Crain's Chicago Business articles from November 2004

Crain's Chicago Business archives from November 2004

Illinois' example scares casino biz; States look to gambling to plug holes in budgets.(Markets)
November 1, 2004... Byline: KRISTINA BUCHTHAL LAS VEGAS-The gambling industry is worried that Illinois could extend its highest-in-the-nation casino tax past its July 2005 expiration date, and also fears other states could follow in jacking up gambling...

Monica Peek; 34, Assistant professor, internist, Rush University Medical Center.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Sarah A. Klein Monica Peek is a medical missionary. When she arrived in Chicago with funding from philanthropist George Soros in 2001, she set out to remedy health disparities between black and white women. From her office at...

Conventions.(Calendar/Datebook)(Calendar)
November 1, 2004... THIS WEEK NOV. 3-6: Design-Build Institute of America, Hilton Chicago, estimated attendance 1,400. NOV. 3-6: National Community Capital Assn., Westin Michigan Avenue, estimated attendance 700. NOV. 3-6: Phonak Inc., Hyatt Regency...

Kevin Holley; 39, Plant manager, International Truck & Engine Corp.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Bob Tita Kevin Holley can figure out where money is hiding by walking around International Truck & Engine Corp.'s Melrose Park engine plant. "I don't care what manufacturing process you look at, there's money lying on the...

State revisits pension bonds; Chance to cut $35-billion liability; won't solve long-term mess.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: SHRUTI DATE SINGH The governor's pension panel is mulling whether to propose selling more obligation bonds, a move that could reduce Illinois' $35-billion retirement system liability by $2 billion to $12 billion. Debate over...

For the Record.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Prime Group Realty Trust, the beleaguered REIT once led by Michael Reschke, is being bought by Mr. Reschke and investor E. Barry Mansur in an all-cash transaction valued at $877 million. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises is repurchasing...

ATA filing fallout at Midway.(Briefs)(ATA Airlines)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... ATA Airlines agreed to turn over its Midway Airport operations to AirTran Airways for $87.6 million as part of its restructuring and bankruptcy filing. Subject to approval by the city of Chicago and the Bankruptcy Court, AirTran will assume...

Gaming Board logjam has impact outside Ill. MGM's $7.9 billion deal could be held up.(Markets)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: KRISTINA BUCHTHAL Disarray at the Illinois Gaming Board could delay the planned March closing of casino giant MGM Mirage's $7.9-billion acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group. The deal is one of several issues delayed because the...

Roland S. Martin; 35, editor, chicago defender.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Mullman Roland S. Martin is pushing the 99-year-old Chicago Defender to think of itself less as an artifact and more as a newspaper. Once among the most prominent voices in black America, the Defender more recently was...

On the Clock: Wrap star.(The Business of Life)(Fred Tedeschi, athletic trainer, Chicago Bulls)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Gretchen Wahl Fred Tedeschi, athletic trainer, Chicago Bulls Salary: Over $100,000, under $200,000 Years on the job: Six Duties: Handles injured Bulls from initial evaluation to rehab-everything from bandages to CPR....

Status address at a value price; Best deal on the block: Get a foot in the door of a top neighborhood.(The Business of Life)
November 1, 2004... Byline: MARK SCHEFFLER When your ambitions are bigger than your wallet, the streets that demarcate the Chicago area's premier neighborhoods seem more like walls. Even with low mortgage rates, affordability is an issue in upscale...

New banks don't get much of our money; Market entrants' branches lag LaSalle, Harris in new deposits.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: STEVE DANIELS The out-of-town banks that built bunches of branches around the Chicago area didn't make big inroads in their first year, according to new data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. In little more than a year,...

An eye for design- in private space, too.(The Business of Life)(Concrete)(Interview)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Maureen Jenkins Jilly Simons, owner of graphic design firm Concrete, helps businesses develop organizational identities: cohesive images that announce to the world what they are. She does the same for her own image with her...

