BRONZEVILLE — CBQ Facial Beauty Bar and Ain’t She Sweet Cafe were among 24 Bronzeville businesses to receive the 2023 Source Grant, a program offered through the Cook County Small Business Source.
The county program has invested over $50 million in small businesses throughout the city and suburbs. More than 16,000 applications were submitted and vetted by the Women’s Business Development Center and Allies for Community Business. The 3,000 grantees were chosen in a lottery. A full list of recipients can be found here.
Businesses are allowed to use the money for payroll and operating expenses, or rent payments and inventory.
Bronzeville’s CBQ Facial Beauty Bar, which moved to 4400 Grove in 2022, received $20,000 from the program. Owner Nichole Doss told Block Club in a recent interview that business has been good as she approaches her two-year anniversary in that location, adding that she hopes to franchise her brand of “express facials” to other cities.
Ain’t She Sweet Cafe, a neighborhood mainstay since opening at 45th Street and Cottage Grove Ave. in 2006, also received $20,000. The restaurant moved to its current location at 526 E. 43rd St. in 2011; mother-daughter duo Margot and Ayisha Strotter opened a second location in Beverly in 2016.
Grant recipients were notified in mid-December and the funds were dispensed in January. Award amounts were determined by annual sales, and all of the eligible businesses had to be located in Cook County, employ less than 20 people and be in operation prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixty percent of the recipients are located in suburban Cook County.
Awarded business categories included arts and entertainment, childcare and social assistance, hospitality, transportation and more. Forty-five veteran-owned businesses also received grants.
“Cook County’s small businesses have faced uncharted waters in the post-pandemic economy, and this grant provides the stability they need to thrive in 2024 and beyond. Small businesses have shown a unique tenacity and staying power in surviving the pandemic, and they are important assets to our community,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a statement.
Funding for the 2023 Source Grant is from the American Rescue Plan. Cook County used $50 million from a pool of $1 billion received to help Chicago-area businesses, partnering with with Next Street, a Chicago organization supporting small-business development, on the initiative.
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