The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC) is currently in position to help thousands of Hispanic independent contractors and small businesses in Illinois become certified as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE).
This will open the door to contracts and opportunities that the federal government’s new infrastructure plan currently being discussed in Congress will bring.
If you want to benefit from the biggest infrastructure program in modern U.S. history, contact the IHCC to be certified when the new plan passes Congress.
The IHCC is the only Hispanic organization in Illinois offering technical assistance programs to help businesses to become certified to be government contractors.
Preparedness is a necessity
No one in the world spends more on services and goods than the U.S. Government. And according to the plan, over $2 trillion dollars will be invested in infrastructure over the next ten years.
This plan will rely on nonprofits like Chambers of Commerce to help connect with DBE’s and rebuild our economy even better than before the COVID-19 crisis.
The economic crisis has hit minorities hard, especially Latinos, with unemployment rates approaching 15 percent. More than 17 percent of small businesses owned by African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans have closed their doors.
The IHCC believes that we cannot rebuild the economy better without a massive mobilization of efforts and resources to address these challenges and promote equity in the U.S. economy.
That’s why we are working with our allies in Congress to ensure that racial equity is a significant pillar of the new Infrastructure Plan.
“Even before the crisis, the distribution of opportunity was not as even as we wanted it to be. Latino small businesses must have more opportunities. The IHCC is here to help. It’s time to build our economy from the bottom up and from the middle out, not from the top down,” said Jaime di Paulo, President & CEO of the IHCC.
SBTRC at IHCC
At the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC), the USDOT Small Business Transportation Resource Center (SBTRC) for the Great Lakes Region mission is to increase the number of small businesses prepared to compete and participate in transportation-related business opportunities.
In addition to helping you become certified as a minority business, our programs guarantee one-on-one marketing, planning, financial, procurement, and operational assistance at no cost.
We also help small businesses become bond-ready, as well as have one-on-one sessions with local bonding professionals.
Illinois PTAC at IHCC
The Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) advises business owners to maximize opportunities and exposure to government, state, and local agencies.
PTAC offers personalized, no-cost advice to help your business succeed in the process of becoming a government contractor.
Illinois Tollway Technical Assistance Program
The Illinois Tollway Department of Diversity and Strategic Development is a driving force for increasing economic opportunities in the diverse communities we serve.
The Illinois Tollway Technical Assistance Program is designed to prepare emerging and established transportation-related construction firms to participate on highway and vertical construction contracts.
The program specifically serves disadvantaged, minority- and women-owned business enterprises (D/M/WBE), service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), and veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB) as well as small businesses.