Crain's Chicago Business articles from June 2006

Crain's Chicago Business archives from June 2006

Clock ticks on lake lock; Aging water barrier poses several risks, including flood.(Chicago Harbor lock, under renovation)
June 5, 2006... Byline: PAUL MERRION Just south of Navy Pier, where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan, a little-noticed but vital piece of Chicago's infrastructure has eroded past the point of repair. The 68-year-old Chicago Harbor lock is 18...

Tourism budget a straggler; Agency spends far less to lure conventions.(Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau)
June 5, 2006... Byline: KATE RYAN Amid a spate of convention defections, the agency charged with bringing trade shows to Chicago is finding itself outgunned-and outspent-by its competitors. The Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau's (CCTB) annual...

Bringing back Bonwit; Local firm bets there's some glitz left in Camelot-era couturier.(marketing trends)
June 5, 2006... Byline: SANDRA JONES Bonwit Teller, the defunct luxury department store that outfitted Grace Kelly and Jacqueline Kennedy and discovered Calvin Klein, is getting a second chance. Chicago-based River West Brands LLC acquired the...

This Week: On tap in Evanston: tallest N. Shore tower.(North shore tallest building)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Alby Gallun Developer Thomas Roszak is proposing a 38-story condo and hotel tower in Evanston that, if built, would be the North Shore's tallest building. The project, which would include 288 condos and 192 hotel rooms, would rise...

On the Move.(appointment)
June 5, 2006... CONSUMER SERVICES Cosi Inc., Deerfield: Chris Carroll, 49, to executive vice-president and chief marketing officer, from senior vice-president and director of worldwide marketing at the Subway Franchise Advertising Fund Trust in Milford,...

Drinks, dames and some really bad guys; jazz then, jazz now.(Green Mill )(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Sarah A. Klein Many of the buildings that housed brothels, speakeasies and gangster hangouts in Chicago have been razed to make way for urban development. The Green Mill is one glorious exception. Not only is the one-time...

A dark and bloody day; aftermath.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Sarah A. Klein Sure, we've all heard about Al Capone's vault at the Lexington Hotel. Geraldo Rivera embarrassed himself by opening it on live television, only to find it empty. But there's a deeper-and more interesting-gangland...

Private talk around Zell office REIT; Equity Office's assets worth more than stock.(Sam Zell of Real estate investment trusts)
June 5, 2006... Byline: ALBY GALLUN Sam Zell's flirting has Wall Street talking. After building Equity Office Properties Trust into the nation's biggest real estate investment trust (REIT), Mr. Zell triggered speculation in April about the publicly...

Of bullet holes and secrets; resting places.(multi-use property)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Sarah A. Klein This unassuming multi-use property in the River North gallery district was once the home and mortuary of John Sbarbaro, whose firm handled the final services for Chicago's most infamous gangsters when the Archdiocese...

Bonwit Teller's rise and fall.(diary entry)(Diary entry)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... 1895: Paul Bonwit and Edmund D. Teller open first store in New York. 1930s: Fifth Avenue flagship opens; Salvador Dali designs windows. It's the first U.S. retailer to knock off the Duchess of Windsor's famous blue wedding dress. ...

CHICKEN RUN; In the biggest chicken slump in years, Koch Foods aims to get bigger.(Koch Foods Inc.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: BOB TITA Joseph Grendys wears jeans to work and drives a 10-year-old Cadillac with 125,000 miles. "When the wheels fall off of it, I'll go find another beater,'' he says. He's got far more extravagant plans for Koch Foods Inc.,...

At Deadline.(news in brief)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Revolving door spins again at Marsh For the third time in as many years, Marsh & McLennan is looking for a new head of its Chicago office. Mark Miller, named Chicago chief last year after Nancy Aque left for rival Integro, has joined...

Bursting at the seams; Divestiture could saddle garment maker with up to $2.2 billion in debt.(Sara Lee Corp.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: JULIE JARGON Hanes is about to get stretched. As parent Sara Lee Corp. readies the underwear maker for its spinoff into a new public company, it's figuring out how much debt to unload on it. Analysts peg the amount as high as...

For The Record.(news in brief)
June 5, 2006... An index of local business activity shows manufacturing picked up the pace in May. The National Assn. of Purchasing Management-Chicago said its index rose to 61.5 in May, compared with 57.2 in April. The May level is the highest since October...

