Boot camp to boost Chicago start-up

Posted on May 29, 2015

A new boot camp is boosting Chicago start-up jobs.

Chicago Startup Boot Camp, a new program aimed at supporting the thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses located in Chicago’s more than 70 incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces.

The city developed this day-long boot camp program to address the needs of our city’s small business owners.

The Chicago Startup Boot Camp will be managed by the City of Chicago Small Business Center (SBC) as one of a series of programs designed to help the city’s thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses grow.

The Chicago Startup Boot Camp is designed to bring “on the road” resources that entrepreneurs have expressed needing most, including:

 Assistance accessing capital: The Chicago Microlending Institute (CMI) has provided loan preparation assistance and loans to help support small businesses across the City. Currently, $5 million in funding is available for Chicago small businesses through the program.
 Legal, financial and technology support: Workshop topics include access to capital, improving credit, establishing a legal entity, and getting businesses online.
 One-on-one business coaching and counseling on topics ranging from pitch development to licensing requirements.

In addition, Google is launching its “Let’s Put Our Cities on the Map” in Chicago, which aims to get all small businesses online. Google will also be partnering with the City to provide training to local Neighborhood Business Development Centers (NBDCs) and other SBC partners to help them to get their local entrepreneurs and small businesses online. As part of this effort, Google has made a commitment of $40,000 to Blue1647 to boost the incubator’s efforts to get all of its businesses online.

“At Google, we are committed to getting every small business online,” said Robert Biederman, Senior Manager of Public Relations at Google. “We’re excited to be partnering with Mayor Emanuel and the Small Business Center to offer our tools and free web sites through Chicago Startup Boot Camp.”