Find workshops, info sessions, conferences, and key application dates all in one place.
This hands-on workshop shows founders how to use AI as a strategic writing partner for proposals and customer communications, without losing their business voice. Participants will learn how to teach AI who they are, who they serve, and how they sound so every draft feels more on-brand and more useful instead of generic. Through guided...
The Market Navigator program helps business owners use market research and artificial intelligence tools to identify new clients/customers and better serve existing customers. Businesses with customers and traction are welcome to apply. This program is delivered through 10 weeks of structured sessions in which participants work with expert instructors to better understand their existing customers, identify new market...
This series features presentations by capital providers and information about how to access different forms of capital.This speaker for this event is Humberto Huerta, senior business relationship manager, Chase Bank. Chase Business Banking provides a comprehensive suite of financial products and services tailored to small and mid-size businesses, including checking accounts, lending solutions, merchant services,...
The Polsky Exchange On Deck Pitch is a Small Business Development Center initiative designed to help entrepreneurs develop and refine their pitching skills and prepare to effectively present their businesses to potential investors or lenders. Join as an observer to watch small businesses pitch. Your feedback on the pitches is valuable.
This session addresses one of the most common pain points for growing businesses: the gap between customer expectations for immediate responsiveness and the reality of limited staff and bandwidth. Participants will explore how AI can bridge that gap, handling routine inquiries, answering after-hours questions, and keeping customers informed without requiring constant manual attention. The session...
This series features presentations by capital providers and information about how to access different forms of capital. The speakers for this event are Jason Mercer, principal, Cleveland Avenue; Fernando Carranza, venture investor, Cleveland Avenue; J. Vincent Williams, executive director, The Entrepreneurial Development and Leadership Institute (EDLI). Cleveland Avenue is a Chicago-based global venture capital firm that...
The Polsky Exchange is partnering with Working Credit, a national nonprofit, to offer free financial wellness support designed for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Working Credit provides expert guidance on how the credit system works, how to avoid common scams, and how to build and sustain strong credit. The workshop moves beyond education, delivering actionable,...
This session opens with the customer data most small businesses already collect but underutilize transaction records, CRM entries, point-of-sale history, and purchase logs. Participants will first connect the data they collect to the outcomes they care about distinguishing activity metrics from true outcome metrics then learn to use AI to mine their data systematically: identifying...
The UChicago Deep Tech Demo Day is a premier showcase of next-generation deep tech ventures, taking place on July 20th during TechChicago Week. Set against the backdrop of a city rapidly establishing itself as a national hub for quantum infrastructure and advanced research, the event convenes high-growth startups, leading investors, national laboratories, and corporate decision-makers...
The session opens with a focus on data-driven decision-making for business operations. Participants will learn how to use AI to analyze their own sales and customer traffic data by hour and day of the week, identifying peak periods, slow stretches, and hidden patterns that inform smarter decisions about staffing, open hours, and resource allocation. Rather...