From a singing gangster to punk.(Dion O'Banion, a criminal)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Sarah A. Klein Now filled with high-rise condo buildings, River North is rich in gangster lore. It was central command and a death trap for many of Al Capone's North Side rivals, who got their starts as petty thieves growing up...

Capone history? It sells.(biography )(Biography)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Sarah A. Klein In marketing the Lexington Park condominium project at Michigan Avenue and 22nd Street, developer Chieftain Group of Limerick, Ireland, are quick to point out its unique history. The 35-story building, scheduled to...

And the shots rang out; bribes and bullets.(murder can depress real estate values)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Sarah A. Klein When Vilas Development Corp. turned the former Karpen-Standard Oil Building into condominiums in the 1990s, the company touted the loft-like features of the upscale units on South Michigan Avenue. What it didn't...

Trib: Cubs, HQ not for sale.(headquarters)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Tribune says a combination of borrowing money, selling off businesses and cost-cutting will cover the $2 billion it intends to spend buying back shares. But two things the media giant's CEO, Dennis FitzSimons, says won't go on the block to fund...

Cement: going up; Q&A moving men and machines.(interview)(Interview)
June 5, 2006... Byline: JOHN T. SLANIA Dale Hendrix and David Alexander are senior vice-presidents of James McHugh Construction Co., the Chicago company responsible for pumping concrete high into the air to build the Trump International Hotel & Tower,...

Put women's parity on the agenda for Corporate Chicago.(graduating women in significant numbers)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Sheli Rosenberg Year after year, the news seems the same: minimal progress for women in Chicago's boardrooms and executive suites. The Chicago Network finds that women make up just 14.4% of all board members and 15.4% of the...

Towering technology; trump rising.
June 5, 2006... Byline: JOHN T. SLANIA Hard hats and high-tech are two terms rarely used together. But workers building the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago rely on the latest technology as they construct the tallest concrete-reinforced...

Kimball Hill Homes to exit Cleveland; Sales in Northeast Ohio have missed projections.(last few sales in a single subdivision)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: STAN BULLARD Crain News Service As Kimball Hill Homes Inc. touts the "last opportunity to own a Kimball Hill home in Cleveland'' and "closeout specials,'' it isn't just talking about finishing the last few sales in a single...

Harris' profit down 9% in first half; Cost pressures expected to continue in short term.(News)(Harris Bankcorporation Inc.)(Column)
June 5, 2006... Byline: STEVE DANIELS Harris Bankcorp Inc. is the weak link for its Canadian parent so far this year. Through the first six months of Toronto-based BMO Financial's fiscal year, combined earnings at Harris' retail and commercial...

GATX ditching older, bigger planes in fleet; Rail boom enables firm to raise train lease rates.
June 5, 2006... Byline: BOB TITA GATX Corp.'s strategy of doing more with less appears to be paying off. The company's primary business, leasing rail cars, is in the midst of its best stretch in years. Surging rail traffic has increased demand for...

Landauer could get boost from nuke plants.(Markets)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... The pick: Mr. Evans began buying Glenwood-based Landauer in 2001. He bought most of his firm's 30,000 shares at an average price of $25 and will buy more as they dip below $45. He predicts the shares will trade in the low $50s within 12 months....

A look inside gov't confirms worst suspicions.(Mayor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs)
June 5, 2006... It's the not the kind of learning you get in a classroom. This kind of education comes only in a courtroom, where those who know the details of government operations spell them out for jurors. But all of us can and should pay attention. ...

Small deal, big payout for CEO; SSA chief is eyeing $44-million payday.(SSA Global Technologies Inc.'s Michael Greenough)(Infor Global Solutions to acquire)
June 5, 2006... Byline: SHRUTI DATE SINGH Michael Greenough is hardly a big hitter in the tech industry, but the $44 million he'll get for selling his small Chicago software firm puts him in the major leagues for CEO payouts. The figure represents Mr....

CSMG chief wants broader marketing for athletes.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Gregory Meyer Job: Chief executive, CSMG Inc., a Chicago sports marketing and talent-representation company, since March. Vitals: 57 years old; bachelor's degree, Williams College, 1969; MBA, Stanford University, 1974. He spent...

The office as locker room; Time-crunched workers brush, primp and dress; tangles sometimes follow.
June 5, 2006... Byline: LISA BERTAGNOLI The nerve-wracking sound of nail clippers. The sight of a colleague's foamy mouth as he indulges in a post-lunch toothbrushing. The aroma of a co-worker who's just biked 10 miles to work. As if backbiting and...

