CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Lightfoot Administration joined in the groundbreaking for what’s expected to be great support for entrepreneurs in the Little Village community.
Blanca Soto, director of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, welcomes Mayor Lori Lightfoot to the groundbreaking for the Xquina Incubator Café, which will combine a coffee shop and a business incubator.
"Xquina Incubator Café is a project that has taken three years of dedication and the highest level of integrity, transparency, and hard work to bring us to this moment," Soto said.
Alderman Michael Rodriguez, 22nd Ward, applauded the goals of creating an educational ecosystem and helping would-be business people find access to capital.
"This is going to be an amazing space for us to not only invest in existing businesses, but to start new businesses. Immigrants coming to this country, trying to make something for themselves - that's what this place is going to be about," he said.
Mayor Lightfoot said the project was partly funded by the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund and the state’s capital bill, as well as the Little Village Community Foundation.
"This community is active and dynamic and important to the lifeblood of our city. All of this is possible thanks to the combined forces of public and private sources," Lightfoot said.
Total cost? About $4.5 million.