Project Description

mHUB

965 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60642

Total Project Costs: $54,640,000
Total NMTC Allocation: $10,000,000
SCORE Allocation: $10,000,000
Closing Date: April 2023

Distress Criteria:

  • 53.3% poverty rate
  • Median family income 14.78% of statewide median
  • Unemployment rate 4.64x national average
  • Located in a Chicago TIF District and Protected Manufacturing District

Community Impacts:

  • Will create 2,893 full-time jobs over 7-year NMTC term
  • Created 10,239 manufacturing jobs
  • Created 63 construction jobs
  • 750-800 member companies annually; 50% M/WBE
  • Built to LEED Silver certification standards

The Project supported the acquisition and rehabilitation of a historic building that will be home to an innovation hub for Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) located in Chicago, IL with a specific focus on MWBEs in the HardTech manufacturing industry.

mHUB is a nonprofit incubator for HardTech manufacturing, supporting products in the fields of Medical Technology, Climate & Energy Tech, and the Industrial Internet of Things. The Project expands the mHUB’s focus on manufacturing business growth by accelerating the development and commercialization of new products, with the goal of helping underrepresented founders. In partnerships with the city of Chicago, World Business Chicago, MxD, as well as several area universities and colleges, mHUB provides the start-up support and business leadership training required for small businesses and high-tech ventures to launch sustainably.

mHUB has a robust network of community-driven partnerships that provide an outlet for entrepreneurs from historically underrepresented economic and social backgrounds. This includes several universities and manufacturing institutions that all assist in mHUB accomplishing its mission of specifically promoting the development of MWBEs in the HardTech space.

In 2020 mHUB was named one of the Top 10 Manufacturing Tech Solution Providers by Manufacturing Technology Insights Magazine, and it was also the recipient of the 2019 Chicago Innovation Award

Community Alignment

mHUB, as a nonprofit community focused organization, was unable to proceed with the project without the NMTC gap financing provided by McCaffery. McCaffery’s fiscal support of its expansion into this new hub for innovation allowed for the expansion of its award-winning services.