(WTTW News)

A new city program unveiled Wednesday by Mayor Lori Lightfoot will offer firms owned by female, Black and Latino Chicagoans that have city contracts access to financing from the federal government as part of the city’s effort to help businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $25 million Vendor Impact Fund is “designed to combat long-standing structural inequities and give qualified firms better access to affordable financing” by helping firms certified by the city as owned by Black, Latino or female Chicagoans that qualify for a portion of city contracts, officials said.

“As we work to put COVID-19 behind us, it is more important than ever to leverage the vast power of city government to expand opportunity, unlock homegrown talent, and help our great city become more inclusive and more successful,” Lightfoot said in a statement.

The nonprofit Community Reinvestment Fund will contribute $10 million to the fund along with $14.3 million from Goldman Sachs and $1.2 million from the city to administer the program designed to help businesses get access to paycheck protection loans as well as loans from the Small Business Administration.

Applications are available at chicagoimpactfund.com.

In addition, Lightfoot said she would create a working group to ensure that city vendors are paid promptly — tackling a frequent source of complaints from small businesses that the city takes too long to fulfill invoices.

That working group, which includes several city departments, will craft a report that is due to Lightfoot no later than June 30, officials said. Preliminary efforts have already identified “bottlenecks in two areas” that will be addressed, officials said.

Ald. David Moore (17th Ward) — who is frequently critical of the city’s commitment to hiring firms owned by Black, Latino and female Chicagoans — praised the mayor’s actions and said they would help create a “level playing field.”

“For too long, minority-owned businesses — specifically, Black-owned businesses — have been taken for granted,” Moore said in a statement.

Lightfoot also issued an executive order Wednesday designed to require the information city contractors have to provide the city about their efforts to work with firms owned by Black, Latino and female Chicagoans and hire Chicago residents on a quarterly basis. If those reports detail shortfalls, a plan to correct those issues will be required.

The executive order will also require city contractors to submit an annual diversity plan that details their spending on goods and services from firms owned by Black, Latino and female Chicagoans.

The mayor’s initiatives come as a consultant hired by the city completes a disparity study required to allow the city to continue setting aside a portion of city contracts for firms owned by Black, Latino and female Chicagoans.

That study’s initial findings are due to aldermen this spring, officials said.

The current program, last approved by the City Council in 2016, requires the city to set aside 26% of most contracts for firms owned by Black and Latino Chicagoans and 6% for firms owned by female Chicagoans.

Aldermen have frequently been critical of the city’s efforts to ensure that city contracts benefit firms owned by Black, Latino and female Chicagoans. 

Firms owned by White Chicagoans get the bulk of the city’s contracts — even though they only make up about a third of the city’s population.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]