CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[bnk]

Originally Posted by marothisu

They might not be high paying, but I think they start at maybe $17/hour? If you had 2 people in a household making that, working full time, and work 50 weeks a year then that's $68,000.

Real estate prices are pretty cheap down that way so it could actually work out for some people to even afford to buy property on those types of wages.


Between these jobs and the Discover call center ones in Auburn Gresham or Chatham (forget which), it's good even if they aren't super high paying. Down that way they might actually be able to get some people in better financial situations than currently.

Totally agree. While I am not a fan of Amazon it is the future, and yes of course the south Suburbs really need an infusion of jobs, the area needs it.


I just didn't want to only focus on Downtown white collar jobs or Unicorns. It was not posted for two weeks so It seemed a bit off the radar here.


It could have been posted back in the summer, but back than they were only saying 1K jobs each at each location. So it is kind of new news, just overlooked for 2 weeks.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by bnk

Totally agree. While I am not a fan of Amazon it is the future, and yes of course the south Suburbs really need an infusion of jobs, the area needs it.


I just didn't want to only focus on Downtown white collar jobs or Unicorns. It was not posted for two weeks so It seemed a bit off the radar here.


It could have been posted back in the summer, but back than they were only saying 1K jobs each at each location. So it is kind of new news, just overlooked for 2 weeks.

The economy is more than just white collar and unicorn tech jobs These jobs are very important especially in those areas of the metro area. It's awesome news they're looking to hire so many people at somewhat livable wages.

[bnk]

BOA picks up a tenant.


https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...-america-tower

Law firm Cooley. A Silicon Valley law firm.

Opening up a new location.



Video in link below.

https://www.cooley.com/news/coverage...chicago-office












EDIT


BTW Looking into it a lot of firms opened shop last year.



https://today.westlaw.com/Document/I...ge=true&bhcp=1



The last sentence said that " There will be more " comming...

[Randomguy34]

More good news for the region's growth in data center's, from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's twitter

"The Chicagoland Chamber led the fight to establish Illinois' data center tax incentive. Since then, over $5 billion in committed investment has made Chicago the #2 market in the world for data center development. Additionally, new projects are on the way: https://primedatacenters.com/blog/prime-data-centers-planning-750k-sq-ft-data-center-campus-in-elk-grove-il/"
https://twitter.com/ChicagolandCmbr/...78303580463104

[Chisouthside]

https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/14/ri...-off-the-line/

[bnk]

The above post is great for downstate where as the Census showed. Almost every rural county lost population. Bloomington-Normal is was always a step up from other down state cities other and Champaign Urbana. Bloomington-Normal is actually a nice city to raise a family in compared to Decatur or Danville that have been losing population for decade after decade. Blo-No has a metro of almost 200K. And State Farm insurance has been a major employer there. State Farm is the largest employer at almost 15K jobs alone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomington,_Illinois

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal,_Illinois

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

More good news for the region's growth in data center's, from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's twitter

"The Chicagoland Chamber led the fight to establish Illinois' data center tax incentive. Since then, over $5 billion in committed investment has made Chicago the #2 market in the world for data center development. Additionally, new projects are on the way: https://primedatacenters.com/blog/prime-data-centers-planning-750k-sq-ft-data-center-campus-in-elk-grove-il/"
https://twitter.com/ChicagolandCmbr/...78303580463104

Nice, Thats a Billion dollar Data center alone. 750,000 sq feet, electric draw power 150 MW. That on the back of a napkin is about the same at ~ 150,000 homes. Correct me if I am wrong. If not that much it has to be at least 100K homes.

BTW Prime's other Data centers are in the single digits in MW draws. Most 8 or 9 MW

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Chisouthside

https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/14/ri...-off-the-line/

Dayum! Looks pretty cool, ngl

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by bnk

Nice, Thats a Billion dollar Data center alone. 750,000 sq feet, electric draw power 150 MW. That on the back of a napkin is about the same at ~ 150,000 homes. Correct me if I am wrong. If not that much it has to be at least 100K homes.

Most data centers don't require many jobs to operate them. Nonetheless, if you have 10 of them, it's probably at least 300 jobs, maybe up to 500.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Most data centers don't require many jobs to operate them. Nonetheless, if you have 10 of them, it's probably at least 300 jobs, maybe up to 500.

I understand that. I was impressed at the Billion dollar investment, construction jobs and the amount of electricity it will demand. Not to mention local tax revenue. Even Prime is calling it a Hyper scale data center. It would likely be the 5th largest data center in the North America.

