APRIL 2025

Community Development Grants

Find the right grant for your project

From small grants with a cap of $250,000 to large grants in excess of $5 million, support is available for projects of all sizes.

Apply for a Community Development Grant

The City of Chicago helps support business and neighborhood vitality through Large Community Development Grant (CDG) awards. CDGs use proceeds from the 2024 Housing and Development Bond and other funding sources to support a variety of eligible, business-related investments that create and maintain jobs and quality-of-life improvements for local residents.  

Applications are open to business owners, property owners, non-profit organizations, community developers and entrepreneurs. 

Medium grants from $300,001 to $5 million are intended to support eligible commercial, cultural, industrial, institutional, social service and mixed-use projects. Grants are intended to support up to 50% of total project costs involving new construction, rehabilitation or both.

Large: $5 million and up

For office, retail, cultural, industrial, institutional and mixed-use projects.

Applications accepted on a rolling basis

Learn more and apply

Fuel Your Manufacturing Growth with the Made in Illinois Grant Program

APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED APRIL 15-30, 2025

The 2025 Made in Illinois Grant Program, a powerful collaboration between the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC). This initiative is designed to strengthen small and mid-sized manufacturers across Illinois by providing up to $50,000 in matching funds.

Through this partnership, DCEO and IMEC are committed to helping manufacturers embrace cutting-edge technology, enhance productivity, and expand their market reach—ensuring Illinois remains a leader in manufacturing excellence.

Program Highlights

• Matching Grant Funding of Up to $50,000
• Eligible Expenditures: Allowable expenditures incurred from July 1, 2024 and May 1, 2025, including:
• Machinery acquisition, such as specialized automation equipment or collaborative robotics
• Specialized hardware or software, including IIOT, cybersecurity, and predictive maintenance
• Late-stage product testing and scaling of new products
• Development and commercialization of new products
• Eligibility Criteria:
• Illinois manufacturers with NAICS codes 31–33
• Employ between 5 and 250 employees
• Have operated in Illinois for at least three years
• Recorded sales revenue in the last 12 months
• Applications Accepted from April 15-30, 2025

By working together, DCEO and IMEC are ensuring that Illinois manufacturers have the resources to innovate, grow, and lead in an evolving industry.

Take advantage of this limited-time opportunity to strengthen and grow your business. Applications will be accepted from April 15-30, 2025.

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Marketing Hacks for Small Business Owners

April 11th 2025

9:30 am to 11:00 am

Presented by Erika. Q. Gonzalez, Executive Director, and Jovanna Druay, Business Advisor.

In this webinar, we'll cover cost-effective marketing strategies for small businesses, along with tips on how to effectively use social media as a marketing tool. Perfect for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to take their marketing to the next level.

Register

Unlocking Capital: How to Fund Your Business Growth

April 16th 2025

3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Presented by Matthew Revere, Pursuit Lending

Attend our virtual Access to Capital business advising session with Pursuit Lending. Explore loan options, grants, and other funding opportunities. Gain valuable insights, ask your pressing questions, and take the next step toward financial success.

Register

Empower Hour: Bubbly Dynamics

April 17th 2025

2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

In recognition of Earth Day, observed on April 22, this month’s Empower Hour will feature BACP Chief Small Business Officer Lotika Pai chatting with Carolee Kokola, Director of Enterprise Operations for Bubbly Dynamics LLC.

Established in 2002, Bubbly Dynamics is dedicated to incubating small businesses in formerly vacant, industrial buildings located in disinvested communities. Through Bubbly Dynamics, The Plant and Bubbly exist as buildings offering affordable, energy-efficient spaces for space for small and emerging manufacturers, product assemblers, and other businesses committed to sustainability. The Plant, located in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, is a research and production facility comprising a collaborative community of small food businesses. In Bridgeport, Bubbly is home to a variety of light industrial businesses ranging from furniture repair to bike building, leading to collaboration that strengthens the businesses and reinforces sustainable practices.

Register

Navigating Challenging Conversations

April 18th 2025

9:30 am to 11:00 am

Presented by National Association of Women Owners (NAWBO) member Mary Beth Weigel, Leadership and Career Coach at Step Back Get Clear Coaching

Whether you're managing a team, serving your clients, or collaborating with peers, delivering and receiving difficult feedback/information is inevitable—but it doesn’t have to be destructive to the receiver, the giver and the relationship. There is a skill to navigating challenging conversations so that they can be productive, emotionally secure, problem focused and relationship developing opportunities. This workshop is designed to equip you with the tools, mindset and strategies to handle these interactions—whether you are giving tough feedback or receiving it – with compassion and empathy.

Register

Building Your Small Business Team

April 25th 2025

9:30 am to 11:00 am

Presented by Kylie Ruscheinski, Director of the Uptown Business Center

Learn how to maximize your business's potential by investing in the right tools and partners. Build your small business team for legal, financial, and management support. This webinar will also cover all of the free resources provided by the 8 Chicago Business Centers funded by the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

Register

Please email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org with any webinar questions.

Visit BACP’s YouTube for all webinars.

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Your donations are tax deductible! 

Without your support GNCDC would not have grown to be the great organization that it is today. It is through hard work and support from all the GNCDC members that we continue to make a difference and help grow our community. Membership dues help GNCDC provide the grants, events and programs that help members grow their businesses. Please pay your membership dues in a timely fashion. You can submit a payment online at your earliest convenience.

GNCDC would kindly like to remind all of our members - that without your support we would not exist. Renew, Join Sponsor, Donate today!

Newsletter, April 2025

Visit us at GNCDC.org