Chicago-area business leaders and aldermen gathered Monday morning on the 2nd floor lobby of City Hall to announce a committee to “combat Chicago’s unfriendly business climate,” and the “onslaught of taxes, regulations and mandates that are crushing neighborhood small businesses.”

Rob Karr and Theresa Mintle, the president/CEOs of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, respectively, both attended, as did Ald. Tom Tunney (44), Ald. Michele Smith (43), Ald. Brian Hopkins (2), and Ald. Matt O’Shea (19). Business owners Neil Byers (Horse Thief Hollow Brewing) and Michael Kozlowski (Fairplay Foods) were also present. Mintle, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s former chief of staff, kicked off the press conference by saying there was an “anti-business agenda” coming from City Hall.