Women's Business Development Center Business-building Boot Camp for Women Veterans

Women's Business Development Center and The PrivateBank to Kick-Off Business-building Boot Camp for Women Veterans February 5


CHICAGO, IL – In a boot camp of different kind, the Women's Business Development Center (WBDC) will celebrate the first anniversary of its Women Ventrepreneurship Program by launching “Back to Basics: Building Your Business Boot Camp” (B2B) in partnership with The PrivateBank. A kick-off celebration will be held at the Pritzker Military Library and Museum, 104 S. Michigan Avenue,

 on Wednesday, February 5, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

At the event, women veterans will have the opportunity to sign up for a free, 16-week "basic training" program to help them take a business concept from dream to reality.

 The entrepreneurial training, which deploys Thursday, March 6th, will be held at the Apostolic Church of God, 6320 S. Dorchester Avenue, Chicago.


At B2B, participants will "exercise their entrepreneurial muscle" in sessions that cover business plan development, marketing research, pricing strategies and financial requirements, according to Nicole Mandeville, a Desert Storm Army veteran who is director of the WBDC's Women Vetrepreneurship Program (WVP).


"Every start-up needs a base map, a tool to build and sustain a viable operation," Mandeville said. "The WBDC 'Back to Basics' boot camp will provide participants with valuable tools to help graduates launch a business that serves as a pathway to economic security, independence and empowerment."


The B2B training series functions as the entrepreneurial arm of the WVP designed specifically for women veterans and sponsored by The Private Bank. The PrivateBank will operate and manage a microloan fund specifically for the B2B program graduates, as well as provide content advisors and mentors to participants. The bank will offer loans of up to $10,000 for start-ups and a maximum of $25,000 for qualifying existing business.


''The PrivateBank is proud to work with the WBDC to help our veterans realize their dreams of starting a new business," said Tom Doherty, Head of Small Business Banking at The PrivateBank. 'We know the important difference these businesses can make in their communities and the role good basic training plays in helping these entrepreneurs to succeed."


More information is available at www.WBDC.org or by calling (312) 853-3477, ext. 410. 

The College Success Initiative

SCHOLARSHIPS!

 www.scholarshipsonline.org/2012/09/microsoft-scholarships.html#.UufPdHl6hz8




Please read the below Chicago Tribune article and pass to OTHERS in the community.

By Jodi S. Cohen

As President Barack Obama this morning encouraged colleges and universities to find ways to get more low-income students on their campuses, the University of Chicago announced a $10-million gift that will fund a new program aimed at that goal.

The College Success Initiative, part of the university’s Urban Education Institute, will train educators and policy makers nationwide on how to improve college readiness for underserved students. The Institute has created tools that educators can use to ensure students are ready for college, help them apply, and then monitor their success after they are there.

The goal is to get those tools to 10,000 schools during the next five years, and therefore increase the number of students who are prepared for, and able to get into, college. The $10-million gift to create the program came from the family of U. of C. trustee Steve Kersten, who graduated from U. of C. Law School in 1980 and owns WaterSaver Faucet Company, which manufactures faucets and other equipment for laboratories.

Obama mentioned the new U. of C. initiative during his remarks today at a White House summit that brought nearly 100 college leaders together. Obama asked the college and university presidents to commit to new programs that will expand access to higher education.

“We know that not enough low-income students are taking the steps required to prepare for college,” Obama said. “That’s why I’m glad the University of Chicago — my neighbor, and the place where Michelle and I both worked in the past — is announcing a $10-million college success initiative that will reach 10,000 high schools over the next five years.”

U. of C. President Robert Zimmer was among those in attendance, and he said the university’s latest initiative will build on work the Urban Education Institute has been doing.

“The Kerstens’ gift is simply going to enable us to lift this level of activity dramatically in terms of our capacity to disseminate what it is that we have learned over the past 10 years or more,” Zimmer said. “The end goal is having many, many more high schools have a clear focus on their goals. All their kids should get into a four-year college and graduate from a four-year college.”

U. of C. has a variety of other efforts aimed at helping low-income Chicago students get into college. UChicago Promise, for example, helps high school students understand the financial aid and admissions process, and then eliminates debt for students from Chicago who attend U. of C.

Northwestern University last month announced a similar program, the Northwestern Academy, which will work with promising students in Chicago Public Schools’ neighborhood schools to prepare them for Northwestern or another top college by providing year-round tutoring, college counseling, test preparation and other services during high school.

Stay Safe and Alert!!!

