Area 01
Business Conditions
How businesses are doing now, how that has changed, and what owners expect next.
Local Exchange Research
What business owners are telling us.
Local Exchange combines structured business-owner research, qualitative interviews, and longitudinal follow-up to understand business conditions, barriers, resource access, and outcomes across Chicagoland.
Research areas
Six areas, one longitudinal picture.
Area 02
Barriers
The problems owners rate as most severe, using a standard 0–4 scale across twenty domains.
Area 03
Resource Access
Whether owners sought help, where they went, and how hard it was to get to the right place.
Area 04
Information & Trust
Where owners get business information and how much they trust the institutions around them.
Area 05
Business Networks
The relationships between owners, suppliers, associations, and referral partners.
Area 06
Connections & Outcomes
What happened after a need was documented: referrals, verified connections, assistance, and resolution.
Flagship report · Forthcoming
State of Chicagoland Neighborhood Business
An annual report on how neighborhood businesses are doing, what is getting in their way, and whether the help that exists is reaching them — built from verified interviews and follow-up, with every rate shown alongside its numerator and denominator.
- Baseline
- Structured interview with the owner
- 30 days
- First follow-up
- 90 days
- Second follow-up
- 6 months
- Third follow-up
Reports & briefs
Latest publications
Research launching soon. The first issue briefs will be published once baseline interviews have been verified. Here is what to expect:
Issue briefs
Short findings on one barrier or topic.
Data stories
A visual walk through a single finding.
Methods notes
How a measure is defined and collected.
Annual report
State of Chicagoland Neighborhood Business.