Crain's Chicago Business articles from November 2008

Crain's Chicago Business archives from November 2008

Capitol Gains.(News)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Paul merrion Some Chicago companies shifted with the political winds after Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. While corporations can't give directly, their political action committees can contribute up to $10,000 to...

Chandler Bigelow; 39 - Chief financial officer, Tribune Co.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Ann Saphir You could say Chandler Bigelow broke into the media business when as a student his poems were published in the annual literary magazine at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. Seventeen years later, as chief financial...

Lara Miller; 28 - Owner and designer, Lara Miller Ltd.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Monee Fields-White Six years ago, Lara Miller walked into Bucktown boutique p45 in search of a part-time job. The senior at the School of the Art Institute needed money to make ends meet. Owner Tricia Tunstall, who admired Ms....

Local real estate outlook is grim; Chicago outranks other Midwestern markets.(News)
November 3, 2008... Byline: ALBY GALLUN The Chicago real estate market has moved up in an annual popularity contest, but it still gets a lukewarm reception from investors. Chicago ranks 10th for commercial and multifamily residential investment in the...

Tiffany Winne; 38 - Corporate managing director, Studley Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Eddie Baeb Several weeks into an internship in 1996, Tiffany Winne exhibited a knack for client service. She was called into the office of Michael Hammer, head of the consulting firm where she worked, and found him hurling...

Graham Elliot Bowles; 31 - Chef, Graham Elliot restaurant.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Shia Kapos He has a penchant for lining up spices alphabetically and wiping counters non-stop. But don't let that obsession with order fool you: Graham Elliot Bowles is a cowboy of sorts-a chef who likes adventure and simplicity,...

Transit ads enter the digital age; CTA testing video displays; expects new revenue of $101 million.(News)
November 3, 2008... Byline: ANDREW HAMPP Advertisements are starting to seem unavoidable for commuters in Chicago and New York, popping up on turnstiles, buses and the entire exteriors of subway cars. But revenue generated by those ads has become...

On the Move.(People)
November 3, 2008... CONSUMER SERVICES EASTON-BELL SPORTS INC., Van Nuys, Calif.: Dan Arment, 47, to president of the Riddell business, in Des Plaines, from executive vice-president and general manager of the mass-market business in Saratoga, Calif. ...

James Bond brings out city's manly men.(Business of Life)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Shia Kapos Chicago men are abuzz about a high-stakes drama-but it has nothing to do with an election. It's all about Bond, James Bond, and the new movie coming out this month with Daniel Craig, a man's man who even lost part of...

Missing a beat; Hospira's shares take a pounding as credit crisis stokes concern over hospital spending, medical supplier's heavy debt.(Markets)
November 3, 2008... Byline: MIKE COLIAS The credit crisis has Hospira Inc. investors feeling ill. Shares of the Lake Forest-based medical-products maker plunged 27% last month, worse than the 18% decline for a Standard & Poor's index of 45 health care...

Tom Polen; 35 - General manager, global pharmaceutical injectables, Baxter International Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Mike Colias As a 20-something new hire at medical-device maker Becton Dickinson & Co., Tom Polen would pop into his manager's office at the end of the day to ask if he had any extra work to unload. Greg Meehan, then general...

Jon Van Gorp; 39 - Partner, Mayer Brown LLP.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Steven R. Strahler Jon Van Gorp says the mortgage meltdown's notoriety has made it easier to explain what he does for a living: He's co-chairman of Mayer Brown's subprime lending and capital markets distress response team-a long...

Kevin Kline; 39 - Vice-president, assistant general manager, Horseshoe Casino Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Shia Kapos Kevin Kline says he's not much of a gambler, but he sees a sure thing in the $500-million expansion that more than doubled the space at Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind. Mr. Kline...

Caralynn Nowinski-Chenoweth; 30 - Associate, Midwest Venture Partners; president, SanoGene Therapeutics Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Bob Tita Caralynn Nowinski-Cheno-weth turned a class project into a career. In 2006, while on hiatus from medical school to pursue an MBA, she co-founded SanoGene Therapeutics Inc., a Chicago-based biotechnology firm that...