Effort afoot to create exchange for tech licenses; 'We can figure out how to trade corn, why (not) applied technology?'.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: SANDRA JONES Jim Malackowski aims to make Chicago a center for trade in ideas. The Chicago area generated almost as many patents as Silicon Valley and Boston's technology corridor in the 1990s, the most recent metropolitan data...

Bruce Lahn; 35, Assistant professor of human genetics and cell biology, University of Chicago.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Sarah A. Klein If scientists develop a birth control pill for men, women may have Bruce Lahn to thank. The University of Chicago scientist's groundbreaking identification of the genes associated with the Y chromosome not only...

Matt Ferguson; 37, President and CEO, CareerBuilder.com.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Chief executive officers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Mullman As CEO of CareerBuilder. com since 2002, Matt Ferguson's primary task has been battling online job-ad giant Monster.com. And thanks to a bold deal, he's winning. Early this year, Mr. Ferguson sold CareerBuilder's...

Hynes Dines at Harry's.(The Business of Life)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... One regular at Harry Caray's: state Comptroller Dan Hynes, who frequently lunches on the chopped salad with chicken. "You know the food must be good for a Sox fan to go there,'' Mr. Hynes says. "But, of course, Harry was with the Sox before the...

John Roberson; 35, Commissioner, Department of Aviation, City of Chicago.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Shruti Date Singh John Roberson relishes tough opportunities, and Mayor Richard M. Daley keeps giving them to him. Mr. Roberson's latest job in the Daley administration puts him in charge of Midway and O'Hare International airports...

Waring Lester; 35: Package division manager, United Parcel Service of America Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Mark Scheffler You can learn a lot about efficiency feeding cows. Waring Lester, UPS' youngest division manager in a major market, should know. While growing up on a farm in Tennessee with his grandparents, he was often up with the...

Jonathan Stevens; 34, Chief information officer, CDW corp.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... Byline: H. Lee Murphy Jonathan Stevens leads the effort to boost sales on CDW Corp.'s Web site-no small feat at a company that has always sold the latest in tech equipment, but hasn't always used it at headquarters. Studying computer...

WHY CAN'T WRIGLEY MAKE NO-STICK GUM? Company and U of I labs experiment with corn; DuSable H.S. janitor's daily half-hour of scraping.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: JULIE JARGON Split atoms. Backward-flowing rivers. Steel-frame skyscrapers. Could non-sticky gum be the next great Chicago innovation? Teams of scientists at Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and the University of Illinois at...

Susana Mendoza; 32, state representative, D-Chicago.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Margaret Littman Nine years ago, Susana Mendoza says, "I didn't know what a ward was; I didn't know an alderman from a state representative.'' But political naivete may be what made Ms. Mendoza a success in Springfield. Now in...

Fund manager fumes at Morningstar stance; Forester fracas raising questions about rating service's methods.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: JEFF BENJAMIN Crain News Service As Morningstar Inc. prepares to offer its shares to the public, a mutual fund manager is grousing publicly about the fund-rating service's recent re-categorization of a top-performing fund. At...

Donald McLellan; 38, Corporate vice-president, Motorola Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julie Johnsson Donald McLellan's skills as dealmaker for Motorola Inc. were put to the test with the electronics giant's July spinoff of its $4.86-billion chip business, Free-scale Semiconductor Inc. His task as director of...

Residency rule limits the city's supply of labor.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Chicago Public Schools, at the request of Mayor Richard M. Daley, decided last week to keep-and add some teeth to-a policy requiring employees to live within city limits. Partially abandoning a don't-ask, don't-tell policy, the schools...

Conflicts run deep at Aon; Interests can be at odds with those of its clients.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: STEVE DANIELS Conflicts of interest in the insurance brokerage business go beyond activities already publicly identified as under scrutiny by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Aon Corp. and others have sworn off...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
November 1, 2004... * An incorrect photo appeared for G. Allen Andreas, chairman and chief executive of Archer Daniels Midland Co., in the Oct. 18 Crain's List of top CEOs' alma maters. The correct photo is at right. * The list also incorrectly stated the...

