IL

The Agenda for Illinois’ Entrepreneurs

Small Business Majority’s Illinois policy agenda outlines policies that advance and promote equitable pathways for entrepreneurship while centering small businesses as the key to a thriving and inclusive economy. The state’s 1.3 million small businesses employ 2.4 million people (about 44.1% of the private workforce), with firms without employees making up 80% of all owned businesses.  Illinois small business owners are navigating workforce shortages, a childcare crisis and the end of a number of pandemic era programs that support entrepreneurship.

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Illinois entrepreneur gets a boost from Verizon to grow her business

Karla Yatckoske always thought she’d become a classroom teacher because of her passion for education. But while following her dream, she encountered a problem. While teaching, she noticed that students in a classroom of 25 were at wildly different academic levels. Karla said “some couldn’t read at all and others were bored with the curriculum and needed to be challenged more.” 

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Illinois entrepreneur advances agricultural equity

Evera Ivy never planned to take over the family business. In the early 1970s, her parents moved the family from Chicago to rural Pembroke Township, Ill. to start Ivy League Farms. Evera and her siblings initially didn’t want anything to do with the farm. However, another farmer in the area once told her that “Land is the one thing that cannot be produced or reproduced.” That wisdom stuck with her and opened her eyes to the value of her family’s land and business. 

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Small Business Majority testifies in support of Illinois Small Business Financing Transparency Act

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. 

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Empowering aging workers: A small business owner’s advocacy for retirement security

As Sylvie Hutchings approached 50, her professional growth began to stall at her corporate job. Feeling like there were fewer opportunities as she got older, the former fraud analyst decided it was finally time to realize her lifelong dream of becoming a small business owner. She searched for a franchise she could purchase so she could focus on running the business rather than worrying about creating her own marketing and building name recognition.

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Illinois small businesses support expanding occupational licensing for justice-impacted individuals

Publisher: 
Small Business Majority
English
Date: 
Wednesday, April 3, 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.

Small businesses support expanding occupational licensing for justice-impacted individuals

Publisher: 
Small Business Majority
English
Date: 
Wednesday, April 3, 2024

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. Our poll of Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas 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.

Nancy Maxwell

Nancy Maxwell has been a member of the Southern Illinois Community for over twenty years. Nancy has proven herself to be a fierce advocate for our community. She has over 15 years of leadership and supervisory experience. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of Carbondale United, a Social Service Nonprofit Organization building programs for parents and children that provide much needed systemic change for Carbondale residents. She is the Vice President of The Black Chamber of Commerce, Owner and Operator of Print’s R Us.

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Chastity Mays

Chastity Mays is a Certified Birth Doula and owner of Hathor Doula Services.  She has served clients in Southern Illinois, the Missouri Bootheel area, and Paducah, Kentucky.  She stands with and advocates for families who are underrepresented and, in many cases, simply not heard at all.

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Pocket Guide: Equity to Reduce the Racial Wealth Gap

This pocket guide is for use by policy advocates, lawmakers, and program administrators to review whether a proposed policy or program advances equity, specifically racial equity, to help reduce the racial wealth gap. Prioritizing racial equity creates inclusive economic prosperity, especially for economically and socially disadvantaged individuals, families, and small businesses in underserved areas affected by systemic oppression. 

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