Segment 1: Ilyce Glink, owner of Think Glink Media, joins John Williams to talk about the stock market being up a bit today, the latest on a possible end to the government shutdown, consumer debt being very high right now, and how ICE / Border Patrol activity is causing economic mayhem in certain areas of Chicago.

Segment 2: Jim Dallke, Director of Communications, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, tells John about Argonne and NVIDIA are teaming up on an AI supercomputer for the Department of Energy, Chicago Blend landing a multiyear grant to continue its efforts to diversify Chicago’s venture capital scene, and Letter AI raising $10.6 million to bring generative AI to sales teams.

Segment 3: Mike Spriggs, Head of Consumer Insights at Fiserv, joins John Williams to break down Fiserv’s October Small Business Index.