All posts by ChicagoAdmin

Boost to Chicago’s Entrepreneurs

Infrastructure, ,

A new plan has been launched by Andrea Zopp (Chicago’s Chief Neighborhood Development Officer and Deputy Mayor) to help 50 entrepreneurs open businesses in the city’s “thrive zones.” These areas – primarily on the south and west sides – are being primed for a boost of retail energy, with the hoping of expanding the downtown area’s economic growth to other areas.

The areas – Austin, Back of the Yards, Bronzeville, Chatham, Englewood, South Shore, West Humboldt Park and West Pullman – have historically encountered substantial commercial action, which has been stunted in recent years.

The monetary assistance is intended to help local firms engage in business expansion, renovation, and more, ultimately leading to an increase in retail activity and additional job creation.  Businesses involved in this include: beauty supply stores, fashion stores, grocery stores, etc. that already have a presence in the area.

Chicago’s Fintech Industry

Technology, ,

Deloitte and the Global FinTech Hubs Federation recently ranked Chicago among the top five global fintech hubs.  FinTEx Chicago has been advocating strongly on its behalf and as such its fintech and financial services companies now comprise 14 percent of the 50 fastest-growing companies in the region.

Fintech – a double-sided industry comprising technology and innovation in an effort to compete with traditional financial methods vis-à-vis the financial services they offer – is a great way to bolster employment.  Given that the financial sector has the capacity to positively affect job growth, Chicago is looking good in that area now as well.  Indeed, according to a recent report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, year-over-year employment in the region’s financial sector encountered a 3.6 percent jump (which is more than double gains in the next highest industry).

When you see this kind of increase in jobs, it is also testament to the level of savviness among citizens.  Startups need more than just one genius at the top.  They require solid, committed workforce which is apparent in Chicago.

One example of this comes from Alain Glanzman and what he did with his startup, WalletFi, when he took it to Chicago’s second Financial Technology Accelerator program. He was told by executives in the financial industry (from banks and credit unions) at the FinTech accelerator that if he targeted financial institutions, the company would more likely be successful.  As such, he changed the direction from it being a mobile app to a real company!

One aspect that makes Chicago’s fintech unique is that it features startups as well as veteran firms.  And they are codependent with established firms relying on fresh out of college engineers.

This is what Chicago is doing.  This is how fintech is revolutionizing the business world there.

Summer Auto Happenings in the Hood

Entertainment, , ,

Chicago has been bombarded with car events recently and there are more to come.  In just three days’ time, check out Woodstock’s Meet and Car Show.  Skip’s Fiesta is hosting this event at Country Club Road at County Fairgrounds between 8 am and 3pm. Or you can choose (on the same day) this year’s eighth annual Chicagoland All Wheel Show North in Mundelein.  The event doubles as a fundraiser for Mundelein’s Old No. 1, 1925 fire truck restoration fund. The event is held from 10am to 12pm with the award ceremony at 3.45.  participants will be able to check out 25 different types of cars, motorcycles and trucks.

On July 29 at Heritage Park, there is the Classic Car Show and Touch-a-Truck event at W. Dundee Road featuring, cars, trucks and music with NBC The Voice’s very own Keith Semple. Registration here.

And the following day is the Algonquin Founders’ Day Cruise in Algonquin presented by BGV Motorsports and the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Chamber of Commerce. A fundraiser for the Chamber’s Scholarship Fund, all automobiles are welcome and for everyone else there will be music, vendors, food and a way to support downtown business.  Check out BGVMotorsports.com

This is just a snippet of the car-related stuff going on in Chicago over the summer.

 

Chicago Assisting Female Entrepreneurs

Business News, , ,

The Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) recent opened a branch in the south suburbs, offering assistance to women who want to become entrepreneurs in the region.

Already – for over 30 years – this non-profit (based in Chicago) has been giving women (free) advice, programs, and services in order to bolster the amount of enterprises owned by women. Earlier this year, a small business development center satellite office was opened at Governors State University in University Park, by the organization. This was most welcome given the budgetary cuts which resulted in the closure of the Illinois Small Business Development Center.

Now though — thanks to a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the U.S. Small Business Administration – the WBDC is opened for business!

 

Chicago and Wage Increases

Employment

Chicago will now be subject to obligatory minimum wage increases. Following a new law that went into place at the beginning of this month, within the city, a 50 percent increase will result in minimum wage being $11 per hour. This is noteworthy since it is the third such increase that has taken place since December 2014. For tipped workers it has increased to $6.10 per hour – an inflation-rendered increase set up earlier this year.

