Working Chicagoans thrive when they can plan for themselves and their families, enabling them to proudly call this city and all it has to offer home. That’s why last summer, Chicago stood with workers by passing the Fair Workweek Ordinance. This landmark law ensures that workers at businesses in particular industries get predictable schedules, while offering both employers and employees a flexible framework to make changes to schedules as needed with compensation for last minute schedule adjustments.

Currently, over 70 million Americans have a side hustle. That's approximately 45% of the working population. 

Starting a side hustle has many benefits, as you can earn extra income, develop new skills, become a small business owner and quit your day job. 

But how do you transition your side hustle into a full business? This article will cover eight steps you need to follow to turn your side hustle into a successful business. 

Small businesses are experiencing disruptions to their supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such disruptions affect small business owners in different ways, resulting in reduced revenues, inflated costs, delayed production and delivery of products, which ultimately affects their ability to serve customers and make profits.

The Small Business Advocacy Council (SBAC) and the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives held a joint forum with Senate President Don Harmon, Senator Sims, and Senator Castro. This session allowed Senate leadership to field questions from chamber executives. Senate leadership also discussed policies that will help small businesses and local communities recover from the pandemic.

This afternoon, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced that masks will be required in indoor public settings for all persons over 2 years old - regardless of vaccination status - effective Friday, August 20. This mandate has been put into place due to the average number of new daily cases of COVID-19 in Chicago surpassing 400.

The federal government created the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) in response to the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses. As part of the CARES Act, the ERC offers tax credits to encourage more businesses to retain employees during the pandemic.

eBay is giving back to the small businesses powering America. In partnership with Hello Alice, eBay is awarding more than $500,000 in grants and education resources to help small businesses stay up and running into 2022 and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the needs and vulnerabilities of our nation’s 30 million small businesses, particularly those in under-resourced communities. A recent survey by Small Business Majority revealed that 19% of small business owners say their business conditions are declining compared to the previous month, and 27% of businesses reported they may not survive past the next six months without additional funding or market changes. Moreover, women and entrepreneurs of color were disproportionately denied the full COVID federal relief funding they needed to help their businesses stay afloat.