Shalom Klein’s Blog

Have you seen the story WBEZ did on my work in the community? Tackling Jews’ Economic Woes, One Business Card At A Time

Posted on by Shalom Klein

Shalom KleinIt’s hard to feel like there’s much any of us can do to help fix our economy these days. But in north suburban Skokie, an unlikely young man is taking a stab at it by playing a sort of business matchmaker within his Jewish community.

If you encounter a 22-year old college graduate at a job fair these days, you’d expect to hear a tale of woe. Endless job searches, fruitless leads, and a mountain of college debt. Well, not so with Shalom Klein.

At a job fair at North Side College Preparatory High School last week, he was the guy soliciting resumes. Often from people much older than him, which he says felt a bit weird sometimes.

Klein’s appearance belies his young age. He wears a beard, a suit, he has a yarmulke on his head in the tradition of observant male Jews, and he carries a leather-bound folder.

Klein’s here to recruit people like Don Richie — a technical writer — and also some of the companies here, to his job fair. It’ll be Thursday night in Skokie. It’s called The Business Event. It’s the culminating event of an organization Klein started a year ago, called Jewish B2B Networking.

Klein questions Richie about what kind of work he’s looking for.

“Well, I’m a technical writer,” Richie said.  “Really, so instruction manuals…?” “That’s right,” Richie said. “Oh, you know what a technical writer does. That’s great.”

Klein started it to hook up small businesses in Chicago’s Jewish community. Most of them are on Chicago’s North Side and Skokie.  It’s his own sort of Jewish “stimulus plan.”

“Having gone to school in Rogers Park, living in Skokie, I see Devon Street, I see Dempster, and I see the all the vacant storefronts, I see the crime that’s going up, and I completely attribute that to the strain of businesses and the numbers of people that are unemployed,” Klein said.

Klein’s fix: networking. It may sound simplistic, but he thinks it leads to jobs and economic growth.

“I don’t have a background in economic development and job creation, I’m not a career coach. But I’ve come up with more of the … I guess the on-the-street version of how to address the problems.”

In fact, Klein’s background is in something entirely different. He went to college to be a rabbi. There’s another reason he seems an unlikely candidate to take on these big issues:

Klein had to apply for a job himself when he was working in New York, but count himself as fortunate as he works in a family business.

Klein works at his dad’s accounting, bookkeeping and debt-collections firm. He’ll probably run it after his dad retires. So he’s never had to worry about unemployment like many of the people he tries to help. But Klein says the idea for Jewish B2B came from expanding his family business. He went on a big networking spree to find new small business clients.

“I realized that so many of our clients, friends, and family, needed to connect with each other. A realtor needs a photographer to take pictures of their listings, a photographer needs a lawyer, a lawyer needs an accountant. It was just a matter of connecting the dots,” he said.

Klein started with a smallish networking event at a Kosher restaurant in Skokie. He expected about 20 people to show up. Instead, nearly 80 came.

“And the next day I walked into a coffee shop, and I saw two meetings going on from the day prior. And I knew I hit on something big,” he said.

Klein expects his latest event will draw 2,500 people. Among them –some heavyweights: Congressmen Jan Schakowsky and Robert Dold, and Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon.

Klein admits there are some mornings he wakes up and is like, How did I get here? “I don’t know what it was. I don’t know what it was exactly that brought so many people together. I know how to plan an event. I know what food to order, I know where to do it, I know how to promote an event.”

One more thing: the business card exchange. Before leaving, this WBEZ reporter gave her card to Klein.  Klein in turned pulled out a nearly one-inch stack of cards.

“Every single day I meet with a lot of people. Today, Odette, I think you’re my 12th meeting of the day,” Klein said.

It was only 2:00 p.m.

Read more at WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio…

What Have We Done To Our Children?

Posted on by Shalom Klein

Read this post by Moshe Klein on March 4, 2013:

What have we done to our children?I’m struggling to understand how we in the orthodox community have created a monster. How is it that in the last 20-40 years, some of our smartest Rabbis have created a generation of functional illiterates? Or, was it always this way but I never understood it before?

Recently I visited a large Expo in the NY/NJ area that catered exclusively to the orthodox and hassidic communities. Its prime objective was to bring small businesses together and to provide opportunities and training for job seekers. On the surface, this is wonderful and something that we would want to encourage and to see more of around the country. In reality however, it was alarming and a big disappointment. Yes, thousands of people showed up and paid $25 each for the “opportunity”. What I found could have been a scene from Fiddler on the Roof or Yenta. There was a sea of long black coats, beards and black hats in all shapes and sizes. Men outnumbered women 10-1. Announcements on the PA system were in a broken English/Yiddish and left nothing to the imagination relative to when the next minyan would be davening mincha or where the women’s tables could be found for them to sit and enjoy their lunch.