Efficiency expert tackles state board of ed.(People)(Illinois State Board of Education)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Kristina Buchthal Job: Chairman, Illinois State Board of Education, since Sept. 15. Vitals: 39 years old; bachelor's degree in economics and business administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988; law degree,...

Grave dancer back in action with Home Products stake; Many observers say Zell buy's a bargain; others wary of imports.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY Sam Zell is the apparent winner of an eight-month battle for control of Home Products International Inc., giving the Chicago tycoon a chance to prove he still has the eye for undervalued companies that earned him the...

Drop in support spurs social service merger; FamilyCare of Ill. faced shutting down before uniting with Uhlich.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN Shrinking charitable contributions forced a long-established Chicago-area social service agency into the arms of another. FamilyCare of Illinois, a 154-year-old agency specializing in youth and senior services,...

Christa Small; 34, Director of operations, worldwide restaurant innovation department, McDonalds' Corp.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julie Jargon Christa Small began working for McDonald's at age 15 in southwest suburban Berkeley as a crew member-a position that would be radically changed by a new self- order kiosk plan she's now shepherding through research and...

Ken Griffin; 36, Founder, Citadel Investment Group LLC.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Steven R. Strahler Some people say Ken Griffin has started to mellow after aggressively building Citadel Investment Group LLC into a $10-billion hedge fund over little more than a decade and personally earning an estimated $230...

Deborah H. Telman; 39, Assistant corporate secretary, counsel Boeing Co.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Paul Merrion In between overseeing mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures for the world's largest aerospace company, raising money for a foster home in North Lawndale and coaching her kids' soccer team, Deborah H. Telman learned...

Simon Garber; 39, President, Chicago Carriage Cab Co and Royal 3 CCC.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Greg Hinz When it comes to operating cabs in Chicago, Simon Garber is increasingly the big boss. Mr. Garber owns 491 of the city's 6,900 cab medallions-more than anyone else, according to the city Department of Consumer...

Shannon M. Kennedy; 39, Midwest director of wealth strategies, Northern Trust Co.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Shannon M. Kennedy discovered two of her passions, finance and children, during a summer in New York working as a nanny for a wealthy family. Now she advises the kinds of families she once served, overseeing 20 people in a Northern Trust Co....

Agenda-setter.(The Business of Life)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Mark Scheffler As president and executive producer of the Chicago Humanities Festival, Eileen Mackevich draws together scholars, artists and policymakers each year to expound on a theme. The festival celebrates its 15th anniversary...

Datebook.(Calendar/Datebook)(Calendar)
November 1, 2004... THIS WEEK NOV. 1: 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. NOV. 2: Score...

Andy Baker; 39, Chief executive officer, Glotel plc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Shruti Date Singh Andy Baker left his parents' farm on the southern coast of England to start his own company in London at 23. Now, after guiding the international recruiting firm through two recessions and a downsizing, he's seen...

LACY'S SAVIOR: Board in no hurry; Sears slips and critics wonder why the CEO is still around.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: SANDRA JONES The secret to Alan Lacy's survival as CEO at Sears, Roebuck and Co. may be a D-list board of directors. The directors who have watched the retailer's four-year deterioration in operations under Mr. Lacy's guidance...

Charter, private jets squeezed at O'Hare; Operators sound alarm as FAA launches rule aimed at cutting delays.(News)(O'Hare International Airport)
November 1, 2004... Byline: PAUL MERRION WASHINGTON-Efforts to reduce delays at O'Hare International Airport are squeezing corporate jets and other unscheduled flights. A new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rule makes charter operators wait until...

Office condos gaining a toehold in Chicago market; Low rates, stock market slump boost interest in owning over renting.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: ALBY GALLUN Amid low interest rates, a growing number of Chicago office buildings are going condo. Instead of leasing space, developers are selling whole floors of office buildings to non-profit groups, boutique law firms and...

Keep strong federal law that requires banks to lend locally.(Opinion)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julia Stasch Regulatory changes approved by one federal agency and pending with another could pave the way for hundreds of banks and thrifts to reverse course after three decades of expanding economic opportunity in low- and...

