Homewood's Rabid Brewing finds new opportunities after losing out on plaza
The brewery has become 'symbiotic' with the local roller derby league, said Jaffary, who has helped the league with administrative tasks for years.
He said he often drives more than 20 miles to be involved with the league and brewery, which both collaborate on events and aim to provide an affordable, inclusive community space for members to 'regain their sanity if they had a terrible day at work or stuff going on at home.'
Rosado said the hardest part about losing a bid in May to move her brewery into a village-owned space Park Plaza West was the potential loss of community space for the LGBTQ+ community and other 'folks that are othered in some other spaces.'
But after the Village Board decision, Rosado said opportunities popped up for other locations for her business to expand its inclusive outreach.
Rosado said in the next few months, Rabid Brewing will host more community events in potential new areas, essentially conducting a 'vibe check' to see if the business would fit in with the local customers.
The brewery may move within 6 miles of its location in the next year, Rosado said. She looked at a possible space Tuesday.
The derby league, called The Chicago Knockouts, is growing alongside the Brewery and has also found a few potential new spaces, Jaffary said.
'We've all just been coming together, just to look out for people and offer places to go,' Jaffary said. 'We need places to go just to have somewhere to center ourselves because people get isolated and when you find a community, you start to gain some sense of sanity and normalcy.'
Rosado said the journey to expand started in 2023, when village officials approached her about redeveloping Park Plaza West on 183rd Street after she said her business, at 17759 Bretz Drive, had outgrown its backstreet building.
But in May 2025, the village awarded the property to two commercial real estate groups instead.
Village Manager Napoleon Haney said the board's decision boiled down to the ability to generate the funding necessary to make improvements, not only on the space that Rabid intended to use, but the remaining parts of the plaza, at 183rd Street and Robin Lane, including the parking lot.
The village acquired the 183rd Street retail center in 2023 through Cook County's no-cash bid process.
'We worked with (Rabid) for a while trying to figure out ways for them to generate the financial wherewithal to be able to make all of that happen,' Haney said. 'But there are other spaces and places on that property that need desperate improvements as well, and that's heavy lifting for a smaller business.'
The village's evaluation, presented at a board meeting in late May, concluded a proposal from Caton Commercial Real Estate and Granite Realty partners would better ensure sustainable commercial development, improve property conditions and maximize yield.
Yet the village noted in its analysis that Rabid better responded to community needs than the real estate groups.
More than 80 community members attended the May Village Board meeting to support Rabid's expansion, which Rosado and Haney both said speaks to Rabid being a safe gathering space.
'It's a scary thing to do what we did, and it's very scary to have it not turn out the way you want, but I highly recommend if you're going to do scary things, you get a huge group like that with you,' Rosado said.
'These people, they're not just drinking beer all day, they get together outside of my space,' Rosado said.
She said she hung artwork instead of televisions in the bar to encourage the community members to engage with each other, which she said worked, noting that she's seen customers who met at the bar get married and even get tattoos of the business logo.
'They're really a part of each other's lives in a way that's different than I've seen at most other establishments,' she said.
Tobias Cichon, who also owns Rabid Brewing, said the community's support has 'driven extraordinary interest from half a dozen other municipalities.'
He looks forward with hope because he said the business has 'the greatest gift any business owner could hope for: a revelatory understanding of how much real love our people have for what we've built for them and with them.'
'We have only our people to thank for whatever good comes next,' Cichon said.
Rabid Brewing plans to host its sixth annual event called the Feast of the Goat Queen on July 26, and Rosado said she is already planning next year's feast.
Jaffary said he has fond memories of the festival, that it's 'just a good collection of people.'
Recently, he said, the derby league and Rabid business communities walked and skated in Homewood's Fourth of July parade with customers of all ages. Both businesses have opportunities for children to participate, such as Rabid's weekly Dungeon and Dragons tournaments for children ages between 8 through 13.