Asian chicken salads: Now they're all over the map.(The Business of Life)(Brief article)(Column)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Laura Bianchi Terry Crandall, executive chef of the Peninsula Chicago, takes a long breath. We have just told him that McDonald's recently rolled out an Asian chicken salad ($4.19), right, at restaurants nationwide. His...

Need to Know.(Focus: Commercial Real Estate)(life of Alphonse Capone )(St. Valentine's Day Massacre)(release of The Untouchables)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... 1899 Year Alphonse Capone was born in Italy. In 1920 he moved to Chicago and began to establish speakeasies and gambling and prostitution rings. $105 million Al Capone's annual take in 1927, estimated by the IRS. $1.10 billion...

Just a minor course? Not this one; Tough, scenic holes make Mistwood a major draw.(The Business of Life)(golf courses in Mistwood Golf Club)(Column)
June 5, 2006... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY Some mom-and-pop golf courses, even when hampered by slim budgets, are awfully good. A case in point is Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville, built by the Baarstad family in 1998. Michigan-based architect Raymond...

The 'Untouchable'.(Focus: Commercial Real Estate)(Eliot Ness named as Untouchable)(Column)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Sarah A. Klein Eliot Ness, the zealous Prohibition agent who tapped Al Capone's phone lines and used the information to raid his liquor stills, built his reputation as a crusading, incorruptible do-gooder in Chicago. It's where he...

Conventions.(Calendar/Datebook)(Brief article)(Calendar)
June 5, 2006... THIS WEEK JUNE 5-7: Warrillow & Co., InterContinental Chicago, estimated attendance 300. JUNE 5-8: National Assn. of Insurance Women International, Hilton Chicago, estimated attendance 1,000. JUNE 6-8: National Confectioners...

Will new name ensure profits? Change to Insure.com aims to reverse red ink.(Quotesmith.com Inc.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY Quotesmith.com Inc. has recast its insurance brokerage business again-for at least the third time in its 22-year history-in a search for profits. At its May 18 annual meeting, the company changed its name to...

How can we harness the wandering summertime mind?(Lena Salonikas )(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Davis A little daydreaming is not necessarily bad, says Chicago-based life coach Lena Salonikas. "We always need a little mental break. You can use it to your advantage by visualizing the bigger things you'd like to have or...

Goya catches up with demo change; To boost Midwest sales, food firm catering to Mexican-American tastes.
June 5, 2006... Byline: JULIE JARGON ***** Correction: Jumex, a Mexican juice brand, is misspelled in a story on Page 18 in this issue. ***** Goya Foods Inc. is reaching beyond its Puerto Rican roots with a big push toward Chicago's...

Datebook.(Calendar/Datebook)
June 5, 2006... THIS WEEK JUNE 5: Career Resource Center Inc. presents Resume Preparation and Presentation. 10:15 a.m. Career Resource Center, Grove Cultural Campus, 40 E. Old Mill Road, Suite 105, Lake Forest. Fee: $40. (847) 295-5626. JUNE 6:...

A long way to go for new Avenue M; Menu, service, mood need straightening out.
June 5, 2006... Byline: ANNE MOORE A celebrated Chicago chef is back on the scene, teaming with the nightclub owners behind Bacchus, Circus and the Green Room to create a very stylish all-in-one place to drink and dine. Set on a grim stretch of...

Game Tracker.(Midway Games Inc.'s David Zucker)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Dan Weissmann David Zucker, 43, is president and CEO of video game maker Midway Games Inc., best known for its "Mortal Kombat'' series. On his screen: Wall Street Journal in the morning, New York Times in the evening, though...

Bottom Liner.(Tonya Conde of Dy-Dee Wash/Bottoms Up Inc.)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Sarah A. Klein Tonya Conde, 41, president of Waukegan-based cloth diaper service Dy-Dee Wash/Bottoms Up Inc. Duties: Coordinates cotton diaper pickup and deliveries. She says cotton diapers keep baby bottoms 10 degrees cooler...

Beauty services in your cubicle.(Lisa Hay)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Lisa Bertagnoli In-office grooming is actually a business for one Chicago company. Two months ago, former attorney Lisa Hay launched Spa Where You Are, whose nail technicians, yoga instructors and massage therapists do in-...

