3 Skokie Businesses Win Big With $1.4 Million In Cook County Pollution Reduction Grants

SKOKIE, IL — A trio of Skokie businesses is among the first recipients of money from a $10 million Cook County initiative to reduce pollution in the Chicago suburbs.

County and village officials gathered last week at Sketchbook Brewing, one of the grantees, to announce the first $1.4 million in grants from the Businesses Reducing Impact on the Environment, or BRITE, grant program.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said the program aims to help small businesses, including dry cleaners, auto body shops and manufacturers, cut down on their use of toxic chemicals and reduce pollution.

In a partnership between the county's Environment and Sustainability Department and the Chicago Urban League, the initiative has so far also provided 40 free pollution reduction site assessments for suburban businesses, Preckwinkle said.

"The Chicago Urban League is helping target projects that will equitably reduce pollution in historically marginally communities across suburban Cook County," Preckwinkle said.

Three Skokie businesses — Sketchbook Brewing Company, Kenny the Kleeners, and The Greener Cleaner — were among the six companies awarded grants in the first round of funding.

Sketchbook received $185,436.98, Kenny the Kleeners received $246,475, and The Greener Cleaner was awarded $300,000.

"We are enormously proud in the village of Skokie of all of our businesses, because they do take pride in their sustainability," Mayor George Van Dusen said. "And especially today, having three of the grant-winners coming from the village of Skokie is a medal of honor for us."

In total, Cook County has allocated $2.3 million for pollution assessments and grant administration, with $7.7 million in additional funding set aside to help businesses implement improvements.

The BRITE program, which is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, focuses on reducing pollution and promoting renewable energy in businesses located in historically disinvested communities across suburban Cook County, according to county officials.

Sketchbook Brewing Company co-owner Cesar Marron explained its grant will go toward its purchase of an electric vehicle.

"That's going to drive our trailer to two farms we have a relationship with to take our grains to feed their animals," Marron said. "There actually are more layers to the sustainability on this than just removing the gas that we were using on the trucks and the landfill that we would otherwise be dumping those grains in."

Marron said the brewery has plans for more future investments in sustainability, including potentially adding EV chargers for customers out front.

"One of the exciting things about this is not just for what we're doing," he said, "but to show others, to be a leader in the community, to show customers you're helping every time you come here."