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Opportunities Forum
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Greetings!
We hope you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend. We are aggressively moving forward with our SBAC health insurance program. Additionally, We welcomed over 100 folks to our recent SBAC Happy Hour. With our Lending and Venture Capital Forum approaching next Wednesday, we have a great deal to talk with you about.
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Happy Hour At Shelle Jewelers on
September
30th
With over 130 businesses in the  SBAC, our Happy Hours
continue to grow more robust. On August 26th, over 100 guests enjoyed
complimentary cocktails, food and great conversation at the Jean Albano Art
Gallery. Josh Parkinson of WineStyles of Northbrook, one of our newest
members, provided a variety of wine at the event. Sullivan's, as usual, was there with their fantastic steak
sandwiches. In addition to art, drinks and food,
our members and guests talked business, exchanged cards and made plans to work
together in the future.
 We would like to thank SBAC member Bennett Spencer of
Spencer Media, LLC for recording the event and taking the time to interview
several SBAC members. Bennett does superb work, which explains why his business is thriving. Once the
video has been edited, we will have yet another means to get our message
out.
The SBAC will be holding our next Happy Hour at Shelle
Jewelers in Northbrook on Thursday, September 30th at 6:00pm. We are expecting
another great crowd for our event and thank Shelle Jewelers
for graciously offering to host the event.
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Lending And Venture Capital Forum
In this tough economic climate, financing is difficult to find. However, there is hope for
business owners. At our SBAC Lending and Venture Capital Forum, our members
will be provided a wealth of information regarding how to obtain venture capital
and financing. Joseph McKeown, from the Department of Commerce &
Economic Opportunity (DCEO), will also educate us on tax incentives that
far few business owners know exist.
Our panel of
experts includes:
Jacobsohn  | Jason Jacobsohn
Jason is with AEGIS Professional Services and works with small business
owners to raise venture capital. Jason will discuss the various methods
for raising capital from angel investors. He will provide insight on
the factors that investors consider before contributing capital and will
provide valuable advice on putting together a good presentation. Jason
is also a member of the SBAC and a valuable resource for our members.
 Brandon Hinkle
Brandon is a Co-Founder at ios Financial, a Chicago-based online marketplace that matches small businesses seeking commercial loans with the right lenders nationwide. Ios management has significant experience underwriting commercial loans for small & medium sized businesses across all industries; they know how to improve the quality of a loan application, and how to find the lender most appropriate for each type of business. Their goal with the Lending and Venture Capital Forum is to give the audience that same knowledge and provide SBAC members with the best possible chance of success with lenders.
Frank  | David
Frank
David owns SomerCor 504, Inc., which administers a loan
program for the U.S. Small Business Administration which allows
borrowers to access capital for the purchase of owner-occupied
commercial real estate or equipment. Business owners can use this loan
program to finance up to 90% of eligible costs. Interest rates on our
loans are fixed for 20 years and significantly lower than conventional
interest rates.
Wimmer  | Mark WimmerMark is a Financial Advisor with UBS. Mark will talk about the various
strategies that can help small business owners unleash the borrowing
power of their portfolios. Mark is an SBAC member and has played a
critical role in our development.
Joseph McKeown
Joseph is the North East Region
Senior Account Manager with the DCEO, the lead state agency responsible for
improving Illinois' competitiveness in the global economy. Mr. McKeown
will discuss Illinois tax credits for small businesses, such as tax credits
for hiring veterans and incentives for keeping businesses in
Illinois.
The complete bios of our presenters is available at: Lending Forum Presenter Bios
Our forum will take place at 20 South Clark in downtown
Chicago. Doors will open at 7:15am for networking and a light
breakfast. The forum will begin at 8:00am and conclude at
10:00am.
To RSVP for the Lending Forum contact Blanca
Campos at Blanca@SBACIL.org.
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Microlender Database
Microlending is becoming an increasingly popular option
for American businesses in need of funds to expand or simply survive. For
that reason, the SBAC has compiled a database of 213 Private and SBA
Microlenders. This database is available exclusively to SBAC
members. You can contact Blanca Campos at blanca@sbacil.org to learn how to gain access to the microlender database. We would like to thank Matt Bunn, an SBAC intern and graduate from
Cornell University, for compiling this list. |
Announcements & Opportunities
SBAC Health Insurance Update
We continue to aggressively move towards establishing
an SBAC health insurance plan for our members. Jonah Weiss, who has
spearheaded this project, has brought in Arthur J. Gallagher Co. to
assist with the underwriting of our plan.
While we cannot guarantee
success, we are all very optimistic about the prospects of forming an
SBAC insurance pool. Please mark October 9th on your calendars. On
that day, at 10:00am, Mr. Weiss and representatives of Arthur J.
Gallagher will be meeting with SBAC members and the public to provide an update and answer questions about the plan.
Op2mize Offers SBAC Members Free Services
 Op2mize, LLC is pleased offer all fellow SBAC members the
following services FREE of charge (each is worth $1,000): -
A lease abstract and operating expense audit for all
commercial space leases in excess of 2,000 SF
- A preliminary Energy Efficiency Assessment (EEA) of
your commercial space in excess of 2,000 SF
- Both services if your commercial space is at least
10,000 SF or larger
Lease abstracts, expense audits, and/or Energy Efficiency
Assessments are likely to reduce your operating expenses and save you
real money. These offers are good thru 12/31/10. Please visit us at www.op2mize.com or contact us at
(847) 813-9898 to take us up on these offers. We look forward to hearing from
you!
Free Advertising Exclusively For SBAC Members
 As a happy member of SBAC, we at Print Me Coupon are offering all SBAC members free advertising on our
website. We've created 2 exclusive offers for members with special
promotion codes: The site is extremely user friendly.
You create, change, delete do whatever you like with your advertising
24/7, 365 days a year. Full and complete access without obligation. The
site draws over 20,000 hits a month and is advertising on the L train,
Northern City Buses and print advertising throughout the entire
Chicagoland area. We are 5 months old and growing now within the
suburbs as well as nationally. To begin just click on the 'Add Your
Coupon' Button and it walks you completely through the process of
building your page on the site. Don't forget the promotion code of your
choice!
North Shore Health Advocate
North Shore Health Advocates was designed by
businesswoman Sharon Morrissey Young, and health insurance claims adjuster
Judy Applebaum. The goal of the firm was
to facilitate individuals, families, companies and corporations with a variety
of needs in the health care arena.
North Shore Health Advocates is
currently working on a case that has brought their client to the Lake County
Court house several times this past year. When the case
resolves, it could sell as a non-fiction best seller.
North Shore Health Advocates invites any SBAC members to contact them for your healh care related needs. It can be for as little
as one hour's work to solve a medical claims discrepancy, or traveling to a
hospital to be an advocate for a family member who does not appear to be
receiving proper services.
For further information contact North Shore Health Advocates at Sm.young@att.net or at (847) 722-8318. |
New Small Business Advocacy Blog
 The new Small Business Advocacy Blog is growing quickly with new readers
discovering its value daily. If you have not yet read the new Blog follow it
now by going to Small Business Advocacy Blog!
This valuable resource for small business owners includes recent articles such
as: To learn more about the Small Business Advocacy
Blog or learn how you can become a contributing writer contact Eric Quintanilla
at Eric@SBACIL.org. |
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All the best,
Elliot Richardson
Small Business Advocacy Council |
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