Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz – Page 9

An empty Target that Jake Counne, founder of Wilder Fields, plans to convert to an indoor farm in Calumet City.

Vacant for five years, a former Target in Calumet City gets new life as an indoor vertical farm growing greens for the Chicago area

July 15, 2020 at 4:48 p.m.

A former Target that's been sitting vacant in Calumet City for five years will be reborn as an indoor vertical farm producing locally grown greens for the Chicago area. The...

Quest Food employees package meals for distribution at Maine West High School in Des Plaines on July 9, 2020.

PPP loans were meant to help small businesses save jobs amid the pandemic. So why does official data show thousands of recipients retained zero jobs?

July 10, 2020 at 4:25 p.m.

When Quest Food Management Services was approved for a forgivable federal loan to help it preserve jobs during the pandemic, the Lombard-based company, which supplies meals to schools throughout the...

Randolph Street west of the Loop is seen June 29, 2020, in Chicago. According to an analysis of Small Business Administration data, the 60606 ZIP code at the western edge of the Loop was the Illinois ZIP code that received the most Paycheck Protection Program loans worth more than $150,000.

Which parts of the Chicago area got the most PPP loans? Check out this ZIP code analysis.

July 8, 2020 at 2:37 p.m.

As federal money flowed into Illinois to support businesses during the pandemic, much of it went to Chicago's downtown and North Side neighborhoods as well as its northern suburbs. Businesses...

Baby romaine lettuce fills sections of the greenhouse at BrightFarms on July 1, 2020, in Rochelle.

Chicago-area greenhouse BrightFarms expands as pandemic fuels demand for local lettuce, spinach and other greens

July 7, 2020 at 10:17 a.m.

BrightFarms is boosting capacity at its Chicago-area greenhouse as the pandemic-driven rise in cooking at home fuels demand for locally grown greens. BrightFarms' Rochelle greenhouse, which annually supplies 1 million...

The McDonald's global headquarters in the Chicago's West Loop on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. (Zbigniew Bzdak/baiduhai)

McDonald’s plan to reopen dining rooms on hold as COVID-19 cases surge in parts of U.S.

July 2, 2020 at 12:24 p.m.

McDonald's is halting plans to reopen its dining rooms for three weeks as COVID-19 cases rise in more than half of U.S. states. The announcement by the Chicago-based fast-food giant...

Supporters of the "fair workweek" stand outside City Council chambers a hearing is conducted on the ordinance at City Hall on July 23, 2019.

Chicago’s fair workweek law takes effect Wednesday as businesses grapple with pandemic uncertainty

June 30, 2020 at 9:54 a.m.

Starting Wednesday, many Chicago employers will be required to give employees advance notice of their schedules and pay a premium for last-minute changes. The city's "fair workweek" law is a...

Among the myriad challenges employers face at the mid-point of this difficult year is how to manage the stockpiles of unused paid time off that many employees have accumulated as COVID-19 sidelined spring break trips and summer getaways.

Employers brace for a ‘PTO bomb’ as vacation-starved employees make time-off requests

June 29, 2020 at 10:14 a.m.

Usually by midyear, employees have burned some paid time off on spring break trips or summer getaways. But with nowhere to get away to during the COVID-19 pandemic, PTO has...

A judge on Wednesday ordered several Chicago McDonald's restaurants to adopt new safety measures for social distancing, training and masks, granting a partial win to workers who sued the fast food giant for allegedly failing to adequately protect them from COVID-19.

Chicago-area McDonald’s workers score a court victory, as judge orders some local restaurants to do better on COVID-19 protections

June 25, 2020 at 5:20 p.m.

Workers at McDonald's have been among the most vocal in complaining that they weren't being adequately protected from COVID-19. On Wednesday, a Cook County judge agreed with them. Cook County...

Rosati’s Pizza CEO dead at 70. ‘He was the ringleader all the way through.’

June 23, 2020 at 4:33 p.m.

Rosati's Pizza CEO Fredric "Rick" Rosati, who turned his family's business from a mom-and-pop shop into a nearly 200-restaurant chain, died last week. He was 70. Rosati's Pizza CEO Fredric...

Jewel, Aldi bagged salads linked to outbreak of intestinal parasite

June 23, 2020 at 11:13 a.m.

Federal authorities are warning consumers not to eat certain bagged salads from Jewel-Osco, Aldi and Hy-Vee as they investigate an outbreak of Cyclospora that has sickened 76 people in the...

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