CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[bnk]

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opin...tching-reality


January 30, 2019 10:59 AM | 5 hours ago



Foxconn's Wisconsin plan is catching up to reality



The LCD screen maker may not make display panels in Wisconsin after all. Those who’ve been following Foxconn for a long time won’t be surprised.




(Bloomberg) — So Foxconn Technology Group may not make display panels in Wisconsin after all.

Those who’ve been following Foxconn for a long time won’t be surprised. Chairman and founder Terry Gou is as much a salesman as he is a manufacturer, having spent decades honing his pitch not just to clients but also governments.

Then-Governor Scott Walker, backed by President Donald Trump, loved exactly what he sold: the promise of thousands of jobs to make stuff in the U.S. Walker loved it so much that he pledged as much as $3 billion in sweeteners, a deal that likely cost him his governorship.

...

[SIGSEGV]

Seriously, with Foxconn you don't need any creativity to come up with the appropriate pun.

[the urban politician]

^ This is an absolute embarrassment for Wisconsin as well as for all of those speculators who bought homes, properties, etc expecting a huge boost from all of those factory jobs Foxconn was going to bring.

However, the industrial boom for SE Wisconsin has no end in sight:

https://www.rejournals.com/building-...onsin-20190121

Not sure how many jobs these would bring

[bnk]

And that takes down two new competing hospitals down with it, our plans and Advocate/Aurora plans. That's like a half of a billion in construction and thousands upon thousands of hospital employees and medical professionals. Currently Advocate/Aurora has over 70,000 employees to give one an idea how many jobs hospitals provide and quite a few well paid jobs too. Aurora is in Wisconsin Advocate is in Illinois.

•Advocate is recognized as one of the Top 100 Workplaces to work in Chicago, we are one of Chicagoland’s largest employers with more than 35,000 associates, including 6,300 affiliated physicians and nearly 10,000 nurses.

https://www.bizjournals.com/milwauke...-hospital.html

Froedtert South plans Foxconn-area hospital neighboring Advocate Aurora project




By Sean Ryan
– Reporter, Milwaukee Business Journal

Oct 4, 2018, 11:35am CDT
Updated Oct 4, 2018, 5:30pm EDT

Froedtert South Inc. hospital and medical office building in Mount Pleasant that would share a property line with a $250 million campus proposed by Advocate Aurora Health Care.

[LouisVanDerWright]

A bummer for a business associate of mine who owned several hundred acres directly across the street from the proposed site lol.

Foxconn already faced a total credibility issue as they've done this before. Now I doubt anyone even wants their business. At least Milwaukee got the tech jobs downtown out of this.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

And there's the Netflix rumor, Cinespace is building more studios at 31st and Kedzie for this Netflix show according to the article. I heard they bought a building over on Kedie the other day, didn't connect it to the rumors posted here about Netflix.

id still rather have the Washbourne building. what a boneheaded shortsighted demolition.

[marothisu]

It looks like they were looking in Fulton Market, but nothing immediately available so they went near Old Post Office/Union Station instead. All this considered, this is probably 400+ new jobs at the company (total of probably 550 or more).


Silicon Valley tech firm inks big West Loop lease

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...est-loop-lease

Although plenty of companies flock to the Fulton Market District these days, one growing tech firm has left it behind for another emerging downtown spot.

Mountain View, Calif.-based freelancing marketplace Upwork has leased 67,730 square feet at 525 W. Van Buren St., where it moved in earlier this month, the company confirmed.

After tripling its local headcount over the past 18 months to about 100 employees today, the company ran out of room at its 12,000-square-foot office at 224 N. Desplaines St., a couple of blocks east of Fulton Market.

...

"Chicago has proven to be an incredible market for diverse talent from prestigious universities and leading companies and is one of the fastest growing tech innovation hubs outside the Bay Area."

..

Fulton Market didn't have the immediately available space for Upwork to grow, according to Gilpin, which sent the company looking elsewhere.

"Union Station is one of the fastest-growing areas in the West Loop and a key transportation hub," Gilpin's statement said. "Our team is excited to be part of its revitalization and tech expansion, while remaining centrally adjacent to the river and central loop."

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Back to school: Packback will make 45 hires and expand to over 200 colleges after raising $2.5M

https://www.builtinchicago.org/2019/...-funding-round

This time last year, Chicago-based edtech company Packback had 37 employees and was gearing up to announce a $4.2 million Series A.

What a difference a year makes.

Packback now has over 75 employees and will add 45 more people to its team after closing a $2.5 million funding round led by University Ventures and with participation from Hyde Park Angels.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

id still rather have the Washbourne building. what a boneheaded shortsighted demolition.

Different sites. Cinespace bought Crown Steel at 3355 W 31st, west of the old Washburne site.

