Join Small Business Majority and representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration's independent Office of Advocacy to learn about the functions of the Office of Advocacy and how they can help your business navigate policy stemming from Washington, D.C.
Illinois Small Business Owner Highlight
While many 13-year-olds dream of becoming firefighters or football players, 13-year-old Johnathon Bush not only dreamed of being an entrepreneur but was already becoming one. While growing up in Toledo, Ohio, he realized the only way he could make money at a young age was through entrepreneurship, so he started baking cookies and selling them to friends and family. But, his bake sales evolved into something bigger than his middle school self could have expected.
Illinois Events
Illinois Policy
Browse our latest state-based regulatory comments and legislative testimony in this area below, or click the button to view all records.
Friday, January 9, 2026
Illinois is home to more than 1.4 million small businesses, employing 2.4 million people and accounting for 99.6% of all businesses in the state. They play a significant role in our state economy and workforce. However, national economic uncertainty coupled with an especially fast-changing business landscape has required small businesses to adapt, yet again.
Thursday, July 17, 2025
On July 17, Small Business Majority Senior Fellow Geri Sanchez Aglipay sent a letter to Illinois senators urging them to support SB 1784, legislation that automates the process of sealing criminal records to help our fellow Illinoisans get back to work and strengthen communities.
Monday, May 20, 2024
On May 20, Midwest Director Tasha Brown testified infront of the Illinois House Financial Institutions and Licensensing Committee on behalf of SB 2234, which would enact critical protections for small business borrowers in Illinois that are falling prey to predatory lending practices.
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
On March 28, Small Business Majority's Illinois Director Tasha Brown testified before the Illinois House Financial Institutions and Licensing Committee on behalf of HB 2234, legislation that would enact critical protections for small business borrowers in Illinois.
Illinois Research
Published:
Thu, 06/11/2026
Research by University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs graduate students Janet Perez Shensky, John Paul, Andre Cowan and Stephanie Mora, advised by Professor Dilawar Syed, examines how the 2025 U.S. tariff regime affected small businesses in California, Georgia, Illinois and Colorado. Using trade, employment and SBA lending data, the report finds that tariffs and policy uncertainty disproportionately burden small firms, particularly in the agriculture, manufacturing and retail sectors, limiting their ability to invest, hire and grow.
Published:
Wed, 04/03/2024
Small Business Majority’s new poll of Illinois small business owners reveals strong support for legislative solutions that would remove barriers for justice-impacted individuals by making reforms to occupational licensing and debt-based driver’s license suspensions. These politically diverse small business owners believe these measures would enable employers to tap into an underutilized workforce and open up opportunities for entrepreneurship.
Published:
Wed, 01/25/2023
While small businesses employ nearly half (46.4%) of the private workforce in the United States, many are struggling to hire and retain a ready workforce. One viable solution to their persistent workforce challenges is the passing of Clean Slate policies, which seal and expunge certain criminal records and allow justice-impacted individuals to seek employment opportunities and entrepreneurship. Individual state analyses of small business responses in Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas found widespread support for Clean Slate policies at the state and federal level.
The Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program, signed into law January 2015, helps small businesses that struggle to offer retirement benefits to their employees and provide retirement security to the 2.5 million Illinoisans who do not have access to an employment-based retirement plan. Below is an overview of what small businesses need to know about the program.
