The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Chicago

  • We’ll take Chicago Motel to all parts of the country

    We’ll take Chicago Motel to all parts of the country

    The  CEO of Chicago Bar Grill and Motel, Dr. Segun Akindayini, has said that Chicago outlets are expected to be opened in other parts of the country soon.

    He said the success recorded by the motel, which is located in Akute, Ogun State, so far, brought about the idea of taking the outlets in other parts of the country.

    While agreeing that there is competition in hospitality business, he said Chicago Bar Grill and Motel is unique because of the services it provides.

    “What makes Chicago unique is the treatment we give to our customers. We feel we have to treat our customers right. Customer is king in Chicago. The services we provide are different from what others provide. We’re a complete entertainment centre,”Akindayini said.

    In order to take away stress from its customers, Akindayini said customers could book online via its www.holidaychicagoo.com where the enquiries of customers are attended to instantly.

    Aside providing entertainment for its customers throughout the week and weekend, Chicago boss said adequate security has been put in place with the collaboration with the local police and the CCTV to ensure things are not left to chance.

    He said he was happy with the way Nigerians have received Chicago since it opened shop in less than a year ago.

  • Chicago pension measures in doubt as Quinn withholds signature

    Chicago pension measures in doubt as Quinn withholds signature

    It’s decision time in Chicago, the moment to rescue sinking pensions that could pull the city under. And nothing is happening, Bloomberg reports.
    Two weeks after Illinois lawmakers approved a bill to help stabilise two of the city’s four municipal retirement systems, Governor Pat Quinn hasn’t said whether he’ll sign it. City Council members, a year from re-election campaigns, are balking at delivering their part of the deal — a $750 million property-tax increase.
    A recovery effort championed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who in 2011 succeeded 22-year incumbent Richard M. Daley, is imperiled as almost $20 billion in unfunded pension promises burden the nation’s third-most-populous city. Chicago’s credit rating has been cut four times since July to three steps above junk.
    “The issue is ‘Whose ox is going to be gored?’” said former alderman Dick Simpson. “It’s a huge hit.”
    Retirement-fund pressure is bearing down on cities across the nation, including bankrupt Detroit and Stockton, California. Chicago has the highest pension costs as a proportion of revenue — 17 per cent — among the largest cities, according to a November report from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

    Considered decision

    “The cost of paying for this is hitting a lot of cities,” said Norton Francis, senior research associate at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington. “They are surrounded by suburbs, and you don’t want people to move out.”
    Chicago lost seven per cent of its population in the past decade. Among major US cities, none save bankrupt Detroit lost more people. Emanuel’s proposal to raise property taxes during the next five years to help funds for laborers and other workers reverses the 54-year-old Democrat’s earlier opposition to such a measure and underscores the severity of the crisis.