Impact Northeast Illinois Grant Overview
Impact Northeast Illinois is a joint grant program offered by the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and NORBIC. The program is designed to help Illinois entrepreneurs or small businesses with: a) obtaining professional services for comprehensive business planning assistance, the evaluation of a proposed start-up or expansion, or other accelerated support purposes, and b) supplementing the cost of training related to implementing that business milestone.

Eligible Project Costs
(a) Eligible project costs include the provision or acquisition of professional services for comprehensive business planning assistance or the successful achievement of a significant business milestone for client firms. Broad categories of services may include those related to:
 

• Overall business strategy; marketing strategies and plans
• Legal or accounting services
• Technology or product audits
• Financial modeling; funding strategies
• Management operations and budgeting
• Other specialized or accelerated services deemed critical to achieving
••a significant business milestone

Legal costs, engineering and design costs, property purchase and rental and software and equipment expenses are generally not eligible.

(b) Eligible Training Costs include training for Illinois employees related to implementing the business planning measure outlined in part a.

Human resources and sales training are generally not eligible.

Funding Availability/Match Requirement
The maximum funding available per individual award is $10,000, with a $5,000 maximum allocated to professional services (a) and a $5,000 maximum allocated to training (b). The grant applicant must provide a cash match of 100% of the award amount.