CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[marothisu]

German Aerospace Manufacturer Chooses Elk Grove Village For U.S. HQ

https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...ge-for-u-s-hq/

Broetje-Automation, a German aerospace and aviation manufacturer, is putting its U.S. headquarters in Elk Grove Village’s Technology Park, making it the Park’s first tenant, the company announced Monday.

The company’s new HQ will occupy more than 43,000 square feet and serve as a production facility for manufacturing and assembling robotic systems and automated composite manufacturing equipment.

Broetje-Automation plans to begin operations in the new outpost in October and hire more than 80 people to work there in the coming years. Broetje-Automation says it will hire specialized machine builders with mechanical and electrical skills, engineers of several disciplines, as well as office personnel.

[marothisu]

Cameo lands $50 million in deal led by Kleiner Perkins

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john...leiner-perkins

Kleiner Perkins is betting Cameo’s appearance on the media-tech scene will be anything but fleeting.

The Chicago-based tech company, which built a marketplace that allows consumers to pay athletes and other celebrities to give video shoutouts to the recipients of their choice, raised another $50 million from investors led by Kleiner, one of the most prestigious venture funds in Silicon Valley.

It’s one more sign that the improbable business—which started out connecting D-list celebrities with the masses for a few bucks each—has caught fire.

The two-year-old company says 275,000 shoutouts have been completed on the platform. Cameo raised $12.5 million in November led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, and it was growing faster than expected.


On average, customers are paying $62 per video, nearly triple the amount just 12 months ago. Cameo keeps 25 percent. The list of celebrities is about 15,000. Recent additions include Snoop Dogg (who also is an investor in the company), Antonio Brown, Tony Hawk and Charlie Sheen, who joined a stable of stars that includes Brett Favre, Brian Urlacher, Mark Messier and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

...

Cameo has grown from 22 employees at the beginning of this year to more than 100 and could hit 150 by year-end.

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ReviewTrackers raises $10M Series B to hire over 100 people in Chicago

https://www.builtinchicago.org/2019/...eries-b-hiring

On Tuesday, ReviewTrackers announced that it closed a $10 million Series B funding round. That brings the company’s total funding to $17.6 million.

Chris Campbell, the CEO of ReviewTrackers, told Built In that the next step for the company is rapid growth.

Right now, over 65,000 businesses use ReviewTrackers, but the company expects to pass 100,000 this year. It’s also looking to expand its product to use predictive capabilities and deep text analysis to give businesses advice on how to improve based off of aggregated reviews.

And the company is ramping up hiring. ReviewTrackers currently has 55 employees and is looking to nearly triple in the next year, hiring over 100 people for its Chicago office. The hiring will help ReviewTracker expand its sales, engineering, product and customer success teams, as well as grow the company across the board.

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Showpad Raises $70M, Plans to Add 35 Chicago Jobs

https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...-chicago-jobs/

Showpad, the Belgium-based sales enablement tech company that has a large Chicago presence, just raised a new round of funding as it looks to add jobs to its seven offices across the globe.

The company announced Tuesday that it raised $70 million in debt and equity in a Series D round of funding.

..

With the new financing, Showpad said it will develop new products and add more than 200 new jobs across its global workforce, 35 of which will be in Chicago.

Showpad’s software helps companies in a swath of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, technology and financial services, increase the size of their sales deals by improving buyer engagement.

[the urban politician]

A little tidbit from Bisnow:

Skender, serving as general contractor, completed the 30K SF interior build-out at 500 West Monroe St. for Corix Group of Cos. The water, wastewater and energy utility firm consolidated its offices across North America to downtown Chicago. The new offices will immediately house approximately 70 employees. The West Loop location, close to suburban train lines, will allow the firm to draw talent from the both city and the suburbs, Corix officials said. Skender collaborated with architecture firm Nelson, owner’s representative Colliers International and engineering firm Environmental Systems Design to complete the project.

