News Small Business Spotlight: Getting Lost Leads Owner of Forty Acres Fresh Market to Find Her Entrepreneurial Spirit When Liz Abunaw, MBA’14, stepped off the No. 66 bus in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood six years ago, she wasn’t looking to change her life. She was looking for a bank....
Page Where Are They Now? Episode 5 Episode 5: Foxtrot May 13, 2021 Foxtrot cofounder and CEO Mike LaVitola, MBA ’14, has become expert at hearing “no.” He was not initially accepted into the New Venture Challenge,...
Page Where Are They Now? Episode 6 Episode 6: Power2Switch May 20, 2021 As a Black founder, Seyi Fabode, MBA ’10, has experienced the challenge of investors taking him seriously. Fabode, an immigrant from Nigeria, recalls an...
News UChicago, Northwestern University and JPMorgan Chase Join Forces To Grow Business And Jobs Three-year partnership will fund new programs to support minority-owned business on south and west sides The University of Chicago and Northwestern University are beginning a three-year partnership to support the...
News Chicago’s South Side Neighborhood Coworking Space and Startup Hub Turns 5 In October 2014, a 34,000 square foot coworking space and facility opened up to not only serve all students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University of Chicago, but also...
News Mayor Lightfoot Addresses the Future of Chicago During a fireside chat at the Economist’s Innovation Summit 2020, City of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot discussed the future of the city, including the opportunities and challenges to transforming neighborhoods...
Page Where Are They Now? Episode 8 Episode 8: PrettyQuick June 3, 2021 Coco Meers’ career has centered on helping women look and feel their best. When she caught the entrepreneurship bug and looked for a pain...
News #SBDC Day Q&A: How Will the New Small Business Development Center at the Polsky Exchange Help Chicago’s South Side? SBDC Day, held this year on March 15, is an annual celebration of the nation’s 1,000 Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), a network of federally-funded sites that provide no-cost, one-one-on...
News How Local Stores Can Thrive this Holiday Season The following article was written by Abigail Ingram, executive director of the Polsky Exchange, and originally published in Crain’s Chicago Business on November 17, 2025. Read the original article. When...
News Small Business Spotlight: Larry’s Barber College Stays a Cut Above With New Walmart Shop Angela Harvey had never cut hair before she enrolled in Larry’s Barber College. Her first time wielding clippers, after months of classroom instruction, “I was shaking like a leaf,” she...
News Small Business Spotlight: Urban Roots Builds Business While Building Up Their Community Jimmie Williams, owner of social enterprise landscaping and snow removal firm Urban Roots, had his most successful year ever last year. He used that success to hire additional employees and...
News Small Business Growth Program Cohort Announced The Polsky Small Business Growth Program has announced the Fall 2018 cohort, which is made up of small businesses located in the South and West Side of Chicago. Small teams of...