Higher box prices yet to boost Packaging Corp. But analyst expects to see leap in earnings this year.(Packaging Corporation of America)
June 5, 2006... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY Prices for corrugated boxes have jumped in the past seven months, a shift expected to benefit major manufacturers such as Packaging Corp. of America, the sixth-largest maker of paper containers in the U.S. But the...

An Ignoble Past.(Richard Lindberg on Al Capone gangster)(Interview)
June 5, 2006... Byline: SARAH A. KLEIN If Mayor Daley had his way, Al Capone and Chicago would never appear in the same sentence. The city's history would register as it does on Chicago's official Web site: as a testament to progress, from the 1893...

Boston Market on the block? Comfort-food chain is last of McD's 'other' brands.(McDonald's Corp.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: JULIE JARGON McDonald's Corp. is pondering the future of Boston Market, the comfort-food chain it acquired out of bankruptcy six years ago. Asked after the company's annual meeting what McDonald's has in store for Boston...

Without a hit, U.S. is history; Mitsubishi exec predicts retreat if losses continue; advertise, dealer advises.(Mitsubishi Motors Corp.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: KATHY JACKSON Crain News Service NAGOYA, Japan-Maybe it was an unplanned moment of candor. Maybe it was an attempt to light a fire under the sales staff. But at face value, it was a stunning statement: If a new crop of...

Exelon deal faces test; Board to decide on PSEG buyout before June 20.(Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. to be acquired)
June 5, 2006... Byline: STEVE DANIELS Exelon Corp.'s board will meet within the next two weeks to decide the fate of CEO John Rowe's $16-billion deal to buy New Jersey's largest electric utility. Doubts about Exelon's proposed acquisition of Public...

Target: tax dollars; in the hood: west ridge.
June 5, 2006... Byline: STUART LUMAN What: Two-story Target store on a 6.4-acre commercial site Where: 2036-2136 W. Peterson Ave. in West Ridge When: July 2006 How big: 160,000 square feet of shopping on second floor and a first-floor...

Why small is so big; From Nike to UAL, big firms are finding their inner entrepreneurs.(interview)(Interview)
June 12, 2006... Byline: SAMANTHA STAINBURN Who'd envy an entrepreneur's late nights developing a new product under if-this-doesn't-work-I-go-back-to-bartending conditions? Large corporations, for one. Crain's asked Steven Rogers, a professor at...

Consulting in marketing; Accenture, others playing role in firms' processes.(News)
June 12, 2006... Byline: MATTHEW CREAMER Crain News Service Accenture Ltd. IBM Corp. McKinsey & Co. These consulting giants are casting a lengthening shadow on Madison Avenue. The day advertising execs have long feared-when management consultancies'...

The spin-in cycle; Electronics giant finds innovation partners.(Focus: Small Business)
June 12, 2006... Byline: KEVIN MCKEOUGH Marios Papaefthymiou has found a way to make your laptop's battery run longer and lower your company's electric bills. A professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, he...

Book Valuer.(The Business of Life)(Consumer News and Business Channel Partnership)(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Byline: Dan Weissmann Meredith W. Mendes, 47, brings triple-threat training to her job as executive director and chief operating officer at law firm Jenner & Block LLP: a Harvard law degree, a University of Chicago MBA and an Illinois CPA...

Chicago Marathon: Gotta be quick just to sign up.(reports of Chicago marathon )(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Byline: Darci Smith Miss out on entering the 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon? Consider yourself warned for 2007. Odds are good that the marathon will have another record-setting early registration close next year, possibly as...

New provost at Field to focus on recruiting.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Lorene Yue Job: Field Museum provost and University of Chicago associate dean of organismal and evolutionary biology. Appointed May 19 to both positions. Vitals: 45 years old; bachelor's from Columbia University, 1982;...

Mr. Cub eyes bid for team; Ernie Banks, investors show interest in Cubs; but are they for sale?(News)(Tribune Co)(Ernie Banks )
June 12, 2006... Byline: STEVEN R. STRAHLER Ernie Banks wants to buy the Chicago Cubs and said so during a half-hour meeting last month with Dennis FitzSimons, the embattled CEO of team owner Tribune Co. Mr. FitzSimons gently rebuffed the most famous...

Metra directors jockey for chair; DuPage's Doris looks like favorite to replace Ladd.(News)
June 12, 2006... Byline: BOB TITA As the Metra board prepares to choose its first new chairman in more than 20 years, two contenders have surfaced as potential replacements for Jeffrey Ladd, who has dominated the commuter rail agency since its inception....