The Washburne site is supposed to become Focal Point, but there's literally zero money for that development and it's led by St Anthony Hospital which has no idea how to put together a huge mixed-use project.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

id still rather have the Washbourne building. what a boneheaded shortsighted demolition.

This is going in the large warehouse that's still stands on the West side of Kedzie. Yes the Wasjbourne school should never have been demoed.

[marothisu]

Growth sprint: Logistyx Technologies just made 90 hires in 90 days

https://www.builtinchicago.org/2019/...istics-company

Aggressive hiring goals are common in the tech industry, but few companies go through growth sprints like the one Logistyx Technologies just had. The Rolling Meadows-based company, whose software helps businesses cut shipping costs, recently completed a hiring initiative called “90 people in 90 days.”

“We more than doubled our headcount at Rolling Meadows and will probably triple it by the end of the first quarter,” said CEO Geoffrey Finlay. “The reason why this was done in such a compressed time frame was because of increased lead generation. It was really pure customer demand.”

[marothisu]

FourKites sails into another $50 million

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john...her-50-million

Investors continue to shower attention and money on Chicago’s logistics-tech companies.

FourKites, whose software is used by companies such as Kraft Heinz and Conagra to track their products while in transit, raised another $50 million from existing investors.

..

The company raised $35 million last February and has taken in $100 million since it was founded.

...

Four Kites, started in 2013 by Kellogg School of Management graduate Mathew Elenjickal, has exploded. Revenue tripled last year, although Elenjickal declined to say how much it is. Headcount more than doubled to 335 employees from 160 about a year ago, and Elenjickal says it could hit 750 in another year. About half of the workers are in Chicago. The rest are in India, the United Kingdom, Poland, Brazil and Mexico.

..

Elenjickal says the company will use the funding to expand to new markets overseas beyond the 55 countries it already serves. Four Kites also plans to add new products, such as predictive capability using the growing amount of data it collects, based on a half-million shipments being tracked daily on its network.

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Intel Leads $30M Round in Chicago Startup Catalytic

https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...tup-catalytic/

Sean Chou’s software startup Catalytic, which helps companies automate business processes, has raised a new round of funding as the Chicago company looks to double its headcount over the next year.

Catalytic announced Monday that it has raised $30 million in a Series B round of funding led by Intel Capital, the venture arm of Silicon Valley semiconductor giant Intel. Other backers in the round include Redline Capital, NEA, Boldstart and Hyde Park Angels.

Catalytic has now raised $42 million to date, Chou said in an interview.

Chou—the former CTO and second employee at Chicago tech company Fieldglass, which sold to SAP for more than $1 billion in 2014—said Catalytic will use the funding to double its headcount by the end of the year. It currently has around 60 employees between its offices in the West Loop and Naperville. Chou said the startup is also considering opening new offices on the west coast and in Europe.

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Bill Gates Backs $33M Round for Chicago Startup Developing Lab-Grown Protein

https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...grown-protein/

A Chicago startup developing a new way to grow edible protein has raised a large round of funding from top investors, including Bill Gates.

Sustainable Bioproducts, a Chicago biotech startup making a fermentation process to produce lab-grown protein, announced Monday that it has raised $33 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Silicon Valley venture firm 1955 Capital. Also backing the startup is Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a $1 billion fund led by Bill Gates that aims to invest in companies that are combating climate change. Breakthrough’s other investors include Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg and Richard Branson.

..

The startup, which is based out of the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is still two years away from commercialization. But Jonas says the company’s final product can take the form of a solid, liquid or powder, and be savory or sweet.

..

Sustainable Bioproducts has 22 employees and is “growing rapidly,” Jonas said. The startup, which also has an office in Montana, is looking to open a lab in Chicago.

[moorhosj]

Ford investing $1 billion, adding jobs at Chicago factories as it makes cuts overseas

The move will add 500 jobs at Ford's Chicago-area Assembly and Stamping plants, bringing the total number of employees at the two factories to 5,800, the company said Thursday. Ford is building a new body shop and paint shop at the assembly plants and plans to make major changes to the final assembly area. The company also plans to install some new manufacturing technology, including 3D-printing tools and robots.

It's also spending $40 million to upgrade the facilities for employees, including new LED lighting and cafeteria updates, new break areas as well as parking lot security upgrades.

[pullmanman]

Facing opposition, Amazon reconsiders NY headquarters site, two officials say

Amazon.com is reconsidering its plan to bring 25,000 jobs to a new campus in New York City following a wave of opposition from local politicians, according to two people familiar with the company's thinking.

The company has not leased or purchased office space for the project, making it easy to withdraw its commitment. Unlike in Virginia — where elected leaders quickly passed an incentive package for a separate headquarters facility — final approval from New York state is not expected until 2020.

