Answers · Chicago business licences
How do I find newly opened businesses in Chicago?
Read the City's business licence register, dataset r5kz-chrr, for licences issued in the last day or week, then join it to the business owner register, dataset ezma-pppn, on account_number to get the officer's name. Both files are free. 325 qualified openings a month, measured 2026-07-29.
The join is the part people skip. The licence register names the business; the owner register names the person, and account_number is what connects them. Neither file costs anything and neither needs a broker.
Filter before you call. 603 licences were issued in that same 30 days; 259 of them were event permits and personal credentials, not businesses opening.
Kova Signals is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the City of Chicago.
How this is measured
- Dataset
- r5kz-chrr + ezma-pppn
- Publisher
- City of Chicago
- Filter
- Licences by issue date, joined to the owner register on account_number. Event permits and personal credentials are removed to reach the 325 figure.
- Measured
- 2026-07-29
Source
- City of Chicago · business licences · dataset r5kz-chrr
- City of Chicago · business owners · dataset ezma-pppn
Printed without a link: this site publishes a source URL only where it has checked it. Search the dataset ID on the publisher portal to reach the file.
Opening + Renewal Signal
Opening + Renewal Signal runs this every morning for one vendor category, exclusive in Cook County. The first delivery is three real records, free, with the government source link on every row.