New venture was seen as detrimental to Chicago’s Olympic bid

BERLIN — The United States Olympic Committee has managed to defuse another dispute with the International Olympic Committee, one that threatened to blow up on Chicago’s 2016 Summer Olympic bid.

Retailers want, and need, your back-to-school dollars, even if they collect them 1 cent at a time, during this recession

Dump out the coffee cans, car ashtrays and the bottom of your purse. The lowly penny, which almost was taken out of circulation three years ago, is making a comeback as the recession puts a crimp in back-to-school sales.

Seasonal firms find new ways to grow in non-peak times

Tour boat operator Chip Collopy finally has the wind at his back.

Warning of a shortage, companies ask the U.S. to ease caps on foreign supplies; analysts say fears are overblown

The price of sugar on world markets has soared this year, prompting a coalition of the nation’s largest food manufacturers to warn of a pending shortage and to ask the Agriculture Department to ease quotas on imports.

TOKYO — Japan’s economy grew 3.7 percent at an annual pace in the second quarter, signaling exports were gradually picking up after the nation’s worst recession since the end of World War II, the government said Monday.

To build a presence on social media site, firms must let go of control

Brand power takes on a whole new meaning on Twitter, where more than a million people follow Sockington, a tweeting feline who muses about litter boxes and salmon.

OfficePort Chicago, which opens Aug. 24, is latest to offer alternative to working alone

Call it a station. Call it a port. But don’t use that dreaded word.

They’re supposedly calling it the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, but we might as well think of it as the “No Viewer or Dollar Left Behind” initiative.

Companies target Spanish media, community events

— Halfway through Univision’s top-rated variety show, “Sabado Gigante,” host Don Francisco yells out: “Vamos a cantarle a State Farm! Musica, maestro!” — “Let’s sing to State Farm!”

The first television broke before Benjamin Ramos Jr. even got it home, so he returned it to the Sears store in Calumet City the same day.