Community Navigators hosting workshops in local communities
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By Beth Bear
Director of the Jersey County Business Association (JCBA)
The Jersey County Business Association (JCBA) in association with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and SIUE Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has launched the Community Navigator Program in Jersey and Calhoun counties.
For the last several weeks, Community Navigator Program Coordinator Meagan McGlasson has been traveling to small businesses to meet with and encourage business owners to apply for the State of Illinois’ Back to Business (B2B) grant program. After visiting 50 small businesses in person, the program is now shifting to local workshops where business owners can familiarize themselves with the B2B program, digitize their documents, ask questions and get one-on-one technical assistance with the application portal. After successful workshops in Brussels, Hardin and Fieldon, the Community Navigator team is looking forward to upcoming workshops at:
• The Jersey County Board meeting at 7 p.m. Sept. 14.
• The Grafton City Council meeting at 7 p.m. on Sept. 21
• The Jerseyville Public Library at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Sept. 24
These workshops are a fantastic resource for all business owners who want to improve their grant-readiness for future rounds of funding as well as those who specifically want to apply for the B2B grant. The competitive nature of grant funding means that business owners should turn in applications as soon as possible, and digitizing tax returns, bank statements, IDs and other legal documents makes the process much quicker and easier.
The B2B portal is designed to be user-friendly, and applications typically take less than an hour to complete. To learn more about the B2B grant or to begin your application today, visit jcba-il.us/B2B. To keep up to date on the latest grant programs and the Community Navigator program, like and follow the JCBA on Facebook.
