Workers walk across LaSalle Street in the Loop on Aug. 19, 2022. DOWNTOWN — A program that would give grants to small businesses looking to revitalize the LaSalle Street corridor passed a critical hurdle last week. The program would direct $5 million in tax-increment finance dollars to jumpstart a Small Business Improvement Fund for storefronts along the LaSalle Street corridor in the Loop. Grants of up to $250,000 would be available for building owners or tenants to make permanent renovations on ground-level retail space. An extra $50,000 would be available for applicants expanding to the corridor from low- and medium-income neighborhoods. A maximum is set for $1 million per property. A total of $5 million would be up for grabs, according to city documents. The expansion was approved by the City Council’s finance committee Thursday and awaits a vote from all 50 alderpeople. The proposal is being marketed as a great opportunity for local businesses, but leaders of one South Side chamber of commerce worry the increased financial benefits could lure stores away from commercial strips in lower income areas. The addition of the Small Business Improvement Fund to Downtown is part of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s initiative to turn […]

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getty For most industries, innovation is driven by a combination of technological advances and larger global trends, and this is particularly true of the residential property management industry. The rental market continues to be shaped by economic, social and technological trends, both in terms of business challenges and resident demand. As property management teams lean on new technology to improve operational efficiency, grow their businesses and meet customer expectations, three major trends are acting as driving forces: the Internet of Things (IoT), consumer fintech and remote work. As these trends force significant change upon a variety of industries, there’s a lot that business leaders can learn from their impact on the real estate space and, ultimately, how property technology (proptech) innovation is helping property managers meet these changes. 1. The Internet Of Things The increase in cellular and wireless connectivity of everyday objects, otherwise known as the Internet of Things (IoT), has enabled new services and real-time, always-on communication. Worldwide, IoT devices are predicted to triple from 9.7 billion in 2020 to over 29 billion by 2030. Within real estate, the emergence of IoT has significantly escalated resident demand for smart home technology and provided an opportunity for property […]

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Women business owners share ‘secret sauce’ at event held at SweetGrass Vodka Lounge (WCIV) CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — "We believe in the power of connection and collaboration. We believe that you’re only one referral, one idea, and one introduction away from an entirely different life," said Whitney McDuff, The Dames Charleston Chapter President. On Wednesday, The Dames hosted an event at SweetGrass Vodka Lounge, inviting women of Charleston to expand their network and hope to receive needed business counsel. Each person was given the floor to introduce themselves, their occupation, and something they hope to gain. Woman-owned business owners share the ‘secret sauce’ at SweetGrass Vodka Lounge (WCIV) It’s a membership-based community with six, seven, and eight-figure women whose mission, the company says, is to not gate-keep the keys to more success by the power of collaboration and networking–a catalyst in moving the needle in each other’s respective businesses. The community spans 37 states and five continents. It’s why Ellen Rose, who just started her public relations firm Rose Media, attended the event. Rose previously spent 15 years in corporate as a producer in New York and D.C. in the news industry. After the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Rose entered […]

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Bonds yields are reversing an early-morning rise after a regional manufacturing survey suggested a marked contraction in business activity, underscoring concerns the economy could be headed for a recession. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which canvasses producers in New York state, fell to minus 33 this month, reflecting that a greater share of businesses are seeing activity decline. The reading was a sharp fall from December’s minus 11 figure. The survey is volatile: The index also fell below minus 30 last year, only to recover into positive territory months later. Still, bond traders are taking the report as a cautionary sign about economic growth, buying Treasurys in a bet on an incrementally lower projected path of Federal Reserve rate increases. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note had traded above 3.58% earlier Tuesday morning, but fell to 3.525% following the survey, according to Tradeweb. The 10-year yield is still up slightly from its close at 3.510% on Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Yields fall as bond prices rise.

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LAGOS, Nigeria, 10 January 2023 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- With more businesses in West Africa adopting cloud technologies than ever before, the region is set to enhance its competitiveness significantly. Following years of disruption, and hampered by a lack of legacy investment into technology, West African businesses now have an opportunity to leapfrog tech adoption and leverage the cloud for rapid growth and success. Titilayo Adewumi, Regional Sales Director for West Africa at SAP, says: “Companies across the region are adopting cloud to achieve greater scalability, improve their data and analytics capabilities, drive innovation and build greater resilience. A huge part of our success in supporting the region’s digital transformation efforts is our close collaboration with expert partners that continuously find new ways to innovate.” Digitalisation a huge opportunity The World Bank recently noted that digitalisation is one of the most transformational opportunities of our time , highlighting its role in alleviating poverty and boosting shared prosperity in West Africa. In light of this, cloud technologies offer tremendous benefits to organisations in the region. These include lowering the total cost of ownership of technology capabilities, achieving faster deployment cycles, automating manual processes to boost efficiency, enabling quicker adoption of emerging […]

