CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[F1 Tommy]

Originally Posted by bnk

Where was this school previouly located? cant find it in the article..

It's about time the Chicago area had a good A&P school. Lewis is way out in the suburbs and also offers training. Here is the companies website wich was in the original article. AA also had a training program years ago at Midway.


https://aviationmaintenance.edu/

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Wishful thinking. I think you're confusing it for the long, narrow building next door, at 3701 S Ashland - and yes, that building is absolutely stunning. This is new construction, on the site of that spectacular winter fire from several years back that encased everything in 1' thick ice - https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/20...g-fire/100445/ .

At least they put a mural up on the Ashland side of the new building - vast improvement over a huge blank white wall https://rejournals.com/urban-infill-...es-public-art/

Still a pretty cool type of new use for what is essentially your standard new infill logistics building.

Weird for that building to have a 3711 address, it looks like it should be more like 3740 or something. The mural is good though, we should make these required for new warehouse development.

[marothisu]

Chicago might have another tech unicorn but the valuation number is private for now..

LogicGate raised $113M and has now raised $156M total. They are planning to double headcount from 175 to 350 in the next 12 to 18 months. Apparently in the last year, they doubled headcount..

The CEO states that revenue grew by 80% last year. Their software is used to help companies manage risks in many different things.

[marothisu]

Here's a success story of a bootstrapped company who did $50M in revenue last year..

https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...across-us.html

A Chicago bitcoin ATM operator is expanding rapidly across the U.S. as it looks to make crypto buying and selling more accessible to the masses. And it's doing tens of million in revenue without any venture funding.

CoinFlip, founded in 2015, has become one of the dominant players in the cryptocurrency ATM space with around 2,500 machines spread out across 47 states. It did more than $50 million in revenue last year, CEO Ben Weiss said, growing to more than 200 employees.

Led by Weiss and co-founder Daniel Polotsky, two 26-year-olds who attended Deerfield High School together, CoinFlip is trying to make bitcoin available to anyone, including the unbanked and under-banked, Weiss said. It's different than Coinbase, for example, in that it operates mostly in cash rather than linking to your bank account. It's also faster to get onboarded for first time users, allowing people to purchase bitcoin in minutes, rather than the week or so it takes to create a Coinbase account, Weiss said.

..

CoinFlip is 100% bootstrapped, Weiss said. Investors have approached the startup, but Weiss has been hesitant to bring on outside funding, though he didn't rule it out down the road.

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Here's a success story of a bootstrapped company who did $50M in revenue last year..

https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...across-us.html

I reluctantly agreed to pay a $200 debt in bitcoin and these ATMs ended up being the easiest way to do it. Several other apps like Coinbase were much harder. Though I learned that if Bitcoin ever becomes a common method of paying for stuff other than heroin or ransom, I will go through five new stages of grief. I’d be surprised, followed by stunned, followed by bargaining, acceptance and not buying stuff.

Not only did it cost me $16 (!) to get $200 into a bitcoin wallet, I wasn't permitted to make a transaction for a week, during which time my $200 turned to $180 for some dumb, bitcoin related reason. Then the transaction wouldn't go through after processing forever for some other dumb, bitcoin related reason. I gave up and went to one of these ATMs (twice. You need to scan your ID) where I had to pay an 11% fee (!) to turn my dollars into bitcoin. The whole process cost me about $40 and a few hours of frustration.

[Handro]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

I reluctantly agreed to pay a $200 debt in bitcoin and these ATMs ended up being the easiest way to do it. Several other apps like Coinbase were much harder. Though I learned that if Bitcoin ever becomes a common method of paying for stuff other than heroin or ransom, I will go through five new stages of grief. I’d be surprised, followed by stunned, followed by bargaining, acceptance and not buying stuff.

Not only did it cost me $16 (!) to get $200 into a bitcoin wallet, I wasn't permitted to make a transaction for a week, during which time my $200 turned to $180 for some dumb, bitcoin related reason. Then the transaction wouldn't go through after processing forever for some other dumb, bitcoin related reason. I gave up and went to one of these ATMs (twice. You need to scan your ID) where I had to pay an 11% fee (!) to turn my dollars into bitcoin. The whole process cost me about $40 and a few hours of frustration.

Wow hopefully you got a new heroin dealer after that headache

[marothisu]

Startup Hologram just raised another $65M. They are looking to go from 70 employees to 210 in the next 18 to 24 months.

[Klippenstein]

^Not sure

https://rejournals.com/chicago-area-witnesses-20-year-record-low-industrial-vacancy/

Chicago area witnesses 20-year record low industrial vacancy

Investment in industrial has far outpaced other asset classes, particularly office buildings, the report illustrates. For example, there was $4.4 billion in industrial investment from the beginning of 2020 through the end of Q2 2021 in the Chicago area whereas downtown office saw just $2 billion of investment in the same period.
[...]
Within the Chicago region, there are currently 15 projects under construction that will be 750,000 square feet or larger when completed. Additionally, base rents have increased by 11.7% since the start of the pandemic. Not only does the demand mean big business for industrial property developers, but the report indicates that employment in transportation, warehousing and utilities rose by over 76,000 jobs between May 2020 and May 2021, representing the second highest job growth sector in the region.

