Chicago issues grants to community organizations to help fill vacant storefronts
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The City of Chicago is testing a new way to fill vacant storefronts and boost small businesses.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection on Wednesday announced nearly $3 million in grants to 15 community organizations.
The community organizations will identify vacant sites in their neighborhoods, negotiate leases, and recruit small businesses for test ventures and pop-up shops. The vacant storefronts could host such businesses as retail incubators, art galleries, and indoor farmers' markets, the city said.
"Small businesses are essential components of thriving communities," Mayor Johnson said in a news release. "We need to invest in our small businesses to generate economic activity, and the Small Business Storefront Activation Program will bring to life storefronts across the city and much-needed economic stimulus to business corridors in historically disinvested communities."
The targets will be retail corridors around the city – from Michigan Avenue on the Magnificent Mile to Pilsen, Humboldt Park, Uptown, and Chatham.
"The Small Business Storefront Activation Program transforms storefronts and communities by stimulating entrepreneurship, creating jobs, and attracting new consumers," BACP Commissioner Kenneth J. Meyer said in the release. "The selected grantees will assist local business owners and entrepreneurs to positively impact commercials corridors."
The following organizations received grants for the Small Business Storefront Activation Program:
- Calumet Area Industrial Commission
- Coalition For a Better Chinese American Community
- DishRoulette Kitchen NFP
- Garfield Park Community Council
- Greater Chatham Initiative
- Greater Southwest Development Corporation
- Lakeview Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce
- Midway Chamber of Commerce
- Portage Park Chamber of Commerce
- Rogers Park Business Alliance
- The Far South Community Development Corporation
- The Magnificent Mile Association
- The Puerto Rican Cultural Center
- Uptown United
- West Town Chicago Chamber of Commerce
More information is available at Chicago.gov/BACPRecoveryPlan.