The Kane County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday unveiled its latest program to help inmates get back on track after they leave prison: the Small Business Development Center.
The William H. Hall IV Small Business Development Center, which is physically located in the sheriff's office, will offer Kane County Jail inmates programs to help develop their small business plans and equip them with the skills they need to successfully run a business, officials said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony announcing the program Tuesday.
“This is going to change people’s lives,” Kane County Deputy Mayor Amy Johnson said at the ceremony. “It’s going to change the direction of Kane County, its community members and other community organizations that touch it. This is not just a one-time thing. It’s going to last forever.”
The new center is the first small business development center in a correctional facility anywhere in the country, a news release from the Kane County Sheriff's Office said.
According to Judy Dawson of the Kane County Sheriff's Office, the development center's programs will also be open to anyone in the community who has been previously incarcerated or otherwise involved in the justice system.
She said the development center is one of several programs offered by the Kane County Sheriff's Office to prevent those who have been incarcerated from returning to prison, known as recidivism.
Small business ownership and entrepreneurship are ways to reduce recidivism and help formerly incarcerated people become economically self-sufficient, Dawson said.
She added that the Sheriff's Office also offers drug treatment programs, educational programs, job training and other programs to help reduce recidivism.
According to Dawson, the sheriff's office has already significantly reduced recidivism rates, from 49 percent before Sheriff Ron Hayne took office to 18 percent in 2023.
During the ceremony, several current or former inmates spoke about their experiences with Kane County Sheriff's Office programs, especially the Business Plan Competition held over the past several years, and how those experiences have changed their lives.
One of the men who spoke was David Stewart, 41, who said he was a former gang member and drug dealer.
Stewart said he had been in and out of the system for years, but thanks to drug rehabilitation, job training and small business development programs offered by the Kane County Sheriff's Office, he now has a new outlook on life.
“Now I realize the true meaning of freedom, because I am free – not physically free – but free from within because I found myself,” he said. “When I found myself, I found my purpose, and that is what I can see clearly now that the rain has ended: Inside Out Recovery, that is the name of my company.”
Inside Out Recovery is Stewart's vision for his future, a business where he can give back to the community and help others, he says.
Stewart said his business plan came through the Sheriff's Office's 2023 Small Business Plan Pitching Competition, which pushed him out of his comfort zone.
“This experience has boosted my self-confidence and raised my self-esteem because I have achieved something I thought was impossible. Now I feel more alive and free,” he said.
The pitch competition will still be held at the Kane County Jail, but the newly created William H. Hall IV Small Business Development Center will now be there to help inmates outside of that competition.
According to Dawson, prisoners will now receive individual counseling to advance their business plans, and will be able to participate in a group program that teaches participants all the skills they need to run a successful business. She said similar programs will be offered to those who were previously incarcerated or in the justice system.
She said the center at the sheriff's office is actually a satellite of the full-fledged Small Business Development Center at Waubonsee Community College, which is partnering with the sheriff's office on the project.
“Wawponsee Community College is honored to be a part of this effort, and to be a part of improving the lives of people who live in our community,” said Nikisha Stepney, vice president of workforce development at the college, at the ceremony. “We focus heavily on our underserved and underrepresented populations. This is just an extension of that great work.”
Funding for the project comes through the Illinois Small Business Development Center Network, one of the sheriff's office's partners on the project, according to Dawson.
She said the network no longer asks loan applicants whether they are convicted felons, which should open up more opportunities for prison inmates and other community members who previously did not have access to this funding source.
Dawson said the sheriff's office also has other plans in the works to provide additional ways to fund small business development through the center.
Willett LeGrant, Illinois district director for the U.S. Small Business Administration, spoke at Tuesday's ceremony and said the Kane County Sheriff's Office Small Business Development Center is the first of many.
“This will be implemented throughout the state of Illinois,” Legrant said.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
Originally published: September 18, 2024 at 3:30 pm
