Two Chicagoland businesses. One mission.
The New Business Project was co-founded in 2024 by two established Chicagoland service businesses who saw the same gap from different angles — that new businesses spend their first 90 days underprepared in ways that hurt their first customer interactions. Both founders contribute professional services at no cost. Equal billing. Equal contribution. Equal skin in the game.
Co-founded
by
Co-founding partners
Meet the two founding businesses.
Both have been operating in Chicagoland for years. Both saw the same problem from different angles. Both put real services on the table — not just logo placement and a press release.
Chicago Fleet Wraps
Established 2001 · 19,400+ vehicles wrapped · Chicago, IL
A vehicle wrap company that's been installing graphics on Chicago vehicles since 2001. Over 19,400 wraps to date. Their work spans single-vehicle small-business jobs all the way up to 600-vehicle Rivian fleet rollouts for Amazon DSP and Blue Origin.
CFW operates a heated, climate-controlled installation bay in Chicago — the kind of facility where vinyl actually adheres in winter. Their reasoning for co-founding the program is straightforward: businesses they help in their first 90 days remember it. Some come back two or three years later when they need a full $5,000 wrap. The first install is loss-leader marketing. The relationship is the asset.
Contributes to TNBP
Free design, materials, and professional installation of up to 8 sq ft of die-cut cast vinyl graphics on each recipient's vehicle. Same Avery MPI 1105 or 3M IJ180-CV3 vinyl used on $5,000 commercial wrap jobs. All work performed at the CFW Chicago bay.
Regions PM
Property management · Chicagoland
A property management firm with deep visibility into Chicagoland's commercial real estate market — office space, retail storefronts, warehouses, storage. Across all six Chicagoland counties — Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, Will, and McHenry.
Regions PM understands the difference between what new businesses think they need and what actually works in their first three years. They joined the program because they kept seeing new tenants overcommit to spaces they couldn't grow into — or undercommit to spaces they outgrew in eight months. The 1-hour consultation is the same advisory work they do for paying clients, designed to keep founders from making expensive early-stage real estate mistakes.
Contributes to TNBP
Free 1-hour property search consultation including current listings matched to recipient needs, neighborhood-level rent benchmarks, and lease term guidance. Same advisory service they provide paying clients.
Why this exists
Most new businesses spend their first 90 days on the basics.
Filing the LLC with the Illinois Secretary of State. Opening a Chase business checking. Getting the EIN from the IRS. Buying a domain. Picking a logo. Marketing comes last — usually long after the truck has been driving around unmarked for months and the founder has been working from a kitchen table for half a year.
The New Business Project covers two of the first essentials — a branded vehicle and a real workspace — so when your business shows up to job number one anywhere in Chicago or the surrounding counties, it looks legitimate from day one.
Ready to apply?
If your Illinois business license is under 90 days old and you're in Chicagoland, the program is open to you.