Illinois Tollway to host Financial Planning event for small businesses

***Registration now open with presentations and resources from leading financial institutions* *on financial best practices, access to capital, and small business growth strategies***

The Illinois Tollway is hosting a Building the Road to Success: Financial Planning for Small Businesses event in Chicago this week to share advice and resources to support small diverse and minority-owned companies with financial management and capital development necessary to succeed in the heavy highway construction industry.

The event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday, November 18, at Malcom X College Conference Center, 1900 W. Jackson Boulevard in Chicago. Registration and information is available here.

Financial planning is critical for any successful business, but the process can be complicated,” said Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse.

“Small business owners frequently need to wear many hats, often work long hours and deal with so many stressful decisions, and financial guidance from experts can help confirm that they are on the right track.”

Illinois Tollway. Courtesy of the Illinois Tollway Authority

To help guide their small businesses toward sustainable growth, owners can consider working with financial experts in a number of areas to help utilize their resources efficiently and ensure business success, including by setting clear goals, budgeting and managing cash flow, mitigating risks, planning for future operations, raising capital and tracking and measuring performance.

The Building the Road to Success event will provided firms with direct access to commercial banking industry experts and also with information about construction opportunities across the region’s transportation network:

- - “The Changing Economy and Construction Opportunities Ahead” – Erin Aleman, Executive Director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
  - “Alternative Ways to Raise Capital” – Phillip Sweeney, CPA and member of Coalition of African American Leaders (COAL)
  - “Planning for Sustainable Growth” – Micae Brown, Assistant Vice President and Business Advisor, U.S. Bank
  - “Meeting with Financial Institutions: How to Prepare and Questions to Ask” – Letticia Flores Poole, Senior Manager-Industry Vertical; Geovanni Soto, Director; and Diana Talpa, Relationship Manager, BMO Harris Bank
  - “How to Weather a Financial Storm” – Khadija Ganiyeva, Small Business Banker, Wells Fargo

The Illinois Tollway is focused on promoting, assisting and ensuring diverse participation in all aspects of Tollway operations, including construction contracting and consulting, with programs and resources supported by the Illinois Tollway providing technical assistance, training, mentoring and business development opportunities for firms.

In addition, as part of its commitment to increasing the diversity, the Tollway establishes contract amounts ranging from less than $1 million to more than $100 million so they are accessible to firms of varying sizes, including small and minority-owned businesses.

More than $10.5 billion has been invested by the Illinois Tollway since the Move Illinois Program began in 2012, with more than $2.7 billion of that total committed to small, diverse and veteran-owned firms.

For more information about the Tollway’s opportunities for businesses, visit the Doing Business section on the Tollway’s website www.illinoistollway.com.

About Move Illinois

The Illinois Tollway’s 15-year, $14 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future, is improving mobility, relieving congestion, reducing pollution, creating as many as 152,000 jobs and linking economies throughout the region. The first 10 years of Move Illinois are on schedule and within budget, delivering the rebuilt and widened Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) as a state-of-the-art 21st century corridor and opening a new interchange connecting the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) to I-57. Progress continues on projects addressing the remaining needs of the existing Tollway system, delivering the Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project and reconstruction of the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294).

About the Illinois Tollway

The Illinois Tollway is a user-fee system that receives no state or federal funds for maintenance and operations. The agency maintains and operates 294 miles of roadways in 12 counties in Northern Illinois, including the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355), the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90), the Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294/I-80) and the Illinois Route 390 Tollway.

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