Sole Source CY26 GrowthWheel- Annual Subscription

The State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), Office of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Technology, is procuring an annual subscription to the GrowthWheel platform for the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network through sole source procurement. The contract is with GrowthWheel International, Inc., and covers CY26 annual subscription dues for a visual toolbox and online planning system designed to advise clients on successful business starts, business improvement, and growth enhancement. The deliverables include unlimited statewide access to training courses, advisory support, and a proprietary 360-degree business assessment toolbox containing over 200 worksheets and decision-making tools for startup and growth companies, along with the newly available Certified Business Advisor (CBA) Program to modernize the Network's advisor certification system. Key objectives include providing integrated advisor development, client advising, and advisor certification capabilities within a single system that meets national SBDC accreditation requirements, with multilingual support in 18 languages. The contract includes the IL SBDC Advisor Academy, a custom-designed, co-branded Learning Management System with testing and certification capabilities, content hosting and production, and 110 hours of content across multiple curriculum areas including Advisor Fundamentals, Illinois Essentials, Business Fundamentals, and GrowthWheel Basics. The contract is effective January 1, 2026, with a hearing scheduled for December 25, 2025, at 2:00 PM CST via WebEx, and interested parties must submit written comments or formal requests for a public hearing by 4:00 PM on December 26, 2025.

This procurement is restricted to GrowthWheel International, Inc., as a sole economically feasible source based on the vendor's unique integration of advisor development, client advising, and advisor certification capabilities within a single system that alternative vendors—including LivePlan, Business Model Canvas, PlanGuru, and Kent State University's CBA program—cannot provide. The State has continuously purchased GrowthWheel subscriptions since 2019, with annual values ranging from $70,000 to $83,500, establishing an existing infrastructure and relationship with the incumbent vendor. The contract value for the initial term is $173,700, funded entirely through federal funds allocated to the Illinois SBDC program, with annually recurring fees of $9,000 thereafter. No set-asides or restrictions on disadvantaged enterprises are noted in the procurement documents. The sole source justification was approved by the State Purchasing Officer on December 5, 2025, with acknowledgment that failure to approve would result in loss of federal funding and non-compliance with federal cooperative agreement requirements tied to advisor training and professional development. The contract term extends through December 30, 2025, with the hearing cancellation contingent upon the absence of written comments or public hearing requests by the December 26, 2025, deadline.