Bill > HB3334

This bill establishes the HUBZone Center of Excellence, a new initiative by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to support businesses in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones). The Center will be located in a HUBZone-designated building of at least 3,000 square feet and will be staffed with key personnel including a Director of Operations, RFP specialists, educators, and IT specialists. Its primary goals are to promote economic development in underserved communities by creating jobs, empowering minority-owned businesses, providing education and skills training, and building community wealth. The Center will use artificial intelligence to facilitate proposal development and aims to submit 182 proposals annually with a 20% win rate. Over the first four years, the Center will focus on establishing operations and building capacity, and after that, it will transition to a partial self-sustaining model by offering fee-based services to small and mid-sized businesses, with the goal of generating approximately $500,000 to offset operational costs. The bill emphasizes creating sustainable economic opportunities across political boundaries and providing pathways for businesses in underserved communities to succeed.

Budget and Finance

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=3334&GAID=18&DocTypeID=HB&SessionID=114&GA=104