[marothisu]

Interesting..

What's your data worth? Payday-advance startup raises $60 million.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john...s-60-million-0

Brian Mandelbaum had a hunch that cash-strapped consumers would be willing to give up some financial privacy in exchange for cash.

He was right. His startup, Klover, which provides consumers advances on their paychecks, has signed up 1.7 million consumers in about 18 months. The company just raised $60 million.

Borrowers don’t pay interest. Instead, they give Klover real-time access to their banking transactions. Companies such as Wayfair, DoorDash and GoodRX, pay Klover to advertise their products to borrowers based on their spending habits.

“What’s remarkable is how willing people are to share their personal information,” says Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. “People talk about the importance of privacy, but when there’s a reason to share it, they do it. There’s a certain school of thought by some people that all my information is out there anyway.”

The average borrowers are millennials between 25 and 35 with an average income of $50,000 to $60,000 who borrow less than $250, Klover says.

"We believe consumers’ data is an extremely valuable asset and should be used to their benefit," Mandelbaum says. “We don’t sell the raw data. (Marketers) come to us to match their customer data with our customers. Mostly they want to find new customers."

Klover plans to double its headcount of 30 by year-end. Mandelbaum says the app company raised $30 million in equity and $30 million in debt to fund the advances to customers. He declined to disclose revenue.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Did anyone post this a while ago? Songfinch, a local cameo like startup for custom songs, raised $2 million in funding headed by The Weeknd and his agent. Then I saw they were featured in Rolling Stone:


https://www-rollingstone-com.cdn.amp...sic-1196163%2F

[tjp]

[deleted]

[Tom In Chicago]

Cisco consolidating midwest offices to OMPO. . .

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ce-lands-cisco

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

. . .

[animositisomina]

Not directly related to Chicago, but Rivian has been mentioned in this thread a number of times, and because of their presence in Normal, Samsung is considering building a new battery plant nearby that could employ up to 3,200 people. Bloomington-Normal is one of three finalists.

https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2021...-battery-plant

Rumors about a potential massive economic development project have swirled in Bloomington-Normal for the past week. Economic Development Council chief Patrick Hoban teased the project Aug. 5 during an event at Illinois Wesleyan, as WGLT first reported. He didn’t specify which industry or company was involved, but said a potential “billion-dollar deal” was possible, and that Bloomington-Normal was one of three finalists for the project.

[left of center]

Wow, that's great! That will be a huge boost to downstate! With most Illinois counties losing population, here is to hoping we can keep these downstate cities alive. Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana seem to be the two that will fair the best in the coming decades with U of I and ISU anchoring them.

[the urban politician]

Having a battery plant is a major shot in the arm

Let’s pray to Jeebus on this one!

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Handro

Wow hopefully you got a new heroin dealer after that headache

No doubt, pawn shops are easier and could be cheaper than that ...

[VKChaz]

Originally Posted by left of center

Wow, that's great! That will be a huge boost to downstate! With most Illinois counties losing population, here is to hoping we can keep these downstate cities alive. Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana seem to be the two that will fair the best in the coming decades with U of I and ISU anchoring them.

I don't know if Illinois is looking into any creative ways to add population. But something it can consider, and somewhat topical at the moment, is more resettlement of refugees who have been a source of people for communities, including some that understood the economic benefit. From the lists I have seen, Illinois is not even a top-10 state for resettlement. Of course, we aren't talking massive numbers of people, but with an Administration looking to at least raise the ceiling (though not likely to the 200k annual number decades ago), there will be an influx into some parts of the country. Bloomberg article from 2.5 yrs ago talked about some examples of areas with population loss:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...rinking-cities

[Chisouthside]

Originally Posted by VKChaz

I don't know if Illinois is looking into any creative ways to add population. But something it can consider, and somewhat topical at the moment, is more resettlement of refugees who have been a source of people for communities, including some that understood the economic benefit. From the lists I have seen, Illinois is not even a top-10 state for resettlement. Of course, we aren't talking massive numbers of people, but with an Administration looking to at least raise the ceiling (though not likely to the 200k annual number decades ago), there will be an influx into some parts of the country. Bloomberg article from 2.5 yrs ago talked about some examples of areas with population loss:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...rinking-cities

Read that one of the 3 sites where the US is planning on temporarily housing Afghan refugees is fort mccoy, wisconsin. could be a good start.

[SIGSEGV]

There is certainly an infrastructure of refugee resettlement social workers in Chicago, not sure about smaller downstate cities which could probably use the population boost more.

[the urban politician]

CME offers $16 billion for CBOE


CME Group has offered $16 billion in stock to buy Cboe Global Markets, according to the Financial Times.

"A takeover would bring together two of the most important names in global financial derivatives," FT said.

The proposed price values Cboe at about $150 a share, or about 20 percent more than its current price, the paper reported.

According to the report, "CME said it declined to comment on speculation, while Cboe said it 'does not comment on market rumors or speculation.'"

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/fina...on-cboe-report

Is this it? Is this finally the moment when Chicago becomes the financial trading alpha dog of the planet?

(hint: the answer is 'yes' )