Neighborhood Market Grant Program

The Neighborhood Market Grant Program is a City of Chicago initiative supporting food entrepreneurs and food-focused organizations working to increase access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food in communities experiencing inequitable food access. The program was developed through multi-year research and community collaboration involving residents, local businesses, farmers, and community and city leaders. The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, or BACP, is working with Allies for Community Business, or A4CB, which has been selected to manage the program. The program is funded through the City of Chicago Road to Recovery Plan using American Rescue Plan Act Local Fiscal Recovery Fund resources under Assistance Listing Number 21.027. For the small business component, the Neighborhood Market Grant Program will provide one-time grants to eligible small retail food businesses operating physical storefronts in priority geographies across Chicago. The program focuses on businesses that serve as both economic anchors and food access points in neighborhoods historically affected by disinvestment. The program identifies $450,000 in grant funding and states that individual one-time awards are available in amounts up to $10,000. The provided material does not state a required applicant cost share or matching contribution, nor does it provide a detailed list of allowable or prohibited grant expenditures. Eligible small businesses must demonstrate at least two years of operation and annual revenue between $10,000 and $500,000 by providing a 2024 or 2025 business tax return. Applicants must be organized as for-profit businesses and operate food and beverage retail businesses classified under an eligible NAICS 445 code. Businesses classified under NAICS 4453, Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers, are expressly ineligible. An applicant must attest that at least 75 percent of its revenue comes from retail food and beverage sales and must operate a physical storefront located in a Chicago Qualified Census Tract. Applicants must also be in good standing with the Illinois Secretary of State and with the City of Chicago. The application requires documentation supporting the business and its eligibility. Applicants must submit a 2024 or 2025 business tax return to demonstrate operating history and revenue, a valid City of Chicago business license to demonstrate good standing with the City, a recent bank statement showing a valid business bank account, and a valid state identification document for the owner. Applicants meeting certain additional criteria may receive priority consideration. Specifically, priority may be given to businesses that attest that they accept SNAP or LINK benefits and businesses located in areas with low food access. Applications are submitted through the program's Smartsheet application. Applicants are instructed to be prepared to answer all application questions and upload all required documents before beginning. A partial application cannot be saved, and submitted responses cannot be edited because all submissions are final. The source advertises an informational webinar for small businesses presented by BACP and A4CB on September 8, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. The webinar is intended to review grant eligibility criteria and help prospective applicants prepare to submit an application, but it is not identified as a mandatory pre-application requirement or gating step. The supplied material contains conflicting closing-time information for September 25, 2026. The main Neighborhood Market Grant Program page states that the application will close on September 25, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. CST, while the detailed Small Businesses application section states an application deadline of Friday, September 25 at 5:00 PM. The application-specific deadline is used for the data entry because it appears within the detailed application instructions; under the data-entry rules, a deadline time without a stated time zone defaults to Eastern Time. The stored deadline is therefore September 25, 2026, with date only. No recurring annual or other recurring application cycle, award notification date, or grant performance period is stated in the supplied material. Questions about the Neighborhood Market Grant Program may be directed to Allies for Community Business at granthelp@a4cb.org or 312-275-3000. The program identifies the Smartsheet platform as its application system and describes security protections used for applicant information. No named individual grant contact is provided. Applicants should ensure that they satisfy the storefront, geography, business classification, revenue, operating-history, and good-standing requirements and have all required supporting documentation ready before beginning the application, since an application cannot be saved in partial form or edited after submission.

Confirm storefront location in a Chicago Qualified Census Tract and eligible NAICS 445 classification before applying. Prepare every required document before starting because partial applications cannot be saved and submissions cannot be edited. Applicants accepting SNAP or LINK benefits or located in areas with low food access may receive priority consideration.