Illinois State Black Chamber selects remoting.work to create 36,000 jobs across Illinois by 2031

remoting.work selected to create the conditions necessary for small businesses to hire and create 36,000 local jobs by 2031 in Illinois.

MEMPHIS, TN, UNITED STATES, August 31, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce (ILBCC), the leading advocacy organization for Black-owned businesses across the state, has officially selected remoting.work as a strategic partner to help create 36,000 local jobs across Illinois by 2031.

The partnership directly addresses the systemic challenge that limits revenue generation for thousands of small and minority-owned businesses.

As businesses grow, owners often need additional employees to manage and acquire new customers, market their products and services, as well as pursue new revenue opportunities. However, for many minority-owned businesses operating on tight margins, the cost of obtaining and maintaining the professionals needed to support growth can be a significant barrier to expansion and revenue generation.

Illinois boasts a robust small business ecosystem comprising approximately 1.4 million small businesses, which makes up 99.6% of all businesses in the state while employing nearly 2.4 million residents. Among these businesses are roughly 447,000 minority-owned businesses, an overwhelming majority of which (about 399,000) operate without any employees.

The disparity is particularly stark among Black-owned businesses. Out of approximately 189,000 Black-owned enterprises currently operating across Illinois, only 5,943 are employer businesses.

According to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Black Business Survey, 66% of respondents identified as microenterprises or sole-proprietor operations. Furthermore, respondents in the survey identified the following as their greatest operational barriers: Implementing technology, marketing their products or services, attracting new customers, and diversifying their client/customer base.


However, the cost of sourcing local employees to address these operational barriers for these small businesses can make this challenge even harder.

For a business generating $50,000 annually, hiring locally represents an insurmountable financial hurdle, and paying salaries becomes a very tough commitment. For example, In Illinois, the average base salary for an executive assistant is $62,450 per year, while a marketing specialist earns an average salary of $64,500. When adding other employer costs like benefits, and administrative overhead, the cost of a single full-time employee can easily exceed a small business' entire annual gross revenue.

Faced with these numbers, small business owners routinely attempt to perform every role themselves. Acting simultaneously as CEO, administrative assistant, marketing director, and customer support representative, which ultimately stifles operational capacity and caps overall revenue potential.

The strategic alliance between ILBCC and remoting.work solves this dilemma by introducing a flexible, cost-effective talent solution in the interim.

Through remoting.work, small businesses can utilize a secure technology-backed Employer of Record (EOR) and Workforce-as-a-Service (WaaS) platform to access vetted full-time or fractional remote employees from lower-cost global economies in the interim.

Small businesses can now employ the executive assistant they need or the social media manager and marketing specialist they need for their business starting for as low as $6 per hour from low-cost economies in the interim. This gives them the opportunity to market their products and services and grow revenue, so in less than three years, the small business would have the revenue to hire locally in Illinois.

This growth does not exist in isolation for small businesses alone. It also trickles back into Illinois' economy in the long run.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau underscores the transformative impact of transitioning from a sole proprietorship to a team-backed structure. Businesses with 1 to 4 employees generate an average of $400,000 in annual revenue, compared to just $50,000 for single-operator enterprises. A significant increase of 8x in earning power.

The macro-economic implications for Illinois are substantial:

Direct Revenue Expansion: If 10% (39,990) of the 399,000 non-employer small businesses in Illinois transition into employer businesses and reach the $400,000 annual revenue average, it would inject $15.96 billion in new revenue into Illinois’ small business economy.

Broader Economic Ripple Effect: As business revenues rise, local supply chain spending increases, stimulating community-level economic activity and setting the stage for future local hiring.

"Small businesses have enormous potential to drive the economic growth of their communities when they have access to capital and systems that support their own growth," said Larry Ivory, President and CEO of ILBCC. "Our partnership with remoting.work is targeted at providing that support in the interim for small businesses to access the right services that promotes capital and revenue generation so they can in turn become avenue for economic growth throughout the state of Illinois."

"At remoting.work, we believe business owners should not struggle to grow revenue or market their products. They shouldn't have to do everything by themselves as that can be detrimental for them and for the revenue growth of their business," said Dr. Gregory Blumenthal, Director of Communication at remoting.work. "By creating the conditions for businesses to survive or minimize failure, businesses will grow revenue, which creates the opportunity to hire locally in Illinois."

Through the partnership, remoting.work and ILBCC will work to help Illinois small and minority-owned businesses increase operational capacity, grow revenue, transition into employer businesses and create more economic opportunities across their communities.

The long-term target is clear: 36,000 jobs by 2031 in Illinois.

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Notes to Editor


About the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce

The Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce (ILBCC) is the largest Black trade organization in Illinois. Headquartered in Peoria, it represents over 100,000 Black-owned businesses. Led by President and CEO Larry Ivory, the non-profit advocates for economic empowerment, corporate inclusion, and minority business growth.

About remoting.work

remoting.work believes small business owners shouldn’t have to struggle to market their products and services and sacrifice time with their families to build a successful business. We’re a comprehensive Workforce-as-a-Service (WaaS) and Employer of Record (EOR) platform purpose-built to solve small and medium-sized business staffing and hiring problems. The platform integrates AI-driven candidate matching humans in the loop to connect employers with pre-vetted professionals from low-cost economies around the globe. Job roles available cover a wide range, generally organized into 10 major categories: Accounting, Administrative Assistant, Creative Services, Customer Service, Digital Marketing, Healthcare Services, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal Services, and Tele-Sales.

Dr. Gregory Blumenthal
remoting.work
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