Baking Good Legislation
On August 27, Governor Pritzker signed into law the Home-to-Market Act. The Home-to-Market Act allows producers of home-based food products to sell their goods directly to customers. This new law goes into effect on January 1, 2022. This will foster the growth of home-based entrepreneurs, known as the cottage food businesses.
Prior to the passage of the Home-to-Market Act, cottage food producers were only allowed to sell their products at farmer's markets. They were prohibited from selling at fairs or festivals, and online. Compared to other states, Illinois has one of the most restrictive regulations governing the cottage food industry. This new act will open the door for a vast increase in sales and provide cottage producers the opportunity to start or grow their businesses. The Home-to-Market Act comes at the perfect time as many of these home-based food businesses and farms were hit hard by the pandemic. During the pandemic, many farmer's markets delayed their openings, leaving cottage food producers unable to sell their products. The new bill will especially benefit women-owned businesses, as 77% of cottage food businesses are owned by women.
The SBAC is a strong advocate for home-based businesses. Check out our most recent win regarding HBBs.
SBAC Empower and Greater Roseland Entrepreneurial Circle
DONATE An Exciting New Program for Small Businesses… Starting this September, the Greater Roseland Chamber of Commerce and SBAC Empower will be launching an incubator and joint mentoring program dedicated to helping both prospective small business owners and established small business owners in the Greater Roseland area. Each applicant will be assigned a specific cohort…
Congrats to Patti & Her Team!
DONATE Congrats Patti! Patti is one of the recipients of the Best Networking Mentor award from Networlding! From their LI post: These mentors will now join a vibrant community focused on aiding new adults in kick-starting their careers. Building on the success of my 2002 networking contest, we aim to recreate that magic. Stay tuned…
Congrats to our Founder Scott Baskin!
DONATE Congrats Scott! Scott has been appointed to the Illinois Health Benefits Exchange Advisory Committee: a committee charged with helping implement the Illinois Health Benefits Exchange to provide affordable health care options for individuals and small businesses. This is due to Scott and the SBAC’s hard work passing a law about this back in 2023.…