Neil Fitzpatrick; 35 - Chief operating officer, Citadel Execution Services.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Ann Saphir Neil Fitzpatrick dries and cures his own salami, makes pasta from scratch and replaces the brakes on his Land Rover himself. He does things "whether or not I have a background in it.'' Four years ago, he began...

CRUNCH TIME AT CME; With futures trading slipping, Donohue reaches for much-needed boost in swaps.(Markets in Crisis)
November 3, 2008... Byline: ANN SAPHIR The financial crisis that has blunted growth in CME Group Inc.'s futures business also presents CEO Craig Donohue with the opportunity to seize a market worth up to $400 million a year in new revenue-but he'll have to...

Richard Rodriguez; 37 - Commissioner of aviation, city of Chicago.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Paul Merrion When he became the city's new commissioner of aviation in April, it took Richard Rodriguez about three weeks to slash the budget for routine upkeep of O'Hare International Airport. Aircraft landing fees ultimately...

Nicole Loftus; 38 - CEO, Zorch International Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Michelle Evans As a little girl, Nicole Loftus would grab her books, pull a chair up to the nightstand in her parents' bedroom and start punching numbers into a calculator. "I often chose to play office rather than play with...

Officials must open books on TIF spending.(Opinion)
November 3, 2008... A report last week shed new light on the growing share of property tax dollars flowing into tax-increment financing districts, or TIFs, as they are commonly called. The TIF is a favorite development tool of local officials, most notably...

Kevin White; 37 - Professor, Department of Human Genetics and Department of Ecology and Evolution, director, Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology, University of Chicago.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Bob Tita Kevin White is convinced the genetic process that separated humans from chimpanzees also holds an effective treatment for cancer. In 2006, Mr. White founded the Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology at the...

Sumant Ramachandra; 39 - Senior vice-president, chief scientific officer, Hospira Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Mike Colias At a leadership conference hosted by pharmaceutical maker Schering-Plough Corp. in November 2006, Sumant Ramachandra found himself in conversation with CEO Fred Hassan, who asked the rising-star scientist where he saw...

Elena Sotomayor; 36 - Vice-president, event marketing and sales, Cardenas Marketing Network Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Michelle Evans Elena Sotomayor had been in the United States only three months when her student mentor at Park Junior High in La Grange Park persuaded her to join a club-or so she thought. Turns out, it was a campaign. "It...

Meredith O'Connor; 39 - Executive vice-president, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Thomas A. Corfman A former Chicago economic development official, Meredith O'Connor can give a spirited pitch about the wide-ranging services and expertise of commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., which she joined...

Calvin Butler Jr. 39 - Vice-president, state legislative and government affairs, Commonwealth Edison Co.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Steve Daniels At Bradley University in Peoria, Calvin Butler was an average student who, in his words, "applied myself on the social side.'' But that changed in 1989, his junior year, when a freshman named Matthew Hale...

Christa Davies; 37 - Executive vice-president, chief financial officer, Aon Corp.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Steve Daniels From her office high up in Chicago's Aon Center, Christa Davies has no trouble recalling the most harrowing experience of her career. During a summer internship at a mining company in her native Australia, she was...

`We want to tell the Fifth Third story'.(People)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Steve Daniels Job: Executive vice-president and head of commercial banking in Chicago for Fifth Third Bank, since Oct. 14. Vitals: 52 years old; bachelor's degree in agricultural economics, University of Illinois at...

Datebook.(Calendar/Datebook)(Calendar)
November 3, 2008... THIS WEEK NOV. 3: 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. Free for first-time attendees; others pay...

Kim Kleeman; 34 - President, Shakespeare Squared LLC.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Monee Fields-White Kim Kleeman often misses the classroom. A former high school English teacher, she smiles when reminiscing about guiding students through Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet'' and counseling them through teen angst....

Shawn Donnelley; 39 - Founder, Strategic Giving LLC; board chairman, Goodman Theatre.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Shia Kapos With a renowned name in local business, Shawn Donnelley could easily have settled in to a career helping manage the family firm. But Ms. Donnelley, whose great-great-grandfather founded Chicago-based printer R. R....

