Story - Quinlan - Federal grant supports minority-owned businesses
A three-year pilot program, which launched in late 2023, started with learning about the challenges faced by minority-owned businesses in Chicago’s Rogers Park and Edgewater neighborhoods.
Quinlan School of Business
Building trust: Federal grant supports engagement with local minority-owned businesses to fill resource gaps
Loyola University Chicago is launching a three-year pilot program to build relevant resources for small businesses
It’s no secret that minority-owned businesses often face barriers that others do not, from discrimination to start-up equity. But what might be too closely held a secret is all the supports available to help these businesses start, grow, and succeed.
That’s why Loyola University Chicago's Quinlan School of Business launched a pilot project that aims to close the information gaps among Chicago's minority- and women-owned businesses — starting with those in the diverse neighborhoods surrounding Loyola’s main campus. The effort is backed by a $625,000 grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
“A lot of times businesses are not even aware that there are business services out there to provide them assistance,” says Cecilia Rodriguez, director of Neighborhood Initiatives for Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus. “Other times, businesses are not comfortable providing information on their revenue or how many employees they have, things they feel are personal. There’s a gap of information, as well as trust.”
The three-year pilot program, which launched in late 2023, is starting with learning about the challenges faced by minority-owned businesses in Chicago’s Rogers Park and Edgewater neighborhoods. It will soon turn to action, focusing on strengthening connections among minority-serving organizations and businesses and on creating an accessible, relevant resource hub to aid minority-owned businesses in accessing grants, services, and technical assistance.
Along the way, the program will engage a broad team of Loyola faculty and staff, as well as Quinlan School of Business students whose hands-on class projects will support the pilot.
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Students in the Rogers Park neighborhood. PHOTO BY LUKAS KEAPPROTH
Hyper-Local Relationships Yield Rich Data
Relationships and a storehouse of knowledge about the Chicago neighborhoods are key factors that will help the initiative succeed. That’s part of both Loyola’s and its business school’s larger commitment to community engagement in Chicago.
“We don’t just happen to be located in the city of Chicago. We are an active partner in the city,” says Michael Behnam, dean of Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business. “We are very intentional about engaging students with the local business community through experiential learning, as well as bringing the business community into our classrooms. This real-world learning together with a theoretical grounding prepares our students to make a difference in the world.”
Sean Connolly, adjunct instructor for the Quinlan School of Business, will lead the project’s on-the-ground outreach.
“We want to get out there and understand the lived experience of minority-owned businesses in Rogers Park and Edgewater, our pilot communities,” Connolly says. “We're hoping by the end of this year to have a complete survey that's informed from our interviews that will show us the state of affairs for minority-owned businesses in the community.”
Connolly, who is also is the executive director of a nonprofit based in Rogers Park, as well as a Loyola Chicago alumnus, has strong relationships with two of the area business service organizations that will play key roles in bringing the project to fruition: the Rogers Park Business Alliance and Edgewater Chamber of Commerce.
Bringing Students and Business Leaders Together
Woven into the initiative is an experiential learning component for students, who will play key roles at every phase of the project — from conducting stakeholder interviews to analyzing data to building the online resource hub.
Avery Tritz (BBA ’24), who majored in finance with an urban studies minor, conducted some of the introductory interviews for the project, and also created informational materials for business owners. Tritz says the work gave her the opportunity to deploy skills and concepts she learned in her courses.
“I've been able to use quantitative analysis techniques from my urban studies classes, as well as economic concepts from my business classes,” Tritz says.
João Barreto, a rising senior majoring in accounting, information systems and finance, will be deploying his coding skills to work on the design of the database and dashboard system.
“In the beginning, I reached out to different organizations across the city that work with these demographics, to understand the scenario around Loyola and what other companies and universities are doing in this space,” he says. “We’re now on our second rollout of the prototype while we learn more about the businesses and the business service organizations on the ground that will be a big part of making the initiative work.”
In coming semesters, the initiative will move into the curriculum as Connolly and other Quinlan professors build aspects of the project into their coursework to give their students hands-on experience.
“We want Loyola students to actually influence the outcomes of this project,” Connolly says. “We know they're very smart, and we have a lot of trust in our students.”
Learn more at the project website.
Hyper-Local Relationships Yield Rich Data
Relationships and a storehouse of knowledge about the Chicago neighborhoods are key factors that will help the initiative succeed. That’s part of both Loyola’s and its business school’s larger commitment to community engagement in Chicago.
“We don’t just happen to be located in the city of Chicago. We are an active partner in the city,” says Michael Behnam, dean of Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business. “We are very intentional about engaging students with the local business community through experiential learning, as well as bringing the business community into our classrooms. This real-world learning together with a theoretical grounding prepares our students to make a difference in the world.”
Sean Connolly, adjunct instructor for the Quinlan School of Business, will lead the project’s on-the-ground outreach.
“We want to get out there and understand the lived experience of minority-owned businesses in Rogers Park and Edgewater, our pilot communities,” Connolly says. “We're hoping by the end of this year to have a complete survey that's informed from our interviews that will show us the state of affairs for minority-owned businesses in the community.”
Connolly, who is also is the executive director of a nonprofit based in Rogers Park, as well as a Loyola Chicago alumnus, has strong relationships with two of the area business service organizations that will play key roles in bringing the project to fruition: the Rogers Park Business Alliance and Edgewater Chamber of Commerce.
Bringing Students and Business Leaders Together
Woven into the initiative is an experiential learning component for students, who will play key roles at every phase of the project — from conducting stakeholder interviews to analyzing data to building the online resource hub.
Avery Tritz (BBA ’24), who majored in finance with an urban studies minor, conducted some of the introductory interviews for the project, and also created informational materials for business owners. Tritz says the work gave her the opportunity to deploy skills and concepts she learned in her courses.
“I've been able to use quantitative analysis techniques from my urban studies classes, as well as economic concepts from my business classes,” Tritz says.
João Barreto, a rising senior majoring in accounting, information systems and finance, will be deploying his coding skills to work on the design of the database and dashboard system.
“In the beginning, I reached out to different organizations across the city that work with these demographics, to understand the scenario around Loyola and what other companies and universities are doing in this space,” he says. “We’re now on our second rollout of the prototype while we learn more about the businesses and the business service organizations on the ground that will be a big part of making the initiative work.”
In coming semesters, the initiative will move into the curriculum as Connolly and other Quinlan professors build aspects of the project into their coursework to give their students hands-on experience.
“We want Loyola students to actually influence the outcomes of this project,” Connolly says. “We know they're very smart, and we have a lot of trust in our students.”
Learn more at the project website.