Later, Leroy Duncan

Beat Facilitator

25th District Police Department 

Chicago Aldermen Mull Medical Marijuana Rules

Chicago Aldermen Mull Medical Marijuana Rules

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Please read the below Chicago Tribune article and pass to OTHERS in the community.

By John ByrneClout Street

Marijuana sellers in Chicago could only set up shop in manufacturing areas and each would need special City Council approval under a plan Mayor Rahm Emanuel and aldermen are pushing to allow them to exert local control over the execution of a statewide medical cannabis law set to take effect this year.

Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, complained that city officials were given little ability to block cannabis dealers from coming to city neighborhoods under the medical marijuana law state lawmakers passed last year.

“As of now, the city of Chicago has no law in place for the local management of this new industry,” Burke said. “And it is clearly, without doubt, a serious matter for the city of Chicago to consider.”

“I think local residents have the right to weigh in on how their neighborhood should be regulated, whether it’s a license for the sale of alcoholic beverages or a license to distribute medical marijuana,” Burke said.

Aldermen did not vote on the plan Thursday, saying they want more time to consider how to proceed as state regulators set up rules for how the medical marijuana statute will be implemented.

State law already says the marijuana dispensaries would only be allowed in manufacturing zones 1,000 feet away from residences, schools or daycare centers. Burke and Emanuel want to make the permits a special use that would also require the OK of the city Zoning Board of Appeals, a body appointed by the mayor which nearly always takes its cues from local aldermen.

But Ali Nagib, assistant director of the Illinois chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, said Illinois standards are already extremely strict. “I would say the Illinois law is, if not the most conservative, one of the most conservative laws on this issue (in the U.S.),” Nagib said.

City officials also talked Thursday during a City Council Zoning Committee hearing about setting some kind of a local tax on marijuana sales in Chicago, but gave no specifics on how that would work.

In addition to the state rules governing the location of dispensaries, any marijuana growing operations wanting to locate in the state would face even stricter zoning rules: at least 2,500 feet from any area zoned for residential use, and the same distance from any schools or daycare centers.

The state laws says the state will license 22 growers, one for each State Police district, as well as up to 60 dispensing centers to be spread across the state. Exactly where those growers and sellers could locate will be up to state regulators. The state law says local communities can enforce strict zoning laws, but they cannot prevent a grower or dispensary from setting up shop in town.

Growers and dispensaries will be charged a 7 percent state “privilege tax,” which will be used to enforce the medical marijuana law. Patients will be charged a 1 percent tax for purchasing pot, the same rate that applies to pharmaceuticals.

Stay Warm, Safe and Alert!!!

Later, Leroy Duncan

Beat Facilitator

25th District Police Department 

How Outdoor Exercise in Winter Does a Body Good

www.veria.com/yoga-fitness/how-outdoor-exercise-in-winter-does-a-body-good/

35 Tea Recipes for Natural Healing

Everyone knows that tea is a natural herb, if not with caffeinated!

Try these on for size next time before you run to the store to get some
pharmaceuticals!

www.veria.com/healthy-recipes/tea-recipes-green-black-natural-healing/

medical marijuana/gay marriage

Medical marijuana

The New Year ushers in the official start of a four-year trial program that would allow patients with certain chronic illnesses to obtain a prescription for medical marijuana. However, the afflicted still are many months from being able to light up legally as state regulators are working out rules and have yet to issue licenses for marijuana growers and dispensing centers.

Supporters say Illinois' medical marijuana law is among the toughest in the nation. Patients cannot legally grow their own supplies and must have an existing relationship with their prescribing doctor. Patients and caregivers will be fingerprinted and undergo background checks, and must promise not to sell or give away marijuana. Workers at 22 grow centers and 60 dispensaries will undergo the same vetting.

Precisely where growers and sellers could locate will be determined by state regulators. While suburbs are putting in place strict zoning laws to limit where marijuana could be sold or grown, local officials cannot prevent such businesses from opening in their towns. Property owners would have the ability to ban marijuana use on their grounds. Employers would maintain their rights to a drug-free workplace, meaning someone with a valid medical marijuana card could be fired for using the drug if their employer prohibits it.

Gay marriage

After a 40-year push for gay rights in Illinois, a new law on June 1 will redefine marriage in Illinois from an act between a man and a woman to one between two people. Civil unions could be converted to marriages within a year of the law going on the books. About 6,500 applications for civil unions have been filed since 2011, with about 4,000 originating in Cook County.