Ryan Burrow has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

Chicago Blackhawks Chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz and Chicago Bulls President and CEO Michael Reinsdorf are laying out their vision for redeveloping the West Side around the United Center with “The 1901 Project”.  The two spoke Wednesday afternoon at the Lincoln Forum’s Chicago’s Next Big Idea Luncheon.  They plan to sink more than $7 billion in private revenue into the largest redevelopment on Chicago’s West side.

Also, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin broke ground this morning on what will be a new data center in Aurora off of Bilter Road. Listen for more below

Dave Schwan has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

Big business for the City Of Chicago when it comes to tourism.  For the 8th straight year, readers of Conde Nast Traveler have voted Chicago the best big city in the country.  Over half a million readers voted for their favorite destinations and venues.  Over the Summer, 3.4 million hotel rooms were booked in the city, a five percent increase from last Summer.  We also had over 671,000 international visitors, up 11% from last year.  Visitors for the DNC, Lollapalooza and NASCAR gave a big boost.

Ford has a free offer if you buy or lease a Mustang Mach-E, Ford F-150 Lightning or E-Transit. Listen for more below:

Segment 1: Tom Gimbel, job expert and Founder of the LaSalle Network, talks about Gen Z being fired from companies and the workplace culture.

Segment 2: Michael Miller, an Economics Professor at Western Washington University and a Professor Emeritus at DePaul University, discusses guaranteed minimum incomes and the immigrant labor force.

Segment 1: Ilyce Glink, owner of Think Glink Media and Best Money Moves, joins John to talk about how Zillow is creating climate-risk data to for-sale home listings. Ilyce and John also talk about the HR Technology Conference and how A.I. is being used in companies.

Segment 2: Bill Stavrou, Founder and CEO, FoodHaul and foodhaul.com joins to talk about the dishes offered in their meal delivery service. Bill explains how all of their meals are signatures dishes from popular chefs and delivered refrigerated.

Segment 3:  Phil Stefani, Owner of Stefani Restaurant Group joins John to talk about the reopening of Tavern on Rush with a renovated space.

Dave Schwan has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

United Airlines has a new wine list for people who fly in the domestic economy class.  Starting tomorrow, passengers can enjoy high quality canned wines from women-owned brands.  United has served over 20 million glasses of wine so far this year.  

Also, we’re seeing gas prices up in the last week around Chicago. Listen for more below:

Segment 1: Tom Fortino, Founder and Principal, Alpha Wealth Group, joins John Williams to talk about the market and to break down details on the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index. Tom also talks about how Social Security COLA is expected to be 2.5% in October.

Segment 2: Ted Rossman, Bankrate.com Senior industry analyst, joins John to explain that over 2 in 5 U.S. adults have at least one unused gift card, totaling about $27 Billion and what this money could do for the economy.

Segment 3: Jeff Rosati, Rosati’s Pizza CFO, joins John to talk about some of the ways Rosati’s Pizza is celebrating their 60th anniversary and how people can get involved on the festivities.

Steve Grzanich has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

A new survey shows optimism among small businesses in Chicago for the upcoming year. The University of Illinois-Chicago conducted the survey, called the 2024 Small Business Outlook. It shows the majority of companies anticipate positive performance over the next year. 67% of businesses surveyed expect growth during the 12 month period. 26% say they expect to sustain current operations. And 7% expect some contraction. Some of the small business owners have concerns about recruiting talent and potential tax increases. The survey results are based on responses from small businesses across various industries.

Also, Chicago-area consumers slowed their pace of spending in the first six months of this year. Listen for more below:

Segment 1: Steven Esposito, President of Yellowstone Wealth Management in Lake Forest, talks to John about the market broadening, why there is a negative perception of the economy despite it being healthy, and if he believes the Fed will continue to cut rates.

Segment 2: Bree Fowler, Senior Writer, CNET, joins John Williams to talk about Meta unveiling updates to the company’s virtual reality headset and Ray Ban smart glasses, government scientists and artificial intelligence experts from at least nine countries and the EU meeting in San Francisco after the U.S. elections to coordinate on safely developing AI technology, and X releasing its first transparency report since Elon Musk’s takeover.

Segment 3: Emily Stewart, Senior Correspondent, Business Insider, tells John how credit scores have become a weapon of mass seduction.

Segment 4: Pam Vieau and Marcy Goetz, Mother/Daughter team at Happy by Chocolate, tell John how they got into the chocolate business, when the hobby turned into a business, how they come up with the recipes, and to recommend some of their best-selling chocolates.

Nationally syndicated financial columnist and author Terry Savage joins John Williams to talk about a surprising drop in consumer confidence despite the economy being good overall, and if the spending slowdown creep into the holiday season. Terry also answers your financial questions.

Steve Grzanich has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

A Chicago-based Medicare Advantage insurer has raised $140 million in new funding. Zing Health will use the funding to expand its integrated, chronic special needs focused plans to more beneficiaries. It also plans to invest in integrating its member experience with high quality care providers. Zing Health provides managed care Medicare Advantage plans with supplemental benefits and access to care through a network of provider partners. Each member receives personalized care tailored to their health conditions and social needs through a mix of technology and value-based care delivery.

Also, new stats show the pandemic exodus from Chicago was not as bad as first thought.