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/chicago/news/...medium=Browser

[the urban politician]

COATES GROUP REVEALS NEW WEST LOOP INNOVATION LAB AND OFFICE

Chicago, IL, June 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Coates Group officially opened the doors of its new, dynamic office space and Innovation Lab in the heart of Chicago’s bustling West Loop, a neighbourhood that has transformed from factories and warehouses to a sought-after residential, dining and office destination over the past five years. Coates’ North American headquarters is located on the corner of May and Randolph Streets in the first and second loft-style floors of a former belt factory, just blocks from other notable offices like Google, McDonald’s, Sterling Bay and more.

Just three years after first arriving in Chicago with a core team of five, Coates’ US headquarters now hosts a team of over 80 employees.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coate...192840203.html

[jpIllInoIs]

^ Good to hear an aerospace HQ and manufacturing moving into the area and near OHare. Build some synergy with existing aerospace companies along I-90 out to RFD.

[jpIllInoIs]

Chicago continues attract companies in food science and service - no doubt to be near hamburger hq.

Golden State Foods opens food science research center in West Loop.

Irvine, California-based Golden State Foods (GSF) unveiled their newest office space and Innovation Center in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. The space features product development workstations and was designed to be a food innovation hub as well as to replicate full-scale plant production systems for efficient commercialization.

The 4,300-square-foot space, which recently won the People’s Choice Award from the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), was designed by Ware Malcomb. Summit Design + Build acted as contractor.

“As GSF continues to grow as a global food manufacturer across five continents, we’re continuing to increase our collaboration with our customers who rely on GSF to bring new and innovative food concepts that support their brands,” said Brian Dick, corporate senior vice president, global manufacturing for GSF. “With this goal in mind, GSF is investing in new talent, facilities and technology all over the world in order to continue to be a true partner to our strategic customers.”

The Innovation Center is the tenth to be developed for GSF, which has food manufacturing facilities servicing iconic customers all throughout the world. Other centers are located in Arkansas City, Kansas; Auckland, New Zealand; Cairo, Egypt; City of Industry, California; Conyers, Georgia; Guangzhou, China; Shanghai, China; Sydney, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand.

The ten Innovation Centers provide the right environment for quality experts, nutritionists, chefs, food scientists and regulatory specialists to collaborate with GSF customers to develop hundreds of new products each year. Due to increased consumer demand for cleaner labels worldwide, these experts also leverage the Innovation Centers to develop signature products with healthier and more recognizable ingredients.

[BrinChi]

Companies moved into more downtown offices over the past two quarters than in the previous seven quarters combined.

Thanks to another big wave of tenants moving into downtown offices, vacancy in the central business district fell to 12.8 percent in the second quarter, according to real estate services firm CBRE. That was down from 13 percent at the end of the first quarter and the lowest mark since fourth-quarter 2016.

Tenants posted another monster quarter in demand: Net absorption, which measures the change in the amount of leased and occupied space compared with the prior period, was up almost 460,000 square feet for the second straight quarter, CBRE data show. That means companies moved into more space during the first half of this year than during the previous seven quarters combined, according to the brokerage.

It's all evidence of a thriving downtown office market in which supply and demand have grown in near-lockstep, with vacancy hovering around 13 percent for 2½ years and leading to gradually rising rents in the city.

[the urban politician]

Great potential news for Hoffman Estates.

On oversees publicly traded manufacturer is negotiating to put is NA HQ there:

https://www.dailyherald.com/business...nufacturing-hq

[marothisu]

Accenture set for big West Loop expansion

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...loop-expansion

Downtown Chicago's booming tech scene is in for another big jump.

Accenture, the consulting firm, tomorrow is expected to announce a major expansion of its Chicago office. The firm is not commenting, but the event is significant enough that both Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot are scheduled to attend a mid-morning press conference unveiling the news.

Sources close to the matter say the company, which started as a spinoff of the old Arthur Andersen accounting firm, will be adding about 600 net new jobs, most of them in the tech area.

