Illinois Back to Business New Business (B2B NewBiz) Grant

The State of Illinois has launched the Illinois Back to Business New Business Grant Program (B2B NewBiz), a grant program that will provide financial relief to businesses in the industries most impacted by the pandemic. The state has allocated $25 million in grant funding to support businesses in hard-hit sectors that started operations between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, but have not been eligible for other federal or state relief programs.

Applications for eligible for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations are open from November 30 through January 11, 2024.

Eligible businesses must have achieved a total revenue of $25,000 to $20 million in 2021 and commenced operations between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021. Additionally, businesses that have not been eligible for other federal or state relief programs are eligible to apply.

Click Here to Review Eligibility Criteria & Apply

The Cook County Small Business Source serves as a Hub for the Illinois Community Navigator program. As a Hub, the county coordinates 10 partner organizations, known as “Spokes,” to offer application assistance and events, as well as provide direct support to small businesses interested in applying to the Illinois B2B NewBiz grant program.

For information related to application assistance events offered by our network of Spokes, visit our events page.

Need assistance with your Illinois B2B NewBiz application? Sign-up to receive application help from our network of Spokes.

Sign-Up Here

Spokes Include:

B2B NewBiz Grant Informational Flyers

B2B NewBiz Grant Frequently Asked Questions

B2B NewBiz Grant Program and Application Guide

  • To view Program & Application Guides in various languages, including Arabic, Chinese, English, Hindi, Korean, Polish, Tagalog and Vietnamese click here.

Check Your Certificate of Good Standing Status Today!

Make sure your business is in good standing with the State of Illinois. Your business may need to get a copy of your certificate to:

  • Open a business bank account
  • Apply for a business loan
  • Seek investments from investors
  • Purchase small business insurance
  • Register to do business in another state

Keep a current status of Certificate of Good Standing on file to maintain eligibility for grant opportunities offered through the Cook County Small Business Source! No purchase necessary, a screenshot or pdf of the certificate showing the active status of a small business will suffice.

To check the status of your business, go to the Illinois Secretary of State website here.

From “Corrections to Confections”: How One Small Business Owner Utilized the Source to Pursue Her Passion

When Lisa Marsh (second to left) retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, she decided it was time to further pursue her personal passion of creating allergen free foods. Named in honor of her mother, Lisa launched MsPsGFree, a gluten free snack company, despite having no prior experience running a food-based business. “I came into this with no retail knowledge whatsoever. I like to say I went from corrections to confections,” said Marsh.

Marsh connected with the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council (CMSDC), which supports minority-owned businesses to build sustainable and profitable relationships with major buying organizations. CMSDC is Business Support Organization (BSO), one of 11 BSOs that comprise the Cook County Small Business Source business advising network.

“CMSDC has taken me under their wings and helped us to scale, they continue to support and work with us so that we can continue to learn and grow so that we become that go-to brand for all things delicious, nutritious and healthy” Lisa shares.

Discover more on how No-Cost Business Advising through the Source helped Lisa scale her business at the link below.

Read More Here

The 2023 Source Grant Launch

The launch of The 2023 Source Grant brought together many of our community partners and small businesses. The press event on July 19 featured President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, grant administrators Women’s Business Development Center and Allies for Community Businesses, the Bureau of Economic Development and the Office of Veteran Affairs and small business owners.

Cook County small business owner Dr. Ronald Sam, owner of Home Health Medical, LLC spoke to the value of The Cook County Small Business Source and said:

“I was one of the recipients of the 2020 grant where we used the funds to provide a COVID clinic for Veterans in Milwaukee. We needed the capital to get that project off the ground”.

Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, advocated for funding of the Cook County Small Business Source, which provides small businesses with no-cost business advice, resources and access to events. 

“Restaurants and bars have been hit particularly hard over the past few years,” Toia said. “Most restaurants are facing two years of debt, higher food costs, supply issues and staffing challenges. Throughout all this, the Cook County Small Business Source has been a vital source of guidance, support and stability to thousands of small businesses.”