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Ford's response to tariffs birthed a pro-America campaign that outsold Toyota
On the evening of March 27, Ford Motor Co.'s marketing leaders called a meeting at World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. The country was in turmoil as the second quarter was about to start. The automaker had to do something to keep showrooms buzzing as consumers fretted over newly issued tariffs potentially pushing car prices higher. Ford already had a new ad campaign and incentive program "in the can," as they say. It was good to go. But something felt off. "This was a moment in time," Rob Kaffl, Ford's director of U.S. sales and dealer relations told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, about that night. "We were thinking: What would it take for Ford Motor Co. to shine during this uneasiness in the market both for consumers and automotive?" That night, Ford leaders would end up ditching the company's previous campaign plans and instead spend the weekend in a frenzy working up a new campaign with a message to promote the automaker as America's car company, dubbed: "From America, For America." As part of it, Ford offered all customers employee prices on most of its vehicles starting April 3 running to July 7. The "From America, For America" campaign would end up offsetting Ford's dismal first-quarter results and provide a positive light during a year in which Ford is leading in safety recalls. The campaign was instrumental in delivering a 14% gain in Ford's second quarter sales and, on July 1, Ford brand — not including Lincoln — became the No. 1 selling brand in the nation for the first half of the year selling 1,058,323 vehicles, topping its closest rival, Toyota brand, by just 550 vehicles and outselling Chevrolet brand sales by 136,437 vehicles. General Motors, which makes Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC brands, remained the top-selling automaker for the first six months selling 1,439,951 vehicles in the United States. Toyota and GM spokespeople declined to comment for this article. This is the eighth time in the past decade that Ford brand has taken the sales crown for the first half of the year, according to But given the circumstances and how it came to pass, this time makes it the most meaningful victory, Kaffl said. "Had we not beat Toyota, we'd still be high-fiving honestly," Kaffl said. "All of us were really proud of what we accomplished over the last 90 days. This campaign and what Ford represents isn't just a marketing campaign. It's every man and woman working tirelessly in our Michigan assembly plants and our Kentucky assembly plants. … This is the U.S. manufacturing that makes us so proud to be working for a company like Ford. To beat Toyota is the cherry on the sundae." Ford's American history: Bryan Cranston champions Ford's new philanthropy push at revived Detroit landmark 'A win is a win' The excitement at the Glass House, Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn, flowed from the top down on July 2, as the company leaders digested the news. CEO Jim Farley told the Detroit Free Press in an email he was proud that the corporate team and dealer body rallied as one in a time of uncertainty for consumers. "Toyota is a tough competitor, but this is about much more than a sales race, it's about being the company Americans trust and turn to when it matters," Farley, who started his career in marketing at Toyota, said. "This was the result of a lot of teamwork, from our awesome factory teams delivering the production and launching new vehicles with quality, to our marketing team getting out the word about our 'From America, For America' employee pricing offer to the nearly 3,000 Ford dealers that serve every community across the country.' For Ford dealer Tim Hovik, owner of San Tan Ford in Gilbert, Arizona, about 15 miles east of Phoenix, beating Toyota is simply "exciting," he said. "There's a lot going on in our country right now," Hovik said. "There are few things more American than Ford. Ford has been a titan of our industrial strength for a century. I've talked to a number of dealers and it's a huge pride point for dealers to be the distribution center for Ford Motor Co. right now." But there are some who might say Ford's sales victory is not completely reflective of Americans answering Ford's call to patriotism. That's because the sales figures include commercial fleet sales. But others say, a sale is a sale and a win is a win. "These are fleet and retail combined and Ford does include heavy trucks," said Ivan Drury, director of insights at "But hey, a win is a win and you cut anything up enough and nothing matters or is anything really apples to apples?" Put another way by Ford dealer Brad Akins, owner of Akins Ford in Winder, Georgia, "A one-point win is the same as a touchdown win." The birth of 'From America, For America' On March 27, the auto industry needed a win. