http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:13:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The number of people and business owners filing for bankruptcy protection in October shattered local records since the federal government made it more difficult to discharge debts in 2005. In October, there were 307 filings in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties, easily topping the previous post-bankruptcy change high of 271 ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/11/09/local-bankruptcies-topped-300-in-october/ The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. released its annual bank deposit market share data and AMCORE Bank again dominates the Rock River Valley. AMCORE has been the No. 1 bank locally every year that the FDIC has the information available on the web, which dates back to 1994. In Boone, Ogle, Stephenson ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/10/19/bank-deposits-grow-in-bad-economy/ CNBC's Phil LeBeu wrote last week that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne will unveil his plan to revive Chrysler Group LLC in November. According to LeBeu, the key will be clearly differentiating the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep plans. Marchionne plans to make Chrysler more upscale, trying to compete with Lincoln and Cadillac. ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/09/28/marchionne-plan-for-chrysler-coming-in-november/ This from the wires: NEW YORK (AP) Toyota Motor Corp. will pour $1 billion into a major U.S. marketing campaign in the fourth quarter, as the Japanese automaker bets on a recovery in the ailing auto market here. The sum is "more than we've spent before" in the period, spokesman Irv Miller ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/09/17/toyota-banking-on-us-recovery/ A story that just appeared today onCNNMoney.com quotes Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne as saying he was "surprised by how little had been done in the past 24 months." Marchionne was talking to reporters in Frankfurt, Germany. Under the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, Chrysler did precious little research and development and ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/09/16/fiat-leader-surprised-about-chryslers-condition/ I just talked to a former Syncreon worker. That's the plant that sequences parts for Chrysler's Belvidere assembly plant. He has a dilemma that probably a few hundred others are facing. He was laid off when Chrysler eliminated the second shift. He found another job. It doesn't pay as well as ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/09/15/the-chrysler-dilemma/ The average advertised rent for apartments in Boone and Winnebago counties declined for the seventh straight month in September. The Register Star tracks rents by charting the advertisements in the Register Star on the first Sunday of each month. The declines have been consistent throughout the area. Apartments ads for northeast Rockford ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/09/10/two-bedroom-apartment-rents-continue-to-fall/ I just dropped off what is becoming our annual challenge of our property tax assessment. My house is located in the Loves Park section that is in Rockford Township. That township had a multiplier of 3 percent, meaning the assessor's office basically took what the fair market value of your house ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/09/09/garys-vs-winnebago-county-round-four/ Chrysler Group LLC will begin advertising for temporary employees to fill the second shift for the Belvidere assembly plant this weekend, Chrysler spokesman Max Gates said in an e-mail. Interested employees can go to www.hourlychryslerjob.com to begin the application process. Good luck figuring the site out. I haven't figured out how ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/09/04/chrysler-to-run-ads-to-fill-temporary-second-shift-jobs-this-weekend/ The annual Parade of Homes kicks off next week, Sept. 12, and the most signficant thing about this year's parade is how small it is. Just 12 local builders entered 14 homes. All were in Boone or Winnebago counties. The parade featured 47 builders and 64 homes as recently as 2005. Dennis ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getreal/2009/09/03/i-love-a-small-parade/