Cook County Community Financial Institution Capacity Building Grant

The Cook County Community Financial Institution Capacity Building Grant program, led by the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development in 2025, was a historic $2.4 million effort to support community financial institutions (CFIs) and increase available financing for small businesses. The selected CFIs may use funds to enhance their loan portfolio and/or operational capacity (such as investments in staff, technology or marketing).

The recipients of a Cook County Community Financial Institution Capacity Building Grant are:

Allies for Community Business
Greenwood Archer Capital
Jewish Free Loan Chicago
Pursuit
SomerCor

Grants of up to $500,000 were awarded to these CFIs. Based on their projections, it is estimated that the $2.4 million in funding from Cook County will ultimately support more than 1,000 businesses and leverage $27.3 million in investment.

Learn more about the CFIs

Are you a business owner interested in learning more about the selected CFIs and what they can offer you?

Visit the Cook County Small Business Source, another program led by the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development. Sign up for no-cost business advising, and your advisor will match you with the CFI that best fits your business needs.

Why this program

The most frequently sought-after service at the Cook County Small Business Source is access to capital.

In 2023, the bureau, working with program partner Next Street, completed a landscape assessment regarding capital available to small businesses.

The assessment highlighted that local CFIs had limited capital available dedicated to supporting small businesses.

The Cook County Community Financial Institution Capacity Building Grant program is increasing the capacity of selected CFIs to deploy resources supporting small businesses and strengthen the County's small business ecosystem as a whole.