Spring Newsletter 2007
Co-Presidents’ Message
Public Private Partnership Creates $1 Million Loan Fund for Minority Businesses
CCV Offers New Loan Product
Workforce Development Program Pays Employee/Trainee Wages Up to 4 Months
$12 Million Remaining for Commercial Revitalization Deductions
Chicago Business Opportunity Fair Celebrates 40 Years of Sustainable Business Opportunities
Volunteers Provide Expertise and Business Advice to CCV Clients
Save the Date for the City Treasurer's Business Plan Competition and Expo
Recent Challenge Grant Recipients
Co-Presidents’ Message
Dear Friends and Partners,
Spring is traditionally a time for new beginnings and for CCV this couldn't be more true. Over the past few months we have been hard at work creating new initiatives and partnerships that will help us better meet our clients' needs.
We recently received investments from the Illinois Finance Authority and Fifth Third Bank to establish a loan fund for minority-owned businesses in Illinois with additional support from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for technical assistance. This innovative public, private partnership will provide needed financing to minority-owned businesses throughout the state. Also adding to our financing abilities is our new loan product, contract financing, that can advance small businesses in low and moderate income areas of Chicagoland up to 70 percent of a purchase order's value to help them fulfill their contract obligations.
We are also excited to announce the formation of a volunteer initiative. Our Client Advisory Committee matches CCV's clients with business leaders to provide them with trusted, professional advice on strategic business matters where they lack the management capacity or experience to juggle the challenges of today's market place on their own. Thanks to the commitment of our Client Advisory Committee members, our clients can now tap into an extended network of professionals for business guidance.
As you read through this newsletter you will notice our many partnerships, both old and new, that add to the resources available to our clients. From the matching Challenge Grants funded by Governor Blagojevich's Opportunity Returns program, to the upcoming City Treasurer's Business Plan Competition and Expo, we look forward to continuing to work with our partners to bring new and exciting programs to CCV's clients.
Sincerely,
Susan Alnaqib and Anita Hollins
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Public Private Partnership Creates $1 Million Loan Fund for Minority Businesses
The Illinois Finance Authority, Fifth Third Bank, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and CCV have come together to create a $1 million loan fund exclusively for Illinois' minority-owned businesses. The Fund’s goal is to facilitate the growth and sustainability of minority-owned businesses of scale in Illinois through access to capital and linked technical assistance.
The need for this fund is born out of the numbers. In 1997, minorities’ share of the U.S. population was 27%, but only 15% of businesses were owned by minorities. Across the Chicago Metropolitan Area the divide is even greater. Minority-owned businesses accounted for 16% of businesses in our area, but only 2.9% of total sales and 4.8% of total employment.
A report released in 2005 by the Boston Consulting Group entitled “A New Agenda For Minority Business Development” shows that:
“minority businesses are disproportionately represented in the low-growth and no-growth sectors. They also tend to rely on personal debt and family financing over business loans, equity, and other tools that are otherwise commonly accepted in the capital markets. As a result, minority businesses often lack the size, scale, and capabilities of their non-minority counterparts.”
While this report and other sources, including anecdotal evidence, support that there has been substantial improvement in creating and maximizing opportunities for minority-owned businesses in recent years, work remains to be done and future efforts must be multifaceted and collaborative.
That is why CCV and our partners, the Illinois Finance Authority, Fifth Third Bank, and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity are excited to embark on this collaboration to bring needed financing to Illinois' minority-owned businesses. Aimed to help minority companies grow to scale, loans made through this unique program must finance a purpose that will lead to the growth of the business. Some examples of applicable loan purposes include projects that will increase revenues/income; expand the company; tap new markets; or otherwise advance the business model, as opposed to financing past expenditures.
Loan terms for the Illinois Minority Business Loan Fund range from one to seven years and our interest rates, while determined by factors such as risk and credit history, range from Prime +1% to Prime + 5%.
Loans through the Illinois Statewide Minority Business Loan Fund will be available in summer 2007. For more information about the program, please contact Hussain Bhanpuri at 773.822.0324.
CCV Offers New Loan Product
We are happy to announce that CCV is now offering contract financing, in addition to the term loans already offered by our Neighborhood Transformation Loan Fund, for small businesses in low and moderate income communities throughout Chicagoland. In an effort to meet the diverse needs of our clients, we have introduced this product to finance their immediate needs for 
contract fulfillment.
