Chicagoland

But in a city where more than 30% of the population is black and only 8% of black-owned businesses won city contracts, it’s clear that Chicago has a long way to go to achieve parity. “Bonding, funding, [and] undercapitalization have been the death knell for black businesses,” says Stephen Davis, president of The Will Group and the current chair of ABLE. “It is important that we get funding and get the resources to compete.”
Of course there are numerous contracting opportunities in Chicago beyond those provided by the city. While William A. Burton, owner of Chicago-based Professional Systems Inc.–an information technology firm specializing in managed services, staffing, procurement, and network infrastructure–has done projects working with the Chicago Public Schools and the clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, his firm has also worked with IBM, BMO Harris Bank, Northstar Lottery Group, and Walmart. When Burton learned that the retail giant would be building several more stores in Chicago, he knew getting a part of that business could help him expand his company.

But with only $2.4 million in revenues in 2011, PSI is still a small firm and Burton’s understanding was that Walmart only accepted vendors who could remodel as many as 25 stores at a time–a level of capacity PSI didn’t have. This fact didn’t deter the entrepreneur. Burton stayed in contact with key Walmart vendor recruitment staff, became an approved vendor, reduced PSI’s overhead, and came up with pricing models that would still be in line with Walmart’s volume purchasing model.

But he didn’t bid on any projects right away. For about six to eight months, he studied the open bids and the requirements that companies were expected to meet to get an understanding of what capital requirements were needed to fill those contracts. His persistence and preliminary research paid off. Walmart awarded PSI with the project even though they would only be able to outfit two stores in Chicago as opposed to 25.

Capital Projects
In 2004, the city voted to privatize the Chicago Skyway, a toll bridge that connects Chicago to Indiana. Administrators later voted to set aside $5 million from that project for small business loans, $3 million of which has been distributed by the City of Chicago Treasurer’s office. One such loan was extended to Sondra Thomas, 55, who decided to purchase a flower shop in 2011 on the far south side of Chicago. “I’m not one of those people who likes to borrow money,” says Thomas. But an SBA counselor suggested that she take advantage of the low interest rates and reasonable terms to upgrade the shop.

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