That approach was sure to worry Amazon, whose vice president for policy, Brian Huseman, told the recent City Council hearing, “We want to invest in a community that wants us.”

Doubtful this means anything for Chicago, as the Post suggests Amazon would simply employ more people in Virginia or simply hire in NYC without the tax incentives. However, I can't imagine this level of organized resistance happening if Amazon were to announce Chicago as a destination... though it's pretty unlikely the next mayor would as good at courting and accommodating them as Rahm was.

[marothisu]

This whole thing was about tax incentives. There's no way they'd hire that many people without any incentives. Even if they had to "only" hire 10,000 people instead of 25,000 that's still a lot, including a lot of new office space for them. Unlike Google, Amazon made it known they were after a lot in incentives, so I don't buy that part. It is possible that they just shift to VA instead. They already have hired and are hiring a lot in NYC (a few thousand people).

Not that I think it'll happen, but if they do reconsider, then I'd have to think there is a chance they reconsider some of the finalists which were basically Chicago and Dallas. I believe some of the reasons Amazon didn't pick Chicago were things like political climate and maybe minorly crime. I think if the political climate gets better with a new governor - and who knows about the whole mayor thing, then it could be more positive for Chicago if they start looking outside of these 2 places. Crime is actually down a lot so far this year in Chicago - hope that part continues.

[bnk]

Rahm get on it. Even on the small chance Chicago got it it would be too late for him to get back in the game for mayor.

Had we had it in the first place I do think Rahm would have been re elected on the first ballot

[k1052]

Crain's says JB has spoken to Amazon

Chicago and Illinois may be getting back into the race to attract Amazon’s prized HQ2—at least the half that was supposed to go to New York City.

A source close to Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he already has been on the phone to the company in light of a story earlier today in the Washington Post that the company is reconsidering locating half of its second headquarters in New York City, where a proposed location in the Long Island City section of Queens has drawn intense local opposition.

"Gov. Pritzker immediately called Amazon earlier this morning to make a full-throated pitch to attract these good-paying jobs to Illinois and assure them that they would have a strong partner in the governor’s office,” said a high-ranking administration source, speaking on background.

No firm answer yet is available as to what City Hall is doing and whether the Amazon threat not to go to New York is considered real or a mere bargaining ploy. But Mayor Rahm Emanuel made an all-out effort to attract the headquarters and its promised 25,000 jobs, and Emanuel administration officials have said they believe Chicago’s proposed location in the South Loop “78” property was very close to the New York and Washington, D.C. sites that won out.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg...=hero-readmore

[marothisu]

^ Good. Might be a small chance, but there's a chance.

[Mr Roboto]

Good luck with that Pritzker. Not sure it's worth the effort though. The tax incentives they want is insane and all of us in this state should be against billions in corporate welfare for the richest douchbag in the world. I fault to see how 20000 jobs is worth shelling out giveaways like that, especially with the state budget as it is. Make that prick earn it or find some other sucker.

[the urban politician]

Southeast side industrial development to begin, approx 1300 jobs:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...208-story.html

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Mr Roboto

Good luck with that Pritzker. Not sure it's worth the effort though. The tax incentives they want is insane and all of us in this state should be against billions in corporate welfare for the richest douchbag in the world. I fault to see how 20000 jobs is worth shelling out giveaways like that, especially with the state budget as it is. Make that prick earn it or find some other sucker.

The vast majority, if not all, of the incentives are in the form of either limited tax exemptions or promises of infrastructure investment. Infrastructure investment, even when it primarily or disproportionately benefits one company, benefits everyone. Tax exemptions aren't dollars taken from the treasury, just dollars not collected for the treasury. In other words, tax exemptions only benefit the company if they actually set up business here - the is no up front cost, and no money lost out-of-pocket if they leave or fail.

And 20,000 jobs that pay an average of $100,000/year, which isn't a crazy estimate, means $2 billion per year into the Chicago metro area payrolls annually. That's nearly $100 million per year into state individual income tax collections. Plus, a huge chunk of that two billion gets spent locally, which supports additional jobs, which results in additional income tax collections, etc, etc. And then there's the jobs a headquarters-sized office supports outside of it's payroll for supplies and outsourced services and ordered-in food and construction and building operations, etc. And if even a quarter of the employees are transplants, that's maybe 10,000 new residents (counting family members), which helps support the housing market and related jobs.

This isn't some zero sum game. It's also not Chicago just hanging cash to a billionaire, it's a region letting a company underpay taxes for a fixed amount of time as an investment in the future. As long as the numbers are approached similarly to how you decide whether to build a new bridge or a new highway, it's really no different as an investment except that a non-toll bridge never creates any direct income, only indirect investment return. An investment in a corporate relocation, properly structured, eventually results in direct income to the economy and tax rolls.