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.

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 creates a marketplace of services for entrepreneurs of color in the Chicago region to close the racial and ethnic wealth gap and build a more just, equitable and resilient society.

A collaboration between The Chicago Community Trust, The Coleman Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Leslie Bluhm and David Helfand, Peter and Lucy Ascoli Family Fund, the Liz and Don Thompson Family Fund, the MacArthur Foundation, and Crown Family Philanthropies.

RPBA partnered with Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce, Greater Southwest Development Corporation, New Covenant Community Development Corporation and Small Business Majority as part of The Fund for Equitable Business Growth that awarded grants to 12 partnerships to expand offerings to small businesses on the South and West sides.

The two partnerships that RPBA is part of are:

Bolstering Access to Capital and Financial Management
A project led by Small Business Majority Foundation Corp
In partnership with New Covenant Community Development Corporation and RPBA

Partner to increase access to capital, business support and credit-building strategies for Chicago’s entrepreneurs of color.
For more information about Bolstering Access to Capital and Financial Management, contact Gerri Aglipay at gaglipay@smallbusinessmajority.org

Greater Southwest Development Association
A project led by Greater Southwest Development Corporation
In partnership with Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce and RPBA

To train and/or connect businesses of color and of dual language to each other and its collective array of resources around financial management.
For more information about Greater Southwest Development Association, contact Adrian Soto at a.soto@greatersouthwest.org

El Fondo Para el Crecimiento Equitativo de Negocios crea un mercado de servicios para emprendedores de color para cerrar la brecha de riqueza racial y construir una sociedad más justa, equitativa y resiliente.

Una colaboración entre el Fideicomiso Comunitario de Chicago (Chicago Community Trust), la Fundación Coleman, la Fundación JPMorgan Chase, el Fondo de Leslie Bluhm y David Helfand, el Fondo de la Familia de Peter y Lucy Ascoli, y el Fondo de la Familia de Liz and Don Thompson.

RPBA está colaborando con Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce, Greater Southwest Development Corporation, New Covenant Community Development Corporation y Small Business Majority como parte de las 12 alianzas que recibieron subsidios por parte del Fondo para el Crecimiento Equitativo de Negocios para ampliar ofertas a pequeños negocios en las áreas sur y oeste de la ciudad.

Las dos alianzas que RPBA es parte de son:

Coordinación de Servicios para Apoyar a Emprendedores de Color en Chicago
Proyecto liderado por Small Business Majority Foundation Corp
En colaboración con RPBA y la organización Working Credit

Ofrece educación empresarial de profundidad para empresarios de color locales. Esta alianza está trabajando para aumentar la capacidad y eficacia de cada organización, aumentando el acceso de los empresarios a capital, recursos y estrategias de creación de crédito. A través de esta alianza, se mejorará el curriculum empresarial ya exitoso al integrar la experiencia de las tres organizaciones.
Para mayor información sobre la Coordinación de Servicios para Apoyar a Emprendedores de Color en Chicago, por favor comuníquese con Geri Aglipay, gaglipay@smallbusinessmajority.org.

Finanzas Básicas para Negocios
Proyecto liderado por Greater Southwest Development Corporation
En colaboración con la Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce and RPBA

Capacitación y conexión de negocios de color y bilingües entre sí y a una variedad de recursos con enfoque en aumentar el acceso a capital.
Para mayor información sobre Finanzas Básicas para Negocios, por favor comuníquese con Erika González, e.gonzalez@greatersouthwest.org.