Contract financing is linked to the value of a company's contract for goods or services, and is available for terms ranging from three months up to one year. With our new flexible financing solution, CCV can advance small businesses up to 70 percent of the value of a purchase order received in conjunction with a contract, and offers extremely competitive interest rates for these transactions. Also, depending on contract terms, a company's credit worthiness, and their immediate needs, exceptions may be made to advance larger sums.
In accordance with CCV's lending procedures, all business loan decisions and interest rates (ranging from Prime +1 to Prime +5) are determined by five factors: risk, credit history, management experience, cash flow, and social responsibility/impact. Funding for small business loans is currently restricted to businesses operating in low or moderate income communities throughout Chicagoland.
For more information about our Neighborhood Transformation Loan Fund and loan products please contact Hussain Bhanpuri at 773.822.0324.
Funding for our loan program is made available with investments from the Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank, LaSalle Bank, and Wells Fargo.
Workforce Development Program Pays Employee/Trainee Wages for up to Four Months
On March 6 CCV hosted an informational breakfast sponsored by the Partnership for New Communities about the Heartland Alliance's Transitional Jobs Program. Denise Pryor-Bryant, Director of Workforce Development and Investment for
Heartland Human Care Services spoke to breakfast attendees about the benefits of the jobs program for small business owners. 
The transitional jobs program places residents or former residents of public housing in temporary positions to help them gain job skills and experience that will allow them to improve their quality of life. This program is especially important for public housing residents seeking residence in new mixed-income developments because they are required to be employed or in training for a minimum of 30 hours per week in order to qualify.
Transitional jobs employees are placed in entry-level positions that are supplemented with training, education, and other supportive services. The benefits of this program to small business owners include:
- Heartland pays all trainee wages, payroll taxes, and ensures worker’s compensation coverage for all trainees during the period of subsidized employment, up to four months.
- Heartland screens all potential employees during a two-week intensive job readiness and life skills course that prepares them to work productively in a professional work environment. This period includes a skills assessment, educational testing, documentation of work history, and drug screening.
- Heartland works with employers to meet their hiring needs for entry-level positions. Heartland is committed to maintaining ongoing relationships with the employer AND the employee to provide supportive services for up to one year after placement.
Employees work 30 hours per week, four days per week. The fifth workday is devoted to ongoing training and skills development with Heartland Human Care Services or another provider. Employers may choose to work with one new employee or ten, depending on their capacity and staffing needs, and are not obligated to hire their trainees upon completion of the program – though many choose to keep them on because they have already been trained for their position. In fact, between 2000-2001, 80% of participants who completed Heartland’s program were placed in permanent employment, with a 90-day retention rate of 70%. Employers have been very satisfied with their employees and often give hiring preference to individuals from Heartland’s Transitional Jobs program.
For more information on how to become an employer partner in the transitional jobs program at Heartland Human Care Services, please contact:
Denise Pryor-Bryant, Director of Workforce Development and Investment
Heartland Human Care Services
Dpryor-bryant@heartlandalliance.org
312.492.8340 x 103
For more information on other transitional jobs programs in Chicago, please contact:
Alaina Harkness, Associate Program Officer
The Partnership for New Communities
alaina@cct.org
312.565.3890
$12 Million Remaining for Commercial Revitalization Deductions
On behalf of the City of Chicago, Department of Planning and Development, CCV administers the allocation of Commercial Revitalization Deductions (CRD). These deductions enable for-profit businesses that construct or substantially rehabilitate commercial property in a Renewal Community to deduct a portion of the costs of acquisition and rehabilitation over a shorter period of time than allowed under the standard depreciation rules.
The amount of the deduction is based on 'qualifying revitalization expenditures' (QREs). Businesses can elect either a deduction of 50% of such QREs for any one project in the year the building is placed into service OR can deduct 100% of QREs pro rated over ten years.
CCV currently has $12 million set aside for projects started or completed in 2007. There is no limit to the amount of 'qualifying revitalization expenditures' for each project, and allocations are made based on availability of funds at the time of the request.
Interested parties should contact Doug Cannon at 773.822.0315 for more information about the Chicago CRD program.
