Groupon and LISC Chicago Announce 2016 Neighborhood Change Project Winners

Awards recognize the most impactful ideas from local business
districts on ways to spur economic development in Chicago neighborhoods

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Groupon (http://www.groupon.com)
(NASDAQ: GRPN) and the Local
Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Chicago announced the 2016
Neighborhood Change Project winners––given to participants of LISC
Chicago’s Business
District Leadership (BDL) Program for ideas that support
community-based economic development in Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods.
Groupon sponsored the program for the first time this year and provided
$15,000 in micro-grants to help fund the winning projects.

“As a Chicago-based company, we’re thrilled to support some of the most
innovative ways that nonprofits and local business districts are
creating stronger and healthier neighborhoods,” said Matt Kruse, head of
social responsibility, Groupon. “Local businesses––along with the energy
and connections they provide––form the backbone of our communities, and
when they succeed everyone benefits.”

LISC Chicago’s BDL Program brings together nonprofit and public sector
leaders to support training, education and capacity building for
organizations offering services to business districts throughout the
city of Chicago. BDL’s six-month training addresses the professional
development and networking needs of the growing field of commercial
district practitioners to deepen their expertise in revitalizing
commercial corridors.

“What made the winners stand out was how the ideas effectively leveraged
the unique characteristics of these neighborhoods to create a sense of
community and drive local economic development,” said Meghan
Harte, executive director, LISC Chicago. “We look forward to continuing
our work with these business districts, and others throughout the city,
to help them learn from each other’s successes and challenges.”

The winners of the 2016 Neighborhood Change Projects included:

Grand Prize Winner ($5,000 grant)

• West
  Humboldt Park Development Council for “Forty Acres Market Days” ––
  Market day in Humboldt Park that celebrated African-American culture
  through food, while educating community residents on affordable and
  healthy food choices from local vendors.

Runner-up Winners ($2,500 grants)

• Uptown
  United for “Taste of Uptown” –– Collection of featured menu items
  from two dozen local restaurants in the Uptown neighborhood designed
  to increase foot traffic and promote the diversity of restaurants
  along the Broadway corridor.
• Morgan
  Park Beverly Hills Business Association for “Go19!” –– Plan to
  raise awareness of local Morgan Park and Beverly merchants by
  increasing bike and foot traffic along the local business corridor.
  The Morgan Park Beverly Hills Business Association also won a separate
  award from Groupon for a “You
  Are Beautiful” installation.
• Industrial
  Council of Nearwest Chicago for “The Hatchery Employment Readiness
  Initiative” –– Training for unemployed and underemployed residents of
  East Garfield Park in basic food handling and management practices to
  serve as a workforce pipeline for the new Hatchery Food Incubator.
• 51st
  Street Business Association for “Bronzeville Jazz Festival” ––
  Neighborhood jazz festival to help build relationships between
  Bronzeville residents and business owners along the 51st Street
  business corridor.

To learn more about this year’s Neighborhood Change Project winners,
LISC Chicago’s BDL program and Groupon’s commitment to local
communities, please click here
to watch a short video.

About Groupon

Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is building the daily habit in local commerce,
offering a vast mobile and online marketplace where people discover and
save on amazing things to do, see, eat and buy. By enabling real-time
commerce across local businesses, travel destinations, consumer products
and live events, shoppers can find the best a city has to offer.

Groupon is redefining how small businesses attract and retain customers
by providing them with customizable and scalable marketing tools and
services to profitably grow their businesses.

To download Groupon’s top-rated mobile apps, visit www.groupon.com/mobile.
To search for great deals or subscribe to Groupon emails, visit www.groupon.com.
To learn more about the company’s merchant solutions and how to work
with Groupon, visit
www.groupon.com/merchant.

About LISC Chicago

LISC Chicago connects neighborhoods to the resources they need to become
stronger and healthier. Part of the national nonprofit Local Initiatives
Support Corporation, LISC Chicago provides grants, loans, technical
assistance and other resources to more than 70 partner organizations in
low- and moderate-income communities across Chicago. When neighborhoods
are connected to the right resources and work together to advance
robust, coordinated community development plans, they are better
positioned to participate in the region’s economic growth. For more
information visit, lisc-chicago.org.

LISC Chicago’s Business District Leadership Program is supported by: The
Polk Bros. Foundation; PNC Bank; The City of Chicago, Business Affairs
and Consumer Protection (BACP); Associated Bank; and Coro New York
Neighborhood Leadership Center.

Contacts

Groupon
Nick Halliwell
nhalliwell@groupon.com
312.999.3812
or
LISC
Ashleigh
Wayland
AWayland@lisc.org
312.422.9568