Where new thinking is the only option; Since going public, innovation has been No 1. on CME's agenda.(Focus: Small Business)
June 12, 2006... Byline: STUART LUMAN You wouldn't think something that started out as the Butter and Egg Board 108 years ago would be one of the most innovative businesses in Chicago. But you'd be wrong. Since becoming the first U.S. exchange to...

Heidrick's biggest search yet.(Heidrick and Struggles International Inc)
June 12, 2006... Byline: SHRUTI DATE SINGH Executive recruiter Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. has placed top execs at Google, Disney and Coca-Cola. Now the company needs to find itself a CEO who will stick around for a while. In its 53-year...

St. Goldman; INVESTMENT BANK'S PRO BONO WORK FOR GUV'S LOTTERY PLAN NOT SO ALTRUISTIC.(Commentary)
June 12, 2006... Byline: Greg Hinz The Latin phrase pro bono translates as "for good.'' In everyday English, it describes services that are donated for free, for the public good. But in the wonderful world of Illinois public finance, pro bono...

A community-based answer to our immigration crisis.(Opinion)
June 12, 2006... Byline: Gerald D. Skoning Gerald D. Skoning is a lawyer with Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago who specializes in labor and employment law. Congress is wrestling over what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United...

Crain's reporters snag honors.(United Airlines fight to emerge from bankruptcy reorganization)(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... A pair of Crain's Chicago Business reporters were honored by the Alliance of Area Business Publications at its 2006 editorial excellence awards ceremony in Little Rock, Ark. The group includes regional business publications in the U.S., Canada,...

Sears' cost-cutting falls to the bottom line.(management, sales and earnings)(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Byline: Rachel Koning Beals The pick: Mr. Zacks bought his firm's 13,515 shares of Hoffman Estates-based Sears earlier this year when the stock was trading at around $120; shares are up more than 30% since then. Mr. Zacks says shares could...

Prize goes to No. 2; First Oak Brook passes on highest bid, citing integration, other risks.(acquisitions and contracts)
June 12, 2006... Byline: STEVE DANIELS In the intense bidding that led to First Oak Brook Bancshares Inc.'s $366-million sale to MB Financial Inc., the seller spurned the highest offer. The competing suitor, which people familiar with the sale...

CEOs get pass on gossip; Boldfaced names of city's corporate world mostly stay out of print; columns 'go easier'.(The Business of Life)
June 12, 2006... Byline: SHIA KAPOS New York's titans of business often collide with the city's rough-and-tumble gossip pages-but Chicago's top executives are virtual no-shows in "our town's'' columns. A review of two years of gossip and society...

Throwing spaghetti at the wall.(Focus: Small Business)(Interview)
June 12, 2006... Byline: SAMANTHA STAINBURN For every wheeled suitcase or pre-washed salad in a bag, there's a Ford Edsel or an Apple Newton-big ideas that flopped. Crain's asked three innovation experts why large companies so frequently stumble on the...

Are lost PDAs, digital cameras and cell phones gone forever?(rules for electronic goods)(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Byline: Darci Smith When it comes to pricey electronic goods, "finders keepers, losers weepers'' usually rules. But the more trusting can register components at a site like BoomerangIt.com, an Internet-based global registration system that...

Hard-won beauty at Kohler; Tough course pays off in breathtaking scenery.(management of the company)
June 12, 2006... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY There is no better or more feared nearby golf destination than Kohler, Wis., home to the four nationally famous links that make up the Blackwolf Run/ Whistling Straits complex. It is loosely attached to the nearby...

Stores let boys be boys; Kids can design cars, race them on track; first one to open in July.(News)
June 12, 2006... Byline: SANDRA JONES Move over, American Girl Place. It's time to give the boys a chance to play. Experience Enterprises Inc., a Chicago-based startup, is preparing to roll out a chain of auto racing stores aimed at boys. The stores...

Illinois pols must fight for lock replacement.(Opinion)
June 12, 2006... Few would dispute the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Why, then, is it so hard to find $20 million to replace the Chicago Harbor Lock? A failure of the aging lock would be far more costly, but for some...

Touchy-feely.(interview)(Interview)
June 12, 2006... Byline: SAMANTHA STAINBURN In 1948, during a leisurely walk, Swiss engineer George de Mestral invented Velcro after noticing how cockleburs stuck to his clothing. These days, product development teams are expected to brainstorm at their...