More detailed information on CRDs can be found on pages 47-61 of the Tax Incentive Guide for Businesses in the Renewal Communities published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Download the Publication
Chicago Business Opportunity Fair Celebrates 40 Years of Providing Sustainable Business Opportunities
Please be among the very special attendees at the CBOF 40th Anniversary: "Four Decades of Providing Sustainable Business Opportunities" on April 2-4, 2007, Festival Hall A, Navy Pier on Chicago’s beautiful lakefront.
2007 is a milestone year for CBOF which began 40 years ago and is now one of the nation’s premiere trade fairs advocating minority business development. Hosted by the Chicago Minority Business Development Council, Inc. , CBOF has a distinguished history as a catalyst 
for developing partnerships between minority and majority-owned corporations and government agencies. CBOF is the oldest and largest procurement show in the nation devoted exclusively to multi-cultural and multi-ethnic businesses and was the impetus to the development of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc., a network of nearly 40 regional councils in major cities across the nation, Puerto Rico and Canada.
The kick-off for the CBOF 40th Anniversary will honor minority business enterprises at the Minority Business Enterprise Input Committee Awards Dinner on Monday, April 2nd. This event is designed to give recognition to minority-owned enterprises, corporate and government buyers and organizations that have shown exceptional commitment to business development.
On Tuesday, April 3rd you can attend Dynamic Workshops conducted by outstanding business leaders, and the CBOF 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration, featuring a national recording act. On Wednesday, April 4th, the Sponsors Breakfast will begin the day with a prominent keynote speaker leading to the ribbon cutting and floor opening of the highly acclaimed 40th CBOF Trade Fair.This exciting day will culminate with the Topping Out Reception where fair attendees are encouraged to bring their business cards for more one-on-one networking.
Please mark your calendars and plan to participate in this momentous occasion celebrating “Four Decades of Providing Sustainable Business Opportunities”. To register, visit www.cmbdc.org or click here.
Volunteers Provide Expertise and Business Advice to CCV Clients
CCV's newly formed Client Advisory Committee enriches CCV services by offering clients specialized business advice that help small, under-resourced companies grow to scale. The committee serves to increase clients' resource networks, act as a sounding board for strategic decisions, and give clients access to new business and financing opportunities.
Among the markets that CCV serves, entrepreneurs have historically struggled to access the capital they need to grow, respond to changes in their marketplace and manage the growth that goes with an infusion of capital or a new opportunity. Ironically, these are also the markets that are the most entrepreneurial, showing rates of business creation that far out pace their non-female, non-minority, non-LMI (low and moderate income) counterparts. By committing their time and expertise to CCV's clients, the members of our Client Advisory Committee are helping these under-resourced entrepreneurs to gain the tools they need to successfully grow their businesses.
Client Advisory Committee Members
- Mike Adhikari, President, Illinois Corporate Investments, Inc, and Business ValueXpress
- Karen Bartman, VP Commercial Banking, ColeTaylor Bank
- Rick Fazio, President, Lawn Ornament Supply, Inc., and Flamingo Surprise, Inc.
- Courtney Hill, Manager, Hill & Knowlton Small Business
- Michael Majewski, Vice President, Selden Fox, Ltd.
- Larry Martinelli, Founder, Co1 – Central Star Dynamics
- Paul Petricca, President, Lincolnshire Furniture Company
- Dave Smith, General Manager, Jellyvision, Inc.
- Jeremy Stump, Assistant Vice President, Fifth Third Bank
- Nancy Sullivan, Senior Director, KeraCure
- Lisa Thompson, Partner, The Monitor Group
To find out more about CCV's Client Advisory Committee please contact Gail Bell at 773.822.0309.
Back to top Save the Date for the City Treasurer's Business Plan Competition and Expo
Business Plan Competition - Begins May 2
Expo - Friday, August 3, 2007
8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at McCormick Place
The City Treasurer's 6th Annual Small Business Expo is a forum, free to attendees, designed to provide assistance to small business owners and those that would like to become one. The Expo will bring local government, lending institutions, and technical advisors together to provide information and direction that is vital to the success of a small business.
Existing and prospective business owners can attend workshops, network with other business professionals, and obtain useful information from technical advisors and representatives of financial institutions.
