We break down complex business news to help you understand how money moves in Chicago and how it affects you.
The schools target Black, Brown, low-income students with their recruiting, offering promises of future economic stability that’s rarely fulfilled. Instead, students are left saddled with debt, in low-paying jobs that pay them what high school grads make, a WBEZ investigation has found.
Money guides
While it’s too early to tell when home loans will become more affordable, even a modest drop can make refinancing an attractive option.
Got a consumer problem? Help is out there. Keep this list for the next time you have an intractable issue with a retailer or service provider.
It’s not uncommon to receive an unexpected windfall this time of year thanks to a bonus from work or a tax refund. Whatever the circumstances, it’s easy to make costly mistakes.
When big storms hit, basements fill with stormwater and sewage. But there are steps that you and also government can take to help stay above water.
Pocketbook Issues
The group’s report also details the federal tax collector’s performance in modernizing its technologies, the speed with which it answers its phones and the rate it sends out refund checks, among other things.
The Hoffman Estates company provides software services to about 15,000 auto dealers across North America.
Starting today, in response to reader feedback, the Sun-Times is expanding its Sunday newspaper with more features, opinions, sports, money, arts, culture and entertainment stories — and a new community page, Executive Editor Jennifer Kho writes.
The company said names, addresses, health insurance information and personal information like Social Security numbers may have been exposed in the attack.
In a Sun-Times test, a parked car got dangerously hot in minutes, a reminder that leaving pets or children in a car, even briefly, can quickly turn deadly.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a new rule that may ease small business owners’ minds on offering the popular service.
Housing & Development
The company occupies 45,000 square feet at the Fillmore Center, a $40 million development project that will bring more businesses to North Lawndale and create more jobs.
The building will put customers near the futures exchanges’ own tech center and promises speedy cloud-based access to the markets.
Council members from the Southwest and Northwest sides, with wards dominated by single-family homes, said allowing homeowners to turn attics, basements and garages into revenue-generating “granny flats” could create problems.
Chicago House will offer housing to 13 families on West 63rd Street in a neighborhood with a high rate of HIV infection. The site will also contain office space for staffers overseeing residential units citywide.
The owners plan to demolish three century-old buildings to make way for new apartments with rooftop pickleball courts and parking.
The building, according to the Chicago Urban League, is one of the most significant donations in its history and will help bolster its entrepreneurship and workforce development training.
Small business news
The tony Chicago eatery, which boasts two Michelin stars and a Season 2 series presence, is among the local restaurants featured in Season 3 of the hit show.
Beaches, ballparks and cemeteries are among the places our readers have worked summer jobs in and around Chicago.
Shirin polo is Persian white rice bejeweled with saffron, orange peel marmalade, pistachio, shredded carrots, golden raisins and Persian barberry.
While many chefs know they need to take better care of themselves, finding the time and energy to do so after a long shift on their feet can be challenging. But that’s slowly changing.
Aunque muchos elogian el sistema canadiense de Entrada Rápida (“Express Entry”) por considerarlo más rápido que la espera de meses para obtener un permiso de trabajo en Estados Unidos, los inmigrantes tienen dificultades para encontrar sueldos y puestos de trabajo equivalentes a los de sus países de origen.
The Portage Park restaurant run by a father-son team has grown its menu offerings since opening in 2022 and added a bookstore, selling Polish, Italian, French, Spanish and English books.
More business news
The co-founder of Vox.com and former publisher of Vox Media will take over in September.
With property tax bills set to hit mailboxes next week, the median bill jumped a record high 19.9% across the southern portion of the county, including bills that more than doubled in Dixmoor and Phoenix.
Since 2009, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s urban agriculture and jobs training initiative has a 91% job placement rate six months after graduation through its apprenticeship program.
Three 2.5-hour sessions will be held at City Colleges locations, starting July 22 at Malcolm X College. A fourth roundtable, open only to ages 13 to 24, will be at the Harold Washington Library.
Grubhub shoppers will be able to order from Jewel-Osco stores, following a national partnership between the Chicago-based food delivery app and Albertsons, owner of Jewel-Osco.
World looking bleak? There’s always ice cream, in general, and Graeter’s Lemon Meringue Pie ice cream in particular.
Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 15 years and said “anything less would fail to promote respect for the rule of law.”
UPS CEO Carol Tome said “the decision to sell our Coyote Logistics business allows an even greater focus on our core business.”
Plans to add housing in the downtown corridor will help reinvigorate the district, architects and developers said, but there are still construction challenges with turning office spaces into residential units.
The company’s subchapter v filing, which is under Chapter 11, comes after the business marked its 30-year anniversary in 2023.
Sterling Bay’s Lincoln Park project has drawn criticism from local Ald. Scott Waguespack for its height and parking but it still cleared the Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday.
La compañía, que fue comprada por la firma de capital privado Variant Equity Advisors por $270 millones en 2019, dijo que las operaciones de autobuses continuarán mientras se enfrenta a una venta.
AmTrav is geared toward small and medium-sized U.S. companies, allowing them to book trips, manage payments and expenses, set travel policies and more.
Black Chicagoans helped many parts of the city blossom culturally and economically, but they were also subject to financial exploitation, intimidation and racial violence — challenges later faced by immigrants from Mexico in the mid-20th century.
The $500 million development will include two residential towers and work on the long-awaited DuSable Park as well as plans to extend the Chicago Riverwalk.
The company, which was purchased by private equity firm Variant Equity Advisors for $270 million in 2019, said bus operations will continue as it undergoes a court-supervised sale of its assets.
New guidance and a ruling includes plans to stop “partnership basis shifting” — a process by which a business or person can enter into a series of transactions to avoid taxes.
The latest addition to Chicago’s skyline boasts lake views, a two-story health club and a piano lounge with weekly brunches.
The legislation would protect homeowners from long-term listing agreements, like those peddled by MV Realty, making them unenforceable.
The problems facing residents of a Loop condominium property highlight the power that condo board members wield — and the headaches that can give owners.
Hoffman Estates, ComEd and Compass Datacenters held a kickoff event to celebrate the redevelopment of Sears’ former headquarters into a massive data center campus.
Seoul-based Lotte Hotels & Resorts is holding a grand opening Thursday for L7 Chicago by Lotte, the first L7-branded hotel in the U.S. meant to appeal to younger travelers.
The community-owned store offering locally sourced food and products was 10 years in the making, owners said.
Sony said it will continue to welcome content from all studios and distributors at the dine-in theaters, which includes Alamo’s Wrigleyville location.