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Sandra Guy biography

Sandra Guy, a 28-year veteran journalist, has covered business, politics, education, technology and peace issues, and served as a former president of the Chicago chapter …

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  • An ‘African-American Groupon’

    Christopher Nolen, an independent film director and producer, enjoys using Groupon coupons to get half-off deals at restaurants. So when he found out about a new deals website dedicated to black-owned businesses, he signed up. “This is the African-American community’s Groupon — it’s a great …Read More

  • Cold texting with the right touch

    Chicagoans who must brave the cold to wait for a bus or train now have a home-grown solution to tapping their smartphones, iPads and other electronic devices without taking off their gloves. Brian Shy, a 29-year-old Ukrainian Village resident, has invented “digits” — mini conductive …Read More

    • Developing leaders of tomorrow

    Marche’ Blackwell is using lessons she learned playing basketball since she was 8 to advance in the male-dominated world of industry and mechanical engineering. “I learned that I’m not always going to be in that perfect place where people are allowing you to not have …

    Kiosk idea powers up local teen

    Anthony Driver Jr. had no idea what the word “entrepreneur” meant when he enrolled in an elective class with his favorite teacher to ensure a good grade during his senior year at CICS Ralph Ellison charter school. Driver figured it out quickly, since he ended …

    What’s next in technology for Chicago’s business scene?

    Imagine the day when you can take a pill with a sensor inside that’s activated by your stomach juices, and it alerts a nurse that you’ve taken your medicine as you should have. Such “always connected” technology is emerging now, helping advance the notion of …

    Ease of making connections

    As people spend nearly a quarter of their time on the Internet, social networks are providing serendipitous and fruitful meetups, providing everything from new clients for entrepreneurs to new friends for Chicago newcomers. During this holiday season, meetups can be especially meaningful. Christine Brown, an …

  • Matchmaking helps the needy

    SANDRA GUY: Jennifer Blackwell, the pre-kindergarten supervisor at St. Vincent de Paul Center, realized her decade-long goal of planting a butterfly garden for the center’s children by using a Chicago web service that fulfills non-profits’ wish lists. Zealous Good matches non-profits’ wish lists with people and companies who want to donate in-kind goods rather than cash.

  • Daring moves in digital world

    SANDRA GUY: Two 30-something Chicago women are proving that entrepreneurship in the burgeoning digital scene can be a rewarding second career. Their willingness to take an educated risk proves to be especially daring, according to new research showing that fewer young people are starting their own businesses and small numbers of women are starting tech businesses.

  • Entrepreneurs getting work done at shipping sites

    Tom Bellino doesn’t see many pharmaceutical salespeople at his UPS store anymore. In their place are entrepreneurs working as eBay sellers, real-estate flippers and home-improvement and commercial security-system installers.

    • Walgreens guides provide real-time solutions

    SANDRA GUY: Next time you walk into a Walgreens drugstore, an iPad-toting employee may just ask if you need help finding real-time health information. The health guide — a new, full-time employee stationed at 16 Walgreens stores in the Chicago area — is part of the company’s efforts to become what it calls a “health and daily living resource.”

    Games savvy people play

    Two companies on opposite ends of the business spectrum — one a technology startup and the other a Hyde Park tennis club — are using social-media promotions to advance their goals. The XS Tennis Center in Hyde Park won $50,000 to provide free after-school tennis …

    PersonalizationMall.com makes gifts just the way you want them

    Technology is enabling a revival of an old-fashioned nicety — the engraved or embroidered personalized gift. Online retailer PersonalizationMall.com, based in southwest suburban Burr Ridge, has enjoyed 20 percent revenue growth in each of the past seven years — including the depths of the recession …

    Chicago consulting firm helps government save money

    SANDRA GUY: Amid a national debate about the federal government’s job-creation strategies, a Chicago consulting firm has doubled its technology-centric work force as it helps the U.S. Navy and U.S. Department of Energy cut costs and improve their operations.

    Doctor uses technology to help patients manage age

    SANDRA GUY: Does age management medicine work? Janice Goldman Picker, a Buffalo Grove financial planner, thinks so. Picker found her answer at the Chicago Age Management Medicine Institute in Evanston, a practice that Dr. Mark Rosenbloom started in February.

    Social media help fair traders spread philosophy, spur sales

    SANDRA GUY: As a program manager at an educational nonprofit group in India, Bharathi Gunasekaran was struck by how the artisans and craftsmakers she met relied on fair-trade work to support their families.

    Zaarly creates ‘liquid job market’ for go-getters

    SANDRA GUY: Liz Langer, a Ph.D. student in neuroscience, earned $900 this summer by fulfilling requests ranging from the mundane — picking up lunch for a busy office worker — to the unusual — hand-sewing a snake as a going-away present for a Web-startup employee.

    Accenture lawyer heads inspiring, tech-savvy Ethiopian orphanage

    SANDRA GUY: Paul Chadha, an in-house attorney for Accenture Corp., recalls how his mom worked the night shift as a nurse to bring up her three children as they struggled to stay current on the mortgage. “I vowed that if we could make it out, I would repay the debt,” said Chadha, 37. Little did he know that the chance would come with a task he took on reluctantly.

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