This week on Connected To Chicago the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioner’s Toni Preckwinkle joins the show. Bill and Toni discuss her working relationship with Mayor Lightfoot, Thoughts on President Trump, and Criminal Justice reform.

In this week’s round table segment, Bill is joined by Ray Long of The Chicago Tribune, Heather Cherone, editor of The Daily Line, Lynn Sweet and Fran Spielman of The Chicago Sun-Times. The discussion opens up with the recent office raids of Democratic Sen. Martin Sandoval, and the Mayor of McCook Jeff Tobolski. The Impeachment inquiry continues, and Lynn provides an update from Washington D.C. Are there any similarity to the Water Gate scandal? The Chicago Teachers Union has voted to authorize a strike. Will it happen or not?

This week’s Community Spotlight is with Nick Gale. Nick explains the details on the $3.6 million investment in the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund,  which will give small businesses and entrepreneurs on the South and West Sides additional access to capital to create jobs. 

Mayor Lightfoot along with Steve Hall, Vice President of Small Business Lending with the  Local Initiatives Support Corporation, both talk about the importance of small businesses in the community and the capitol they need to get started.

One small business owner who has gotten help is Jimmie Williams. He owns a small local landscaping company called Urban Roots, and was recently able to secure a loan through LISC for a new office building.

The new investments bring the total funding committed to the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund to over $9 million to support minority entrepreneurs on Chicago’s South and West Sides.