Rob Kaiser

Businesses owned by minorities and women received 41 percent of the contracts--or $619 million--awarded by the City of Chicago last year, Mayor Richard M. Daley said last week. Of that...

Thousands of libraries across the country may be out $50 million after a subsidiary of Chicago-based Divine Inc. accepted their money last year to buy periodicals but failed to pay...

President Bush didn't leave Chicago last week before unwrapping a present to small-business owners. Included in the president's economic stimulus package is a proposal to triple the initial write-off small...

Mayor still backs idea of start-up fund Hizzoner isn't backing away from small-business investments. At a recent venture capital event, Mayor Richard Daley said he still supports a plan to...

When weighing the fallout from United Airlines' bankruptcy, most people think about the pilots, flight attendants and mechanics. Few consider Bob Thompson, United's wine adviser. As the airline expanded into...

When Melodie Cunningham wanted to start her own business, she called a few legal, financial and other contacts she developed while working at Visa and other companies. But Cunningham realized...

The Small Business Administration plans to announce Wednesday a $2 million grant to the Illinois Coalition, which helps entrepreneurs, universities and labs commercialize new technologies. Founded in 1989, the coalition...

While 26 percent of all businesses are owned outright or majority-owned by women, 6 percent of the venture capital money distributed last year went to women-owned firms. Many people would...

Whether by design, happenstance or somewhere in between, the United States has created an "entrepreneurial economy" unmatched by any other country, concludes a report by the National Commission on Entrepreneurship....