Jean Albano Art Gallery

Please join us at the Jean Albano Art Gallery this Thursday for our August Happy Hour.  Enjoy food & drinks from Sullivan's, a wine tasting provided by WineStyles of Northbrook and other refreshments from 6-8 that evening.  We would like to thank Josh Parkinson, owner of WineStyles of Northbrook and a new SBAC member, for providing fine wine for this event.  We would also like to thank Sullivan's, whose support and food has become a staple with the SBAC.  If you are going out for steak or fish, nothing beats Sullivan's.

 

As always, meet and talk with a variety of business owners and other professionals from the Chicagoland area.  Our Happy Hours have been well attended and we expect another great crowd this Thursday.  The Jean Albano Art Gallery is located at 215 West Superior in Chicago.  If you have not already, you can RSVP with Blanca at blanca@sbacil.org.

 

We would like to thank our Happy Hour sponsors again.  It is their dedication, and financial support, that allows the SBAC to aggressively promote our members, advocate, and offer services which help our members prosper.

 

Jeffrey Bunn of Horwood, Marcus & Berk, CHTD
James Scordo of McGovern & Greene, LLP
Mark Wimmer with UBS in Northbrook
Dan Cotter of Lindemann LLC
Dr. Richard Hoffman, DDS

 

Over the past several years, small and medium size businesses have been struggling to secure affordable health insurance for their employees.  Indeed, ten years ago my law firm was able to offer full coverage to our employees without requiring they pay any deductible.  That is not possible today.  Instead, employers pay much more in premiums, and their employees receive far less coverage, every year.  Political folks like to talk about small business being the backbone of society.  However, small business owners are literally drowning in health insurance costs or simply unable to offer benefits to their employees.

 

There are presently over 120 businesses who have joined the SBAC.  Our members, Board of Directors and staff believe the time has come to stand together, create an insurance pool and assert our collective bargaining power to negotiate for better health insurance rates.  SBAC member Dan Johnson-Weinberger, and his fantastic staff, are navigating the SBAC through the legal requirements for the formation of this pool.  Jonah Weiss, owner of W2 Wealth Management, has also put countless hours into this project.

 

SBAC members will be contacted shortly about completing a census so that we can seek underwriting for our plan.  We fully understand you will only participate in the pool if we can save you money on health insurance.  If you are not a member, we would encourage you to consider joining the SBAC.  There is strength in numbers and we get stronger every day.

 

The SBAC will be administering a program that facilitates the "sharing" of conference rooms and spare offices between our members.  We have members located throughout Chicago and in many different suburbs.

Perhaps your offices are in the Northshore but you have a client meeting downtown. In those situations many of our members will be offering their conference rooms as long as there are no time conflicts that exist.

This program was started only one week ago and we already have many SBAC members who have offered to participate. Beginning next week, SBAC members will be able to utilize several spacious conference rooms in the Loop, Lincoln Park, Oak Lawn, Des Plaines, Northbrook, Highland Park and other locations in the city and suburbs.  We expect this program to expand considerably over the next several weeks.  This is going to save our members time and money.

Our lending forum is scheduled to be held at 20 South Clark on September 15th.  Doors will open at 7:15am for networking and a light breakfast.  The first presentation will begin at 8am.  The forum will focus on the lending and financing options available  to small and medium-sized business owners.  Our presenters will talk about ways to procure venture capital and obtain SBA 504 loans for commercial real estate.  Attendees will be made aware of tax credits for small businesses, such as tax credits for hiring veterans and incentives to keep businesses in Illinois.  Our attending members will be encouraged to make a small contribution to the SBAC.  The public will be charged $25.00 to attend this seminar.  To RSVP for the Lending Forum contact Blanca Campos at Blanca@SBACIL.org.

 

CAVANAUGH ON FIRST BUSINESS
We would like to congratulate Mike Cavanaugh for his recent appearance on First Business, a nationally syndicated program, to talk about navigating the markets in this volatile economy.  Mike is the co-chair of our Membership Committee and a valuable asset to the SBAC. 

 

RETIREMENT PLANNING WORKSHOP

Mark Wimmer would like to invite you to a retirement planning workshop on September 5th at 5:30pm.  The event will take place at his offices located at 5 Revere Drive, Suite 500, Northbrook IL.  Space is limited so RSVP ahead of time by contacting Mark at Mark.wimmer@ubs.com.

 
SBAC NEW BLOG LAUNCH A SUCCESS

Our SBAC blog was launched and was well received by our members.  Our writers provided informative posts on small business financing, micro-lending and business valuations.  Thank you to Brad Van Horn of Business Appraisal Services, LLC and Jerry Kalish of National Benefit Services, Inc. for providing valuable content to our readers. 

 

The Small Business Advocacy Blog will provide practical advice, important information and an array of resources to business owners.  The Blog will provide concise and useful posts on many different aspects associated with owning and operating a business.