No love for McD's tagline in U.K. 'I'm lovin' it' tough sell overseas; takes fortnight off, new spots filling in.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: KATE MacARTHUR Crain News Service McDonald's is giving its new advertising tagline a break in Great Britain. The fast-food giant declared a two-week hiatus, to have ended Friday, for "I'm lovin' it'' in the United Kingdom....

Thomas Zidar; 36 Executive vice-president of retail sales, LaSalle Bank Corp.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Steve Daniels Thomas Zidar, who manages more than 800 people as head of small business and retail mortgage sales, shot up the ranks by taking on some of LaSalle Bank Corp.'s toughest tasks. Mr. Zidar's father worked 34 years...

Casino not crucial for Ho-Chunk project; Lynwood development to proceed with, without gambling, principals say.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY When the Ho-Chunk Nation Indian tribe announced it was interested in building a casino in south suburban Lynwood, local residents figured the group would move forward cautiously, as it had with similar proposals-all...

Late News.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... New-home sales rise in city, dip in burbs New-home sales in Chicago rose 128% in the third quarter over the year-earlier period, to 1,892 units, says Schaumburg real estate tracker Tracy Cross & Associates. Year-to-date, city sales-mostly...

Stock Report: Others' warnings hit Alberto's shares.(Markets)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julie Jargon Alberto-Culver Co. is suffering from guilt by association. Stock in the Melrose Park-based maker of Alberto VO5 took a hit in September after rivals Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Unilever plc issued profit warnings....

Nicor to seek 16% gas-delivery hike; Utility, under probe, says finances flagging.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: STEVE DANIELS Nicor Inc. soon plans to ask Illinois regulators for a 16% hike in the rates its 2 million suburban customers pay for delivery of natural gas. The Naperville-based utility, in briefings with Illinois Commerce...

Bartlett McCartin III; 32, President, McCartin McAuliffe Mechanical Contractor Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Bob Tita With heavy manufacturing in the Chicago area in a tailspin in December 2000, Bartlett McCartin III took over and, rather than hunker down, decided to expand his family's industrial construction business, McCartin McAuliffe...

Martha Dustin Boudos; 38, Chief Financial Officer, Morningstar Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Robert Johnson Martha Dustin Boudos is shepherding her company's $100-million initial public offering through a bearish IPO market. Success could buff up Morningstar Inc.'s shine among the nation's investment research and analysis...

Jonathan Goldman; 38, Executive director, Illinois Environmental Council.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Kathryn Peterson Legislators in Springfield perked up earlier this year when Jonathan Goldman helped rescue two land preservation programs from the state's chopping block. Mr. Goldman led Partners for Parks and Wildlife, a...

Fees Aon gave up still taken by others.(Markets)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY While the two largest Chicago-area insurance brokers gave up controversial volume-based commissions from insurers, others cling to the fees and hope to profit from a controversy that so far has focused on the...

Already voted? IN SOME CHICAGO WARDS, ABSENTEE BALLOTS ARE STILL A SHOW OF PRECINCT MUSCLE.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Greg Hinz Those pikers from Florida with their hanging chads have been hogging a lot of attention lately. But as America girds for another presidential nail-biter, Chicago should not be forgotten. We have our own rich tradition of...

Landmark battle in Lincoln Park; City Hall would limit residential teardowns.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: ALBY GALLUN It's the city's highest-stakes residential battle: Talk of landmarking blocks in Lincoln Park, with hundreds of millions of dollars in property value at stake, pitting preservationists against residents who fear the...

Nicole Ertas; 36, Senior brand manager, Jim Beam Brands Worldwide Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julie Jargon Nicole Ertas joined Jim Beam Brands Worldwide Inc. in May 2002 and launched tequila into the cocktail age. She renamed little-known El Tesoro Silver tequila as El Tesoro Platinum, marketed it as a mixable liquor and...

John Cerasani; 27, Owner, Star69Events Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Kristina Buchthal John Cerasani has built a business by filling Chicago bars with attractive yuppies and hip twentysomethings who don't mind shelling out $11 for a martini. A former tight end for Northwestern University, Mr....