Minimum wages in Chicago will increase at a rate of $1 per hour (next year and the year after), to get to the highest $13 level per hour in 2020. Thereafter wage increases will be determined by inflation.

Furthermore, Cook County employers will be forced to give their workers sick pay (and a carry over of unused days to the next year), since right now 40% of workers in the area are not eligible for this benefit.

Second Chance Job Fair

Employment, , ,

Triton College recently put together its Second Chance Job Fair that was attended by 70 employers and 150 applicants.  The aim of this event was to literally, give people a second chance in building a solid future for themselves.  The reason the college hosted the job fair, was, according to Director of Career Services at Triton Rich Williams, because they “saw a real need for this type of job fair. There are a lot of people who are facing some tough barriers in terms of finding employment. At the same time, there are a lot of employers who want to help. We’re linking the two.”

This kind of fair is so important given the current economic climate.  Very few people are able to get a second chance; but this is the perfect opportunity for it.  And it’s great for employees as PeopleReady employment agency rep Diego Irizarry said that they are often looking for “diverse candidates to meet the staffing needs of local businesses.”

This represents a real networking opportunity for the community and the college, filling a gap that is often remained empty.   And Triton College is perfect as it understands how important it is to connect jobs/careers with education.  And some jobs are even designed for such “second chance employees.”

So take a leaf out of Chicago’s book and start training those who need it and for those companies, find those seeking employment who really want to work and keep getting pushed back.

Taste of Chicago

Restaurants, ,

From July 5 to 9, Taste of Chicago (featuring 67 local food vendors) will take place at Grant Park.  While this is 2 less of the 2016 event, there are various new vendors including: Lawrence’s Fish & Shrimp and El Patron.

This year – for the first time – Taste of Chicago is collaborating with Humana (an insurance company).  The main goal of this partnership is to be able to provide vendors with the option of offering healthier foods, as opposed to the traditional heavy-calorific items.

This year there are six new food trucks at the festival also which is somewhat political since many owners of these trucks have taken up issue with the restaurant association and the city authorities feeling that they are being forced out of Chicago.

Advancing Affordable Housing in Chicago

Infrastructure, ,

Earlier this month there was significant advancement in the plan to develop affordable housing units in the same building as Chicago’s public libraries with the Mayor’s announcement as to which architects and developers won the bid for the project.  The Irving Park, Little Italy and West Rogers Park facilities will all have access to ground floor libraries which will give community members and tenants services such as: early childhood learning programs, homework assistance, and teen digital tools among others.

The project first began in October of last year. A collaborative effort was developed by the Chicago Housing Authority in conjunction with the Chicago Public Library.  The designs will – according to a statement – “break from the standard, cookie-cutter designs that are common to government buildings.”

In a report put out by the National Low Income Housing Coalition earlier this year Chicago was ranked at Number 37 for affordable housing availability.  Hopefully it’ll go up on the list with these upcoming projects.

Business Expansions in Chicago

Employment, ,

There have been various movements with expansions, buyouts, M&As, etc. in the last few weeks in Chicago. Here we take a brief look at three of them: Trustwave, Amita Health and Periscope.

Trustwave – the firm that works in the cybersecurity industry – is about to hire around 100 new people for its Chicago office. In addition, an announcement was made about the upcoming internship program being developed alongside the City Colleges of Chicago. And this is just the start; by the end of 2017 Robert McCullen, company CEO anticipates a further 300 people to join the company headquarters in Chicago once construction is finished and the space is ready for this expansion. With around 400 employees in Chicago currently (and 1,700 globally) this is really a doubling of Chicago staff members.

Amita Health – Chicago’s third largest hospital system – is interested in putting up two medical office buildings (with a joint $55.3 million price tag) right near rival ones. This is at the same time that hospital systems throughout America are seeking to bolster the way they attract additional patients. One of the new facilities will be in Bartlett and the other in Woodridge and they would be the largest of the company’s nine hospitals.

And then there is Periscope – based in Minneapolis – is expanding to Chicago. One of America’s five biggest independent creative networks purchased Anthem Marketing Solutions, the Chicago-headquartered analytics and strategy firm. Anthem has been in the business for two decades already and focuses on both (diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive) analytics and (database marketing and consumer journey) mapping services. This new office in Chicago will become the fifth for Periscope. As company CEO Elizabeth Ross explained the company really is hoping to “help [its] clients spend less on paid media and the best way to do that is to expand analytics and prove you can deliver results through channels and methods that are less reliant on [traditional ad buys].”