Our Partners

Rogers Park Business Alliance (RPBA) places great emphasis on community leadership and involvement in planning processes, often working with community-based steering committees composed of residents, business owners and other stakeholders.

Business and Community Groups

RPBA partners with many business and community groups and organizations to further our mission and vision, including:

24th Police District	49th Ward Service Office	AARP
Allies for Community Business	Andersonville Chamber of Commerce	Associated Bank
Between Friends	Byline Bank	Center for Changing Lives
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce	Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights	Chicago Coalition for Inclusive Growth
ChiBizHub	CHIditarod Foundation	CIBC
City of Chicago	Cook County Small Business Source	Downtown Evanston
Edgewater Chamber of Commerce	Evanston Chamber of Commerce	Fifth Third Bank
Huntington	Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce	Greater Southwest Development Corporation
Lakeview and Roscoe Village Chambers of Commerce	Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce	Link Up Illinois
Local Initiatives Support Corp	Loyola University	New Covenant Community Development Corporation
North River Commission	Northwestern University	Rogers Park Builders Group
S & C Electric Company	Small Business Administration	Small Business Majority Foundation Corp
The Coleman Foundation	Uptown Business Partners	West Ridge Chamber of Commerce
Wintrust Bank

Leadership Roles

RPBA staff regularly attends local community policing beat meetings and have seats on the:

24th District Advisory Committee	Alden Village North Advisory Committee
Chicago Farmers Market Collective	Health Impact Collaborative of Cook County
Heartland Health Advisory Board	Illinois Farmers Market Association
Loyola University Chicago’s Lakefront Advisory Committee

Members

RPBA is a proud member of:

American Planning Association	Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Choose Chicago	International Council of Shopping Centers
Rogers Park Builders Group

Our Collaborators

Rogers Park Business Alliance (RPBA) provides solutions, expert assistance and promotional tools to entrepreneurs. RPBA participates in programming that makes a real difference to the local economy and business community due to investments from donors and funders. Their partnership provides support to help us strengthen business and build community.

Cook County Small Business Source

The Cook County Small Business Source strives to support, grow and elevate small businesses, the backbone of Cook County’s economy. This program directly connects small business owners with expert guidance and support to take businesses to the next level. Cook County established the award-winning program to ensure that businesses emerge from COVID-19 intact and positioned for growth.

RPBA is a proud partner of this small business support network. You can reach us at helpdesk@rpba.org.

The Cook County Small Small Business Source features a network of over 30 organizations dedicated to supporting small businesses in any stage of development. This model of support prioritizes getting businesses the help they need when they need it. In addition to one-on-one advising services, the program also provides free toolkits, webinars and timely online resources and information for small businesses.

Advising services and resources cover topics:

Building a business plan for your startup or growing business
Finding the right financing source for your needs
Getting your business ready to apply for funding
Marketing your business through digital and traditional methods
Accessing new customers online
…And much more!

Illinois SBDC at RPBA

Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity) and the City of Chicago.

The Illinois Small Business Development Center at Rogers Park Business Alliance provides information, confidential business guidance, training and other resources to start-up and existing small businesses.

The Center assists in the development of business and marketing plans, along with improving business ownership skills, financial analysis of businesses, accessing specialized services including export and government marketing and other business management needs. More information here.

The pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of Chicago’s small businesses as never before, especially those businesses owned by minority and underserved communities. In response, the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at RPBA launched Business Accessibility Toolkit (BAT). More information about BAT here.

Neighborhood Business Development Center (NBDC)

The City of Chicago, Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP), Neighborhood Business Development Centers (NBDC) program provides grants to Chicago-based chambers of commerce and business support organizations, otherwise known as NBDC delegate agencies, to assist in the development of small businesses in Chicago, serve as a liaison between local businesses and the City of Chicago, and provide neighborhood business development services.

RPBA was awarded for 2-year contracts for:

Generalist:

Place-Based Generalist– supporting general business needs at the hyper-local level

Specialist:

Cultural Specialist (previously Diversity Outreach)– tailoring business support to meet cultural and language needs
Capital Specialist (previously SBOC)– providing expertise on access to capital; recommending funding options, mentorship and credit building coaching
Business Stage Specialist (previously Specialty Advisor)– provides targeted strategies for at least one of the following stages: (a) pre-start-up and start-up, (b) growth and establishment and (c) maturity and exit/conversion

To speak with an RPBA team member call, 773-508-5885 or email helpdesk@rpba.org to make an appointment.

The Fund for Equitable Business Growth - El Fondo Para el Crecimiento Equitativo de Negocios

Español abajo.

The Fund for Equitable Business Growth’s mission is to help entrepreneurs of color succeed by funding organizations and institutions that support these entrepreneurs every step of creating and growing their businesses.

Small Business Majority, Rogers Park Business Alliance and New Covenant Community Development Center are collaborating to bolster access to entrepreneurial education, capital access and financial management education for Chicago’s entrepreneurs of color, particularly Black women operating on the North and West sides.

This collaboration provides a comprehensive, no-cost entrepreneurial educational path including:

Small Business Majority’s Boot Camp
RPBA’s GROW/PROGRESANDO Entrepreneurial Training Program
New Covenant’s Business Financial Dashboard

Current funders of the FEBG are The Chicago Community Trust, The Christopher Family Foundation, The Coleman Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, JPMorgan Chase & Co., MacArthur Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation.

For more information, contact Sheree Moratto, Sustainability Director at RPBA at smoratto@rpba.org.

La misión del Fondo Para el Crecimiento Equitativo de Negocios es ayudar a los empresarios de color a tener éxito mediante la financiación de organizaciones e instituciones que apoyan a estos empresarios en cada paso de la creación y el crecimiento de sus negocios.

Small Business Majority, Rogers Park Business Alliance y New Covenant Community Development Center están colaborando para reforzar el acceso a la educación empresarial, el acceso al capital y la educación en gestión financiera para los empresarios de color de Chicago, en particular las mujeres negras que operan en los lados norte y oeste.

Esta colaboración proporciona un camino educativo empresarial integral y sin costo que incluye:

Campamento de entrenamiento de Small Business Majority
Programa de entrenamiento emprsarial GROW/PROGRESANDO de RPBA
Panel financiero empresarial de New Covenant

Los financiadores actuales de la FEBG son The Chicago Community Trust, The Christopher Family Foundation, The Coleman Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, JPMorgan Chase & Co., MacArthur Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation y The Rockefeller Foundation.

Para obtener más información, comuníquese con Sheree Moratto, Directora de Sostenibilidad de RPBA en smoratto@rpba.org.