Jeffrey S. Aronin; 37: President and CEO, Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: H. Lee Murphy In the world of Big Pharma, where Goliaths like Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc. sift through countless formulations in search of the next billion-dollar drug for cancer or heart disease, treatments for rare diseases are...

Monica Kasley; 34, Director of external affairs and communications, Horseshoe Casino Hammond.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Dawn Prochnow Monica Kasley began her casino career in a bow tie and vest, supervising games tables on the 5-a.m.-to-2-p.m. shift at Joliet's Empress Casino. Now she's the public face of Horseshoe Casino Hammond, which hit its...

Linda Chapa LaVia; 38, State representative, D-Aurora.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Sandra Swanson State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, a former U.S. Army officer, believes military men and women who fight for national security should get job and financial security in return. "We ask people to put their lives on the...

Navy Pier's next act: a theater for children.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN The Chicago Shakespeare Theater plans to build a children's theater at Navy Pier, according to Executive Director Criss Henderson. Plans for the new venue, tentatively dubbed Playhouse on Navy Pier, would have...

Hurricanes to hit Fortune golf biz; Equipment-making unit to feel full effect of Fla. storms in 4th quarter.(News)(Fortune Brands Inc.)
November 1, 2004... Byline: JULIE JARGON The hurricanes are over in Florida, but the golf equipment unit of Fortune Brands Inc. is still weathering the storm. Four hurricanes this fall shut down golf courses and destroyed pro shops across the state....

40 Under 40.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... Here's what we learned from our 40 Under 40s this year: 35 have passports and have traveled to places like Bangkok and Belize. 32 are married and 26 have children. One is divorced. Three drive Hummers, one owns a Maserati and three have...

Danielle Allen; 32 Dean, division of humanities, University of Chicago.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Kristina Buchthal Danielle Allen, an expert in classical languages and literature and political philosophy at the University of Chicago, published her first book and earned tenure at 28, received a MacArthur fellowship at 29 and...

Deal hasn't halted woes at brake parts company; Universal Automotive blames higher expenses for $3.3-mil. loss in 2Q.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: BOB TITA Universal Automotive Industries Inc.'s bid to get bigger so far hasn't made the company's performance better. The Alsip-based maker of replacement brake parts for vehicles bought TRW Automotive Inc.'s brake parts unit...

Douglas Zell; 38, Founder, CEO, Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Sandra Jones Blurp, blurp, gurgle. The coffeemaker lets out a hiss, and Douglas Zell smiles. "To have a great cup of coffee can make your day,'' says the founder and CEO of Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea Inc. In less than a...

On the Move.(People)
November 1, 2004... FINANCIAL SERVICES Deloitte & Touche LLP, New York: James H. Caldwell, 38, to partner in the enterprise risk services practice in Chicago, from senior manager. Also, Yasushi Kubo, 36, and Erika K. Nelson, 35, to partner in the audit...

Wheels fall off deal to sell Visteon plant; Unable to reach accord on Far South Side facility.(News)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Crain News Service A deal for Visteon Corp. to sell its new Chicago interior parts plant to Plastech Engineered Products Inc. has fallen apart. The two companies could not come to an agreement that would work for both parties,...

James Crouthamel; 39, President, CEO, Performics Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julie Johnsson If Internet marketer James Crouthamel had stuck to banner advertising, Google Inc. might be just another popular but money-sucking Internet fad. And Yahoo Inc. might not have paid $1.6 billion for Overture Services...

Melissa Kibler Knoll; 37, Senior managing director, Mesirow Financial Consulting.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Christina Le Beau If Melissa Kibler Knoll is at the table, it's a safe bet that someone else there has lost money, or stands to. In which case, having Ms. Knoll on board is a very good thing. She spent five years with KPMG LLP,...

Katherine R. Maehr; 36, Director of development, Greater Chicago Food Depository.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Mullman Katherine R. Maehr spearheaded a $30-million capital campaign that built a sparkling South Side facility for Chicago's largest food bank, expanding yearly distribution capacity to 80 million pounds from 42 million....

