All posts by ChicagoAdmin

Optimism in Local Business Recovery

It has been a tough year for businesses around the world.  Chicago has not escaped the wrath of the coronavirus pandemic but thankfully seems to be coming back to its former glory, at least in some industries and regions.

As we know, some government aid has been received for this. More should be coming though. For example, the recent bill that was just passed by the House for $1.9 trillion for pandemic recovery entitling around 85% of adults to $1,400. Further, $28.6 billion is being earmarked for grants to be given to restaurants that encountered a decline in revenues due to the pandemic. These grants should be the same as the revenue each restaurant lost, capping at $10 million per company and $5 million per location.

It is hoped that businesses that were forced to shutter during the pandemic will have enough money to re-open and re-hire their staff. And it seems this is already happening right here, at the local 92nd and South Stony Island at Nipsey’s Restaurant.  They are looking for new staff as the restaurant has received permission to open for indoor dining once more. The owner, Teddy Gilmore said:

“I’m offering $150 to employees to get vaccinated. Once they get vaccinated, we’ll give them another $150, so it opens the doors of the place safely and allows us to hire plenty of people in the community.”

In related news, Primark has just opened on State Street in the Loop – in the place where Old Navy and Gap used to be.  This Irish firm already has a presence in the East Coast but Chicago has been on its wishlist for a while as US firm president Andy Stewart pointed out “There’s more than 50 million tourists that come here every year.” He believes that things are really looking up and that by “this time next yea we will be on the cusp of a retail revitalization.”

Ethics in Chicago Firms

For the second year in a row, a Chicago company has been recognized as one of the 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies.  

ADM received this recognition from Ethisphere, the organization which engages in endeavors to increase ethical business practices internationally.  On receiving the recognition, ADM CEO and Chairman Juan Luciano said:

“Each day, our global team of 38,000 unlocks the power of nature to enrich the quality of life, while following the highest standards of honesty and integrity. We are deeply proud of being named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies again this year, and for the recognition of our deep commitment to ethical business practices, transparency and corporate citizenship.”

ADM was established in order to:

“unlock the power of nature to provide access to nutrition worldwide. With industry-advancing innovations, a complete portfolio of ingredients and solutions to meet any taste, and a commitment to sustainability, we give customers an edge in solving the nutritional challenges of today and tomorrow. We’re a global leader in human and animal nutrition and the world’s premier agricultural origination and processing company. Our breadth, depth, insights, facilities and logistical expertise give us unparalleled capabilities to meet needs for food, beverages, health and wellness, and more. From the seed of the idea to the outcome of the solution, we enrich the quality of life the world over.”

Towards the end of last year, ADM set out plans in conjunction with InnovaFeed to create a new insect protein facility in Illinois to produce insect feed as a protein ingredient in animal feed.

Public Finance Agenda

In this video, Mayor Lori Lightfoot discusses the importance of officials, individuals, communities and those in the private sector coming together to establish a new agenda. In an attempt to face the post-COVID-economic world a new public fiscal strategy needs to be created.

Local Business Transactions

Despite the pandemic, large corporate transactions are thankfully still taking place.  In this article we take a look at two that involve local companies: ATG Trust and OppFi.

First, Effingham based Midland States Bancorp is to enter into a transaction in which it will purchase Chicago’s ATG Trust — a company established in 1998 initially as an Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund, Inc. subsidiary by Dennis Norden in Kankakee – offers its clients a variety of estate and trust-related services and today has $387 million in assets under management and an approximate yearly revenue of $3.5 million.

CEO and President of Midland States Bancorp, Jeffrey Ludwig explained:

“Over the past several years, we have effectively utilized acquisitions to grow our assets under administration, better leverage our wealth management platform, and add expertise in specialized areas. [AMG Trust] “will further increase the scale and diversification of our wealth management business, while adding new capabilities that will enhance our ability to attract new clients.”

Meanwhile, a “business combination agreement” has been developed between Opportunity Financial LLC (Oppfi) and FG New America Acquisition Corporation (FGNA) this will lead to the former becoming a public company and will likely trade under the NYSE as OPFI when the contract is complete, which is planned to be at the end of Q2 2021.  Joe Moglia, Chairman of FGNA said:

“My team at FG New America and I are thrilled to announce this transaction with OppFi, as serving the financial needs of the everyday consumer is very much in our DNA. We have been highly impressed by the significant growth the OppFi team has achieved through their innovative platform and the proven ability to scale, all while faithfully serving their customers.”

This was echoed by Jared Kaplan, OppFi’s CEO who said

“OppFi is at the forefront of a high growth digital financial services revolution. We are a leading financial technology platform that powers banks through a multitude of products and our unwavering commitment to customer service. We’re tremendously proud of the team that has made our progress possible through a commitment to serving consumers excluded from the traditional system through fair, transparent products and an extraordinary customer experience. We see a solid opportunity ahead for OppFi to be the financial champion for the nearly 60 million everyday consumers in the U.S. as we continue to innovate our array of products, technology and capabilities in the years ahead. We are excited to be joining with the FGNA team to help make this a reality.”

Artists’ Funding

Additional federal funds are being requested from artists who work in the field nationwide.  In conjunction with the Be An Arts Hero campaign, workers in this industry purport that their endeavors invest more into the economy than agriculture and mining combined. According to Matthew-Lee Erlbach, a Chicago playwright:

“When we look at Illinois, it’s $30 billion in added value to Illinois’ economy, which is massive. It supports over 224,000 jobs in arts and culture. That’s people in front of the camera and on stage, to sound technicians to pyro technicians, engineers, puppeteers, museums docents, people who are working in broadcast, you name it. So when you look at all those jobs in Illinois, you really want to put an economic floor under them because if they go, that’s a huge chunk of Illinois’ economy that just evaporates.”