Not sure where Com Ed is in how much excess capacity it has. We can't lose another nuke plant, Zion can't be restarted. Illinois has the largest percentage of Nuclear power of any state. Byron and Braidwood for example put out greater than 2300 MW each.

Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin right across the state line shuttered a coal plant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasa...ie_Power_Plant That plant was huge, 1.2 Giga Watts [ 1210 MW ]. Used to supply 13% of Wisconsin's electricity!

Not sure how much renewable energy can make up for it.


I'm not a big fan of gigantic wind mill farms for many reasons, for example they do kill birds migratory and local ones, cost a lot to start up and use a lot of fossil fuels in their construction and require rare earth elements too. Than how long will they last? Whats the expected lifetime of them? What do you do with them when they are at the end of their life. Those things are huge.

But perhaps Natural Gas peaker plants can do it. Also due to pretty much 0 population growth in the state, it might not be an issue for Com Ed.


But I think we are going to rebound and pass 13 million people by 2030. Rural downstate counties will continue to decline but I can see growth in Chicagoland making up the difference.


I'm a glass half full kind of booster.

[the urban politician]

^ Not many jobs, but it will surely have a huge tax bill to pay. More slush money for the pols, I guess

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by bnk

I'm not a big fan of gigantic wind mill farms for many reasons, for example they do kill birds migratory and local ones, cost a lot to start up and use a lot of fossil fuels in their construction and require rare earth elements too. Than how long will they last? Whats the expected lifetime of them? What do you do with them when they are at the end of their life. Those things are huge.

Are you old enough to remember people in the 80's saying, "I heard that you're actually safer NOT wearing a seatbelt because you'll be thrown from the car."

That was a nonsense talking point the automotive industry put out there in the 60's with the hope of muddying up the waters and confusing people and making seat belt requirements less likely. Everything you've written above is that exact same thing. Those are all PR points spread by oil companies and none of them make any sense when evaluated individually. And here you are internalizing them and spreading them just like they hoped. You know what takes energy to build? Everything. You know what has to be decommissioned at the end of its life? Everything. Do you know what electrical systems require the use metals that need to be mined? All of them.

"I'd like to stop driving my Ford F150 to Walgreens, but did you know that your electric bike uses a lot of fossil fuels in their construction and require rare earth elements too. Than how long will they last? Whats the expected lifetime of them? What do you do with them when they are at the end of their life. Those things are huge."

[Chi-Sky21]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Most data centers don't require many jobs to operate them. Nonetheless, if you have 10 of them, it's probably at least 300 jobs, maybe up to 500.

True BUT having these around is a benefit for companies to move here to be close to where there stuff is hosted.

[Chi-Sky21]

Pretty sure a bill was just signed to guarantee funding for the nuke plants.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by bnk

I understand that. I was impressed at the Billion dollar investment, construction jobs and the amount of electricity it will demand. Not to mention local tax revenue. Even Prime is calling it a Hyper scale data center. It would likely be the 5th largest data center in the North America.

Not sure where Com Ed is in how much excess capacity it has. We can't lose another nuke plant, Zion can't be restarted. Illinois has the largest percentage of Nuclear power of any state. Byron and Braidwood for example put out greater than 2300 MW each.

Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin right across the state line shuttered a coal plant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasa...ie_Power_Plant That plant was huge, 1.2 Giga Watts [ 1210 MW ]. Used to supply 13% of Wisconsin's electricity!

Not sure how much renewable energy can make up for it.


I'm not a big fan of gigantic wind mill farms for many reasons, for example they do kill birds migratory and local ones, cost a lot to start up and use a lot of fossil fuels in their construction and require rare earth elements too. Than how long will they last? Whats the expected lifetime of them? What do you do with them when they are at the end of their life. Those things are huge.

But perhaps Natural Gas peaker plants can do it. Also due to pretty much 0 population growth in the state, it might not be an issue for Com Ed.


But I think we are going to rebound and pass 13 million people by 2030. Rural downstate counties will continue to decline but I can see growth in Chicagoland making up the difference.


I'm a glass half full kind of booster.

https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/N...and-Powerlines

"Electrocution on U.S. power lines has long been a significant cause of bird mortality, killing as many as 11.6 million birds a year, according to one study. It happens when two body parts—typically a wing, foot or beak—come in contact with two wires or a wire and ground source, shooting voltage through the bird. Because of their size, raptors are particularly at risk." That is at least between 12-20x MORE deaths from power lines than wind farms, not to mention how many millions of migratory birds also die from building impact traumas annual. Red herring.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

True BUT having these around is a benefit for companies to move here to be close to where there stuff is hosted.