SURVEY SAYS: What have you missed out on by working so hard to succeed?(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... "Time with extended family." "Living abroad as a student. Europe. Perhaps Italy or Spain." "Even though I can leave work behind Physically, I'm still preoccupied with the business. I'm never really able to truly get away from it." ...

SURVEY SAYS: When does middle age begin?(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... 1 says 35-39 4 say 40-44 14 say 45-49 16 say 50-55 2 say 60+ "That's a very funny question to ask this group of people. It's certainly not the first (category)-because I'm not there! I'd say 45-49, though five years ago...

Robert L. Satcher; 39, Astronaut in training, NASA.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Paul Merrion For Robert L. Satcher, the sky is not the limit. The Northwestern University orthopedic surgeon and research scientist has his sights set on the moon, or at least the International Space Station. And his expertise...

SURVEY SAYS: What percent of people who work for you are older than you?(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... 18 say 50% or more "In most positions I've held, the great majority are older than me." "It doesn't matter. Age is irrelevant. It's down to what you can do and what you can produce."

Robert D. Bronstein; 30, President, Scion Group LLC.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Alby Gallun Robert D. Bronstein got his big break in real estate by taking a chance on a project no one else would touch: University Center, a 1,700-bed student housing project in the South Loop. "People thought the project was...

Mike Domek; 35, Owner/president, TicketsNow.com and EventInventory.com.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Mark Scheffler Mike Domek's 5-year-old online ticket selling service, TicketsNow.com, has shot up the charts: It sold $35 million worth of tickets last year and is on track to reach $40 million in sales in 2004. And it was all...

Ann Spillane; 38, Chief of staff, Illinois attorney general's office.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Sandra Swanson Attorney General Lisa Madigan can sum up the success of her chief of staff, Ann Spillane, in two words: "She juggles." Metaphorically, that's handy in a government office that can feel like a three-ring circus....

SURVEY SAYS: What have you missed out on by working so hard to succeed?(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... "Nothing. Working here is like being in a family." "Life. Spending time with friends, traveling, a little more time to exercise." "More quality time with my wife." "It is the opposite. I have gained so much, it's almost not fair."...

SURVEY SAYS: What's the most recent foreign destination you've visited?(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 1, 2004... Dublin, Paris, Beijing, Toronto, Brazil, Canada, Venice, Ireland, Jamaica, Buenos Aires, Belize, Shanghai, London, Sydney, Cape town, Istanbul, Honduras, Bali, Vancouver, Marbella, Cancun, Barcelona, Bahamas, Bangkok, Stockholm. More...

SURVEY SAYS: What have you missed out on by working so hard to succeed?(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... "It's very difficult for me to relax on vacations. I still check my voice-mail and e-mail every day." "More time outdoors, more time in the wilderness." "My work pattern and schedule contributed to a failed marriage. But I really have...

David Marco; 36, President, EWSolutions Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Paul Merrion When the Federal Bureau of Investigation urgently needed to create an easy-to-use database of all the information it had on terrorist activity, it tapped David Marco. Not to get metaphysical about it, but think of...

Carlos Abrams-Rivera; 37, Senior business director, global convenient meals and grocery sector, Kraft Foods Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Julie Jargon Carlos Abrams-Rivera used to deliver power and water to small towns in Puerto Rico. Now, he brings products like Miracle Whip and Jell-O to China and South America. Mr. Abrams-Rivera went from the governor's office...

SURVEY SAYS: What have you missed out on by working so hard to succeed?(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... "Nothing. The day my worth is predicated on what I accomplish in the marketplace is the day I get out." "I have three young children now, and I find that when I'm not at work, I'm spending all my free time with them. I haven't played golf...

Donald Harmon; 37, State senator, D-Oak Park.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Byline: Greg Hinz Freshmen state senators are known for quietly learning the Springfield ropes-not handling complex, controversial legislation that reaches across the political aisle. But Donald Harmon is not turning out to be your typical...