News
6 colleges set as centers for entrepreneurs in Illinois
Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he intends to create centers at six colleges across the state to assist Illinois entrepreneurs.
JOHN SCHMELTZER Chicago Tribune
"Two months from today, the first of these centers will be operational and making an impact. Two years from today, there will be 20," he told the members of the Illinois General Assembly last week.
They will be at Rock Valley College in Rockford, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Chicago, Western Illinois University in Macomb, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.
According to Blagojevich, the centers will be able to provide grants of up to $5,000 to entrepreneurs seeking assistance in starting a business.
"There are countless entrepreneurs across the state with good ideas who just need a chance to show what they can do," he said.
The new centers will supplement the work of 42 small-business-development centers run by the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The small-business centers, which provide advice and counseling, can assist only business owners in obtaining loans.
Minimum wage increase opposed
As Blagojevich sought to help small business on one hand, the state director of a small-business association said the governor was hurting small business on the other.
Only hours after Blagojevich called for increasing the state’s minimum wage, the Senate Labor Committee recommended passage of a bill that would increase the minimum wage to $6.50 per hour from $5.15 per hour for workers 18 and older. The rate for workers younger than 18 would rise to $6 per hour.
Kim Maisch, Illinois director of the National Federation for Independent Business, warned that the minimum wage increase would force small-business owners to also pay more for worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance and other programs tied to wages.
"This is a big deal," Maisch said, warning that an increase will cost jobs.
Patents by smaller firms more useful
A study has found that patents obtained by businesses with fewer than 500 employees are technically more important than patents obtained by large companies.
Patents obtained by small firms are cited 28 percent more often in research than patents obtained by large firms, according to CHI Research. Previous studies have shown that highly cited patents represent economically and technically important inventions.
According to the study, which examined patents from 1,071 firms between 1996 and 2000, the small firms appear to concentrate in newer, science-based areas such as biotechnology, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
MATR Supporters (view all)
Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.