Six-plus months into his term, President Donald Trump has shaken up the way companies and government agencies do business by implementing new policies and regulations — many that impact Chicago businesses.
The Sun-Times reached out to 10 Chicago area companies at the start of the year to ask about their plans, with the aim of circling back at the end of 2025 to see what they achieved.
As we pass the halfway point, we checked in with some of the companies. Here’s what they shared.
Small Shop
Small Shop owner Taylor McCleneghan made a big move in April. She acquired the fair trade fashion brand Mata Traders, which was her biggest client. The companies also share a Ravenswood office space.
Mata Traders’ founder was looking to move on from the business. The company sells clothing and jewelry in independent shops like Planet Access in Lincoln Square and Ten Thousand Villages in Evanston.
“I couldn’t let it go. It was the perfect next step,” McCleneghan said.
She gained six employees and now oversees a wholesale and retail operation.
“It was just a really good transition — organic,” she said.
Small Shop provides coaching, design, materials sourcing and manufacturing for entrepreneurs, using companies in India and Nepal that offer ethical, transparent and sustainable methods.
McCleneghan hoped India would be mostly spared from Trump’s tariffs. But the president signed an executive order Wednesday to place an additional 25% tariff on India, bringing the combined tariffs on the U.S. ally to 50%.
McCleneghan said she wasn’t prepared for such a massive jump.
The “only saving grace is that we will have most of our [autumn/winter] season’s goods leave before the additional 25% is added on goods leaving India after Aug. 27,” she said. “I am nervous. It’s happened so quickly.” — Stephanie Zimmermann
Evergreen Real Estate Group
Tariffs and labor shortages were among Evergreen Real Estate Group’s biggest fears heading into 2025, since countries such as Canada, Mexico and China are major sources of construction materials like steel and lumber.
But Evergreen hasn’t seen increased costs passed on from its general contractors, CEO Steve Rappin said.
He said Evergreen buys U.S. steel and thought increased demand for domestic goods could raise the prices. That hasn’t happened yet, he said.
“My biggest take on the tariffs is it just, in general, creates that uncertainty,” Rappin said. “It puts a blanket of concern, or maybe ‘I’m not going to put my foot all the way down on the pedal of investment until that clears.’”
Trump’s immigration policies have stirred concerns about staffing in the construction industry, which draws significantly from immigrant labor. The industry’s workforce is also aging and struggling to recruit younger and new workers.
Though Evergreen does most of its projects with external general contractors, it hasn’t struggled to find labor, Rappin said. In anticipation of a labor dip, the firm hired more owner representatives and people to oversee general contractors. It has helped as the company expands to new markets that include Colorado and Ohio.
“We are built for the future, and we are working to scale up,” Rappin said. “That is our continued goal.” — Abby Miller
Lush Wine & Spirits
The most fun part of Mitch Einhorn’s job, as co-owner of Lush Wine & Spirits, is creating new recipes.
The latest invention is a twist on a Mexican torta sandwich that features a crispy breaded pork cutlet topped with sauteed garlic shrimp, shredded cabbage, tomatoes, pickled red onion, cotija cheese and avocado tomatillo salsa on a birote, a type of Mexican sourdough bread. The $18 sandwich sold at its Roscoe Village location is available for Lush’s Torta Tuesday. “Tacos are for losers,” Einhorn joked.
Creating the sandwich and other new menu items gives Einhorn a respite from thinking about tariffs.
Much of the wine sold at Lush, including its West Town outpost, is imported from places like the European Union, which is facing 15% tariffs.
A supplier recently said it will raise prices. Now, Einhorn is figuring out how much of the increase he can absorb to protect his customers.
Einhorn said tariffs are counterproductive because the jobs generated by imported wines and spirits include U.S. port and warehouse workers, liquor distributors, retailers and restaurants like Lush.
“There’s not enough good wine being made in the United States at a good price point to replace that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Einhorn and his brother, Lush co-owner Cliff Einhorn, are closing their 30-year-old biker-themed bar Twisted Spoke in West Town.