In addition to the Expo, the City Treasurer's office will host a business plan competition sponsored by CCV and Harris Bank. The competition will be open to start-up and existing small businesses with prizes for the top two companies in each category. Competition rules and dates will be announced on May 2, and winners will be announced at the City Treasurer's Expo on August 3 at McCormick Place (Lakeside Center, 2301 S Lakeshore Drive).
For additional information contact Hector Rodriguez at 312.744.3365.
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Recent Challenge Grant Recipients
Through our partnership with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Governor Rod Blagojevich's Opportunity Returns Program, CCV provides small, high-growth businesses with matching grants to help them achieve their goals. The following companies have received grants in the past quarter because they exhibit strong growth potential.
Bryco Machine is a precision machining contract manufacturer that provides both short and long 
production runs with prototyping capabilities for industries such as: hydraulics, wireless communication, medical and dental, fluid powers, fiber optics, and defense. The company will use its Challenge Grant to update its current website so that customers can see their product offerings online. The website will eventually be tied to Bryco's production system so customers can input custom specifications which will automatically generate a job order, and store the information for future reference. The redesigned BRYCO Machine website will present a fresh, clean new look consistent with the overall branding initiatives, with streamlined presentation of content that provides for easy navigation.
Delightful Pastries is a woman-owned European style bakery in the Jefferson Park Neighborhood in Chicago. The company offers pastries and breads made from natural ingredients to retail and wholesale customers. Delightful Pastries will use the Challenge Grant to pay for tuition for the Cycle of Success Institute, a program that teaches small business owners how to effectively manage operations.
MTS Staffing is a temporary staffing agency specializing in engineering, production and administrative personnel for client companies. Their primary focus is on companies in Chicago and its suburbs, Northwest Indiana and Southeast Wisconsin. MTS Staffing will also use the Challenge Grant to pay for tuition for the Cycle of Success Institute.
Haro Tapas is a Spanish restaurant designed to bring together Chicagoans and Hispanics to an exciting experience of Tapas, small plates, and the first to introduce Chicago to Pintxos, a small open sandwich or appetizer on a toothpick. The company plans to use its Challenge Grant for Marketing and PR, including updating its website and direct advertising through print and electronic media.
Ebro Foods, "El Ebro" is a private, family owned company located in an industrial section of Chicago known as the Back of the Yards. El Ebro is the largest Hispanic manufacturer in the Midwest offering authentic Latin food. El Ebro will use its Challenge Grant to complete an audit which certifies their plant is safe for manufacturing food products, a must for negotiating contracts for private labels. These contracts would provide significant increases in revenue and allow the facility to run 2 shifts, instead of just one which they are running now. They recently expanded and built a new facility and are currently working to meet their increased capacity. El Ebro will primarily be hiring minorities from low and moderate income areas and giving them training. Most of their employees have been with the company 10+ years.
Lexington Leather Goods is a manufacturer of custom sewn items and screen printed signs, including aprons, backpacks, attaches, and t-shirts. In addition to its large collection of stock designs, they can also develop custom products, designed to the customer’s specific needs. The company will use its Challenge Grant to pay for updating its website and product catalog, and for attending trade shows.
Cequr Security provides clients with security solutions. The company's core business is guard services providing security guards for a variety of situations including site control and bodyguard services. The company will use its Challenge Grant to update its website and to offset the cost of advertising.
| Board of Directors | Staff | |
| President Derrick Collins Kellogg School of Management |
Co-Presidents Susan Alnaqib & Anita Hollins |
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| Gail Bell Hussain Bhanpuri Hans Bonner Manjima Bose Doug Cannon Zach Johnston Wil Martin Dominic Melone Diane Rodak-Salinas |
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| Vice-President Steve Lawrence Attorney-at-Law |
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| Secretary & Treasurer Torrence Moore LaSalle Bank |
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| Leon Jackson Bill's Shade & Blind Service | ||
| Cynthia Johnson Johnson & Associates | ||
| Joseph Kennedy Harris Bank | ||
| Kimberly Magazine Magazine Professional Services | ||
| Clifford Perry Fifth Third Bank | ||
| Kimberly Richardson Westside Business Improvement Assoc | ||
| Jeffery Roberts JB Roberts Insurance/Allstate | ||
| Lisa Thompson The Monitor Group |
Funding Partners
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Minority Business Development Agency, U.S. Department of Commerce |  |
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| Drinker Biddle Gardner Carton | Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, LLP | McDermott Will & Emery |