With the holidays behind us, it’s time to get back to business and, with the turning of the calendar, your policies and processes might need to be updated to match changes in the law. The Illinois legislature passed several laws last year, effective on January 1, which affect small businesses. Here are some of the most relevant changes: The [...]
It’s Christmas come early! Earlier this week, Mayor Lightfoot gave an early present to small business owners outside of the Loop. She released a plan to streamline small business licensing, which would open five regional centers to help with licensing issues. Currently, these matters can only be handled downtown at the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) [...]
As the leaves fall every autumn, a seasonal specter rises to suffuse sepulchral storefronts with spirit and spook: the Halloween pop-up shop. For a few weeks every year, dusty ‘For Lease’ signs relinquish their vigil to bright orange-and-black banners broadcasting their bounty to the well-flannelled masses. Where do these stores come from? Where do they go? How can seasonal [...]
Owning a business is no cakewalk and, as with most facets of modern life, being a woman makes it harder. From the gender pay gap to the lack of maternity leave to discrimination and harassment in the workplace, the barriers facing professional women are well-documented. If they fall into other underrepresented communities – women of color, queer women, disabled [...]
With recreational marijuana on the cusp of legalization, businesses across Illinois could see a vast marketplace suddenly accessible. A recreational marijuana legalization bill was recently introduced in the Illinois legislature. The proposed bill puts small businesses in an especially advantageous position, promoting “craft growers” and banning large-scale operations. Without a corporate presence dominating the field, local cultivators and retailers [...]
