U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, visited Joliet Junior College on Wednesday to hear more about a federally funded business development program and told of his own venture into the restaurant business.
Durbin was a key supporter of an $800,000 federal grant that will allow JJC to expand its Entrepreneur & Business Center (EBC).
The center provides support to entrepreneurs facing the challenges of starting and expanding small businesses.
“What your transformational investment will do will allow us to go from serving dozens or scores of community members to serving hundreds of communtiy members,” JJC President Clyne Namuo told Durbin.
Durbin visited the EBC offices at JJC’s City Center Campus in downtown Joliet.
The EBC supported 60 businesses in the 2024-2025 school year, according to information provided by the center.
Twenty-one businesses were started and expanded Twenty-nine business websites were launched with EBC assistance
The professionals and entrepreneurs seeking support opening offices or starting businesses are wide-ranging, said Brian Kincaid, manager of the center.
“We’ve helped a lot of therapists, which is interesting because these are very smart people but they don’t have a lot of business experience,” Kincaid said.
“Potential restaurants, food trucks, caterers – you name it, they’re doing it,” Kincaid said.
Durbin remarked about his own five-year experience as part-owner in a Springfield restaurant named Crow’s School Mill.
He had just lost an election for a state senate seat in 1977 and returned to his regular work as a Springfield attorney.
“I was sitting in my office, bored silly,” Durbin said.
He was approached by a potential client who needed a lawyer for a new restaurant and bar. Once he agreed, Durbin was invited to join the business as an owner for $500.
Durbin was one of 10 owners in Crow’s School Mill and stayed involved as a working owner while he continued to run for public office.
“Here I was an attorney running for lieutenant governor, checking IDs at the door of the restaurant,” he said.
After losing the race for lieutenant governor, Durbin stayed in the restaurant business but left after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982.
The panel discussion included Josie Rivera of Lockport, who told her own story of running a bakery business that serves corporate clients, including Citgo, out of her home.
“When I moved out here, I looked for resources to start my business,” said Rivera, who formerly lived in Chicago.
She credited EBC with helping her start the business, Simply Josie Rivera, and a website.
The business has grown to the point that she is looking for a commercial kitchen, Rivera said.
The EBC also holds business training seminars for the public at no cost. Upcoming seminars are: QuickBooks Training on Aug. 26 and a Comcast Digital Information Summit on Sept. 3.
More information about the EBC can be found on its website atjjc.edu/ebc.
