Watch how these Chicagoans change the business world in 2018

A new dean at one of the country’s top business schools, a wunderkind at Kraft Heinz, and a new chief at the city’s economic development arm. Each will take on new challenges in 2018 that make them among the Chicago businesspeople worth watching.

Stephen Calk, CEO of Federal Savings Bank. The bank CEO has become ensnarled in an investigation into the business activity of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s onetime campaign chairman. Prosecutors interviewing lenders and associates of Manafort summoned Calk in November. Calk’s Chicago-based bank provided $16 million in loans on Manafort properties. Despite the attention, Calk and his bank are moving forward. Bank spokeswoman Kellie Kennedy said Calk plans to hire more employees and open three to five additional loan production offices throughout the country, adding to the existing 29 offices. The bank aims to grow loan value by 20 percent.

Doug Cygan, CEO of Jewel-Osco. Cygan is forging ahead with his plan to continue modernizing the city’s largest traditional grocery chain. In 2017, the Albertson’s-owned company jumped into the e-commerce fray by launching its own online grocery ordering and delivery service. Cygan, who started at the company as a parking lot cart clerk, said his biggest focus in 2018 will be hiring new store associates and adding more organic produce to the stores. Also on his plate is the rollout of Plated, Albertson’s recently acquired meal-delivery service.

Wendy DuBoe, CEO of the United Way of Metro Chicago. DuBoe restructured the organization this year, laying off 20 percent of its staff while also hiring new talent. The revamped organization plans to bring together leaders and organizations to work on a mutually agreed upon goal in 10 neighborhoods. In Brighton Park, for example, community organizations are working with United Way to bump the neighborhood’s high school graduation rate from 78 percent to 90 percent.

Edward Lampert, chairman and SEO of Sears Holdings Corp. Sears has been struggling for years. But some retail watchers say sizeable debts coming due in 2018 will make the year ahead even more of a challenge for the retailer. Sears has lost more than $10 billion since 2011, the last year it made a profit. In December, Sears announced a pair of deals aimed at giving it more financial flexibility. The retailer paid down $325 million on a loan originally due midway through next year and said it plans to get a new credit facility worth about $600 million.

Neela Montgomery, CEO of Crate & Barrel. Montgomery took over as CEO of the Northbrook-based global home furnishings retailer in August. She was previously an executive with the company’s Germany-based parent firm, the Otto Group. Montgomery would not comment specifically on her plans but she likely will be focused on staying ahead of the competition in the high-end furniture business. Crate & Barrel, which has had a store on Michigan Avenue for more than 27 years, is closing that location. The site has been leased to Starbucks, which plans to open a multilevel Roastery flagship in the space.

David Knopf, chief financial officer at Kraft Heinz Co. Knopf became the food industry’s new wunderkind when he was bumped up from vice president to chief financial officer at Kraft Heinz in October at the age of 29. Knopf is charged with keeping the food giant’s stock price up, after sliding more than 9 percent year to date. Earnings at Kraft Heinz have beaten expectations, but the struggle to keep sales growing in the tough food business will be one of Knopf’s biggest challenges.

Madhav Rajan, dean of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Former Stanford accounting scholar Rajan became dean of the Booth School in March. Rajan faces the challenge of pushing Booth, ranked No. 3 this year among business schools by U.S. News & World Report, to the top or at least keeping competitors such as Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School at bay.

Howard Tullman, former CEO of 1871. Earlier this year, Tullman said he planned to step down as chief of the city’s high-profile tech hub once a successor is found. Tullman’s involvement with 1871 won’t end — he’ll stay on as a board member and a member of the executive committee — but he won’t say what’s next. Tullman hinted that there are “a couple” of new initiatives he plans to roll out next year, but he declined to share any details.

Dirk Van de Put, CEO of Mondelez International. Van de Put, who became CEO of the global snack-maker in November and will add the title of chairman March 31, takes charge of the Deerfield company at a time of consolidation in the food industry. Mondelez, which makes brands including Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers, has long been rumored as a takeover target for Kraft Heinz, but the company could also look to make a big acquisition itself. Van de Put succeeds Irene Rosenfeld, who retired after 11 years. In an emailed statement, Van de Put said he plans on “building on Rosenfeld’s legacy.”

Andrea Zopp, president and CEO of World Business Chicago. This year, Zopp took the helm of the public-private partnership that serves as the city’s economic development arm. Zopp, a former U.S. Senate candidate and Urban League chief who most recently served a short stint as Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s deputy mayor for business development, will focus on promoting the city as a global business center and luring corporations to set up shop in the Windy City.

crshrosphire@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @corilyns

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