COAL MINER’S SON—AND GRANDSON

Longtime Lake Forest resident Bob Crawford is downright engaging for a reason. Make that, 17 reasons. That was the number of times he and his family moved before he graduated from Central High School in Philadelphia. Seventeen.

“It shaped my personality,” the 85-year-old Crawford says of his peripatetic childhood.

Crawford’s personality is a delightfully large one. He oozes positivity, so much so that it often enters a room before he does. The man smiles sincerely and intently as he speaks, and as he listens.

Two family members—father Robert Crawford Sr. and grandfather Andrew Creighton Crawford— served as his top two role models and heroes.

Both toiled as coal miners. Bob’s grandfather, a Scottish immigrant, later became a volunteer mine rescuer. Robert Sr. later became a giant in the field of urban parks and recreation.

“Parks and recreation back then was in its embryonic stage as an industry,” says Crawford, founder and past chairman of Brook Furniture Rental Inc., a company he launched in 1978. “My father’s work focused on providing superior recreation for urban areas, and he emerged as a national leader. I was only 11 when my grandfather died, but he had a tremendous impact on me. He was hard-working and fearless.”

Add Robert Crawford Jr. to the pantheon. In 2016, he formed the Neighborhood Entrepreneurship Lab (NEL) with partners Allies for Community Business, Chicago Community Trust, and its funders. NEL believes that entrepreneurs from any background can start and grow businesses that create generational wealth for their families and communities.

It supports entrepreneurs in challenged communities on the near-West and South sides of Chicago.

“Entrepreneurship is the soul of American business, and capitalism is the single greatest thing in this country,” Crawford says. “I just believe, firmly, that if you give people responsibility, they’ll thrive.”

NEL pairs community business owners with project advisors, project strategists, community partners, and corporate partners who provide intensive support to help execute a growth initiative for each business. The nine-month program pairs each entrepreneur with a mentor. At the end of the fifth month and upon approval of the business plan, a $20,000 grant is given to the entrepreneur to grow their business through a variety of growth strategies like the purchase of capital equipment or a new lease for expansion.

Ninety-one of NEL’s 93 graduates are still in business. That’s a .978 batting average, baseball fans. Hundreds of jobs have been created. Crawford’s credo goes something like this: more jobs equal more stable communities.

NEL’s first grant went to Imani, a woman who made bean pies in her home. Funds enabled her to secure a contract packer as well as pay for a marketing expert. Old Arthur’s Barbeque Sauce owner Eugene Watts IV worked with advisors to make his product line available on Amazon, contract with a co-packer, and launch a new e-commerce website.

Crawford attended Pennsylvania’s Dickinson College where he was a two-way lineman for the football team and then tackled the MBA program at Penn’s Wharton School. A stint in marketing and sales management at Procter & Gamble preceded his 36-and-a-half-year run at the helm of Brook Furniture Rental, Inc.

“Then I tried working in the field of private investment, but I didn’t find it fulfilling,” Crawford recalls. “I wanted to get out there, help others. I toured underserved communities and found out that entrepreneurs in those areas needed an opportunity, a boost.”

“I have been extremely excited about this phase of my life, this focus on NEL and nonprofits. I don’t believe in retirement. I never want to leave the excitement of the action in the ‘arena.’ I love being around young business owners and entrepreneurs. This isn’t about me; it’s about America.”

For more information about Neighborhood Entrepreneurship Lab, visit a4cb.org/services/neighborhood-entrepreneurship-lab/.