The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection will host the final Chicago Business Resource Expo of 2026 on Saturday, August 29, at Malcolm X College. The free event, running from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., features a keynote address from Chef D’Andre Carter and Heather Bublick, co-founders of Soul and Smoke, the Chicago-born BBQ brand that grew from underground dinner parties to a multi-location operation without outside investors.
Key Takeaways
- The final Chicago Business Resource Expo of 2026 takes place Saturday, August 29, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Malcolm X College, 1900 W. Jackson Blvd., with free registration available at Chicago.gov/BizExpo
- Chef D’Andre Carter and Heather Bublick, co-founders of Soul and Smoke, will deliver the keynote address, sharing a growth story that spans food trucks, ghost kitchens, multiple brick-and-mortar locations, and a retail line, all built without external funding
- The expo includes a networking session sponsored by the Office of the City Treasurer, an exhibition hall with more than 30 nonprofit and government agencies, business workshops, and free professional headshots
- Sponsors include Wintrust Bank, Old National Bank, CIBC Bank USA, and Pursuit Lending, with City Colleges of Chicago and the Chicago Treasurer’s Office serving as partners
- The August 29 event closes a three-part 2026 expo series that also included a virtual session in March and an in-person expo at Truman College in May
The Expo Connects Entrepreneurs to Resources That Often Go Underused
The Chicago Business Resource Expo operates on a premise that is straightforward but persistently relevant: many of the city’s aspiring and existing small business owners do not know what resources are available to them, and the ones who do often struggle to navigate them in isolation. The expo format addresses that gap by placing more than 30 nonprofit organizations and government agencies under one roof, each offering direct consultation rather than a website URL.
The event opens at 8:30 a.m. with registration and access to the exhibition hall, where attendees can meet with exhibitors, get expert advice on licensing, permits, and financing, and sit for free professional headshots. A networking session sponsored by the Office of the City Treasurer follows, giving early-stage entrepreneurs a structured window to connect with peers and advisors before the programming begins. Workshops throughout the morning cover topics including finance, marketing, and business strategy, with content geared toward both new ventures and existing operations looking to scale.
The expo is the third and final installment of BACP’s 2026 series. The first event was held remotely on March 12, followed by an in-person session at Truman College on May 16 that featured a keynote from Jackie Taylor, founder and CEO of Black Ensemble Theater. The August 29 event at Malcolm X College, located at 1900 W. Jackson Blvd., closes out the year’s programming with the Soul and Smoke keynote and a full slate of on-site resources.
Soul and Smoke Built a BBQ Empire From a Pandemic Pivot With No Outside Capital
The choice of D’Andre Carter and Heather Bublick as keynote speakers tracks with the expo’s core audience: entrepreneurs building businesses from the ground up in Chicago with limited capital and no institutional backing. The Soul and Smoke story is well known in the city’s food scene, but its arc reads more like a case study in iterative business modeling than a traditional restaurant success narrative.
Carter and Bublick met while working at Moto, the now-closed Chicago restaurant that held a Michelin star and specialized in molecular gastronomy. Carter spent four years in fine dining kitchens before the two launched Feast and Imbibe in 2012, an underground dinner series where Carter prepared multi-course tasting menus and Bublick, a certified sommelier who had also worked the wine program at Michelin-starred Tru, curated the pairings. The dinner series evolved into an upscale catering company serving corporate clients and private events.
When the pandemic collapsed the catering business overnight, Carter and Bublick pivoted. They began cooking BBQ and comfort food out of their catering kitchen, selling takeout directly to their neighborhood. The response was immediate. The Chicago Tribune called Carter’s brisket among the city’s standouts, and lines formed around the block. What had been a survival pivot became the foundation of Soul and Smoke as it exists today.
The brand has since expanded to multiple restaurant locations, including a flagship in Evanston, an Avondale outpost, a West Loop location inside Accenture Tower, and a presence at Soldier Field. The operation also runs two food trucks and a retail line of BBQ sauces. Carter and Bublick have done it all without taking on outside investors, a detail they cite frequently and one that resonates with the expo’s target audience of founders navigating growth on their own terms.
Beyond revenue, the brand has maintained a community footprint that predates its commercial success. Soul and Smoke has provided an estimated 250,000 meals to charitable organizations across Chicago, a commitment Carter and Bublick have described as inseparable from the business itself. That dual identity, as both a commercial operation and a community-serving brand, mirrors the kind of entrepreneurship the expo is designed to encourage and support.
The Expo Reflects a City-Level Investment in Neighborhood-Scale Business Development
BACP Commissioner Ivan Capifali has framed the expo series as an educational and access initiative, with the city’s role centered on making sure both workers and employers understand their rights, obligations, and the resources available to them. The expo format allows BACP to deliver that message in a concentrated, interactive setting rather than through digital channels alone.
The expo also operates within a broader policy context. Chicago’s minimum wage increased to $17.05 on July 1, 2026, with tipped worker protections and Fair Workweek Ordinance updates also taking effect this year. For small business owners navigating a changing regulatory environment, the expo provides a direct line to the agencies responsible for enforcement and compliance, a resource that is harder to access through standard channels.
Registration is free and available at Chicago.gov/BizExpo. Walk-ins are welcome, but advance registration is encouraged. The expo is open to both aspiring entrepreneurs exploring a first venture and established business owners looking for new resources, financing options, or professional connections. For a city where small businesses anchor neighborhood economies from the South Side to the Northwest Side, the expo’s value is less about any single workshop or keynote and more about putting people in a room with the agencies, lenders, and fellow founders who can move a business from concept to operation.
FAQs
When and where is the Chicago Business Resource Expo?
The expo takes place Saturday, August 29, 2026, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Malcolm X College, 1900 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago. The event is free and open to the public with registration available at Chicago.gov/BizExpo.
Who is keynoting the August 29 expo?
Chef D’Andre Carter and Heather Bublick, co-founders of Soul and Smoke, will deliver the keynote address. The couple built their Chicago-born BBQ brand from underground dinner parties and a pandemic-era pivot into a multi-location restaurant group, two food trucks, and a retail line without outside investors.
What resources are available at the expo?
The expo features an exhibition hall with more than 30 nonprofit and government agencies, business licensing consultants, a tax clinic, financial advisors, workshops on finance and marketing, a networking session sponsored by the City Treasurer’s Office, and free professional headshots.
