NORBIC's professional services and business renewal grants have had a significant impact upon the Northeast Illinois manufacturing community. Working in partnership with a network of public and private sector service providers, in the past 2 years NORBIC has provided more than 7,500 hours of free and low cost consulting services and helped more than 1,000 Illinois companies develop their business plans, access government incentive programs, improve their operations, train their employees, obtain financing and/or increase their domestic and international sales. During the same period NORBIC provided over $1.2 million in grants to over 150 of these clients. Key examples of NORBIC's historical impact include over $250 million in federal government contract awards for clients and over $260 million in increased export sales since 1994.