Click here to read the press release.

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The Source Honored with a National Association of Counties Award

Did you know that The Source’s work in assisting 10,000 businesses has led to its recognition as a national model for small business assistance? Since its inception, The Source has assisted small businesses by providing no cost business advising, a library of resources, events, training and access to capital opportunities. Congratulations to The Source for being a National Association of Counties 2023 Achievement Award Winner! 

Click here to read more about the other 36 awards Cook County received this year.

Become a Referral Partner for The Source

The Cook County Small Business Source is seeking non-profit organizations to join its partner network as a Referral Partner. 

We seek organizations that:

  • Have a footprint or presence in Suburban Cook County
  • Serve historically excluded populations 
  • Have the staffing and resources to conduct marketing and outreach on behalf of the Cook County Small Business Source and its upcoming small business grant program

Since 2020, the Cook County Small Business Source has provided no-cost business advising, resources, events/webinars, and grants to over 10,000 small businesses throughout Cook County.  69% of business owners served by the program represent historically excluded communities and 96% are microbusinesses with ten or less employees. Because of partners like you, we are able to expand our reach through Cook County to serve small businesses who need assistance and resources to grow and thrive. 

If you are interested, please use this application to submit information about your organization’s ability to serve as a Referral Partner for the Source no later than Friday, June 30 at 5pm CT.

Partner with The Source: Become a Business Support Organization

The Women’s Business Development Center on behalf of the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development seeks 2-4 non-profit Business Support Organizations (BSOs) to provide business advising services for The Cook County Small Business Source.

We seek organizations that:

  • Have demonstrated experience and expertise in delivering small business programming, events and business advising.
  • Possess the existing infrastructure, staff, and capacity to serve significant numbers of businesses clients and meet monitoring and compliance standards associated with federal funding allocations (prior experience with federal funding is preferred).
  • Have a footprint or presence in Suburban Cook County.
  • Examples of the types of organizations we seek include but are not limited to SBDCs and PTACs (State), NBDCs (City), or BSOs with existing business incubator programs. 

Since 2020, the Cook County Small Business Source has provided no-cost business advising, resources, events/webinars, and grants to over 10,000 small businesses throughout Cook County.  If you are interested, please use this application to submit information about your organization’s ability to serve as a BSO for the Source no later than Tuesday, May 2nd at 5:00pm.  

Applications Now Closed: DCEO Back To Business (B2B) Grants for Creative Arts, Hotels & Restaurants

As of 12am, May 11th, the application window for the DCEO Back To Business (B2B) Grants is closed.

The State of Illinois has launched a new round of the Back to Business (B2B) program. Eligible restaurants, hotels and creative arts businesses are eligible to apply for $175 million in available grant funding as part of the State of Illinois’ efforts to support ongoing recovery in hard-hit industries. All applicants will receive a grant as long as they meet eligibility requirements, submit proper documentation and attestations required by the program.

As part of the State’s Community Navigator program, the Cook County Small Business Source engages and coordinates 10 partner organizations, known as “Spokes”, to offer workshops and events as well as  provide direct support to small businesses interested in applying to the B2B program.

For B2B application assistance, sign up here.

For information related to application assistance events check out our Events page.

B2B Grant Informational Flyers

B2B Grant Frequently Asked Questions

B2B Grant Eligibility

Check Your Certificate of Good Standing Status Today!

Make sure your business is in good standing with the State of Illinois. Your business may need to get a copy of your certificate to:

  • Open a business bank account
  • Apply for a business loan
  • Seek investments from investors
  • Purchase small business insurance
  • Register to do business in another state

Keep a current status of Certificate of Good Standing on file to maintain eligibility for grant opportunities offered through the Cook County Small Business Source! No purchase necessary, a screenshot or pdf of the certificate showing the active status of a small business will suffice.

To check the status of your business, go to the Illinois Secretary of State website here.


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