owners especially from women and minority owned businesses. And you can't believe it that such outstanding service is free! Why wait?”
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Grow Your Business @ Make City + The Hatchery |
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The Hatchery Chicago - 135 N. Kedzie |
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ICNC's Make City incubator offers a thriving entrepreneurial community and immediate access to ICNC's advising, export, and advocacy services alongside 100 other small, modern urban manufacturing businesses. ICNC supports small businesses and the West Side community through incubation, advocacy, and advising.
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The Hatchery Chicago is a non-profit food and beverage incubator dedicated to helping local entrepreneurs build and grow successful businesses through cutting-edge kitchen facilities, entrepreneurship curriculum, partnerships with generous corporate sponsors and foundations to create local job opportunities and accelerate local economic growth.
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Learn more about the Illinois SBDC at ICNC here. The Illinois Small Business Development Center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, and the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (ICNC). Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Please contact the center at (312)433-2373.
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