Activating purpose-driven organizations through brand strategy is a hands-on workshop designed for purpose-driven organizations and teams who want to align their brand with their mission.
Illinois Small Business Owner Highlight
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.
Illinois Events
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 |
1:30pm CT
Presentation | IL
Monday, March 31, 2025 |
12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT
Workshop | National
In today's world, there are so many options for capital that are available for entrepreneurs, but how do you parse out predatory lenders from safe lenders?
Tuesday, April 15, 2025 |
2:00pm ET / 11:00am PT
Webinar | National
Since President Trump and the new Republican-controlled Congress took office in January, our nation’s capital has seen a flurry of activity on key issues impacting the small business community—from tariffs and immigration to federal funding.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 |
2-3 pm (ET)
Workshop | National
Have you ever wanted to apply for a grant opportunity, but didn't know where to start? Join Small Business Majority, in partnership with Verizon Small Business Digital Ready, to learn how to identify and apply for grants that could help you start or grow your small business.
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, March 14, 2025
Small Business Majority’s Illinois policy agenda outlines policies that advance and promote equitable pathways for entrepreneurship while ensuring small businesses are key to a thriving and inclusive economy. Illinois' 1.3 million small businesses employ 2.3 million people, representing 43.6% of the private workforce.
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.
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
On March 28, Johnathon Bush, owner of Not Just Cookies provided testimony before the Illinois House Financial Institutions and Licensing Committee on HB 2234, legislation that would extend consumer protections for small business borrowers.
Friday, June 25, 2021
Small Business Majority wrote to Illinois Governor Pritzker in support of HB117, a measure that would expand Illinois Secure Choice so that employers with at least five or more employees may participate and auto-enroll their employees. This is an important step to supporting very small businesses and their employees who are unable to access traditional retirement programs, particularly those who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Illinois Research
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
Small businesses in Illinois are still struggling to hire and retain a ready workforce, persistent challenges in the wake of the pandemic.
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.
