Local Business Resilience: A water supply disruption in Labuan has forced food and beverage operators to suspend service, with one eatery closing temporarily as clean-water needs hit kitchen sanitation and daily income. Local Leadership & Community: Downers Grove mourns “Mayor of Main Street” Chris Karathanasis, whose nearly century-old Hof Cleaners became a community hub. Small-Business Growth Tools: Rooted Web launched a redesigned site plus RW iQ, an AI-assisted platform aimed at making ongoing marketing more affordable for small and midsize firms. Payments & Operations: Landmark Data Processing added Square to its payment and POS offerings for SMBs, while Vikar Technologies partnered with Deluxe to streamline check ordering inside Vikar’s account-opening workflow. Funding & Support: The Veteran Loan Fund graduated its first Veteran and MilSpouse Accelerator cohort, awarding $3.2M in loan capital and $150K in grants to 37 entrepreneurs. Local Economy & Jobs: Illinois is pushing film production tax credits, hoping new studio projects bring hundreds of jobs and more spending for local businesses. SMB Marketing & Visibility: The Blue Collar Recruiter launched Amplified360, bundling social, Google Business, reviews, SEO and AI search visibility into one platform. Consumer Safety: A Cincinnati-area frozen pizza recall warns labels missed soy ingredients, affecting independent grocers and an online seller.