During February 2022, the City of Galesburg and Knox County Area Partnership created new business incentive programs focused on increasing the frequency and success of minority-owned and south side business startups, as well as encouraging urban agriculture, a news release says.
Program applications launched soon after creation, and the month of May marked the one-year anniversary of the first business assistance award issued through the newly created programs.
“We are thrilled at how many businesses we have been able to assist over the course of the last year through the startup business assistance programs,” said Ken Springer, KCAP President. “This has proven to be an excellent partnership with the City of Galesburg for assisting our local business community and encouraging small business development.”
The programs are managed by an effective partnership between the City of Galesburg and the Knox County Area Partnership for Economic Development (KCAP). KCAP manages the front-end of the programs, identifying applicants, as well as working with those applicants to ensure the businesses are ready to launch. The city manages the back-end of the programs, creating funding agreements and managing compliance with the awardees. It is an effective partnership that plays to both organizations’ strengths and has resulted in extensive successful utilization of the programs.
The Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is also involved in the process, assisting businesses with the creation of business and marketing plans. SBDC team members have provided advisement to three quarters of all successful awardees to date.
“The success of these programs is largely thanks to the collaborative partnership between the City, KCAP, and SBDC, as each plays a crucial, but distinctly different, role in creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to successfully launch their business start-ups and grow our economy,” said Mayor Peter Schwartzman. “I’m incredibly proud of how the City has been able to assist so many different new startup businesses over the past year. These businesses are bringing diversity to our community’s business offerings and the programs are helping spotlight new entrepreneurs.“
The business assistance incentives consist of a portfolio of four grant programs: minority business start-up, south side occupancy, minority business collateral, and urban agriculture pilot program. Awards range from $5,000 – $25,000 for local business start-ups that meet the program criteria. To date, the programs have assisted 18 total businesses, representing an investment of $143,500 in our business community. The following businesses have received support from the City of Galesburg:
- Therapy for Positive Aging (Startup)
- Dame Fine Coffee (Southside & Startup)
- All Star Sports Academy (Southside & Startup)
- Opie’s Bar and Grill (Startup)
- MBs Food Truck (Startup)
- Haynes Beauty (Southside & Startup)
- Lavender Lotus Yoga Studio (Startup)
- Galesburg Selfie Museum (Startup)
- Malley Foods, LLC (Startup)
- Brittany’s Beautique (Southside & Startup)
- Green House and Décor (Startup & Collateral)
- K&K Beauty Bar (Startup)
- Nova Singers (Southside)
- MOD Esthetics (Startup)
- Get Sum Ink, LLC (Startup)
- Greenlords Pharms, LLC (Startup & Urban Ag)
- Libby’s Corner (Urban Ag)
- Galesburg Fruit Orchards (Urban Ag)
“Creation and implementation of the new programs requires thorough coordination and teamwork. We are grateful for our community partners and business community that make the success of such program possible,” said Steve Gugliotta, Galesburg acting city manager.
More information on the business incentive programs, including program guidelines and applications, can be found here.
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