SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses
Beverage entrepreneurs jump on functional bandwagon
By Ann Meyer After tiring of wasting time trying to fall asleep, Chuck Hamman created his own liquid solution, a new functional beverage called Sleepyhead. The beverage, which comes in a 5.5-ounce can and retails for abougt $2.39, has a milk-based consistency and contains melatonin, gamma amino butyric acid, calcium, magnesium and valerian root to [...]
Former Pepsico exec bootstraps national launch of innovative beverage
By Ann Meyer Scott Lerner is proving you don’t need big bucks to muscle a new beverage onto the crowded natural-foods shelves. Lerner, a former new product executive at Pepsico who worked on Naked Juice after the giant acquired the niche natural beverage company, is banking on his management background and entrepreneurial spirit as he [...]
After years in the making, Payment Pathways’ Greenlist prepares for production
By Ann Meyer As merchants rely on transactions from mobile apps, entrepreneur Richard O’Brien expects demand to grow for Payment Pathways’ Greenlist registry of secure electronic payment addresses. O’Brien received his second patent for the secure transfer system this week and has a third patent pending. “I have a sense the pace of this is [...]
Local green water company welcomes competition from PepsiCo
While some entrepreneurs fear competition, Glencoe entrepreneur Brad Schulman prefers to look at the big picture. Schulman, who founded Green Planet Bottling in 2008 to make bottled water in a plant-based bioplastic bottle that’s free of petroleum, regards the announcement this week that PepsiCo has devised a similar bottle as good news for the industry [...]
Spotlight on locally made products: How do entrepreneurs go from idea to market?
This article made possible by a Chicago Innovation Awards sponsorship. Just as every Chicago small business has a story behind it, so does every product an entrepreneur designs. Behind many of the city’s newest products are entrepreneurs who have created opportunity from adversity, often using severance checks to launch new businesses. By designing concepts that [...]
Giant Greenbuild expo beckons smaller players
Small companies with environmental products or services were among 27 employers participating in a a “green” jobs fair that attracted 500 Chicago-area job seekers to McCormick Place Nov. 16. The jobs fair was hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council in conjunction with the BlueGreen Alliance and the city of Chicago. While applicants lined up 12 deep to [...]
Giving women what they want
Entrepreneur Rachael Smith knows it pays to be organized. Her own personal experience lugging two young children through the airport, digging through her bag to find a favorite toy to calm her son, inspired her. So the former schoolteacher invented a diaper bag with a pull-out drawer and lots of pockets to help on-the-go parents [...]
Which Counts More: Luck or Determination?
For all that is commonly said about hard work paying off, being in the right place at the right time helps, too. Bob Carmody and his late wife didn’t plan to launch a frozen treat business, but stumbled on the opportunity at the Taste of Chicago 25 years ago. A worker happened to bring a [...]
