Small Business Summit

The Chicago Tribune's Carolyn Rusin was kind enough to interview me recently to help preview an upcoming Barrington Chamber event designed for local business owners.

Click here to link to the story.

In 2011 I take my turn as the elected Chairman of the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce. One of my goals is to be sure that chamber membership is ever-more relevant for small business owners, especially the many new start-ups that have resulted from the economic downturn of the last couple years.

It seems more than ever that a local chamber provides a nurturing atmosphere for business owners who may be confronting new challenges for the very first time. Whether a new business owner needs help with marketing, accounting, banking, branding, sales, product development or just wants to have a friendly conversation with somebody who's "been there, done that," a local chamber is an effective tool to successfully launch a business.

Who's Next?

Recently I couldn't help but pause when I learned that the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) will cease publishing a daily newspaper. I'll mourn it's passing when the last daily edition is printed next April.

As a young PR exec I once hustled down Michigan Avenue to a Christian Science Reading Room to retrieve a copy of the paper after it published a glowing story I worked on for a client. Placing a story in such a venerable institution was a BIG DEAL.

For much of its 100-year history, the Monitor has been a trendsetter although daily circulation has been declining for 40 years. To keep it afloat big annual subsidies are required from the Christian Science church. CSM will still be around via its website, a daily paid email and a glossy weekly newsmagazine.

Virtually every daily paper is slipping in circulation. Ad revenues -- especially in this economy -- are very tight. Here in Chicago, the Tribune has undergone a radical makeover reducing the actual size of the paper and newshole.

In about 10 years, most pundits predict only a handful of daily papers will survive. Give the Monitor credit for getting out in front of this trend. Their experiment will be watched very closely.