How to find new Chicago business license leads (CSV)

If you sell to new businesses in Chicago — insurance, POS, payroll, marketing, cleaning, HVAC — the highest-intent signal is often a first-time business license. Chicago publishes ISSUE applications through the Business Affairs & Consumer Protection open-data portal.

What “new license” actually means

Focus on application_type = ISSUE (first issuance). Renewals inflate volume without “just opening” intent. Keep legal name, DBA, address, ward, license description, and issue date.

DIY path (free, slower)

• Open Chicago’s Business Licenses dataset.
• Filter recent ISSUE rows (7 or 30 days).
• Export CSV, strip renewals, normalize addresses.
• Import to Sheets or CRM. Expect weekly maintenance.

Faster path: ChiLead $19 CSV

ChiLead is a ready pack: 7-day and 30-day ISSUE files plus restaurant, contractor, and professional-services segments. After Stripe, files are emailed directly from Armorlight.

Armorlight Enterprises, LLC packages public data and is not affiliated with the City of Chicago.