Not sufficiently concerned yet? Allow me to tell you more. As I walked around the Expo and visited vendors, talking and chatting with participants – I encountered the following:

  • A man who wanted to pay his $25 admission fee with a combination of credit & cash.
  • Several people inquiring about the location of the “women’s pavilion” which consisted of what appeared to be two folding tables cordoned off by six foot high poles and curtains to assure that men and women would be separated according to the laws of modesty.
  • A man who came towards the end of the event and stopped me in the parking lot. He stated that he came here “representing” his son who was looking for a job but couldn’t attend as he was learning in Kollel at the time.
  • As I was visiting with a vendor at a small booth selling some household items – an Expo attendee asked the vendor if he could use his Medicaid card to purchase some of the items.
  • Other than the cleaning staff and the security team – I honestly could not find a non-Jewish or non- religious face in the crowd.
  • Other than the business owners who paid for the space at the Expo, it was difficult if not impossible for me to identify anyone in the crowd who was not a job seeker.

I could go on – really, and tell you more of the same but I think that you get my point. What’s wrong with this picture?

I didn’t need to go to NY to discover that we have a problem in our Orthodox community. We have hundreds of thousands of young men (and women) that have been denied in many cases even a basic secular education and access to the outside world of business and enterprise. Our great Rabbis have consciously decided to keep generations of our young people “barefoot and pregnant” so to speak and isolated from the opportunity to become educated and financially self-sufficient. Our Rabbis have chosen to instill fear of the outside world in the hearts of so many and to promote a culture of dependence on government welfare programs and the largesse of the orthordox / hassidic community structure. The result is communities of otherwise strong, healthy and intelligent young people who are hopelessly unable to compete in today’s job market and to provide basic necessities for their families. Expos like this one that I described are held around the country to masses of people like this, exclusive of the outside world where the jobs and opportunities actually are.

So what is the answer? How do we deal with this massive problem of illiteracy and high unemployment in our religious community and at the same time continue to maintain and promote the Torah true values that have sustained the Jewish people for thousands of years? Well, certainly not by isolating ourselves from the rest of the world. When Jacob our forefather took his family to Egypt – he and his sons and their children conducted business with the Egyptians openly and regularly. Our greatest Rabbis and community leaders throughout history have built business empires and held jobs at every level in the non-Jewish world. All of these Jews throughout the ages were able to find ways to work and to do business honestly and at the same time to maintain lives that were committed to Torah values including religious observance and study.

What changed in the last few decades that makes it so difficult for our Rabbis to understand this? And, how can it be that so many amongst us follow along with this narrow minded and unrealistic system of poverty and illiteracy for the masses?

In my opinion, we should not continue to sit idly by while so many of our young people sacrifice their futures on misguided and blindly followed directives regarding job training, education and business development. Our greatest Jewish business leaders who are the backbone of financial strength and charity in the country provide their children with secular education. Their business is conducted honestly in the non-Jewish world and they understand that not only is there nothing wrong with this – it’s to be encouraged for the benefit of our children’s future.

May it be that we wake up before the welfare programs run out of money and a large percentage of our people find themselves not only without an education or a job but without food and housing as well.

Read more at Jewish Business News…

Do you have 3 friends for Keshet's crowd funding campaign?

Posted on by Shalom Klein

Dear Friend,

Do you know anyone with developmental or intellectual disabilities?

I’m helping Keshet raise $20,000 for camp scholarships to help children with special needs.  I am confident that if you join me, we can raise the necessary funds from home to around the globe.  Let’s get this campaign to go viral!

All I’m asking is to consider a $5 donation today by clicking here: SEND A CHILD TO CAMP!  and then send this email to 3 friends.  These two actions will make a huge difference for kids with disabilities.

 Keshet crowd funding

Thank you so much for your help!  Please see below for instructions.

Instructions:

1. Go to our campaign page, CLICK HERE and donate $5 (or more if you want!)

2. After completing payment, click “Share on Facebook” when asked if you want to “Spread the word”

3. A box asking you to log into Facebook will pop up and you need to log in to your Facebook account

4. Create a personal message that goes along with your donation that all of your Facebook friends will see

Congratulations to Maria and Rich, the owners of Charcoal Oven, Skokie's oldest restaurant and bar, on their 65 years in business

