AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/business/)
Outdoor dining spaces, live music and art come to Chicago Avenue and Madison Street on Friday, Sept. 10 from 12-2 p.m. and 5-8:30 p.m. as part of Austin’s first al fresco event.
City officials recently briefed West Side residents on the $21 million Austin corridor improvement project. The goal of the project, which covers Chicago Avenue from Austin Boulevard to Cicero Avenue, is to provide a safe, walkable and attractive street that will foster community and economic growth.
Attend a virtual community meeting to learn more about the city’s plans for Chicago Avenue from Austin Boulevard to Cicero Boulevard. Register for the meeting, which will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 24.
Over $22,000 was raised for Austin eateries and the nonprofit New Moms at last month’s event. More than 200 tickets were sold for the event that was organized by The Takeout 25 initiative, which was started during the pandemic to help local restaurants in Oak Park and has spread to Chicago’s West Side.
Austin is the latest neighborhood to be included in Taste the Town, an Oak Park initiative designed to support restaurants struggling during the pandemic. This week’s event will be partnering with New Moms, an Austin organization that offers services to young mothers and their children.
West Side United awarded 39 businesses $10,000 grants in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to help keep them afloat. Another round of funding will open in September.
West Side residents received updates Friday on the status of the Laramie State Bank building development and new businesses opening along the Soul City Corridor, which stretches from Austin Boulevard to Cicero Avenue on Chicago Avenue.
ComEd’s CONSTRUCT Infrastructure Academy recently graduated 92 West Side residents, including 10 from Austin. Applications are now being accepted for the next round.
Pastors Ira Acree, Cy Fields and Marshall Hatch Sr. say Black and Brown communities are once again being harmed; this time, they’re losing out on lucrative state licenses to run cannabis dispensaries. “This is not good, this is not right,” said Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church.
Stop by the grand opening of Two Sisters Catering and Restaurant, 4800 W. Chicago Ave., on April 30 or May 1 from 12 to 6 p.m.