Successes

"You will never know how much it means to us to receive this award.  Starting a business has many challenges and it can be discouraging at times, yet this award demonstrates your belief in our future and that means the world to us.”

“Having been awarded the Genz Small Business Development Fund from NWILED is a major game-changer for our developing company.  We'll be able to provide our current and prospective clients with industry standard high-end content using state-of-the-art photo and video equipment. With the awarded funds, we plan to purchase a formidable Apple MacStudio workstation and a robust 6K video camera package from DJI. We look forward to combining our community's classic feel with the modern contemporary digital landscape.”

“This is our second year of attending Build It Grow It. The information shared every class focuses on what small businesses and entrepreneurs REALLY need to know. The guest speakers are phenomenal and take the time to answer questions, share their experience and knowledge, and help you to build your business better. This class gives you unique networking opportunities with so many diverse local businesses to broaden your business' horizons with possible partnerships and connections. We enjoyed every minute of every class. Thank you to NWILED and David Schmit for caring about our community and small local businesses, like Hudson's Tack & More, and offering this class! The knowledge we have gained here has had a very positive impact on our business and benefited our clients. Can't wait to attend the next class!”

In the few short months that we have been attending the program, the sessions have helped us come up with new ideas for our store, better ways to run our business and helped us network with other local businesses. The TCEDA Build It -Grow It program is by far the most productive and beneficial business program we've participated in over the past 5 years. It is a great program that can help strengthen any business. More successful businesses can help in building a thriving community.

“We welcome the partnership with the Illinois Finance Authority in our community as a way to offer options for existing businesses and attract new development or redevelopment opportunities using environmental initiatives.”

“It has been a great pleasure working with the IFA to get this program in place for the City of Mount Carroll.  This is a great tool that can provide long term low-cost financing for investment in northwest Illinois for projects that are greater than $1.5M.”

“We view the C-PACE program as an ideal financing tool for the City of Galena and our businesses.  The program is aligned with our environmental sustainability efforts while offering very attractive financing options for businesses and lenders. We believe the adoption of C-PACE positions Galena to advance our environmental initiatives while growing existing businesses and attracting new businesses.”

“The new Jo Daviess County C-PACE program will benefit our existing businesses who need financing options for their expansions or renovations, and it will better position the County to attract new businesses.”