CITY OF CHICAGO SMALL BUSINESS CENTER HOSTS ‘CHICAGO RESTAURANT WEEK KICK OFF EXPO’
Restaurateur David Morton Will Be Available to Answer Questions About How He Successfully Maintains 10 Restaurants; ‘Establishing Your Restaurant Concept and Writing a Business Plan’ Workshop Being Offered at 9:30 a.m.
January 27, 2015
“Chicago Restaurant Week” begins January 30 and marks two weeks of dining deals throughout the city. To help prep entrepreneurs with hopes of opening a successful restaurant in Chicago and to support the event, the City of Chicago Small Business Center (SBC) is hosting the “Chicago Restaurant Week Kick Off Expo” on Friday, January 30, at City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle Street. The expo is designed to be a resource for entrepreneurs looking to start a restaurant or grow an existing one in Chicago and will feature restaurateur David Morton, of DMK Restaurants, as well as a workshop for restaurant startups.
“Helping small businesses, especially restaurants succeed in Chicago is critical. And there’s no better way for an entrepreneur to learn than hearing mistakes that his predecessor made,” said BACP Commissioner Maria Guerra Lapacek. “Mistakes are often very costly and can set a business back, so I urge anyone operating or looking to open a restaurant in Chicago to stop by use this expo as an opportunity to gain knowledge from one of the industry’s best.”
In addition to business consultants from the SBC, attendees can interface with the Illinois Restaurant Association, Score Chicago, The Law Project, Accion Chicago, Women’s Business Development Center, and the IRS. David Morton will be on hand from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to talk to attendees and answer questions.
The Chicago Restaurant Week expo will be held at City Hall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the 8th floor lobby.
“Success on any level requires preparation, passion and surrounding yourself with great people,” said DMK Restaurants Co-owner David Morton. “My greatest strength is recruiting amazing talent. At the end of the day, I work for them and my role is to ensure that they have the best tools and lots of creative input.”
Before the expo kicks off, Brian Margulis, of Creative Hospitality Associates, and Lema Khorshid, of Fuksa Khorshid, LLC, will present the workshop “Establishing Your Restaurant Concept and Writing a Business Plan” from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in Room 805 at City Hall.
The workshop will cover the first step in opening a food establishment and discuss the basics of writing a business plan, – how to clearly define your concept, how to develop your menu and pricing, and what financial information to include. This marks the first in a series of monthly workshops hosted by the City of Chicago BACP and SBC geared toward establishing and growing a restaurant.
Both the expo and the workshop are free and open to the public. To register for the workshop, send an email to [email protected] or call 312.744.2086.
In 2009, David Morton and Michael Kornick launched DMK Restaurants with a mission to redefine casual dining through their shared passion for quality, method, design, and hospitality — all at an unparalleled value. In November 2009, Morton and Kornick opened their first DMK Burger Bar (now with locations in Lakeview, Soldier Field, and Lombard), followed by Fish Bar in March 2011, Ada Street in March 2012, County Barbeque in July 2013, DMK Burger & Fish in February 2014, and Henry’s Swing Club in June 2014. David Morton and his wife, Jodi Morton, own 2to5 Design, a residential and commercial design firm that created the design for Fish Bar, Ada St. and County Barbeque for DMK Restaurants.
More restaurant and business resources are available on the City of Chicago’s Small Business Center website at www.cityofchicago.org/SBC.
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