EVANSTON — On Monday, June 21, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Founding Member of the LGBTQ Equality Caucus; Alderman Harry Osterman, 48th Ward; Rich Sypniewski, owner of Vincent Restaurant and Representatives of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Mayor Lori Lightfoot will attend the ribbon cutting for the reopening of Vincent. The restauranthas been kept open with the help of pandemic relief programs like the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection Program and Restaurant Revitalization Fund. These two programs were created by Congressional legislation passed to provide relief to families and small business owners during this pandemic.
The owner of Vincent is a gay business owner, and is holding the ribbon cutting in June during Pride Month to highlight the contributions of LGBTQ entrepreneurs and business owners to our economy and our community. Just this past week, 177 House Republicans blocked H.R. 1443, the LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act, which would require financial institutions to collect and report data regarding lesbian-, gay-, bisexual-, transgender-, or queer-owned businesses. This data would enable oversight and protections to ensure LGBTQ business owners are not discriminated again, and allow for inclusion in more lending programs.
Vincent is located at 1475 W. Balmoral Ave, Chicago.