{"id":12272,"date":"2025-07-15T18:45:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T18:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/12272\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T18:45:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T18:45:03","slug":"this-business-incubator-program-has-been-working-to-reverse-belmont-cragins-shop-closures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/12272\/","title":{"rendered":"This Business Incubator Program Has Been Working To Reverse Belmont Cragin’s Shop Closures"},"content":{"rendered":"

BELMONT CRAGIN \u2014 Growing up in Belmont Cragin, Isabel Cambray doodled on printer paper and decorated her walls with stray cans of house paint.<\/p>\n

Yet when the lifelong artist started running craft workshops and working in studios, she struggled to find artistic spaces close to home. Earlier this year, Cambray joined the Crecer Business Incubator<\/a> and opened her own studio in Belmont Cragin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started working in studios, I always had to go to Lincoln Park, Downtown, Pilsen \u2014 the neighborhoods that were already deemed art districts,\u201d said Cambray, a recent Northern Illinois University graduate. \u201cMy goal is to try to bring more art to Belmont Cragin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Artwork at the Crecer Business Incubator as seen on July 10, 2025. Credit: Molly DeVore\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

Cambray\u2019s Cam Studios<\/a> is one of three businesses enrolled in the Crecer Business Incubator\u2019s 2025 cohort. Since May, Cam Studios, Clear Conscience Candles<\/a> and Galer\u00eda 88 Artesan\u00edas<\/a> have shared a retail space at 5420 W. Belmont Ave., the business incubator\u2019s newest home.<\/p>\n

The burgeoning small businesses receive one-on-one advising, have access to workshops on entrepreneurship and can operate out of the incubator storefront while paying subsidized rent for up to one year. Once cohort members finish the incubator program, Crecer team members help connect them with vacant storefronts in the neighborhood, reaching out to local landlords and even attending leasing meetings with them.<\/p>\n

The Northwest Side Community Development Corporation<\/a> launched the business incubator in 2021 to help Belmont Cragin\u2019s business community recover after the COVID-19 pandemic. Since its inception, 15 businesses have participated in the program, said Jessica Vazquez, director of economic advancement for the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to really promote collaboration in Belmont Cragin and let business owners know they\u2019re not alone,\u201d Vazquez said. \u201cWe want to let people know that while entrepreneurship is difficult, it can be accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"From left, Infinity Morales, Makayla Betancourt, Jennerifer Delgado, Jessica Vazquez, Isabel Cambray, Yanelet Delgado and Marco Morales. Credit: Molly DeVore\/ Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

\u2018Activate Every Space\u2019<\/p>\n

Makayla Betancourt, owner of Clear Conscience Candles, said that without the Crecer Business Incubator, her business probably wouldn\u2019t have made it. <\/p>\n

Betancourt started her business in 2020, largely selling her scented candles, sprays and diffusers online. She first inquired about the business incubator in 2023, but she was pregnant and still finishing her biological sciences degree at the time, so she applied this year.<\/p>\n

Juggling a job as a science educator, caring for her child and running a small business has been difficult, but Betancourt said being part of the incubator program has helped a lot.<\/p>\n

To make the program accessible for entrepreneurs with full-time jobs, Crecer participants rotate shifts at the shop.<\/p>\n

The store is open noon-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays. Staff from the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation work at the shop, and cohort members work there at least twice a week.<\/p>\n

\"\"Artwork at the Crecer Business Incubator as seen on July 10, 2025. Credit: Molly DeVore\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

Betancourt said the shared space has helped draw more foot traffic to her business. She has seen customers come in looking for a candle and leave with extra art, she said.<\/p>\n

Before joining Crecer, Betancourt would sell at pop-up markets in neighborhoods like Pilsen where there was already a \u201cbustling artistic community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t lack that in Belmont Cragin because we lack the artists or because we lack that desire to have community. We just haven\u2019t been able to bring it all together,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope that we can see more creatives inspired by us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly Pyzik, grants and communications manager for the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation, said one-fifth of the small businesses in Belmont Cragin closed between 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n

With so many vacant storefronts and neighbors left jobless after the pandemic, the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation launched the incubator program to help the area recover, Vazquez said.<\/p>\n

Crecer has moved four times in four years, most recently in May. El Capitan Snacks<\/a>, a 2024 cohort graduate, took over Crecer\u2019s old space at 3150 N. Central Ave<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crecer relocates regularly because the program\u2019s aim is to \u201cactivate every space that we\u2019re going to,\u201d Vazquez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to show the community what that space could look like and then have someone lease it and keep that momentum, that activity going,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"\"Yanelet Delgado, co-owner of Galer\u00eda 88 Artesan\u00edas showcases some of her shop\u2019s artwork. Credit: Molly DeVore\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

Yanelet Delgado, who owns Galer\u00eda 88 Artesan\u00edas with her husband, Marco Morales, said she recently spoke with a longtime Belmont Cragin business owner who said he noticed more activity in the area since Crecer started.<\/p>\n

Delgado, who has lived in Belmont Cragin for about 20 years, said she felt like she was always leaving the neighborhood for school, work and entertainment. She hopes to open a shop in the area to showcase the artisanal work she and her husband import from Mexico. <\/p>\n

Most of the artwork they sell is made by family members or friends, and many pieces are rooted in their cultural traditions. Delgado said having a storefront would allow her and Morales to teach customers about the skill and the history that goes into each piece.<\/p>\n

While Cambray often partners with other businesses to host art workshops, she said having a permanent storefront has helped her hold even more events. Eventually, she hopes to have a studio that features works by local artists.<\/p>\n

Cambray is hosting a movie and craft night 6 p.m. Aug. 8 at Crecer.<\/p>\n

Betancourt said she wants to have a shop in the neighborhood that promotes sustainability by allowing customers to refill their sprays and diffusers and recycle other containers. It\u2019s been hard to rely on online sales as most customers want to smell her products before they buy, she said.<\/p>\n

Betancourt dreams of seeing the neighborhood filled with places to take art classes and shops that carry artisanal products that \u201creminds our Latino grandparents of home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it just takes that one little spark, and maybe we\u2019re that,\u201d Betancourt said.<\/p>\n

The Crecer Business Incubator is looking for a fourth cohort member. You can learn more about the program here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/p>\n

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