“Hot Topics”
The current economic recession and how independent businesses are affected is the beat this blog will cover over the next 10 weeks. Three subjects I hope to follow during that time:
- The Stimulus Package and Small Business Loans: According to a CNNMoney.com article, the number of small business loans being offered in today’s economic climate has dropped sharply. This has left owners with few options for starting or expanding their businesses. The Obama administration’s stimulus package includes funds that help small business cover their expenses and reinvigorate the bank’s interest in giving small business loans. The hope is that once the money is distributed, small businesses will have a part in reinvigorating the American economy. But how will it affect business owners’ communities in Chicago if they do or don’t receive the funds?
- Gentrification: A common complaint I’ve heard in the gentrification debate is that new businesses moving in either push out old businesses or bring in a new group of people who once avoided the neighborhood (i.e. art galleries in the predominantly-Hispanic neighborhood Pilsen bringing in white people who decide they want to live in the neighborhood). I would be interested in covering how new independent store owners work with or stand apart from the neighborhoods they are in. Could independent businesses be seen as just one of the steps to gentrification before a Starbucks moves in? Can current business owners afford to pay the rent if their neighborhood is being gentrified?
- Race and Ethnicity: Going hand-in-hand with gentrification is race. In ethnically diverse yet segregated neighborhoods like Albany Park, could non-minority independent businesses change the community for the better or for the worse? Is one neighborhood in Chicago seeing more success in their independent business population versus another?
- The recession: With high unemployment and potential customers presumedly being more cautious of their spending habits, how are independent businesses managing to stay afloat? What marketing strategies (i.e. reduced prices, coupons) are being used to keep old customers and draw in new ones?
- Wealth of Chicago’s neighborhoods/Support Local Businesses: One of the things I love most about Chicago is that every neighborhood has a totally different feel and culture all its own. The blog – besides tackling some big issues like those listed above – will show there is more to the city than the North Side or downtown. There are stores all over the city that you may never have heard about if you hadn’t checked out this blog.