Baking Good Legislation
On August 27, Governor Pritzker signed into law the Home-to-Market Act. The Home-to-Market Act allows producers of home-based food products to sell their goods directly to customers. This new law goes into effect on January 1, 2022. This will foster the growth of home-based entrepreneurs, known as the cottage food businesses.
Prior to the passage of the Home-to-Market Act, cottage food producers were only allowed to sell their products at farmer's markets. They were prohibited from selling at fairs or festivals, and online. Compared to other states, Illinois has one of the most restrictive regulations governing the cottage food industry. This new act will open the door for a vast increase in sales and provide cottage producers the opportunity to start or grow their businesses. The Home-to-Market Act comes at the perfect time as many of these home-based food businesses and farms were hit hard by the pandemic. During the pandemic, many farmer's markets delayed their openings, leaving cottage food producers unable to sell their products. The new bill will especially benefit women-owned businesses, as 77% of cottage food businesses are owned by women.
The SBAC is a strong advocate for home-based businesses. Check out our most recent win regarding HBBs.
Thank you to all Participants at the SBAC Golf Outing!
Thank you to all who came out to celebrate the SBAC on August 18th, 2021 at Cog Hill. We all had a great time. Miss it? Or just want to relive some memories? Take a gander at our lovely Digital booklet highlighting our volunteers and sponsors. AND – Check out our FB page for all…
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The small business community was increasingly optimistic this summer. The pandemic was waning, restrictions disappeared and customers were coming back in droves. Vaccinated individuals gathered without masks. While many businesses struggled to find qualified employees, their prospects for recovery looked good. Then the Delta variant came and COVID cases started to significantly increase. That optimism…
The Back to Business Grant Program
Supporting Struggling Small Businesses The pandemic and Covid-19 mitigations began inflicting immense damage to many small businesses in March of 2020. Thousands of small businesses initially applied for Illinois Business Interruption Grants. While these grants helped some small businesses, approximately 80% of eligible small businesses which applied were not awarded a grant. Subsequently, Illinois received…
