Articles filed under Small Business

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  Mayor Rooney, Judge Maki at chamber lunch
  Feb 22, 2012 12:00 AM Rolling Meadows Mayor Tom Rooney and Judge William Maki will be the speakers at the March 5 Taking Care of Business luncheon, hosted by the Rolling Meadows Chamber of Commerce. Rooney will discuss current community and economic development projects, while Maki will explain the changes to Saturday bond court hearings and discuss cameras in the courtroom.
  

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  Elgin OKs small business incubator plan
  Feb 22, 2012 12:00 AM Elgin City Council members' commitment to interest subsidies for a proposed small business incubator will give the project life. Steve Knisel said he plans to close on the building at 216 Prairie St., Friday, giving Imago Studios the chance to open by mid-March. City Council members approved Knisely's application for the Downtown Business Loan Interest Subsidy Program during Wednesday's council meeting, agreeing to reimburse $37,489 in interest payments over the course of five years.
  

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  How to get your business ready for better times
  Feb 20, 2012 12:00 AM Climbing out of a recession should be more fun than falling into one. However, getting your business ready for what may be modestly better times ahead isn’t an easy task.
  

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  Electronics service center continues in Wheeling
  Feb 20, 2012 12:00 AM An electronics service center that opened in 1976 is still going strong in Wheeling. The owner of the family business shares his secrets.
  

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  Elmhurst native keeps trade magazine alive and healthy
  Feb 20, 2012 12:00 AM Maureen Slocum says it feels good to be back in Elmhurst working as publisher of a hospitality and trade magazine that she acquired from International pulishing giant Reed Business.
  

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  Downtown Lombard vacancy signs coming down
  Feb 19, 2012 12:00 AM Several entrepreneurs preparing to set up shop in downtown Lombard say the area should be livelier come mid-March or April. Six new businesses are preparing to open by this spring along Park Avenue and St. Charles Road, giving the area a new coffee shop, deli, hair salon, photography studio, marketing and graphic design firm, and realty office.
  

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  What Obama's budget means for small businesses
  Feb 19, 2012 12:00 AM President Barack Obama's proposed federal budget is a disappointment to the National Federation of Independent Business. The advocacy group that represents small companies says it leaves owners guessing about what to expect in the future on taxes and regulations.
  

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  What to do when all the jobs are gone
  Feb 19, 2012 12:00 AM
  

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  Why the big talk about small business is wrong
  Feb 18, 2012 12:00 AM If there’s one thing Republicans and Democrats agree on, it’s that small business is the answer to what ails the economy. On these tiny bundles of entrepreneurial energy, they say, rides the nation’s hope for lower unemployment and faster economic growth. But the work of several economists suggests that most small businesses are not particularly adept at creating jobs.
  

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  Nicor gives energy grants to Northwest Community, Elgin manufacturer
  Feb 17, 2012 12:00 AM Nicor has awarded rebate checks to a pair of suburban businesses that have made serious efforts to protect the environment. Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights and Multifilm Packaging Corp. in Elgin have received checks for installing their own energy efficient natural gas equipment.
  

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  Schaumburg panel recommends banning donation boxes
  Feb 15, 2012 12:00 AM Despite requests for a less extreme form of regulation from two for-profit companies Wednesday, Schaumburg’s zoning board unanimously recommended a total ban on donation boxes throughout the village. Even a rep of Goodwill Industries, a nonprofit that operates several sites in the suburbs outside of Schaumburg, endorsed the village’s plan to ban the boxes.
  

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  Jiang’s Mongolian grill to open this spring in Algonquin
  Feb 14, 2012 12:00 AM A new Mongolian barbecue restaurant is coming to the Randall Road corridor. Jiang’s Mongolian and Japanese Grill is expected to open along Randall Road in Algonquin in April or May.
  

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  Arlington Heights company finds new home in East Dundee
  Feb 13, 2012 12:00 AM An abandoned, downtown East Dundee building constructed in the 1920’s to house a Buick dealership, will have new life as a corporate headquarters for an Arlington Heights-based company. Made to Measure, which provides dimensional measurements and reverse engineering services for manufacturers, plans to renovate and restore the building at 302 Main St. to look the same way it did back then. Interior demolition work began Monday.
  

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  Format changes, but books are still good sales tools
  Feb 13, 2012 12:00 AM E-books have changed the marketing dynamic entrepreneurs enjoyed when they handed their book to a prospect. Small Business Columnist Jim Kendall looks at the trend.
  

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  Dunkin' Donuts franchise owner enjoys fast-paced environment
  Feb 13, 2012 12:00 AM Time to make the doughnuts. Anita Shah, franchise owner of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, talks about her role in running three locations. Dunkin' Donuts is the world's leading baked goods and coffee chain, selling 52 varieties of doughnuts and more than a dozen coffee beverages as well as bagels, breakfast sandwiches, lunch and dinner sandwiches and other baked goods. Baskin-Robbins is the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty shops.
  

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  How to best use info from the exit interview
  Feb 12, 2012 12:00 AM Many firms have relied on exit interviews to learn why their employees decide to leave and to gain candid information about the company that can be used to address the reasons why some leave. But to do this, employers need to ask the right questions.
  

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  IRS to business owners: Did you file your 1099s?
  Feb 12, 2012 12:00 AM Business owners will find two new questions on their income tax forms this year: ”Did you make any payments in 2011 that would require you to file Form(s) 1099?” And: “If ‘Yes,’ did you or will you file all required Forms 1099?”
  

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  How to shut out, and up, a Nosy Nelly at work
  Feb 11, 2012 12:00 AM The easiest solution to block prying eyes at the office is to put a privacy filter on your computer monitor “to reduce eye strain” -- namely, in the eyes of passers-by straining to see what’s on your screen. But that might suggest you have something to hide.
  

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  Elgin Knit Works to open Saturday
  Feb 7, 2012 12:00 AM Betsy Kuhn is about to become one of those handcrafters whose “pie-in-the-sky” dream comes true. The Elgin woman said opening her own knitting and yarn store is something she has wanted to do for a long time, but only seriously considered more recently. And then the stars aligned. Kuhn and her husband, Ian, plan to open Elgin Knit Works Saturday, Feb. 11, and ease into their new business venture before throwing a grand opening celebration sometime in March.
  

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  St. Charles Consulting Group helps provide competitive edge
  Feb 6, 2012 12:00 AM St. Charles Consulting Group says it's best known for its training expertise. We talk to one of the partners.