Imagine you are a small minority owned brewery in Chicago and the owner of Samuel Adams, Jim Kock, drinks your beer right in front of you and tells you that he can smell the hops exploding! Talk about a surreal moment!

For Funkytown Brewery co-founders Richard Bloomfield, Gregory Williams and Zachary Day, they did not have to imagine a moment like that, because it became their reality at the 12th Annual Samuel Adams Brewing and Business Experienceship Craft Beer Competition.

The three childhood friends from Oak Park entered into the competition among 50 other businesses and became finalists at the New York Crafting Dreams Beer Bash. Their victory sent them to the national competition, where they reigned supreme giving them access to mentorship, networking, and funding from Samuel Adams Brewing.

Funkytown Brewery is more than just craft beer. They build their business on values centered around culture and community involvement. They believe in making craft beer more accessible to women, Black people, and other demographics that are usually not at the top of the market minds of brewers.

.Funkytown started from small brew batches in their parent’s garage and is now sold at over 600 locations across the Chicagoland area and Wisconsin including Wrigley Field and the United Center. This September the co-founders will create a craft beer to showcase at the Great American beer Festival in partnership with the brewers at Samuel Adams’ Boston headquarters.

For more information about Funkytown Brewery and how they are using their entrepreneurship to give back to their community visit them here.

What was only meant to last one summer has now lasted for three quarters of a century! The Superdawg Drive-In in Chicago’s Norwood Park neighborhood celebrated its 75^th anniversary on May 2 of this year. The shop is known in the city as a historic destination hot dog stand with a full carhop service. This family-owned business has thrived for decades and has become a staple for residents and visitors alike. U.S. Representative Mike Quigley entered the anniversary into the official Congressional record on May 2. Additionally, 39th Ward Alderwoman Samantha Nugent unveiled an honorary street sign for the original owners called Maurie & Flaurie Berman Way. This sign will be in addition to the already existing and legendary “Superdawg Way” sign on the corner of Milwaukee and Highland avenues.

Flaurie and Maurie opened shop in 1948. What was only meant to be a summer hot dog stand turned into a long-lasting family business. Their daughter and her husband, Lisa and Don Drucker, and their son Scott Berman currently own Superdawg. Flaurie and Maurie were high school sweethearts who opened the stand as newlyweds. Their love for each other, their family and their hot dog stand is still clear today.

Throughout the entire month of May, Superdawg will be giving away $10 gift cards at random. If you are a fan of the Chicago-style hot dog or just a good burger, you should visit their locations today for the chance to win a gift card!

Do you like your eggs over-easy, scrambled or sunny-side-up? Well, any way you like them, you are guaranteed some of the best breakfast food in the nation at seven different restaurants in the Chicago area. OpenTable released its list for 100 Most Popular Brunch Spots in the U.S. using more than 13 million diner reviews. The top 100 span over 22 states, with Illinois claiming seven of the spots.

Whether you are a fan of pancakes, omelets or biscuits and gravy, Illinois has got you covered. The top seven best brunch locations include 3 Arts Club Café, Café Ba-Ba-Reeba, Summer House Santa Monica, The Dearborn, Beatrix and Mason Sabika. Beatrix is located in Oak Park and Meson Sabika is located in Naperville. The other five restaurants can all be found in Chicago.

Every location offers their own unique décor, ranging from humble café to chandeliers. You can dine indoors or outdoors at these breakfast locations. Some also serve dinner once the time for brunch is over. Menus may vary, but at every location you will find the classic pancakes and bacon with eggs.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, take your family down to some of the best brunch restaurants in town! See the full list of 100 Most Popular Brunch Spots in the U.S. here.

Data centers are grand physical locations with hundreds of computers, machines and other hardware that store the data we use every day. Data centers have been expanding around the world as we become more dependent on cloud and data storage. 

As a result of a 2019 data center investment program, Illinois has served as one of the best data center markets in the nation and now ranks fifth in the world for data centers. These centers have rejuvenated the Chicago-area cloud system and attracted more than $4.2 billion in new investments to the state.

The 2019 program was a tax incentive plan designed to jump-start data center development in Illinois. The centers would receive exemptions from state and local sales taxes on data center equipment for 10 years if they invested a minimum of $250 million in the facility and created at least 20 high-paying full-time jobs. A study by Mangum Economics shows that the program drew 13 data center projects to the state, creating more than 8,000 jobs.

With the success of this program, Illinois is now the fifth best place in the world for data centers, cementing our place as one of the forerunners in cloud storage and the technology of the future.

The Illinois’ Manufacturers Association has begun its fourth annual Makers Madness Contest, a state-wide tournament where the public can vote for their favorite product made in Illinois.

The contest consists of a bracket styled tournament, which begins with a public nomination period that ends Feb. 19. Once nominations are complete, voters will be able to select their 16 favorite products, which will go head-to-head until a winner is decided.

Last year’s winner was Normal Illinois’ very own all-electric truck, the Rivian R1T. The truck received the majority of over 200,000 votes last year, winning the title of “Coolest Thing Made in Illinois.” Rivian Automotive is based in Normal, and have produced over 14,000 electric vehicles since they opened their doors.

Nominations are accepted through Feb. 19. The winner will be announced on March 29.

People can nominate a product here

• 2023 Schedule:Nominations Accepted: February 2 – 19
• Nomination Voting: February 21 – March 5
• First Round (Top 16): March 7 – 12
• Second Round (Top 8): March 14 – 19
• Final Round (Top 4): March 21 – 26
• Winner Announced: March 29