A few months ago, Everyday Kitchen on Neil Street in Champaign suddenly announced its closing after over four years in business. But if one…
Abandoned and vacant buildings abound in downtown Champaign after three years of pandemic closures, business failures, downsizing and moves, a street-by-street survey by CU-CitizenAccess…
Champaign landlords are reluctant to consider federal housing vouchers as income, prompting many to not accept vouchers — but Urbana’s laws protect tenants from…
A $3 million forgivable federal loan helped one local agribusiness offset rising costs, while a $100,000 loan allowed another business to simply survive. In…
Taylor Ramirez
Running a business is never easy, but it’s gotten a lot harder during what’s been dubbed the “Great Resignation” – the nationwide pandemic-induced labor shortage. Locally, many business owners aren’t sure that they’ll ever be able to bounce back.
Leapfrog
One area hospital's safety grade has declined since the pandemic began, and another withheld quality of care information from the organization.
Leafly
Ramy Akram-Ahmed, a wellness advisor at Sunnyside Cannabis Dispensary in Champaign, Illinois, made $17 an hour while the parent company of Sunnyside, Cresco Labs,…
In April 2020, the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) began to give out loans via the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). By the end of the…
Darrell Hoemann
It has been an arduous journey since the early 2000s for the Urbana-Lincoln Hotel. There have been at least 7 different owners, 5 name changes, and millions of dollars in renovations and selling costs. Both city officials and the new owner, Icon Hospitality, LLC, are now confident the hotel will not only successfully open in late 2022 but will bring in significant revenue.
Darrell Hoemann
While recycling is controlled in Urbana, trash is not consolidated in the same way, as there are seven licensed haulers for the city of Urbana, all ranging in price and accepted volume. Not every hauler services each part of Urbana, and haulers pick up trash on a few designated days. Courtney Kwong, recycling coordinator for Urbana, said this is a long-term goal for the city to increase efficiency in the next 30 years.