Not necessarily. It depends on the industry. Usually data centers are used for putting it closer to where a mass of customers are (generally) and not where the office is.

Many factors but there are data centers in places for large companies where they have no offices even close to. If you are a company with a bunch of customers within a 500 mile radius of Cleveland and you value speed of data to customers for an online experience then perhaps putting one near Cleveland is a good idea. This doesn't mean some white collar software development office might open up there.

[Randomguy34]

Speaking of which, anyone heard of updates on the NYSE potentially moving their data center to Illinois?

[Bonsai Tree]

Originally Posted by bnk

I understand that. I was impressed at the Billion dollar investment, construction jobs and the amount of electricity it will demand. Not to mention local tax revenue. Even Prime is calling it a Hyper scale data center. It would likely be the 5th largest data center in the North America.

Not sure where Com Ed is in how much excess capacity it has. We can't lose another nuke plant, Zion can't be restarted. Illinois has the largest percentage of Nuclear power of any state. Byron and Braidwood for example put out greater than 2300 MW each.

Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin right across the state line shuttered a coal plant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasa...ie_Power_Plant That plant was huge, 1.2 Giga Watts [ 1210 MW ]. Used to supply 13% of Wisconsin's electricity!

Not sure how much renewable energy can make up for it.


I'm not a big fan of gigantic wind mill farms for many reasons, for example they do kill birds migratory and local ones, cost a lot to start up and use a lot of fossil fuels in their construction and require rare earth elements too. Than how long will they last? Whats the expected lifetime of them? What do you do with them when they are at the end of their life. Those things are huge.

But perhaps Natural Gas peaker plants can do it. Also due to pretty much 0 population growth in the state, it might not be an issue for Com Ed.


But I think we are going to rebound and pass 13 million people by 2030. Rural downstate counties will continue to decline but I can see growth in Chicagoland making up the difference.


I'm a glass half full kind of booster.

I don't think electricity generation will be a serious issue, even if our population grows. Population can't really be tied with energy consumption anymore. We have increasingly efficient appliances, lightbulbs, chargers, smartphones, etc. That's why US energy consumption has flatlined for practically the last 30 years. As a country, we consume roughly the same amount of energy (gas, electricity, etc) as we did in 1995. Today we have about 70 million more residents.

[sentinel]

Governor Pritzker signs new clean energy bill, making Illinois national leader in climate change
A historic energy legislation signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker will make Illinois a national leader in combating climate change.

https://www.wqad.com/article/news/lo...a-73993d45c734

"The clean energy legislation will establish a $4,000 electric vehicle credit for all Illinoisans and up to 80 percent of a rebate for the build-up of charging station.

Pritzker added this will serve with investments in workforce hubs and a path to prosperity for minority contractors and Illinoisans living in environmental justice communities.

"In short, with economic growth and jobs woven into its fabric, this new law is the most significant step Illinois has taken in a generation toward a reliable, renewable, affordable, and clean energy future in a generation," Pritzker said.

In addition to setting clean energy targets, this proposal will also bail out two nuclear plants in Illinois.

The cost of keeping each nuclear plant located in Byron and Morris will be $700 million, which the new legislation will provide in a subsidy to Exelon to keep both sites open.

With plans of provisions to close coal-burning plants, increased investments will go towards wind, solar, and other sources of renewable energy."

[Chi-Sky21]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Not necessarily. It depends on the industry. Usually data centers are used for putting it closer to where a mass of customers are (generally) and not where the office is.

Many factors but there are data centers in places for large companies where they have no offices even close to. If you are a company with a bunch of customers within a 500 mile radius of Cleveland and you value speed of data to customers for an online experience then perhaps putting one near Cleveland is a good idea. This doesn't mean some white collar software development office might open up there.

Most of the space in these places is taken up by large service providers as you stated. BUT many companies mine included use these places to host their infrastructure. Having more options ,which will reduce costs for sure, I could see definitely being a plus for local businesses. Now days many have most things hosted in the cloud, but there are many services that companies still want in house but don't want to have the headache of building out their own closets/DCs on site with all that entails with power and redundancy.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

Most of the space in these places is taken up by large service providers as you stated. BUT many companies mine included use these places to host their infrastructure. Having more options ,which will reduce costs for sure, I could see definitely being a plus for local businesses. Now days many have most things hosted in the cloud, but there are many services that companies still want in house but don't want to have the headache of building out their own closets/DCs on site with all that entails with power and redundancy.

In no way am I not saying there's not potential indirect benefits. However, I'm saying that expecting Microsoft to hire 500 software devs on Chicago because they're opening up a massive data center in Elk Grove Village is not something you should actually expect..