In light of COVID-19 all in-person counseling, workshops and classes are being suspended through April 7, 2020.

Neighborhood Business Development Center (NBDC) funded through the City of Chicago’s Business Affairs & Consumer Protection Department. provides customized support for business within the local community.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of the Chicago economy, responsible for half of the city’s workforce and serving as community anchors in neighborhoods across the city. To better support small businesses in all of Chicago’s neighborhoods, the City of Chicago recently launched a strategy to continue to cut red tape, build the capacity of neighborhood resource centers, and expand neighborhood-based business support. The NBDC program is a key component of this strategy.

As a delegate agency in the NBDC initiative, WSF provides customized small business resources and training to entrepreneurs located on the West Side of Chicago with particular focus on entrepreneurs of color and women. Since its launch in January 2014, the program has supported 25 businesses through in scaling business operations and profits.

This program will offer the following services to the qualified companies it supports:

• Technical Assistance

• Coaching/Mentoring
• Connecting To Financial Resources
• Connections To Corporate Supply Chains
• Business-To-Business Networking Opportunities
• Workforce Development Assistance

• Business Xcelerator program

To learn more about West Side Forward's NBDC , click here.

To learn more about the City’s Neighborhood Business Development Centers, click here.

Click here to access information and resources available to the Chicago Small Business community