But he’s optimistic about Lush. He’s hiring a cook and a shop clerk/server. And he’s still testing new recipes.
“I’ve been busy, trying to make new stuff for people,” he said. — Stephanie Zimmermann
Fifth Star Funds
Fifth Star Funds provides early-stage funding to tech founders of color and this year, it set a goal to invest in four companies. So far, Fifth Star Funds has invested in three startups. It plans to invest in a fourth company toward the end of the year, co-founder Kyle Backer said.
“Within a few weeks, I would expect we’ll be at 30 investments, and we’re really happy about that,” he said. “We’re doing what we can with what we have right now.”
Fifth Star Funds has raised more than $1.5 million this year. The nonprofit is “industry-agnostic,” but Backer said its portfolio has more software firms than any other industry. That approach means most of the companies it invests in can be scaled easily, which is key for finding the next successful startup. He said many are leveraging technologies like artificial intelligence.
The nonprofit still hopes to find a capital partner that would enable it to expand nationwide.
“It feels like there’s a path there that gets us to that big, transformational capital partner,” Backer said. “But building these relationships takes time.”
The slashing of diversity, equity and inclusion practices among companies and government agencies has been a concern for the fund. Backer said it’s hard to know why people choose not to invest in Fifth Star Funds, but its supporters do recognize the chilling effect DEI cuts have caused.
“The lens through which we look at this is around the economic opportunity itself,” Backer said. “The focus is not a DEI initiative so much. Maybe that resonates with folks.” — Abby Miller
Automatic Precision
Harwood Heights-based manufacturer Automatic Precision is close to having to raise prices on its customers, six months after tariffs were announced on many of its trading partners.
“Everybody’s inventories are being depleted,” Automatic Precision Vice President Chris Bulat said.
Automatic Precision makes Swiss precision-tuned components, or products made by Swiss machinery, and specializes in connector and electrical contacts made from aluminum, brass, copper, stainless steel, bronze, nickel and titanium.
Bulat, who works at the family-owned company his father, Peter Bulat, started in 1976, said in April that it had enough inventory to ride out any price hikes. But four months later, the company’s inventory is low and his suppliers are raising prices, forcing them to likely pass the hikes on to customers.
“We’ve had to put in orders recently and commit to whatever the price is,” Bulat said. “It is what it is. Business has to go on. It will be something that has to be passed along to the customer at the end of the day anyway.”
Bulat has already increased prices on specialty items by 45%, but they only account for a small portion of the business. He anticipates increasing overall prices by up to 15%. He said sales are down and the uncertainty around tariffs is leading customers to pull back on purchases.
While tariffs may cause price increases, Bulat is hoping the short-term cost will eventually pay off by bringing back manufacturing jobs to the U.S.
“I was in this seat when this country lost businesses. I remember the pain it cost to lose them and know the pain it will cost to bring it back,” Bulat said. — Bob Chiarito
Air and Wellness Safety Training
In January, Air and Wellness Safety Training was getting ready for a “big year,” and so far, that’s been the case.
The Englewood-based company is transitioning to a new moniker and will become A&W Contractors in the coming months, as it expands into general contracting. The name marks a shift from the respiratory health roots of founder Adrian Mobley. It’s also in the midst of creating specialized divisions, such as A&W Flooring.
In recent months, the company has won big contracts including concrete repair with Walsh Construction for the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Expansion project; flooring work at McCormick Place; the new Satellite One concourse project at O’Hare with construction companies Clayco and Aecon; and carpentry work for Cooperation Racine, an arts worker cooperative in West Englewood.
Air and Wellness is still doing traffic flagging for projects such as the CTA’s $2.1 billion Red and Purple Modernization program, as well as fence installation with general contractor Bulley & Andrews.
It got a big boost in 2020when it won the CTA contract, as part of the transit authority’s goal of awarding 20% of the Red and Purple Modernization contracts to qualifying Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.
While Trump’s administration has targeted diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Air and Wellness said it hasn’t lost government contracts or funding. — Amy Yee
More in this series