Accenture three years ago opened a 70,000-square-foot digital hub at 500 W. Madison, and sources say the firm will be consolidating all of its local workforce there.

[pullmanman]

Crain's Chicago Business Danny Ecker

Serving small businesses is quickly turning ActiveCampaign into a big one, and it's adding a chunk of new office space to accommodate its growth.

After doubling its total workforce since early last year to around 500 employees, the 16-year-old marketing software company is nearly doubling the size of its office at 1 N. Dearborn St. to about 115,000 square feet, CEO Jason VandeBoom said.

Ramping up its team with about 180 new hires last year, ActiveCampaign subleased about 15,000 square feet on the building's eighth floor from logistics software company FourKites to give its employees a little more room to work with. Now it is hoping another floor will help its capacity issue, though VandeBoom said it will be hard to keep pace with the company's growth.

"We are a quiet company that is scaling up under the radar in Chicago," he said. "We're an example of having hyper growth, but sustaining it from a customer base that's demanding it."

If smaller companies like this keep expanding in the Loop that should help make up for the slowly contracting amount of space leased by law firms, and the big additions of the Post Office and various other new builds.

[Tom In Chicago]

[MODERATOR NOTE] Moved all off-topic discussions to CHICAGO | General Discussions. . . fyi

. . .

[marothisu]

Glassdoor wants to hire hundreds of workers. It’s taking more space in Fulton Market to make room for them.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...daq-story.html

Technology company Glassdoor is doubling its office space in the Fulton Market district, the first step toward adding hundreds of new employees.

The San Francisco Bay area company, which runs a recruiting and job review website, said it plans to hire 500 workers in Chicago over the next few years.

The company’s newest space will be in a 14-story office building under construction at 1375 W. Fulton Market, just west of its current space in the Fulton West office building. Glassdoor said it has leased two floors, or about 52,000 square feet, doubling its space.

It will move in next summer, said may need additional room before the 13-year lease expires, said Christian Sutherland-Wong, president and chief operating officer.

The lease comes less than four months after the Tribune reported that Glassdoor had leased more space in the building it already occupies at 1330 W. Fulton. But there is no more room to expand there.

The company employs about 300 people at its Chicago office, the company’s second-largest outside of its headquarters. With the new space, it will have capacity to employ up to 800.

When the company opened its Chicago office in 2016, it housed mostly sales, customer support and other employees. Now it’s focusing now on hiring software engineers, designers and product managers.

“There is talent here, compared to the Bay Area, where there is so much competition for tech talent,” he said. “Competition is building in Chicago, but it hasn’t built as much as it has in the Bay Area. Early movers like us have an advantage.”

[the urban politician]

^ You beat me to it

[chicubs111]

Great news...im must waiting for amazon to announce that there going to open a large operation center in Chicago...you know they have to put a sizeable presence in this city

[LouisVanDerWright]

You know an office market is really bad when Tramell Crow starts a large office building on the extreme Western edge of it and then leases it up to top tech firms...

Downtown Chicago is going to grow straight West. At some point Everything from Western in to downtown will be skyscrapers. It already is South of the Freeway in the IMD...

[bnk]

FYI Pleasant Prairie WI is in the Chicagoland MSA. SE Wisconsin is hot. And yes the are still building at Foxconn.




https://www.bizjournals.com/milwauke...cility-in.html


– Reporter, Milwaukee Business Journal

Jul 10, 2019, 4:00pm EDT


Nexus Pharmaceuticals Inc. will build its first drug manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie, investing up to $250 million over a 10-year period.

The company is buying 16 acres just west of Interstate 94, and plans to begin construction next month on a three-story, $85 million facility to produce its line of generic, injectable pharmaceuticals. That facility will create 77 jobs paying average salaries of $70,000 a year, according to a Wednesday announcement by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.

“There is increasing patient demand for high quality and accessible generic injections,” said Nexus CEO Mariam Darsot.

