1985
Arts & Business Council of Chicago is established as Business Volunteers for the Arts®.  A&BC has trained and placed more than 1,250 business volunteers on management consulting projects for nonprofit arts groups over the past 20 years.

1991
Launches the popular Arts & Business Forums, presenting thought-leaders who address topics of mutual interest to the arts and business sectors.  The format brings hundreds of arts and business leaders together to share ideas, network, and form partnerships. 

1994
An Annual Awards program is initiated. Now known as The ABBYs, the event celebrates extrordinary leaders behind the scenes in the arts, including outstanding arts managers, business volunteers, board members, and arts and business partnerships.

1995
Business Volunteers for the Arts changes its name to the Arts & Business Council of Chicago to more accurately reflect the broadened scope of its mission: to build arts/business partnerships that enhance the management capacity of arts organizations while developing the leadership capabilities of business professionals through effective volunteerism.

1996
Pioneers the Arts Marketing Program, which includes an Advanced Training and Granting Program for arts marketing professionals, produces several seminal research studies, and launches artsmarketing.org. The program is adopted nationally in 1998 as the National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) of the Arts & Business Council Inc., and is replicated in 14 cities throughout the U.S.

Launches an Annual Workshop Series: Business Essentials for the Arts. Originally offered as part of the Arts Marketing Program and confined to arts marketing-related topics, the Series is expanded in 1998 and again in 2003 to include board-related and general management topics for non-profit arts management staff and their boards.

1999
Launches On BOARD®, an annual training and placement program for business professionals interested in serving on the boards of non-profit arts groups. Since that time, more than 130 business professionals have been trained and placed on boards of all sizes and disciplines. Many now serve as board officers.

2001
Develops an organizational assessment tool, smARTscope^®, to analyze and measure the management capacity of arts organizations. Initially developed by a team of three business volunteers, along with A&BC staff and arts representatives, smARTscope has evolved into an effective online planning tool, helping arts organizations avoid pitfalls and use their limited resources strategically.

2003
Pilots the E-Coaching Initiative, an Arts Marketing Program project in which select arts groups test e-mail marketing strategies as a means of building and diversifying arts audiences. This initiative has developed into a comprehensive E-Commerce Incubator, incorporating fundamental principles of market research and online sales, along with e-mail marketing.

Publishes a Leadership Succession “Tool Kit” in collaboration with the Illinois Arts Alliance’s Leadership Succession initiative. The kit outlines the steps needed to effectively cope with change at the executive level.

2005
The Arts & Business Council of Chicago's national affiliate, the Arts & Business Council, Inc., merges with Americans for the Arts to more effectively increase private-sector support for the arts in America.

2006

Oversaw full-scale management assessments of 41 arts organizations utilizing smARTscope, A&BC's proprietary online assessment tool. Participating organizations developed strategic plans based on the findings, and are now in implementation phase.