Over 200 artists have written letters as part of the campaign.  One of them is E. Faye Butler, a Goodman Theatre Chicago artist who said:

“Love us back a little bit. We need you. We need your support. We have families, homes. People have a misconception about artists as these wildflower people that roam the streets and don’t need money. We’re always thought of those without a job. People always look at us and go, ‘OK, so that’s fun. When are you going to get a job?’ This is a job. This is my life, and it’s hanging in the balance. For all of those arts workers out there, we need you. We’re independent contractors and we need your support. So fight for us.”

Should the Defend Arts Workers Now (DAWN) Act become law, artists and related businesses would receive grants valued at $43.8 billion.

Fries Anyone?

Many businesses have made a huge loss this year and even more have had to close.  One of the hardest hit has been the restaurant industry and seeing more and more closures has been very hard.

But one eatery has actually done even better and is now looking to expand.  Craig Batiste of Mr. Fries Man began selling his fries from his backyard four years ago with just $400 to make a go of it.  He got a lot of local (and familial) support and sometime later

While the COVID-19 pandemic has hit small businesses hard, the restaurant Mr. Fries Man has been able to expand and franchise.

With $400 and support from his family and the community, Batiste and his wife Dorothy  got to work selling fries. Around a year later they were able to open their first location in 2017 in Gardena, California without any bank loans or investors.

now there is a franchise in Los Angeles. Located at 3844 S Figueroa Street, this is part of the expansion that has resulted in an opening of 21 locations in 7 months.  Batiste puts his success down to support from family and community and the work he does on social media which has resulted in 350,000 Instagram followers.

Local Small Business and Chicago Urban Main Market

The coronavirus pandemic has taken an economic toll on everyone, individually, community, and especially with businesses, more specifically small businesses and their owners.  Chicago has been no different.

But there has been one organization that has been trying to ease the strain for these people and their companies.  That is Cakewalk Chicago, a company offering dessert and candy decorating kits for any person (or company) that wishes to enhance their an attempt to bolster its own business downtown, Cakewalk has been using an organization – Chicago Urban Main Market – to promote local small businesses.  This has resulted in increasing awareness about Cakewalk.   Likewise, Sweet Freaks and Beverly Dry Goods has been using the organization and also reaping the benefits.

Urban Main is under the National Main Street Center (NMSC) umbrella which seeks to offer help to local communities and districts lacking the resources needed to grow their businesses.  With a focus on “economic vitality” and “quality of life” the nonprofit organization has been working for over four decades in such revitalization efforts.

Giving Back, Especially Now

The Chicago Bulls have always had a reputation for giving generously to the community. This year – especially with COVID 19 and despite its challenges – they did so even more.

What better time to engage in the selfless act of gift giving to those less fortunate than ourselves than during Christmas?  This has been a tradition of the Chicago Bulls for many years and with the full and generous support of its players and partners, the team embraced many locals with gifts.

These 1,000 Chicagoans received an array of gifts.  Different people received different packages which had one or more of the following:

  1. Annual Holiday Meal
  2. Bulls sweatshirts
  3. Thanksgiving meal baskets
  4. Gift Cards
  5. Holiday meals for youth
  6. Holiday care packages
  7. Grocery Gift Cards
  8. Bulls gears

Some of those involved in the generosity were:

  1. Zach LaVine
  2. Jewel-Osco
  3. Otto Porter Jr.
  4. Thaddeus Young
  5. Operation Warm
  6. I Grow Chicago
  7. The Dovetail Project
  8. Wendell Carter Jr.
  9. Lauri Markkanen
  10. Denzel Valentine
  11. Chi Gives Back

It was a real team effort.  In addition, for some time now already since the pandemic started to hit, Hyde Park restaurants got together with Feeding Frontliners and Kenwood Food Project to give first responders and medical workers meals. Others participating in these endeavors include: Amer Abdullah of Cedars Mediterranean Kitchen which has already fed more than 2,000 first responders, 10 hospitals and four police districts.

Christmas Time in Chicago!

Forget about the fact that Chicago is home to many Christmas movies (just think Christmas with the Kranks, the classic Home Alone, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to name but a few), it just seems like Chicago was made for Christmas!  So how can we – in corona pandemic times – still enjoy the magic of a Chicagoan Christmas, support local businesses and stay safe?  We take a little look in this article.

On Christmas Eve from 4-8pm and Christmas Day from 4-9pm, Jack’s Winter Walk and Christmas Tree Farm Pop-Up  is offering its guests 2+ acres of land around Goose Island.  Bring the family to choose your perfect Christmas Tree, do a selfie with the trees, bring headphones and dance around the fresh air with the smell of Christmas and run along Chicago’s one and only evergreen Christmas Tree Trail.  Of course, all in accordance with Coronavirus Health and Safety standards.

If you’re getting a bit hungry, what better way to support locals than DonerMen’s Christmas Market Pop Up?  Get a taste of Germany but do the work yourself.  Offering some great German classics such as the Dmen Mulled Wine Kit, the Christkindle Gluhwien Kit (including a liter of German mulled wine and 2 mugs) and the Ein Prosit! Holiday Beer Kits, this pop up has got your alcohol Christmas inventory covered.

It may not be the same this year but that should not prevent anyone from having a very merry Christmas while supporting local businesses.