“The addition of our Wisconsin facility will enable Nexus to produce a more stable and reliable supply of sterile injectables, a category that is particularly susceptible to drug shortages,” Darsot added.

The first phase of the Nexus plant will have about 100,000 square feet and is expected for completion in 2021. It would start operations in 2022 after gaining approvals from regulatory agencies. Jobs there would include high-tech production, engineering, quality control and supply chain management.

Established in 2003, Nexus specializes in making specialty and generic drugs. Its portfolio includes nine approved medications and six generic injectable drugs. Earlier this year, for example, it gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for three new injectable drugs that control nausea, irritable bowels and aid in cell transplant operations. Based in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Nexus has been hiring third-party manufacturers to make its drugs.


“This is one of the most significant pharmaceutical investments in Wisconsin in years,” Evers said. “Southeast Wisconsin is increasingly becoming a destination of choice for high-value manufacturing jobs that require a skilled, educated workforce.”

...


Candy gummy bear maker Haribo of America Manufacturing LLC is the first company to commit to that business park, and is to break ground next year on its plant. Advocate Aurora Health Care plans a $130 million surgery center in the business park.

[Baronvonellis]

Originally Posted by bnk

FYI Pleasant Prairie WI is in the Chicagoland MSA. SE Wisconsin is hot. And yes the are still building at Foxconn.




https://www.bizjournals.com/milwauke...cility-in.html


– Reporter, Milwaukee Business Journal

Jul 10, 2019, 4:00pm EDT


Nexus Pharmaceuticals Inc. will build its first drug manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie, investing up to $250 million over a 10-year period.

The company is buying 16 acres just west of Interstate 94, and plans to begin construction next month on a three-story, $85 million facility to produce its line of generic, injectable pharmaceuticals. That facility will create 77 jobs paying average salaries of $70,000 a year, according to a Wednesday announcement by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.

“There is increasing patient demand for high quality and accessible generic injections,” said Nexus CEO Mariam Darsot.

“The addition of our Wisconsin facility will enable Nexus to produce a more stable and reliable supply of sterile injectables, a category that is particularly susceptible to drug shortages,” Darsot added.

The first phase of the Nexus plant will have about 100,000 square feet and is expected for completion in 2021. It would start operations in 2022 after gaining approvals from regulatory agencies. Jobs there would include high-tech production, engineering, quality control and supply chain management.

Established in 2003, Nexus specializes in making specialty and generic drugs. Its portfolio includes nine approved medications and six generic injectable drugs. Earlier this year, for example, it gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for three new injectable drugs that control nausea, irritable bowels and aid in cell transplant operations. Based in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Nexus has been hiring third-party manufacturers to make its drugs.


“This is one of the most significant pharmaceutical investments in Wisconsin in years,” Evers said. “Southeast Wisconsin is increasingly becoming a destination of choice for high-value manufacturing jobs that require a skilled, educated workforce.”

...


Candy gummy bear maker Haribo of America Manufacturing LLC is the first company to commit to that business park, and is to break ground next year on its plant. Advocate Aurora Health Care plans a $130 million surgery center in the business park.

That's a small fry boutique factory for a pharma company. When I was at Hospira in 2015 they built a new 1.1 million sq ft Generic injectable factory in India that employs 3000+ people and cost around a billion.

[the urban politician]

^ Good news for SE Wisconsin!

Can't blame them for building their plant across State lines, of course...

[the urban politician]

Advocate Aurora Health Care plans a $130 million surgery center

EVIL! EVIL! EVIL!

Stay away!!!

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Downtown Chicago is going to grow straight West. At some point Everything from Western in to downtown will be skyscrapers. It already is South of the Freeway in the IMD...

Western may be a bit of a stretch, but could happen. Ogden to Clinton north of Randolph is certainly doable. I'd rather the SW corner of DT get some love before jumping Ogden, at least for office space.


Good news for SE Wisconsin and Nexus. One step closer to that Chicago-Milwaukee CSA we're all so excited to see