Chicago is My Home

22
Feb

Motorola Makes Three Announcements to Facilitate Rebound Attempt

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Technology

The continuing saga of struggling Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola continues as three announcements regarding the cell phone maker were made this week. Here’s the rundown:

1) In a move that hopes to further the company’s reach, Motorola finalized the purchase of digital music download provider Soundbuzz, which is based in Singapore.

The acquisition is meant to target the larger Asian consumer sector as cell phone use is more prevalent than personal computer ownership. Motorola currently owns MotoMusic, which serves greater China. Soundbuzz will extend music download sales in Southeast Asia and India.

2) On Thursday, Motorola announced that private-equity partner Paul Liska will take over the CFO position and replace Tom Meredith. Liska previously worked as an executive at MidOcean Partners, CVC Capital Holdings and Ripplewood Holdings. The announcement did little to move Motorola’s lagging stock price.

3) Motorola and Waterloo, Ontario-based Research in Motion (RIM) (the maker of the BlackBerry) traded patent infringement lawsuits in U.S. district court.

RIM alleges that Motorola has refused to pay royalties for patents and Motorola says RIM is infringing on certain patents. Motorola and RIM previously had a cross-license agreement. The current lawsuits seem to stem from a failure to renew the agreement.

By Stephanie Huls

19
Feb

Upcoming Chicago Tech Events: Game Time Chicago, CIMA, TECH Cocktail

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Events, Technology

Game Time Chicago has its inaugural professional networking event on Wednesday night at Reza’s at 432 W. Ontario St. in Chicago’s River North area. The three-hour event will combine professional meetings with gaming and brainstorming activities. More information about the program and the new organization can be found here.

On Thursday evening, the Chicago Interactive Marketing Association (CIMA) has a program called “The Changing Digital Media Landscape: What Will 2008 Bring?” where Dave Morgan – AOL’s executive vice president for global advertising – will deliver his forecast. More information about the program can be found here.

TECH cocktail, which is the popular Chicago gathering for virtual movers and shakers around town, returns on Thursday night for another soirée at John Barleycorn in Chicago’s Wrigleyville area.

By Brad Spirrison

01
Feb

AT&T Launches U-verse Television Service to Chicago Suburbs

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Technology

AT&T on Monday launched its U-verse television service to 175 Chicago suburbs. AT&T U-verse offers television and high-speed Internet services. Service packages will cost consumers $69 to $154 a month. The Chicago rollout is expected to be low key so the company can keep up with customer demands.

By Stephanie Huls

01
Feb

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Offers $11 Billion For Nymex Holdings

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Technology

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is looking to expand its reach further by offering $11 billion in cash and stock for Nymex Holdings, which is an energy exchange in New York. The two exchanges have agreed to an exclusive, 30-day negotiating period.

The CME is the largest commodities exchange and also controls the Chicago Board of Trade. The deal is being touted by analysts as another way to boost a slowing U.S. economy.

By Stephanie Huls

01
Feb

Motorola in Schaumburg, Ill. Considers Selling Off Cell Phone Unit

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Technology

Motorola’s lagging phone sales and inability to keep up with consumer needs has led the company to announce that it’s considering selling off its cell phone unit.

While the company at one time dominated the industry, it recently has come under harsh investor scrutiny by Carl Icahn who has been calling for the breakup of Motorola. Icahn holds a 3 percent stake in Motorola. In the past year, Motorola’s cell phone division garnered a $1.2 billion loss and has had two key executives resign.

By Stephanie Huls

29
Jan

Salaries Rise in Chicago Technology Firms, Other News of Interest

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Technology

There is still money in technology. A survey released last week by the Illinois Information Technology Association (ITA) showed a forecast of significant salary increases across the board for workers and managers at Chicago technology firms. Of the 119 organizations queried, 83 percent expected staff salaries to increase greater than the rate of inflation.

On average, respondents predicted a 12.2 percent salary increase for staff positions and a 10.7 percent increase for managers. The survey revealed that the average salary for a CIO or CTO from participating companies was $204,000 in 2007 while their directors of sales took home on average $208,000. The survey can be downloaded here.

Bits & Bytes

TECH cocktail returns to Chicago on Feb. 21 with another soirée at John Barleycorn in Wrigleyville. The free, mostly quarterly networking event attracts entrepreneurs, investors and technology executives seeking liquidity in both the sale of company assets and multiple libations. To register and learn more, visit here.

Songza – the online jukebox launched in the fall of 2007 by Chicago-based Humanized, Inc. – in early Jan. 2008 expanded its catalog to include 28 million songs available for free and on demand. Additionally, Humanized founder Aza Raskin and two other employees have joined Mozilla Labs to work on the Firefox browser.

Sarah Spain – the Lake Forest, Ill. native who a year ago attempted to auction herself on eBay in exchange for Super Bowl tickets to see her beloved Chicago Bears – has signed on for a trial run with Playboy SIRIUS Radio to host its Bedtime Sports program. Bedtime Sports can be heard on SIRIUS channel 198.

