The Industrial Council of Northwest Chicago (ICNC) is a not-for-profit organization of manufacturers located in an industrial corridor northwest of Chicago's Loop. In an effort to facilitate the development and growth of area firms, ICNC is creating a Business Service Center (BSC) targeted to meet area business needs. The BSC will be a branch of ICNC; staffed, financed and operated with ICNC resources.
ICNC contracted with the University of Illinois' Center for Urban Economic Development to conduct a needs assessment survey in the area and recommend the structure and basic operating procedures for the Center. Based on survey interviews conducted during the summer of 1981, CUED suggested that seven services be included in the Center: clerical, group purchasing, financing assistance, janitorial, security, general information and a Post Office substation.
Due to ICNC's limited monetary resources and limited market information, CUED recommended that BSC services be organized in a flexible manner. Therefore CUED suggested that the clerical, group purchasing, janitorial and security services be coordinated by ICNC staff and performed by firms set up to perform the job required; the financing assistance service and information network consist of on-going data collection and informal client consultations; and while the organization of the Post Office sub-station will be set up as a result of negotiations between ICNC and the Post Office, CUED feels it is possible for ICNC to establish a contract station and commercial mail receiving agency.