A Chicago cultural project moves to an incubator

If you’re not familiar with 1871 in Chicago, you could be missing out. An entrepreneurial incubator for digital startups and home to over 300 companies, the 75,000-square-foot facility in The Merchandise Mart provides Chicago startups with programming, access to mentors, educational resources, potential investors and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs that help them on their path to building successful businesses. Recently ranked 9^th in the world in the 2014 UBI Index list of top university-associated business incubators, 1871 has become a global leader in the entrepreneurial community.

That’s when projects or companies like The Chicago Chic (TCC), a blog cataloguing modern Chicago culture, moves to this wildly popular and one of the most dynamic startup spaces nationwide, 1871. At this new location, TCC aims to expand its team, add new features and interest sections, increase the local spotlight frequencies and more.

‘I believe 1871 is the best place for us to find great startup features, build our team and our global audience further through marketing efforts.’ Said Nancy Rahman, founder.

Brimming with innovation and startup sophistication, 1871 is known to support and nurture the Chicagoland startup community and the entrepreneurial spirit.

“1871 is excited to welcome The Chicago Chic as a new member of our entrepreneurial community,” said 1871 CEO Howard A. Tullman. “We look forward to helping them develop their business as they continue to promote Chicago’s thriving cultural resources.”

In addition to reviews and features, the team is aiming to provide tourists and visitors with brief but useful recommendations in order to maximize their trip based on contributor recommendations. Titled as ‘The best 3’ or ‘The best 5’, local establishments will be the focus of each recommendation with the aim of promoting their well-deserved brilliance.

In less than 2 years, TCC has achieved four times it’s traffic size and increased its social following by another 400% with the contributor base significantly expanding well. Since the summer of 2013, the blog experienced an increased amount of following both locally as well as from International Chicago enthusiasts.

‘Chicago has been receiving quite a bit of attention recently with it’s culinary, cultural and entrepreneurial success. We’ve got the best Modern Art museum in America by Trip Advisor, the best US Bar by GQ and best mixologist by the US Bartenders Guild World Class competition! Our goal is to connect with the rest of the world and bring even more attention to this city, online’ added Rahman. 

Menswear expert for TCC Jason Pullan, who has won awards for one of America’s best dressed, adds, ‘We are proud to be a voice for Chicago’s American chic and classic style. I firmly believe that some of the best dressed men in the US are found in a larger number in Chicago. Several fashion brands have been sprouting around the city, it’s a great time for Chicago fashion’. 

For more on this cultural project, visit:  www.thechicagochic.com