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Welcome to the Illini Entrepreneurship Center
PLEASE NOTE:
The Illini Entrepreneur Center at the University of Illinois is no longer actively supported through the State of Illinois. As of December 31, 2010, the state has ended support for the Entrepreneur Centers, but is continuing to provide resources through Small Business Development Centers and other programs. EntrepriseWorks—at the University of Illinois Research Park—continues to be a resource center for technology start-up firms, and receives ongoing support from the state of Illinois. If you are seeking assistance for your small business, please visit with one of these local entrepreneur centers for assistance.
The Illini Entrepreneur Center at the University of Illinois is no longer actively supported through the State of Illinois. As of December 31, 2010, the state has ended support for the Entrepreneur Centers, but is continuing to provide resources through Small Business Development Centers and other programs. EntrepriseWorks—at the University of Illinois Research Park—continues to be a resource center for technology start-up firms, and receives ongoing support from the state of Illinois. If you are seeking assistance for your small business, please visit with one of these local entrepreneur centers for assistance.
Resources for Central Illinois Entrepreneurs
Business Education, Counseling, Training
Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
Counseling, training, assistance in seeking financing, product development and marketing assistance
Champaign County Economic Development Corporation: http://www.champaigncountyedc.org
Locate other SBDCs: View link
SCORE
Free counseling for people looking to start a business
East Central Illinois SCORE http://www.eciscore.org
PHONE: (217) 359-1791
Email: score@champaigncounty.org
Find SCORE locations near you: http://www.score.org/findscore/index.html
Parkland College
Credit and non-credit opportunities
http://www2.parkland.edu/businesstraining/index.html
http://www2.parkland.edu/businesstraining/work_certs.html
To locate other community colleges in Illinois:
http://www.illinois.gov/learning/community_colleges.cfm
SBA, US Small Business Administration
Free online short courses
http://www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses/index.html
Free podcasts
http://www.sba.gov/tools/audiovideo/Podcasts/index.html
University of Illinois/Champaign County Technology Entrepreneur Assistance
EnterpriseWorks
Technology incubator for early stage firms
http://researchpark.illinois.edu/resources/entrepreneurs/
TEC, Technology Entrepreneur Center
Program in UI's College Engineering exposing students to venture and product competitions, workshops, etc.
PHONE: 217-265-5456
http://tec.illinois.edu/about-tec
AEL, Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership
Entrepreneurship programs and services (workshops, FastTrac courses and lectures, business plan competitions, symposia)
PHONE: (217) 244-9425
http://business.illinois.edu/ael/
IllinoisVENTURES
Early-stage technology investment firm with interest in research-driven companies in IT, physical sciences, life sciences and clean technology
PHONE: (217) 239-1950
http://www.illinoisventures.com/
State of Illinois Business Portal
State of Illinois Business Portal:
http://business.illinois.gov
Starting a business in Illinois:
http://business.illinois.gov/starting.cfm
Running a business:
http://business.illinois.gov/running.cfm
Changing a business (expanding, relocating, closing):
http://business.illinois.gov/changing.cfm
Find a business form:
http://business.illinois.gov/form.cfm
Illinois Secretary of State - search for corporate name availability and access incorporation forms
Specialized Counseling and Assistance
Procurement Technical Assistance Center
Assistance in selling products to local, state or federal government agencies
Related:
DCEO's Homeland Security Market Development (HSMD) Bureau
State of Illinois - Sell2Illinois
Federal Business Opportunities
International Trade Centers (ITC)/NAFTA Opportunity Centers (NOC)
For existing, new to-export companies interested in pursuing international trade opportunities
Locating trade centers:
http://ildceo-loc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ildceo_loc.cfg/php/loc/enduser/loc.php
Small Business Environmental Assistance Program (SBEAP)
State and federal environmental regulation compliance assistance, including environmental compliance workshops
Smart Energy Design Assistance Center
Manufacturing Extension Centers (MEC)
Assistance, consultation for small to mid-size manufacturers to improve performance, increase competitiveness, and benchmark goals.
OSHA's On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program
Find a state agency:
http://business.illinois.gov/form.cfm
Taxes
Internal Revenue Service — All businesses except sole proprietorships with no employees must fill out Form SS-4 and obtain a Federal Tax ID Number.
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/index.html
IRS: Starting a Business
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99336,00.html
Tax Guide for Small Businesses
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p334.pdf
Employers Tax Guide
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf
Self-Employment Tax Guide
Regulations regarding estimated tax deposits which generally have to be made if your business will owe tax of $1,000 or more.
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p505/index.html
Illinois Department of Revenue. All businesses except sole proprietorships with no employees must fill out the REG-1 Form.
http://www.iltax.com/Businesses
Illinois Withholding Tax Guide
http://www.revenue.state.il.us/Publications/Pubs/Pub-121.pdf
Sales Tax Rate Change Summary for 2005-2009
http://www.iltax.com/Publications/bulletins/2005/FY200509.PDF
Illinois Sales Tax Publication — helps retailers document taxable and exempt items.
http://www.revenue.state.il.us/Publications/Bulletins/2007/FY200705.pdf
Illinois Department of Employment Security — must register with IDES within 30 days of hiring employees.
http://www.ides.state.il.us
Fast Facts for Employers booklet about unemployment insurance
http://www.ides.state.il.us/pdf/employers/FastFacts.pdf
To keep in employee personnel files for withholding amounts
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf
Market Data
U.S. Census Bureau
Search any zip code, city, county, metro area or state for demographic data. Use to define the size of your potential customer base.
http://www.census.gov
US QuickFacts
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html
Illinois Data
http://www.illinoisdata.com/index.htm
American FactFinder, US Census Bureau
Put in a zip code to find data for people in your community
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en
Small Business Information Portals
Resources for entrepreneurs in high-growth firms
http://www.entrepreneurship.org
Biz Toolkit - business research, industry and market data
http://www.biztoolkit.org
SBA Tools
http://www.sba.gov/tools/index.html
Biz Info Library — Knowledge for every stage of your business
http://www.bizinfolibrary.org
National Federation of Independent Business
http://www.nfib.com/page/toolsHome
Missouri Small Business Development Centers Library
http://www.missouribusiness.net/library/index.asp
The Small Business Development Centers National Information Clearinghouse.
http://sbdcnet.org
SBDCnet — Small Business Information Clearinghouse
Iincludes statistics for various industries, trends, and customer data
http://sbdcnet.org
Government Loans
http://www.govloans.gov/govloans_en.portal
Champaign Public Library — Business Know-How
http://www.champaign.org/business_know_how.html
Tip: Many public libraries provide small business resources, and librarians trained to help business owners with business, market and other information research.