Carson's plan dealt setback; State Street project faces down market with single tenant.(News)
November 3, 2008... Byline: EDDIE BAEB Gourmet grocer Fox & Obel and trendy surf-wear retailer Billabong are dropping plans for stores in the former Carson Pirie Scott & Co. building on State Street, leaving the ambitious project with only one tenant as it...

Geoff Watts; 35 - Vice-president, green coffee buyer, Intelligentsia Coffee Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Laurie Cunningham Nothing about Geoff Watts screamed business success when he responded to a 1995 Chicago Reader ad seeking baristas for a new coffee shop in Lakeview. He walked into the interview with hair down to his waist. His...

Harris snubbed in bailout; Rivals getting leg up while Canadian parent shut out of U.S. relief.(Markets in Crisis)
November 3, 2008... Byline: STEVE DANIELS Harris Bankcorp Inc. is sifting through the wreckage of the financial system for potential takeovers, but, unlike its rivals, the bank isn't getting a hand from the U.S. government. That's putting Chicago's No. 3...

Aaron Rasty; 36 - Chief operating officer, BlueStar Energy Services Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Steve Daniels Aaron Rasty learns by doing. The Iowa native, a co-founder and operations chief at fast-growing electricity supplier BlueStar Energy Services Inc., left home the day he turned 18. A semester at a community...

Deanne Benos; 37 - Assistant director, Illinois Department of Corrections.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Paul Merrion Roosevelt Houston LeFlore doesn't know Deanne Benos, but he knows why he's at the Sheridan Correctional Center, a model state drug prison she was instrumental in creating four years ago. "My life is on the line,''...

Robert Pasin; 39 - CEO, Radio Flyer Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Bob Tita As the grandson of the founder of Radio Flyer, Robert Pasin always knew how important the company was to his family. What he didn't realize was how much the bright-red wagons meant to generations of other families. ...

Shipping slump stings; Warehouse, trucking and rail firms follow economy into decline.(Markets in Crisis)
November 3, 2008... Byline: BOB TITA Transportation and distribution, a bright spot of Chicago industry for more than a decade, is fading along with the broader economy. Business is slowing for local trucking companies, railroads, freight forwarders,...

Timothy Hurd; 38 - Managing director, Madison Dearborn Partners LLC.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Ann Saphir Timothy Hurd was putting himself through the University of Michigan working a job at Foot Locker when he made his first stock market play: He bought shares in shoemaker K-Swiss shortly after it went public in 1990. When...

Touch of irony; HOW A FIRST-TERM SENATOR CAME ACROSS AS MORE PRESIDENTIAL THAN A D.C. VETERAN.(News)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Greg Hinz The ironies are piling up as Barack Obama prepares to breeze into Grant Park for what just about every pollster this side of Neptune is expecting will be a very happy election night for him. The irony of a black man...

Comcast in cable cross hairs; AT&T's goodies aimed at gaining bigger slice of Chicago market.(News)
November 3, 2008... Byline: JOHN PLETZ The battle for Chicago's cable television turf is heating up. AT&T Inc., which recently began offering service in Jefferson Park and a few other Chicago neighborhoods, is making a major push with its U-verse bundle...

Jonathan Favreau; 27 - Chief speechwriter, Obama for America.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Paul Merrion Before Barack Obama hired him as chief speechwriter in 2005, Jonathan Favreau was well on his way to a career in public service, writing or both. Mr. Favreau served as editorial page editor of his campus newspaper...

Lisa Weinstein; 34 - Managing director, MindShare Worldwide.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: John Pletz Lisa Weinstein learned the difference between a passion and a career while studying theater in college. She loved acting and preparing to stage a performance, but she could tell she didn't want to make her living...

Paul Gunning; 38 - CEO, Tribal DDB Worldwide.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: John Pletz By day, Paul Gunning is helping lead the shift from print to online media. In his spare time, he still likes to feel a book in his hands, especially biographies. "I'm fascinated by these figures who were involved in...

John Hinshaw; 38 - Chief information officer, Boeing Co.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: John Pletz As a teenager in Norfolk, Va., while recuperating from the knee injury that ended his basketball career, John Hinshaw taught himself computer programming. Working on an Apple2 clone called the Franklin, he wrote an...

