In his May 10 article, "Chicago deserves better rules on food trucks," restaurateur Glenn Keefer litanies unsubstantiated complaints about food-truck operators, whom he likens to pirates. He suggests the city should limit the number of food trucks and dictate where they go to keep them away from restaurants like his.

Contrary to Mr. Keefer's suggestions, mobile food entrepreneurs contribute to the economy like all small businesses do. They create jobs for themselves and their teams. They feed the local economy by contracting with suppliers. They pay sales taxes. And they test out new ideas that could grow into big businesses someday.

True, they do not pay real estate taxes on storefronts, but they also do not have storefronts. (Maybe it's unfair that downtown storefronts pay so much in taxes, but that is a reason to change tax policy, not to suppress creative new businesses that are not subject to those taxes.)

Read more at Crain's Chicago Business