For The Record.(Trizec Properties acquisitions)(Global Hyatt Corp searching a new appointments of Chief executive offciers)(Walgreen Co acquisitions)
June 12, 2006... Trizec Properties and Trizec Canada said they have agreed to be acquired by Brookfield Properties and private-equity firm Blackstone Group for $8.9 billion. Toronto-based Brookfield will buy all outstanding common shares of Trizec Properties...

Come aboard; WARNING: NEW COLUMNIST AHEAD.(Focus: Small Business)
June 12, 2006... Byline: Thomas Mucha What a day, lucky reader. You're holding the very first edition of Small Talk, or what I'm pompously and proudly calling "An Entrepreneur's Guide to Chicago.'' Why pompously? Because columnists are generally...

GUM BATTLE; Wrigley's troubles double as Cadbury comes on strong in firm's core business.(acquisitions)
June 12, 2006... Byline: JULIE JARGON A new rival is making trouble for Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. in the gum business, compounding the candymaker's difficulties as it struggles to jump-start newly acquired mint and candy brands. Cadbury Schweppes PLC, which...

At Deadline.(contracts)(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Ford yanks sedan set to be built in Chicago Ford has scrapped plans for one of two new Lincoln sedans to be built at its Chicago Assembly Plant, according to Erich Merkle of IRN Inc., a Michigan consultancy that forecasts auto production...

Incubate this: 3 ideas a day; Speeding new products to market helped Moto recover from its slump.(Focus: Small Business)
June 12, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINA LE BEAU Jim O'Connor Jr. and his team at Motorola Inc. review 1,000 ideas a year. That's three new concepts a day (if they worked weekends). "I can walk the halls of our engineering lab and get 10 to 20 ideas in an...

Separate and equal; At Chicago-based Morningstar, there's money in division.(Focus: Small Business)
June 12, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINA LE BEAU When New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced in December 2002 that 10 major investment firms would have to spend $450 million to buy independent research, Catherine Odelbo hopped a plane to Manhattan. ...

Innovation with a side of fries; McDonald's puts new products and procedures to the test.(facilities of restaurant industry)
June 12, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINA LE BEAU In an unassuming warehouse in Romeoville, McDonald's Corp.'s innovation team is at work. Inside the 24,000-square-foot facility, Ken Koziol, vice-president of worldwide restaurant innovation, and his staff of...

Standard Parking's unique deal-making; Northwest buy a model for future acquisitions?(News)
June 12, 2006... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY Standard Parking Corp.'s latest acquisition is like a magician's act: done without cash, stock or upfront compensation to the sellers. In January, the Chicago company, which leases and manages 1,900 commercial...

How to read like an entrepreneur; Big and bulky? Some tips for slimming down.(Focus: Small Business)
June 12, 2006... Byline: MARK HENRICKS The term "intrapreneurship'' has been around at least 20 years, but it's only recently become a buzzword in business circles. Here's a sampling of where to go to find out what all the talk's about. Come on, you can't...

Shotgun wedding for CME, CBOT? NYSE move makes crosstown deal more likely.(News)
June 12, 2006... Byline: KATE RYAN The New York Stock Exchange's proposed acquisition of Euronext N.V. would mark the first major foray into futures trading by the world's largest stock exchange-and heighten the prospects for a shotgun wedding between...

On the Move.(People)
June 12, 2006... ARCHITECTURE/ENGINEERING HOK GROUP Inc., St. Louis: Vladislav Torskiy, 39, to vice-president and senior medical planner in Chicago, from planning leader and associate at SmithGroup Inc. Also, Mark Banholzer, 43, to vice-president and...

This Week: WaMu's Chicago chief checks out.(Washington Mutual)(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Byline: Steve Daniels The head of Washington Mutual's Chicago operation left the company last month. No replacement has been named for Tony Manisco, who was senior vice-president and group manager for WaMu's Chicago-area retail bank, an...

Throwing out ideas . . . and envelopes; LaSalle Bank cashes in on staff suggestions.(Focus: Small Business)
June 12, 2006... Byline: STUART LUMAN Eight years ago, LaSalle Bank Corp. CEO Harry Tempest sent out a companywide voice-mail asking employees to come up with ways to reduce paper. Guess what? It worked. At the time, the bank was making hard...

Pabst moving HQ to Chicago area.(Pabst Brewing)(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Pabst Brewing is moving its headquarters to Woodridge, marking its return to the Midwest after a decade-long absence. Lured by the labor pool, transportation access and nearly $1 million in state incentives, the beer manufacturer is moving 31...