By Brad Spirrison

29
Jan

Reporter’s Notebook: An Entrepreneurial Stimulus in Chicago

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Technology

Innovation doesn’t fluctuate with market gyrations and few new ideas are generated from a cut in interest rates or rebates from Uncle Sam. A prolonged down economy, however, can have a positive impact on new business development. As corporations reduce their headcounts, talented professionals have more incentives to start something on their own.

“When the macro economy declines, entrepreneurialism is on the incline,” said John Noel, who on Jan. 21 was named president of the Illinois Technology Development Alliance (ITDA). “People get laid off and then want to start their own companies.”

Noel – who is 41 and grew up in Hillside, Ill. – made a Bud Selig-like transition from prolonged interim president to head honcho of the ITDA. He believes his group, which spun out of the Illinois Coalition in 2005, can provide performance-enhancing opportunities for entrepreneurs by introducing them to public- and private-capital sources and by offering advice on strategy and sales development.

The nine-employee ITDA, which has offices at 549 W. Randolph and the DuPage National Technology Park in West Chicago, is funded in part via contracts with NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Small Business Administration.

The group puts on quarterly Monday Morning Meetings that showcase new business plans to local investors and help larger corporations like Caterpillar bring new technology-based divisions to the market. Noel – who previously directed the NASA Illinois Commercialization Center – says the ITDA will be more active in partnering with local organizations and universities along with other “more visible” changes.

“I don’t know how well known the ITDA has been over the past several years,” Noel said. “It is time to get more integrated.”

The ITDA is not alone in chartering new waters in 2008. TiE Midwest, which is part of a not-for-profit global network that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship, earlier in Jan. 2008 named Kristi Lafleur as its new executive director. Previously chief of staff for Jack Lavin at the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, Lafleur believes economic recovery should start at home.

“As we are seeing some tumultuous activity in the U.S. markets, there is a tremendous opportunity for us to focus on homegrown companies that have the ability to grow into global companies,” Lafleur said.

Lafleur – who is 33 and also advises the University of Chicago Hospitals – previously was the Midwest director for the Council for Regional Equity and a managing director for Wilhelm & Conlon Public Strategies. The Nebraska native has a strong background in helping entrepreneurs access capital in underserved markets.

One of her missions with TiE Midwest is to better connect the Chicago chapter with the group’s international initiatives through mentorship programs and educational and networking events.

By Brad Spirrison

25
Jan

Podcast: Chicago’s ‘Check, Please!’ Extending Tech Arms

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Food, Podcast, Technology, Television

CHICAGO – In this podcast, Adam Fendelman and Brad Spirrison discuss Chicago TV show “Check, Please!” and how it’s extending its tech arms.

Listen now!

By Adam Fendelman

25
Jan

Employees of Chicago Corporations Face Wide-Ranging Layoffs

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Technology

Four Chicago-area companies have cut employees in the past week. The layoffs come during U.S. economic recessionary concerns.

The Sun-Times Media Group laid off 17 reporters and editors at the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday via phone calls. The new pink slips bring total layoffs for the newspaper in recent memory to 36. The cuts come as a way for the company to try to return to profitability.

Telecommunications company Westell Technologies announced on Thursday that it will be letting go of 58 employees. The Aurora, Ill.-based company began outsourcing overseas last May to help cut costs. Shares of Westell rose 2 cents per share after the announcement.

One group of employees hit hard from layoffs in Illinois is those employed by electronic components maker Methode Electronics. The company announced on Thursday the cuts of 700 employees in its domestic automotive division. The company said in an effort to remain competitive it must move operations away from the U.S.

Another telecommunications company – Telltabs in Naperville, Ill. – will layoff 225 employees to save on costs. The company previously laid off 125 people in Sept. 2007.

By Stephanie Huls

22
Jan

Chicago Technology Advisor Dick Reck Has a Musical Heart

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business, Technology

CHICAGO – After spending 30 years advising several of Chicago’s most prominent technology companies as a partner with KPMG, Dick Reck today is as likely to focus on R&B as he is P&L (profit and loss).

The guy who helped Andrew Filipowski take Platinum Technology, Inc. public and later sell the software company to Computer Associates for more than $3.5 billion in 1999 is now happy to work for relative beer money as the manager of the decades-old country rock band Heartsfield.

“It is not very financially rewarding, but it is a labor of love,” said Reck, 58, who left KPMG in 2002. “I’m an old rock and roller from the 1960s. I set aside music for 30 years.”

Though Reck first saw Heartsfield play live in the 1970s, he didn’t meet the band’s frontman (Perry Jordan) until a few years ago. Heartsfield has performed live with the likes of Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and more recently Lyle Lovett.

The group mostly plays in the Chicago area at places like FitzGerald’s in Berwyn and the Beverly Arts Center of Chicago.

Reck does everything from helping the band book gigs to pushing for the release of its next CD. He added: “Making music is like painting with oils and writing code. You just need to say ‘done’. Perry has a number of songs that are really good. We just need to finish them and put our marketing plan together.”

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