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According to Cox Automotive Europe, the global automotive sector is set to make a tentative recovery in 2023, despite prolonged disruption to new vehicle supply. The company cites the burgeoning transition to EV, new market entrants, and the agency model’s evolution as key factors affecting automotive retail over the next 12 months. The sector enters 2023 from yet another challenging year in which performance remained below pre-pandemic levels. Despite this, the UK outperformed many of its European neighbours, achieving 1,614,063 vehicle registrations according to official figures from SMMT, within 0.7% of Cox Automotive’s best case scenario forecast for the year. However, the performance of the UK automotive market must also be viewed in context. While other European nations grappled with similar headwinds facing the UK market, only Germany registered a year-on-year recovery for new and used sales, with a 3% increase in the new market YoY and 25.2% compared with 2019. Supply shortages will continue into 2023, shaping consumer preferences Despite signs of a recovery for vehicle manufacturing, Cox Automotive believes the sector is entering a new era of significant change amid shortening lead times, where supply is significantly below normal pre-pandemic levels. There has been a notable shift […]

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Solana (SOL) has struggled in recent months due to market fluctuations and FTX collapse. Many crypto investors are hoping for some positive price actions for the coin in the next year, but the industry remains highly volatile. For those seeking high returns, Orbeon Protocol is currently in the third presale stage and continues reaching new heights. Investors Raise Interest in Solana (SOL) Solana, once famed as the “Ethereum Killer”, has fallen dramatically this year due to the recent collapse of the Futures Exchange (FTX) which was one of the major contributors to Solana’s growth. In addition, Solana has experienced several outages and hacks that had an adverse effect on its token price, and the level of trust was also lowered among many crypto investors. Many have had major losses as Solana’s value has continuously dropped, by over 90% from its all-time high. Despite all the shortcomings, Solana ranked 14th position at a current market cap of above $5 bn, and some experts believe that Solana has a chance to recover in the following year. However, many investors are badly affected by the crypto winter, so the search for a new, highly rewarding project is a must to keep their […]

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Industrial Sulfuric Acid Market Size 2023 Global Industrial Sulfuric Acid Market 2023 Industry Growth, Size, Trends, Share, Opportunities 2033 NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, January 16, 2023 / EINPresswire.com / — This market report Industrial Sulfuric Acid analyzes market segments by product type, including sales volume, revenue, market share, growth rate, and price analysis for each manufacturer and Essential Chemical Industry, Albemarle Corporation, Egyptian Mud Engineering, and Chemicals Company (EMEC), Geo Drillings Fluids, Great Lake Solutions, Israel Chemicals Ltd., Zirax Ltd., Solent Chemicals, TETRA Technologies, Cabot Corporation, Clements Fluid. "Final Report will provide analysis of the effect of COVID-19 in this industry." The "Global Industrial Sulfuric Acid Market report 2022 provides information on various factors that impact the market, including development and future prospects. The report also includes an analysis of the market’s entire industrial chain. It covers key raw materials suppliers, price analysis, manufacturing cost structure analysis, and alternative product analysis. It provides information about the major distributors, downstream customers, and the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic. The Industrial Sulfuric Acid market report also shares information on the market’s key players, including their product profiles, market performance (i.e., gross margin, sales volume, and revenue), recent developments, […]

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Seawater desalination – the process of removing dissolved salts and other minerals from seawater, making it suitable for drinking or irrigation – has the potential to be a climate adaptation investment opportunity in certain African countries, according to a new report by British International Investment. Climate change, economic growth, and rapid rates of urbanisation that outpace infrastructure development, mean that demand and supply of freshwater is set to become the challenge of the century. Africa is one focal point of the water crisis. Arid regions of North Africa tend to experience physical water scarcity from low water availability, whereas sub-Saharan countries mainly suffer from economic water scarcity, which is linked to poor governance, poor infrastructure and limited investments. Unconventional water sources, such as desalination, are increasingly relevant to support water security in Africa. Desalination has the potential to increase the resilience of water systems by producing water independently of climatic and hydrological conditions. Although it largely uses seawater, desalination can be applied to a range of other water sources, including brackish groundwater, surface water, and domestic or industrial wastewater. Seawater desalination is set to play an important role in helping to alleviate the water crisis. In Africa, the coastal […]

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Download logo The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is an opportunity for young people to accelerate Africa’s industrialization and economic transformation through entrepreneurship, youths say, calling for an enabling policy framework. Through its Youth Protocol, the AfCFTA recognises that young people can play a critical role in the achievement of the free trade zone by initiating youth-led initiatives in agriculture, financial technology, IT and in the creative industry. However, they note that across the youth-dominant trade areas critical to the AfCFTA, the challenges of infrastructure gap, lack of access to modern technologies, funding, electricity and broadband internet keep the youth on the sidelines of the free trade area. At an online presentation meeting organized by the Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), nine young mentees who have completed RITD’s “Youth for AfCFTA Mentorship Programme”, presented their final assignment to senior staff in ECA. The youth participants highlighted that the AfCFTA presented huge entrepreneurship opportunities for them but that governments need to implement supportive policies and investment to ensure their participation. Ms. Mie Vedel-Joergensen, Associate Expert in Economic Affairs, Market Institutions Section of the Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD) at the […]

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