Posted on by Shalom Klein

Charcoal Oven RestaurantLocated at 4400 Golf Road in Skokie, Il you’ll find The Charcoal Oven Restaurant. Back in the twenties it was known as the Oasis Little Club and was operated by a woman named Celina Tulley. She ran this “off the beaten path” roadhouse/speakeasy until she sold it to Eddie “Dutch” Vogel, a contemporary of Al Capone in 1932. Eddie Vogel outfitted Chicago and the suburbs with “one-armed bandits” and used the Little Club as his safe-house and private club. When “Dutch” thought he would retire, he sold it to Phillip Georgouses in1949. Phill, attended Northwestern and socialized at the popular Northwestern hangout, The Little Club, before he went off to WWII. Phill was in the first wave of the D-Day Invasion at Omaha Beach, The Battle of The Bulge, and the Liberation of Paris. When Phill returned, the Northwestern University favorite since the twenties would be renamed The Charcoal Oven Restaurant. Phill transformed it into a true Supper Club. By the 1950s, a kitchen would be added to cook up the Charcoal’s new regime of dining fare – fresh fish, Prime Steaks, Greek chicken, and lamb chops served on white linen tablecloths with real silver. Today, many of the regulars still order off the menu, and sometimes call the night before to say, “You know, tomorrow night I’m going to feel like having a roast duck.”

This 65-year-old gem (longest continuously run restaurant in Skokie, IL.) The Charcoal Oven is worth visiting, not just for it’s great food, but for a nostalgic taste of what restaurants used to be. The Charcoal Oven is 100 percent authentic. The original retro neon sign out front, dining room, and vintage bar all harken back to an era of supper clubs, classic American food, and big powerful automobiles. Phillip Georgouses passed away on December 25, 2010 at 87 years of age.

Today the Charcoal Oven enjoys a resurgence under the direction of Phill’s daughter Maria and her husband Rich. Under Maria & Rich, the Restaurant has been carefully restored to be the original north shore supper club that Phill had originally envisioned.

Join Jewish B2B Networking's FREE Software 101 workshop next week on how to use QuickBooks

Posted on by Shalom Klein

The use of software and technology in our fast paced business world is no longer optional. If you are looking to stay ahead, and be advanced in your field – you will benefit from the Jewish B2B Networking “Software 101” courses. These 2 hour FREE intensive workshops are intended for either business networkers or job seekers that are looking to learn the basic skills of the software.

Be sure to come prepared to take notes, and follow-up on the many skills, tips, and tricks that will be presented. Our talk will focus on the functions of the software and ways to use it effectively. Most of the advice given is not effected by which version of the product being used.

The monthly series will rotate between topics of Microsoft Excel, Word, Powerpoint, QuickBooks, and WordPress.

Event date: 
Wednesday, August 14, 2013 – 5:00pm – 6:30pm
Address:
4959 Dempster Street (behind Starbucks)
Skokie, IL 60077

Enjoy this 2012 blog post on Jewish B2B Networking's visit to Washington DC and the White House: Intechnic’s CEO Invited to the White House & Congress

Posted on by Shalom Klein
I recently traveled to Washington DC with a group of prominent Chicago business owners and executives to participate in a series of meetings with members of the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the White House Administration. The delegation was set up as a collaborative effort for Chicago’s business leaders to voice their thoughts and share ideas amongst each other, and with top decision makers in our nation’s capital.Intechnics CEO Andrew Kucheriavy White House

The day started with a coffee reception at the U.S. Capitol with U.S. Senator Richard Durbin and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk’s senior staff.  Among topics discussed with Senator Richard Durbin were Health Care Reform, China’s influence on the U.S. Economy, SOPA and PIPA legislation, and other important businesses-related issues in the U.S.  I must say that many in the room were pleasantly surprised by the Senator’s concrete positions on controversial issues that he openly shared and opened for debate.

US Capitol

Unfortunately, Senator Mark Kirk was not able to participate due to health reasons, so Deputy Legislative Director Andria Winters expressed the Senator’s position on many of the same issues, and took questions from the delegation on his behalf. The meeting at the U.S. Capitol was followed by meetings at the Cannon Office Building with the U.S. Rep. Robert Dold and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky.   U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (Louisiana) who is the Chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee lead a fantastic discussion on tax policy.

the white house

The White House welcomed the Chicago Delegation with a discussion session and panel consisting of government officials from the President’s Obama administration and other government agencies, including Ari Matusiak, Executive Director, White House Business Council; Jonathan Greenblatt, Director, Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation; Greg Nelson, Deputy Director, Office of Public Engagement;  Stephen Leeds, Senior Counselor to the Administrator, General Services Administration; Ann Kalayil, Regional Administrator for the Great Lakes Region, General Services Administration;  Jerry Flavin, Assistant Administrator for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Small Business Administration; and Jiyoung Park, Associate Administrator, Office of Small Business Utilization, General Services Administration.

Andrew Kucheriavy White House, West Wing

The discussions focused on innovation and social stewardship/responsibility in business, business growth/opportunities, followed by a fascinating conversation on Health Care Reform with Sol Ross, Director of Business Outreach, Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services.

Despite the very packed agenda and a rainy DC weather, the delegation managed to cover most of the capital for meetings with many senior Congressional and Administration officials.  At the end of the day, everyone’s voice was heard and every opinion was expressed.  Special thanks to Shalom Klein and JB2BN for organizing this amazing event.