SBIF Grant Applicant To Open First North Side Meadery

Second City Meadery, set to open next spring in Albany Park, will be the city’s second meadery tasting room and the first one on the North Side. Second City co-founders describe mead as the “cultural crossroads where wine and beer meet.” The location build out/transformation of an old auto mechanic shop into the production space and tasting room is underway. The construction is financed in part by a Small Business Improvement Fund Grant (SBIF) grant, facilitated by SomerCor.

While craft breweries have exploded in Chicago, mead is more of an untested market…and Second City hopes to collaborate — instead of compete — with the craft breweries that call Chicago home.

“Mead felt like a niche where we could start a business that wouldn’t have to compete with all the craft breweries in the city,†co-founder Peter Schultz said.

You can read the full article in Block Club Chicago here.

The City of Chicago’s Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF) promotes economic development by providing small businesses with financial assistance for building-improvement costs. SomerCor is the program administrator contracted by the City’s Department of Planning and Development for the SBIF program. SBIF grants use local Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenue to reimburse you for the pre-approved repair or rehab of your business facilities or adjacent land acquisition. You must be located within a SBIF eligible TIF district. The maximum grant assistance for an industrial property is $150K; for a single-tenant commercial property the maximum is $100K; and for multi-tenant commercial property, it is $50K. Click here if you are interested in learning more about this program.

(photo credit: provided to Block Club Chicago)