Mount Prospect project file
Improve technology or cybersecurity
Separate planning and specialist help from the hardware, software, services, and working capital that may require repayable financing.
Before you spend: Define the risk and implementation scope before borrowing; no broad active local cybersecurity capital grant was verified.
Assistance layers
Mechanisms worth sorting for this project
These are supported relationships, not eligibility decisions. The Workbench asks the facts that change whether a lead is current, conditional, specialized, or historical.
Sequence 1
SBA Microloan Program
Approved nonprofit intermediaries make small repayable loans for working capital and eligible equipment or supplies; the intermediary sets credit decisions and terms.
- Mechanism
- Loan
- What it does
- Finance the remaining cost
- Why it appears
- A repayable Microloan may fund eligible equipment, supplies, or working-capital components of a technology project.
- Administrator
- U.S. Small Business Administration and approved nonprofit intermediaries
- Program lifecycle
- Current / rolling
- Visitor treatment
- Worth checking now
This current pathway still requires program-specific eligibility and sequence checks.
Sequence 2
Advantage Illinois
Participating lenders may use state participation or a state guarantee to reduce lender risk on an otherwise qualifying small-business loan.
- Mechanism
- Loan
- What it does
- Finance the remaining cost
- Why it appears
- Participating-lender financing may support an eligible technology investment.
- Administrator
- Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
- Program lifecycle
- Current / rolling
- Visitor treatment
- Worth checking now
This current pathway still requires program-specific eligibility and sequence checks.
Sequence 3
Illinois Small Business Development Center at Harper College
Harper SBDC provides no-cost advising for planning, financial analysis, capital readiness, startup, improvement, and expansion questions.
- Mechanism
- Advising
- What it does
- Get free expertise
- Why it appears
- Advising can clarify the business case, budget, financing readiness, and narrow specialized referrals.
- Administrator
- Harper College and the Illinois SBDC network
- Program lifecycle
- Current / rolling
- Visitor treatment
- Worth checking now
This current pathway still requires program-specific eligibility and sequence checks.
Sequence 4
Cook County Small Business Source
The Source connects Cook County small businesses to no-cost one-on-one advisers, resources, events, and capital-readiness help.
- Mechanism
- Advising
- What it does
- Get free expertise
- Why it appears
- County advisers can help define financing readiness and appropriate specialist or lender referrals.
- Administrator
- Cook County Bureau of Economic Development
- Program lifecycle
- Current / rolling
- Visitor treatment
- Worth checking now
This current pathway still requires program-specific eligibility and sequence checks.
Sequence 5
Mount Prospect Entrepreneurs Initiative
MPEI provides local small-business workshops, online resources, referrals, and connections to partner advisers.
- Mechanism
- Advising
- What it does
- Get free expertise
- Why it appears
- Local workshops and partner referrals may help an entrepreneur find appropriate planning resources.
- Administrator
- Village of Mount Prospect and Mount Prospect Public Library partners
- Program lifecycle
- Current / rolling
- Visitor treatment
- Worth checking now
This current pathway still requires program-specific eligibility and sequence checks.
Sequence 81
Illinois Innovation Voucher
A funds-limited Illinois program may share the cost of a defined research and development engagement with an Illinois university partner.
- Mechanism
- Grant
- What it does
- Lower the project cost
- Why it appears
- The technology work is a defined research and development engagement with an Illinois university partner rather than an ordinary purchase or remediation project.
- Administrator
- Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Before you spend: Do not begin the university engagement until DCEO confirms the current program sequence and eligible scope.
- Program lifecycle
- Specialized
- Visitor treatment
- Specialized possibility
This specialized pathway requires its stated purpose or industry fit before reliance.
Ask the administrator: Does this defined Illinois university research engagement qualify, and are funds available under the current process?
Sequence 82
Illinois SBIR/STTR Matching Program
An Illinois company with a qualifying recent federal SBIR or STTR award may seek a state match tied to Illinois research, retention, registration, and milestones.
- Mechanism
- Grant
- What it does
- Lower the project cost
- Why it appears
- The Illinois company already holds a qualifying recent federal SBIR or STTR award and is seeking the corresponding state match.
- Administrator
- Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
- Program lifecycle
- Specialized
- Visitor treatment
- Specialized possibility
This specialized pathway requires its stated purpose or industry fit before reliance.
Ask the administrator: Does the existing federal award meet the current Illinois match timing and milestone rules?
Sequence 85
Illinois APEX Accelerator
Illinois APEX provides no-cost government-contracting and compliance help to an existing Illinois business pursuing public contracts; it is a revenue path, not project funding.
- Mechanism
- Advising
- What it does
- Pursue a revenue opportunity
- Why it appears
- The technology or compliance work is being undertaken to pursue government contracts, so contracting guidance may reduce revenue-development friction.
- Administrator
- Illinois APEX Accelerator network
- Program lifecycle
- Specialized
- Visitor treatment
- Specialized possibility
This specialized pathway requires its stated purpose or industry fit before reliance.
Ask the administrator: Which APEX center and contracting-readiness steps fit this Illinois business and target procurement?