The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report presenting mixed reviews for President Obama’s key initiative of raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. On the positive side, the report stated that 16,500,000…

As I shared in many previous writings, the biggest engine for jobs growth is small companies and the entrepreneurs that run them. Research from the Small Business Administration (SBA) proves that these business risk takers created almost 70% of the net new jobs in the U.S. over the past several decades prior to the latest recession. During my…

President Obama officially announced two new advanced manufacturing labs in Chicago and Detroit. These public-private sector partnerships are geared towards helping revitalize U.S. manufacturing prowess. Added to the two existing ones in Youngstown, Ohio and Raleigh, N.C. doubles the total to four throughout the United States. The goals are to help suppliers better collaborate with customers in real time, test their parts…

During my over 25 years as an executive recruiter I have witnessed many companies that do not know how to hire appropriately. Instead of a systematic process of executive recruitment, they tend to haphazardly go about scientific recruitment, engineering recruitment or IT recruitment. For example, the first response from a recent, potential client was, “when will we see…

With the job market still in a malaise, many job seekers are now considering starting their own businesses. Even those who are still employed, driven by dreams of financial freedom, are increasingly considering launching their own companies. If successful, this would be good news for the U.S. economy especially since, figures from the Small…

Our executive recruiting firm regularly receives inquiries from the executive recruitment staff, including internal management recruiters, from many engineering, scientific, IT and technical oriented companies looking to replace their top executives including Chief…

Motorola has a long history of R&D and innovation in the Chicago area. It started in Chicago, Illinois as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation at 847 West Harrison Street in 1928, with its first product being a battery eliminator. In 1930 Galvin Manufacturing Corporation introduced the Motorola…

At the recently concluded CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Dick Tracy’s wristwatch phones came ever closer to reality.

A plethora of companies introduced new products. Pebble Technology Corporation,…

December’s manufacturing report shows that both new orders and hiring are growing at the nation’s factories. The latest monthly data from the Institute for Supply Management shows that U.S. manufacturers finished strong in 2013. Their index, which is based upon a survey of purchasing managers, hit 57 in December. This was the seventh straight month reading above 50 (Key: any reading at…

My recently concluded 3-part series highlighted innovative ideas and companies that are creating countless new jobs. Unfortunately, there are numerous other companies like Sears Holdings Corporation that are doing exactly the opposite!

A Chicago and national icon, Sears was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah…

This is the second in a series of three articles I have created for you to help expand your innovation potential. Research has shown that innovation can be nurtured with teaching and training. Furthermore, with new ideas come new companies and a lot more new jobs.

In my last article, I shared research from the Small Business Administration (SBA) showing that 70% of all net new jobs in the U.S. over the last 30 years being created by…

This is the first in a series of three articles I have created for you to cultivate your inventiveness. Research has shown that innovation can be nurtured with coaching. Furthermore, new innovations give rise to new companies and plenty of new jobs.

Many large companies like General Motors (GM) have had their “hands out” looking for bailouts during this and past recessions. However, research from the Small…

As I recently reported, the results from the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/, released last Tuesday, showed that U.S. teenagers lost ground in math, science and reading to the rest of the world! This included falling from 25th to 31st in math since 2009; from 20th to 24th in science; and from 11th to 21st in reading, according to the National Center for Education Statistics…

According to today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, the unemployment rate dropped a staggering .3% to 7%. In the process 203,000 new jobs were created. This brings the total to 1,235,000 new jobs created over the last seven months!

Job creation was across the board in most sectors including:

1. Transportation and warehousing creating 31,000 new jobs in…