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump announced he was imposing a 25% tariff on all imported vehicles and imported automotive parts to take effect on April 3. Given that most vehicles made in the States use parts from suppliers abroad, the move almost guaranteed car prices — no matter where the vehicle was made — would rise to offset the added costs of tariffs. Ford was confident on one front: It has the largest manufacturing footprint in the United States of any automaker, importing just 21% of the vehicles it sells here. GM, on the other hand, imports 46% of the vehicles it sells in the United States. According to last year GM led imports bringing in about 750,000 vehicles for sale in the United States, mostly from Canada and Mexico. Japan-based Toyota was second with 657,000 vehicles imported. Still Farley had concerns about the tariff's impact. In a memo sent to the Ford workforce on March 27, which was obtained by the Detroit Free Press, Farley wrote, "While Ford supports the president's vision of building a stronger auto industry and manufacturing base in the United States, the situation is dynamic and the impacts of the tariffs are likely to be significant across our industry — affecting automakers, suppliers, dealers and customers." On top of that, Ford's U.S. sales in the first quarter came in 1.3% lower than the year-ago period. Ford reported a 5% decline in total revenue for the quarter. And, despite continued moves to improve quality in recent years, Ford continues to lead the industry in the number of safety recalls it has issued this year. So that night, Ford's leadership rethought its planned April sales campaign, seeking to guarantee a win. "We were talking about things like during 9/11, right, when Ford came out at the time with 0% financing and GM obviously did the same thing," Kaffl said. "That was a time when the U.S. industry could be there for the consumer. It was just collectively: How do we get that message out there that we are the largest U.S. manufacturer, the most American manufacturer out there?" The idea of "From America, For America" was born. In its TV spots, an announcer asked, "Which automaker employs the most hourly autoworkers in the country? Ford. Which automaker assembles the most vehicles in the country? Ford. That's not a coincidence. It's a commitment. And, now at this unprecedented moment in automotive history, who benefits from Ford's commitment to America for over 120 years? You." In case you missed it: Ford's April sales, led by pickups, surged 16% ahead of tariffs Working through the weekend With Farley signing off on it, the next 72-plus hours became a whirlwind. 'We went into full execution mode working through the weekend, Friday through Sunday, in the office to pull together the offers, playbooks for dealers, the marketing team getting behind it, making sure we were aligning the production that was getting released and have the inventory to back it up," Kaffl said. When it came to inventory, Ford was in a good place. At the end of March, Ford's gross day supply of inventory, which includes the inventory at dealerships as well as vehicles that are in-transit to a dealership, was a robust 74 days, Kaffl said. Days' supply is a measure of the number of days it would take at the current sales rate to deplete available inventory. The auto industry typically considers 60 days to be a healthy rate. The marketing team had to coordinate with Ford's manufacturing teams to ensure the flow of products made it out of factories to dealerships smoothly. Ford had a new Expedition and Lincoln Navigator coming, too, so it was crucial those launches rolled out amid this program, Kaffl said. Farley goes to Ford dealers for reaction By early the next week, Ford was ready to unveil the campaign to its dealers. "They presented it and we loved it," said Eddie Stivers, president of Stivers Automotive Group in Atlanta and chair of the Ford National Dealer Council. "This was the quickest mobilization of a marketing plan that I can remember. They pulled it together over a weekend. It was a quick hard shift and they executed it at a high level." Stivers, who owns five Ford stores across Arizona, Iowa, Alabama and Georgia, has been a Ford dealer for 31 years and said this was the best sales and marketing campaign he can remember because it removed the apprehension for consumers out of what was coming in terms of new car prices. "Consumers were concerned," Stivers said. "They didn't know what would happen with pricing. It provided transparency and provided clarity in an unclear time. And it resonated with consumers. Since 9/11, this is the most patriotic time I can remember. The feel of the country is pro-America and 'From America, For America' is resonating with the public." Sales across his stores rose 25% in the second quarter compared with the year-ago period, Stivers said. He expects sales to be up for the first half, too, across his Ford stores, on the second-quarter sales strength. At Akins Ford in Winder, Georgia, located about 60 miles northeast of Atlanta, the campaign pumped up second-quarter sales by 11%, most of which were new customers turning in imports and other brands, to buy Ford SUVs and pickups, owner Brad Akins said. The campaign made Akins Ford the No. 1 selling Ford dealership in the nation, unseating Livonia, Michigan-based Bill Brown Ford by selling 153 more vehicles in the quarter than Bill Brown Ford did, Akins said and Ford confirmed. 