Brendan Reilly; 37 - Alderman, 42nd Ward, Chicago.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Greg Hinz Ask Alderman Brendan Reilly why he commissioned a poll-a citywide poll-in the midst of his war with Mayor Richard M. Daley over the Chicago Children's Museum last summer, and he responds that an ally, not he, ordered up...

Sadhu Johnston; 34 - Chief environmental officer, city of Chicago.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Greg Hinz So you think you know what CEO means? As the green ethic rises, CEO also stands for chief environmental officer, and Chicago's Sadhu Johnston is at the vanguard of a fast-growing fraternity. Mr. Johnston clearly is a...

Scott Mandell; 37 - CEO, Enjoy Life Foods LLC.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: David Sterrett Scott Mandell's career path was clear: After working as a commercial banker through most of the '90s, he'd get his MBA and work for his dad, Ralph, at his bank, PrivateBancorp Inc. But what started as a class...

State power broker indicted.(Briefs)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... A major Illinois power broker was indicted on charges of conspiring with convicted influence peddler Antoin "Tony'' Rezko to shake down a real estate investment firm for campaign contributions to Gov. Blagojevich. William Cellini Sr., 73, for...

For the Record.(Briefs)
November 3, 2008... U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Chicago, disputed a Tribune story suggesting he is under federal investigation for his role in winning approval of a West Side project, Galewood Yards, for a developer who loaned him money. He said his role in the...

Steve Schnur; 34 - Senior vice-president, Duke Realty Corp.(Focus: 40 Under 40)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Eddie Baeb Steve Schnur has been a commercial real estate executive for nearly a decade, but when he wants to motivate his staff, he takes a page from his college football days. The former quarterback, who led Northwestern...

Jason Saul; 39 - Founder, CEO, Mission Measurement LLC.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Monee Fields-White Jason Saul came up with his business plan while standing on his head. A yoga buff, he was struggling to do a handstand, kicking up into the pose and buckling under his own weight. Then his teacher gave him a...

Philippe Schaillee; 38 - Vice-president of marketing, strategy and R&D, North America, Sara Lee Corp.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: David Sterrett Philippe Schaillee visited more than 15 countries by the time he was 20. Taking in the pyramids of Egypt and the hyperkinetic pace of Hong Kong, the native of Belgium developed an intense taste for history,...

Colin Kihnke; 38 - President, CMK Development Corp.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Alby Gallun A bad downtown condominium market has only gotten worse since October 2007, when Colin Kihnke launched the biggest condominium project of his career, a 714-unit tower under way in the South Loop. But he's not sweating....

Wal-Mart eats grocers' lunch; Tough times give giant discounter an edge on Jewel and Dominick's.(News)
November 3, 2008... Byline: DAVID STERRETT A slowing economy is boosting Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s bid to overtake Jewel and Dominick's in the $12-billion Chicago-area grocery market. Wal-Mart's share of the local market nearly doubled over the past year as...

Nate Silver; 30 - Managing partner, Baseball Prospectus; creator, FiveThirtyEight.com.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Mike Colias Last winter, a young baseball prognosticator trumped the preseason magazines with a dead-on forecast: The perennial doormat Tampa Bay Rays would contend for a division title. On May 6, a little-known political...

Tim Cofer; 39 - President, pizza business, Kraft Foods Inc.(Focus: 40 Under 40)
November 3, 2008... Byline: David Sterrett Tim Cofer fell in love with Italian pizza as a teenager living in Milan. The rich tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella tasted better than any delivery pizza he ate as a kid in Minneapolis. Now, as head of Kraft...

Futures shock for the CME; Wave of new regulation building in Congress.(News)
November 10, 2008... Byline: ANN SAPHIR CME Group Inc. faces a potentially radically altered regulatory landscape as Congress weighs sweeping reform of financial oversight. Chicago-based CME, the country's largest futures exchange operator, grew to...

Backers got a jump on inaugural plans.(Business of Life)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Shia Kapos Chicago power brokers who blocked out time weeks ago to attend the party of all parties-the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama in January-have seen their faith in the candidate pay off: Airfare, hotel rooms and...

Change we do not need: a new U.S. attorney.(Opinion)
November 10, 2008... Barack Obama campaigned as the candidate of change, and people will expect him to deliver plenty of it as president. One way to fulfill his promise is to make no change at all in one important federal office: the U.S. attorney for the...

