Week of July 26, 2017 Vol 48 • No 30 • www.thechicagocitizen.com
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BEWARE OF UNIVERSAL LIFE INSURANCE!
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Chicago Weekend
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Chicago Benefits recently loaned $500,000 to Sweet Beginnings, a local organization that sells honeybased products within the North Lawndale community. Sweet Beginnings plans to hire more than 300 North Lawndale residents over the next five years. Photo Credit: Sweet Beginnings Organization
Member
BUILDING LOCALLY:
Community Resources help Businesses Grow By Christopher Shuttlesworth
Building a business can be tough especially if you don’t have the capital to get started or the funds to make it grow. That’s where entities like Benefits Chicago come in. Benefits Chicago helps small businesses and non-profit organizations obtain loans through partnerships with the MacArthur Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust and the Calvin Foundation. The organization can lend businesses loans of a minimum $500,000 from its $100 million pool. Will Towns, who is the Executive Director for Benefits Chicago, said all applicants must have at least three years of business experience and must be able to elaborate on what kind of an impact their businesses will have on the communities they serve. What Benefits Chicago looks for from applicants is whether the business will create jobs, sustain economic growth and provide needed services within their communities. “We look to work with them to provide them [wth] the capital they need to grow their business,” Towns said, adding, Chicago Benefits recently loaned $500,000 to Sweet Beginnings, a local organization that sells honey-based products in the North Lawndale community.
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