'The biggest thing we heard from customers was that they didn't hear price increases," Akins said. "In our market, it really stifled out the message of an increase and brought about the better message of value.' As the campaign rolled out, Farley and the senior leadership team took to the road for the second annual "dealer engagement tour," Stivers said. Over six weeks, Farley visited with a third of Ford's 2,800 dealerships, spending half a day with various dealers in Ford's five regions in an 'intimate setting' asking them, 'what should we do next?' Stivers said. 'There was a lot of great input. Jim took copious notes and based on the television (advertising) that's already in rotation it was a collaborative process," Stivers said. The most recent ads Stivers is referring to were launched in mid-June. They are a series of provocations at other American auto manufacturers. Ford references the 2008 financial crisis to declare itself the most American among its local competitors — GM and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler), without naming them specifically. In the ad, Ford employees working in factories say that if other car companies "were like us, they would have said no to the taxpayer bailout and added thousands of American jobs." During the financial crisis, GM and Chrysler both benefited from federal bailouts to keep their companies afloat. Ford declined a bailout. Instead, it borrowed $6 billion from the Department of Energy and had mortgaged many of its assets before the crisis, including its famous Blue Oval logo. As the Free Press previously reported, Ford said it is the only manufacturer among the Detroit Three to increase hourly jobs in America since the recession, adding 4,500 jobs, while GM has gone from 78,000 in 2007 to 47,000 today, and Stellantis has gone from 45,000 pre-recession jobs to 38,800 hourly workers today. GM and Stellantis did not comment on that report. Stivers attended the meeting with Farley in the Southeast region and said, 'it was a frank, intimate and private and positive conversation with leadership. They care enough to engage with their dealers. This was a conversation on how we become better in a manufacturer-dealer relationship and serve the customer better.' 'Tough to stop a freight train' For that reason, Stivers said he has no doubt Ford will have a strong third quarter, noting, "It's tough to stop a freight train flying down the track and that's what it feels like to be a Ford dealer." On July 8, Ford is expected to reveal a new campaign to replace its employee pricing in "From America, For America." Kaffl said it will keep Ford's sales momentum going in the second half. He wouldn't reveal details of the new campaign, only to say, "We're trying to answer maybe a different type of consumer need or pain point they have to buying vehicles. We're still finalizing plans.' Stivers said he has seen the new campaign and said it will be a "robust" program. But some analysts aren't optimistic. David Whiston of Morningstar said the employee pricing campaign juiced up demand for Ford. He said it also helped that Ford has some "desirable vehicles as well" to drive sales. "I don't expect the momentum to continue at the same pace after the promotion ends ... and I don't expect Ford to stay ahead of Toyota unless they continue discounting in some form," Whiston said. Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, agreed, saying: "This was a step in the right direction for Ford. Still heavy lifting ahead with headwinds." But Ford has new vehicle variants coming to spark buyer interest. The F-150 Lobo, a performance street truck, hits the market in the third quarter. Ford will also add the off-road trim level, Explorer Tremor, to that SUV lineup. 'The cars are the stars. I think our product lineup is set up for it," Kaffl said. "There's been ups and downs in the industry but there is still a really healthy retail industry that's out there. So with our stock position, the product lineup we have and the soon to be announced third quarter program … I think if this program resonates the way we think it will, the way employee pricing did, I think we'll have success in the third quarter.' Ford has already started increasing new vehicle production for the second half in anticipation for strong sales momentum, he said. Besides, Kaffl said, nothing makes him happier than to beat analysts' predictions. Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: Surprise tariff salvo on Saturday
