business

Could Atwater be a ‘sanctuary city’ for business amid COVID-19? Council to consider idea

By Dorothea 1 week ago

The City of Atwater is considering becoming a sanctuary city — but not in the way you may think.

City Council on Monday discussed how Atwater could be a sanctuary city for small businesses to operate amid state-mandated closures during the coronavirus pandemic.

It was Councilmember Brian Raymond who floated the idea, which appears to have gotten some traction. A special meeting will now be held Friday at 12 p.m. in the Atwater City Council chambers regarding a sanctuary city resolution, City Manager Lori Waterman said.

“We can have a sanctuary city for illegals, a sanctuary city for anything,” Raymond said. “Why don’t we become a sanctuary city for small business?”

Raymond told the Sun-Star he got the idea after speaking to a friend prior to attending the City Council meeting. He had been thinking about additional ways to protect small businesses after County Supervisor Daron McDaniel’s idea to declare

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Central Europe’s business services firms spy a chance in crisis

By Dorothea 2 weeks ago

By Michael Kahn, Anna Koper and Alan Charlish

PRAGUE/WARSAW (Reuters) – As the COVID-19 pandemic wipes out jobs and empties offices across the world, companies in Central Europe that provide remote, lower-cost services for multinationals are emerging as winners in the new business order.

From Prague and Warsaw to Bucharest, these firms have long provided outsourced or offshored business services such as software development, administration, payroll handling and research for big European and American customers. Now they are bucking the global trend by expanding and hiring.

“In a time of crisis, more business is shifting here,” said Roman Pavlousek, who runs a finance service centre for global industrial manufacturer Atlas Copco in the Czech city of Brno. “This is happening.”

Indeed, more than 90% of business services companies in the Czech Republic have continued to recruit during the pandemic, with 12% winning extra work from the Asia-Pacific region, according to

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DuPage County, Choose DuPage Offering Small Business Grants

By Dorothea 2 weeks ago

DUPAGE COUNTY, IL — DuPage County and Choose DuPage have teamed up to offer grant opportunities for small businesses and independent contractors during the new coronavirus crisis. Choose DuPage will host a webinar about the Small Business Relief Grant Program on May 15 at 11 a.m. to explain the grant application process and to offer more details.

Interested parties can click the link to register for the webinar.

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To qualify for the Small Business Relief Grant Program, which will offer assistance with employee payroll, utilities, and rent, business owners and contractors must meet the following criteria, according to the Choose DuPage website:

  • Small businesses with fewer than 15 employees and less than $1.5 million in annual revenue may apply for a grant of up to $15,000.

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How Adversely Will Coronavirus Impact Western Union (WU) Business?

By Dorothea 2 weeks ago

The Western Union Co. WU is likely to remain affected by the recent COVID-19-led business losses. The company being the biggest player in the remittance market is anticipating a revenue erosion as the remittance market expanse is expected to shrink.
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At the end of April 2020, the World Bank issued a forecast projecting a 20% decline for current-year global remittances. This cutback in remittance is likely to weigh on the company’s revenues from the Consumer to Consumer (C2C) segment. The latest forecast for 2020 global remittances varies from a decrease of 3.5% to 20%.

This shrinkage in the global remittance market will put pressure on revenues from the company’s C2C , which accounts for 85% of the company’s revenues. In the first quarter of 2020, revenues from the segment dipped 3% year over year.

Though Western Union is ramping up its digital remittance platform, it reflects nearly 15% of

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