Illinois Community Navigator Program @ Far South

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The Small Business Community Navigators Program is a support program for small businesses in the State of Illinois. The program targets businesses in Illinois that are identified as underserved including minority, rural, veteran, and women-owned businesses. Underserved businesses may find resources difficult to access, or simply be unaware of services and resources available. The Small Business Community Navigator Program is specifically targeted at alleviating these issues and reducing the barriers underserved businesses often face when trying to access relief program dollars.

The program is a hub and spoke model, bringing together community organizations from across the State of Illinois. The spokes will offer grassroots engagement with small businesses to assist with access to grants, financial planning, marketing outreach, and technical assistance. Community Navigators will be tasked with informing the Illinois business community of state small business relief grants, as well as federal support available from the Small Business Administration and U.S. Treasury. Community Navigator assistance may include applying for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, Shuttered Venues Operators’ Grants, Restaurant Revitalization Grants, traditional SBA loans, and opportunities such as Back 2 Business economic recovery grant program from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. These navigators will provide access to economic support and cutting-edge resources vital to the recovery effort our businesses are now facing in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

What do Community Navigators do?

Community navigators provide the following services:

• Outreach to hard-to-reach or underserved businesses to raise awareness of opportunities for federal or state support
• 1-on-1 technical assistance to small businesses to help them understand eligibility and apply for economic support
• Offer services in multiple languages
• Share information on small business barriers with DCEO to ensure programming is accessible
• The awardees below will provide support and training services to the spokes in their programs, who will, in turn, venture out into their respective communities and engage our small businesses.

Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact the Illinois Community Navigator Program at the Far South Community Development Corporation's Executive Administrator, Patricia Ballay at patricia@farsouthcdc.org or by phone at (773) 831-7107.