2016 September Issue

  IBJ Business News Local SCORE to host digital media workshop     COLLINSVILLE — Southwest Illinois SCORE has teamed up with Dex Media to give local entrepreneurs the opportunity to get answers to their digital questions with its “Grow your Business with Digital Media,” a free half-day workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 13 from 8:30 a.m.…

    A wide variety of legislation is being acted upon by Gov. Bruce Rauner this summer.    Here is a recap. Employee Sick Leave Act     SPRINGFIELD – An Employee Sick Leave Act sponsored by state Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins, D-Chicago, has been signed into law.     The measure requires employers to give their workers greater…

Veto of prevailing wage calculation bill     Gov. Rauner this summer placed an amendatory veto on a Chamber-opposed bill that would have eliminated the voice of local governments in determining local wage rates.    SB 2964 would have required the Illinois Department of Labor to exclusively use collective bargaining agreements in its calculations of a given…

    SPRINGFIELD — A new initiative aims to employ disadvantaged jobseekers by celebrating “a new kind of hero.”     The Illinois Job Honor Awards is accepting nominations for its first event, to be conducted Nov. 30 in Lisle.     The awards will celebrate Illinoisans who have overcome significant barriers to employment and the employers who…

  NEWS of the Nation   Making extra mortgage payments can pay off, but should you? By ALEX VEIGAAP Business Writer    It’s a strategy that crosses the mind of many borrowers when they take on a home loan: Make an extra mortgage payment or two every year and save tens of thousands of dollars in…

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    More changes are on the way for the banking industry. Starting Sept. 23, banks will be able to make and will be required to accept same-day Automated Clearing House transactions.     Initially, same day ACH will apply only to transactions of $25,000 or less. But, more changes will be phased in…

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    GLEN CARBON — Five months into a regional, multiple listing service merger, local Realtors are seeing benefits of having access to listed properties from a much wider territory.    Two Illinois-based Realtor associations in the bi-state area pooled interests this year to join the St. Louis-based Mid-America Regional Information System, or MARIS. Although…

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    Fifty may be the new 40, but when it comes to heavily trafficked bridges, 50 is downright ancient.    The Interstate 270 Mississippi River Bridge crossed the half century point this year, and supporters on both sides of the river are actively seeking to replace it.    Two public meetings have been held to…