UAL profits on mileage purge; Quicker expiration killing more miles than airline anticipated.(News)
November 10, 2008... Byline: JOHN PLETZ More frequent-flier miles are expiring at United Airlines than the company expected when it shortened the expiration period for the program at the end of last year. United said in a recent filing that 24% of the...

Urban outlook; FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 50 YEARS, WE'LL HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO COMES FROM A CITY.(News)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Greg Hinz There was something striking about Barack Obama's Grant Park victory party. It wasn't the size of the crowd, though the size was impressive. Nor was it the race of the crowd, which included folks of all races...

THE ROAD AHEAD; Economic crisis will test bold agenda; progressives, pragmatists square off.(Obama Presidency)
November 10, 2008... Byline: GREG HINZ AND PAUL MERRION It's still the economy, Mr. President-elect. As the glow of a historic victory morphs into the glare of sky-high expectations, the biggest reality facing Barack Obama is that he'll have to move fast...

Illinois poised to get bigger bucks for roads, transit; New president 'understands' infrastructure challenges.(News)
November 10, 2008... Byline: BOB TITA Barack Obama's presidency is expected to pay a quick local dividend: hundreds of millions in additional dollars from Washington to fix bad roads, crumbling bridges and an aging transit system. With his fellow Democrats...

Wine discovery still a winner.(Business of Life)
November 10, 2008... Byline: H. Lee Murphy It's a nearly ubiquitous sight in Italian restaurants, and now a new autobiography by a Chicago-area winemaker and importer tells how he introduced Santa Margherita pinot grigio to the United States. Anthony...

INTREPID SOULS Meet a few who've made the big leap.(Focus: Small Business)
November 10, 2008... Byline: MEREDITH LANDRY These fledgling entrepreneurs launched their businesses within the past year, just as the economy was beginning to show signs of unraveling.What are they doing to stay afloat now, and what advice can a seasoned...

PLAYING DEFENSE; With economy sagging and corporate profits shrinking, local stock-pickers find candidates to bolster portfolios.(Markets)
November 10, 2008... Byline: MONEE FIELDS-WHITE Local stock-pickers are seeking recession shelter in several Chicago-area companies. Shares of Baxter International Inc., Caterpillar Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc. are among those that Chicago's money managers...

Energy firms in line for Obama boost; ADM, local wind-power suppliers stand to win; Exelon, not so much.(Obama Presidency)
November 10, 2008... Byline: STEVE DANIELS President-elect Barack Obama's promise to promote alternative energy sources will lift some local energy companies, but his coolness to nuclear power could be a negative for Exelon Corp. Chicago's burgeoning array...

On the Move.(People)
November 10, 2008... CONSUMER SERVICES ACADEMIC APPROACH LLC, Chicago: Maureen Perou, 49, to chief marketing officer, from vice-president of marketing and communications at Pampered Chef Ltd. GROHE AMERICA INC., Bloomingdale: Jeffrey C. Ackerberg, 46, to...

Lessons from my father.(Focus: Small Business)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Rance Crain So you think times are tough? You can't get anybody to lend you any money and you're not sure how you're going to finance your inventory? That's pretty serious stuff, no question about it. But how about this...

Recession-proof your startup.(Focus: Small Business)
November 10, 2008... Finding financing Even before the worst of the credit crisis, gaining access to capital had become a challenge. Traditional sources for entrepreneurs-home-equity lines of credit and other loans-had been drying up for some time. That...

Condominium sales fall to a 7-year low; Unsold downtown units pile up as building boom continues.(News)
November 10, 2008... Byline: ALBY GALLUN The downtown condominium market took another turn for the worse in the third quarter, as developers sold the fewest condos in a three-month period since the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Buyers signed...

Driving traffic to Chicago Community Trust's site.(People)
November 10, 2008... Byline: Monee Fields-White Job: Vice-president and chief information officer of Chicago Community Trust, a distributor of grants to local non-profit groups, since Aug. 11. Vitals: 47 years old; bachelor of science degree in business...