No one likes working over the weekend. Unless you are the leader of the free world firing off social media posts — that is, after all, what counts as work for many politicians nowadays —announcing barriers to the free movement of goods. It's anyone's guess why U.S. President Donald Trump posted tariff letters to the European Union and Mexico — a steep 30% on goods imported from both — on Saturday. The first batch of letters was released Monday, and the second Wednesday. Going by that cadence, the latest letters should have been sent Friday. Nope. Here are two completely speculative conjectures: Perhaps Trump wanted to save off his most devastating salvos — the EU and Mexico were, in 2024, the top-two largest trade partners of the U.S. — for when the markets were closed, hence avoiding any immediate backlash from traders. But that seems unlikely, given that Trump told NBC News on Thursday that he thinks "the tariffs have been very well-received" because "the stock market hit a new high" then. And, as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon pointed out on the same day, there is "complacency in the markets" because investors are a "little desensitized" to tariff news. Perhaps Trump just wanted to annoy his counterparts, especially those on the continent. Working on a weekend might be exasperating to an American, but it's basically sacrilegious for Europeans. The combination of unexpectedly high tariffs — comments last week from Trump and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick gave the impression a favorable deal was in the books — and violating the right to disconnect would be sure to rile up Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and her ilk. Perhaps there's no point in trying to make sense of the announcements' timing, let alone the tariffs. The only thing that's certain is that, for many, there was no dancing on a Saturday night. The U.S. imposes 30% tariffs on the EU and Mexico. Trump on Saturday revealed those tariffs in letters posted on Truth Social. The EU suspended its retaliatory tariffs, which were scheduled to take effect Monday, in hopes of reaching a deal. U.S. stock futures slip Sunday evening stateside. Last week, all three major U.S. indexes fell on a weekly basis as investors braced themselves for more tariff announcements — which indeed came over the weekend. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1.01% Friday. Trump can 'certainly' fire Powell. Those comments were made by National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Sunday stateside, who said that "if there's cause," Trump can remove Jerome Powell from his position as Federal Reserve chair. 'You're losing,' Jamie Dimon tells Europe. On Thursday, JPMorgan's CEO said at Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs that "Europe has gone from 90% U.S. GDP to 65% over 10 or 15 years. That's not good." [PRO] Earnings season kicks off. Investors will want to keep an eye on second-quarter financial statements from big banks, such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, this week. But more important is their outlook on the second half of the year. U.S. tariffs take center stage but China and the EU are quietly clashing In recent weeks, European Union restrictions on Chinese companies taking part in public tenders for medical devices were quickly met with China imposing import curbs on such products. Separately, long-threatened Chinese duties on brandy from the EU came into force earlier this month, and both Beijing and Brussels have ramped up criticism of each another. Altogether, EU-China trade relations are now "quite poor," according to Marc Julienne, director of the Center of Asian Studies at the French Institute of International Relations. —
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Pittsburgh is poised to be at the heart of America's second Industrial Revolution
PITTSBURGH — It was the site of America's first industrial revolution. Now it's prepared to usher in a second one, when the country's leaders in innovation, technology, energy and artificial intelligence meet at Carnegie Mellon University on Tuesday for the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit. President Donald Trump, in an interview with me ahead of the summit, said the event is going to 'open the eyes of a lot of people of what is about to be unleashed in Pennsylvania.' Senator David McCormick, the Pittsburgh Republican who assembled the July 15 event, said the energy and AI summit will feature Trump, several cabinet members, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, big Tech leaders from OpenAI and Meta as well as energy leaders from all over the country, including the natural gas powerhouse EQT's Toby Rice. 3 Industrialist Andrew Carnegie turned Pittsburgh into the steel capital of the world. ASSOCIATED PRESS 'And what is about to happen here in Pennsylvania, with the technology experts from our universities, the natural resources, the ability to turn around long dormant industrial communities and our unparrelled workforce is a game changer,' McCormick said. He compares the moment to 1859, when Edwin Drake became the first American to successfully drill for oil. Drake's Well, in Titusville, Pennsylvania, ushered in an energy revolution. Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie was an early investor in this oil boom, which he then used to build the largest steel company in the world in western Pennsylvania. Carnegie became one of the richest men in American history, and donated most of it — including to the Pittsburgh research university that bears his name. 'People will quickly see we are on the brink of America's next industrial revolution, just in the same way Pennsylvania led the first one when Drake's oil was discovered,' McCormick said. 'We are at that moment right now, thanks to the technology that comes from [Carnegie Mellon] and the hubs of companies that surround it, as well as our incredible work force to build these AI data power centers, and the tradesmen and women who will supply the energy needed for them,' he said. Darrin Kelly, the President of the Allegheny-Fayette Labor Council, said if the investments in projects all line up, his men and women will be ready to go. 'We have the best workforce in the world and no matter what it is, we'll shine when the time comes.' 3 Workers at the the McKeesport steel mill in 1949. ASSOCIATED PRESS The event comes on the heels of a boom in the labor force in Pennsylvania that kicked off last month when Trump announced the partnership and $11 billion investment from Japanese-owned Nippon Steel. That investment not only kept the American steelmaker in the U.S., but also protected more than 100,000 jobs through investments in steelmaking in Pennsylvania as well as in other plants in Indiana, Arkansas, Minnesota and Alabama. That announcement was quickly followed by Amazon pledging $20 billion in Pennsylvania for AI infrastructure. Shapiro told me that the investment will establish multiple high tech cloud computing and AI innovation campuses across the Commonwealth, 'It will create thousands of new jobs that will build, operate and maintain the first two data center campuses in Luzerne and Bucks counties,' he said, adding, 'look for more investment soon.' Western Pennsylvania sits in the sweet spot for the growth and development of the AI boom; both the University of Pittsburgh and CMU are heralded for attracting and training some of the brightest minds in the country when it comes to engineering, research and artificial intelligence. Western Pennsylvania has had its troubles. After the end of the steel boom, the area decayed, unemployment was rampant — still-vacant coal fired power plants, steel mills and manufacturing plants stand as ghostly sentinels of an era that has long vanished. But things started to turn around about 15 years with a natural-gas boom and oil fracking technology. McCormick says between the access to massive amounts of energy, both natural gas, nuclear as well as coal that will turn things around in a way no one has seen for generations. In April, in Homer City, the stacks of a former coal fired power plant were imploded, and the site is being redeveloped into a $10 billion AI and data center. In the two years since the Homer City coal fire plant had been closed down, the tiny western Pennsylvania village had already started to show signs of depression — but the new investment changed everything. 3 Sen. Dave McCormick assembled the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit that will be hosted in Pittsburgh this week. AP Photo/Steven Senne McCormick said this isn't just about the potential tens of thousands of construction jobs to build these AI data centers. 'These jobs will also include chemists, scientists, engineers, AI experts, physicists,' he said. McCormick said people have asked him why Pittsburgh? His answer: 'The energy production is incredible, it is the number two energy producer in the country which is the first necessary step to power the AI revolution and to really power the energy revolution. We have incredible skilled labor, with the welders, steam fitters, pipe fitters, construction workers and electricians, but we also have incredibly sophisticated technologists.' 'I think it's arguably CMU is the best AI university in the country. It's got incredible tradition with computer science and technologists, which is why in recent years, Google and Apple and Airbnb and everybody else, Tesla all have offices around here because they're trying to draw on that talent,' he said. Trump, Shapiro and McCormick all expressed great excitement about what people learn from this summit, but also to show the turn around for the region. 'Too often the stories have been about what once was, well this is a moment about how great things will be,' said McCormick, adding, 'We are only beginning.' Salena Zito is the author of 'Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland,' out now.
