Small Business Accelerator
Program Overview
West Side United’s Small Business Accelerator is a targeted initiative designed to support, grow, and sustain local small businesses across Chicago’s West Side—particularly those owned by Black and Brown entrepreneurs. The program seeks to address historic barriers to capital, technical assistance, and market access by providing grant funding, business development training, and strategic partnerships that help neighborhood-based businesses thrive.
This accelerator reflects West Side United’s broader commitment to economic justice and wealth-building through local enterprise. It focuses on supporting businesses that not only thrive but serve as economic anchors in their communities, generate employment, and circulate dollars locally.
Key Partners and Impacts
Key components and partnerships of the Small Business Accelerator include:
Direct funding through grants to West Side-based businesses for uses such as capital improvements, staffing, equipment, or rent support.
Business support organizations, including technical assistance providers who offer workshops and one-on-one coaching in areas like marketing, bookkeeping, and business planning.
Collaboration with anchor institutions and procurement teams to help small businesses become qualified vendors, opening pathways for local procurement contracts.
Strategic partnerships with local financial institutions to help businesses access loans or navigate long-term financial planning.
Impacts to date include:
A growing network of over 160 supported businesses that are better positioned to scale operations, remain competitive, and build resilience.
Increased capacity among West Side entrepreneurs to respond to market changes, such as during economic downturns.
Strengthened visibility and connection to larger procurement opportunities, such as supplying goods or services to hospitals, schools, or city agencies.
Long-Term Vision
The long-term vision of the Small Business Accelerator is to help create a thriving small business ecosystem on the West Side that is representative of, and responsive to, the community. This includes:
Building an infrastructure of long-term business support, from early-stage entrepreneurs to mature businesses looking to expand.
Embedding West Side small businesses into local supply chains, especially through procurement with anchor institutions.
Promoting community ownership, generational wealth creation, and neighborhood-level economic stability through business success.
Ultimately, West Side United’s Small Business Accelerator is not just about launching businesses—it’s about transforming the economic landscape of the West Side by nurturing the entrepreneurs who call it home.