For the Record.(Briefs)
November 10, 2008... Republican Congressman Mark Kirk beat Democrat Dan Seals in a closely watched rematch in Northern Illinois' 10th District. . . .Republican Congressman Peter Roskam fended off Democrat Jill Morgenthaler to win a second term in the suburban 6th...

Vrdolyak pleads guilty in scheme.(Briefs)
November 10, 2008... Edward Vrdolyak pleaded guilty for his role in a real estate kickback scheme just as his trial was about to get under way. The former alderman and one-time Cook County Democratic Party chairman, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail...

Chicagoans to rouse D.C. scene; The Bush years were a social snore. Expect Team Obama to wake things up.(Business of Life)
November 10, 2008... Byline: SHIA KAPOS ***** Correction: Desiree Rogers' title was incorrect in a Nov. 10 Business of Life story. She is president of social networking for Allstate Financial, a business unit of Allstate Corp. ***** As a new...

On the Move.(People)
November 17, 2008... FINANCIAL SERVICES CROWE CAPITAL MARKETS LLC, Chicago: Thomas J. McGrath, 58, to managing director and head of debt capital markets, from managing director at J. P. Morgan Securities. INFO TECHNOLOGY ATOMOO LLC, Evanston: Daniel...

The word on L20: It's exceptional; Seafood-focused tasting is precision excellence, with a touch of theater.(Business of Life)
November 17, 2008... Byline: ALISON NEUMER LARA L2O, owned jointly by chef Laurent Gras and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., opened last May in the space that once housed another of Chicago's temples of fine dining, Ambria. Six months and multiple...

OK, bring in the lawyers; It's showtime for bankruptcy attorneys as companies and homeowners go under.(Focus: Finance)
November 17, 2008... Byline: DANIEL ROME LEVINE If Ira Bodenstein needed any confirmation that the bankruptcy business was benefitting from the current financial crisis, he got it in early October, when he walked into UBS Tower in downtown Chicago to moderate...

HOW OBAMA CAN BOLSTER THE MARKETS; A conversation with money manager William Vellon.(Markets)(Interview)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Mike Colias William Vellon, 39, executive vice-president, Kingsbury Capital Investment Advisors, Chicago Experience: 18 years Assets under management: $50 million CRAIN'S: What's the first thing President-elect Obama...

Deals still get done at Drake's Coq d'Or.(Business of Life)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Shia Kapos A multimillion-dollar deal between Elmhurst-based Mortgage Direct and National City Bank, of Ohio, closed last week in the secluded executive room at the Coq d'Or-the Drake Hotel's restaurant and lounge whose name means...

Get up, GOP; BATTERED HEIRS OF LINCOLN MUST REGROUP AND SAVE ILLINOIS FROM ONE-PARTY RULE.(News)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Greg Hinz On "Jay Leno'' last week, a smiling but serious John McCain said that the Republican Party-"just back from the woodshed''-has "a lot of work to do.'' The same could be said about its Illinois affiliate. Under the...

TRAVEL TEARS; Corporate cuts foreshadow gloom for hotels, conventions.(News)
November 17, 2008... Byline: BOB TITA Corporate travel cutbacks are dragging down revenue at Chicago hotels and depressing turnout at some McCormick Place shows. As corporate profits plunge and the economy sours, companies are sending fewer people out on...

Fortune seeking spirits superstar; Conglomerate looks outside company to give business a jolt.(News)
November 17, 2008... Byline: DAVID STERRETT The maker of Jim Beam bourbon is looking for a big-name liquor industry exec to give its flagging sales a much-needed boost. Deerfield-based Fortune Brands Inc. has hired executive search firm Heidrick &...

No next season: Cubs sale is on; Despite many delays, Zell has little choice but to strike deal in '08.(News)
November 17, 2008... Byline: MIKE COLIAS AND ANN SAPHIR Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell is pushing to have a deal in place by yearend to sell all but a small stake in the Chicago Cubs, despite recent indications that he might retain 50% of the ballclub. Mr. Zell...

When life hands you lemons . . .(Focus: Finance)
November 17, 2008... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY The economic downturn has meant a big upswing in work for many specialists around town-from non-bank lenders to bankruptcy attorneys to consultants who help struggling businesses stay afloat. Here's a closer look at...