CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[moorhosj1]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

the most precious thing to actually achieve the productivity you say you value is actually the ability to concentrate and work without interruption, in large blocks of time. OR to have actual dedicated time for collaboration, without having other expectations heaped upon that time. and thats whats actually been wholesale deprived in our working culture - and yet everyone wonders why they get to the end of the day and cant figure out what it is they actually did.

This is true, if your job is one where you primarily work alone. It is different for jobs that require lots of collaboration. Most jobs require both, which is why a hybrid model makes sense for a lot of companies.

Earlier this year, my company did our first all-company, in-person meeting in three years. We just finished a blowout quarter yesterday. There’s no doubt in my mind that the knowledge sharing and relationships built at our meeting played into it. Doesn’t mean it’s right for every person or every job, but I watched months long problems/confusion get solved in minutes with everyone in the same room.

At the same time, working from home allows me to drop my kids off and pick them up every day, which is important to me. It’s a balance.

[marothisu]

Barstool Sports is moving their HQ from NYC to Chicago, near Fulton Market

[Randomguy34]

That's one HQ recruitment I didn't expect

[SamInTheLoop]

^ No kidding. Where's Miami when we need them?
Would seem to be a better fit there, and a lot of crypto scam space undoubtedly freeing up.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

That's one HQ recruitment I didn't expect

Who recruited them?

[VKChaz]

or at least an office:

Barstool Sports boosting its presence in Chicago, but New York remains headquarters: spokesperson

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ba...-york-e94db072

[VKChaz]

Chicagoland had the huge majority of relocations and expansions.

But here are a select few from the down state that is very much in need.

...

Companies that located or expanded throughout Illinois in 2022 include:

CyrusOne Data Center - $250 million facility located in Aurora

Ferrero - Bloomington manufacturing facility; $214.4 million investment and 200 jobs

GAF Commercial Roofing - Peru manufacturing plant; $80 million investment and 70 jobs

LG Chem/ADM - two new joint ventures in Decatur; 125 jobs

Ollie's Bargain Outlet - Princeton distribution center; $68 million investment and 145 jobs

Prime Data Centers - New $1 billion data center in Elk Grove Village

T/CCI - Decatur retooling for EV component manufacturing; $20 million investment and 50 jobs

Tyson Foods - Caseyville manufacturing facility expansion, $180 million investment and 400 jobs

...

Might be off-topic in a Chicago thread, but as downstate Illinois was mentioned in the above post from last month:

Bloomington-Normal is reporting a shortage of multi-family housing and looking for a mix including more infill and renovations. Besides the current shortage, the area is projecting decent growth over the next decade. Mentioning it as an FYI and it might even be an opportunity for some involved in this kind of work with connections in that area. Excerpt and link from one such news article:

Homebuilders in Bloomington-Normal are playing catch up in meeting the growth of the last decade, the more recent expansion of the labor market, and projected future growth. Data show they need to increase the pace, in spite of higher interest rates, and build a variety of housing.

---

So far, Twin City builders haven't fully responded to those trends. In 2017, Carney said, the rental vacancy rate was over 8% in Bloomington-Normal. This month, it was 2.8%. And 82% of the Bloomington-Normal housing permits in the last year have been for lots at the edges, outside the urban core. He said infill is important, as is a diverse housing stock.

“That doesn't have to just be dense apartments. They can be townhomes. They can be duplexes, quad-plexes, something that can fit in different parts of your community with different characteristics. But providing that diversification and that ability for different price points and different amenities,” said Carney.

McLean County is projected to have the highest population growth of any county in the state outside the Chicago area over the next decade, he said. If builders meet the housing demand, he said growth could outpace projections. If not, a lack of housing could choke off growth.

“This has an impact on talent attraction and retention. Households are changing and changing where they want to be. Sometimes it's close to employment, sometimes it's close to entertainment. Sometimes it's close to a walkable dynamic neighborhood or it could be at the edges. All of this is actually needed in order to fully meet all of the demand that you're looking at,” said Carney.

https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2023...ormal-projects

[Randomguy34]

Chicago to host 2024 Democratic National Convention

WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee selected Chicago to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, the Sun-Times has learned, with the city beating bids from Atlanta and New York.

The convention will take place Aug. 19-22 next year. It is expected to draw between 5,000 and 7,000 delegates and alternates and attract up to 50,000 visitors to Chicago.

Evening events will be at the United Center — the main site of the 1996 Democratic convention in Chicago — with daytime business to be conducted at the McCormick Place Convention Center, the location of the 2012 NATO Summit.
....
Chicago’s convention backers highlighted the abundance of downtown area union hotels; the large, centrally located convention venues near hotels; Midway and O’Hare airports; and the restaurants and museums in the city.

Then there were the political considerations. One of the main political arguments Chicago backers used was putting the convention in the Midwest reinforces the “Blue Wall” battleground states beyond the solid blue Illinois.

Last month, Democratic officials from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Indiana — all supporting Chicago’s bid — wrote to Biden and DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison, underscoring the importance of Michigan and Wisconsin in retaining the White House in 2024.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/politic...tic-convention

[Randomguy34]

Traffic will be hell that weekend

The Republican National Convention Will Be Held in Milwaukee in 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/u...ukee-2024.html

[Tom In Chicago]

^That one is earlier in July. . .

. . .

[twister244]

Interesting..... I wonder why Chicago was chosen. Happy to see it's gonna be here, but don't parties usually try to place them in states where they want to win voters over? WI makes sense for the Republicans since it's a competitive state, but IL isn't.

Then again, maybe location of the DNC convention with respect to battle ground status doesn't factor in the decision making process.

[Kngkyle]

Originally Posted by twister244

Interesting..... I wonder why Chicago was chosen. Happy to see it's gonna be here, but don't parties usually try to place them in states where they want to win voters over? WI makes sense for the Republicans since it's a competitive state, but IL isn't.

Then again, maybe location of the DNC convention with respect to battle ground status doesn't factor in the decision making process.

The DNC was thinking more about region than state. Chicago will represent the Midwest. Democratic officials from both Michigan and Wisconsin spoke out in favor of Chicago hosting.

NYC would just reinforce the "coastal elite" view of the party. Definitely the worst option of the 3 contenders IMO.

Atlanta is in another competitive region however the state itself is Republican run (Kemp) and has some iffy laws on the books with abortion and LGBT rights so there would likely be some backlash. The unions were also against it.

In the end Chicago just seemed the most logical and safe choice. Pritzker being so popular/wealthy/influential helps.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by twister244

Interesting..... I wonder why Chicago was chosen. Happy to see it's gonna be here, but don't parties usually try to place them in states where they want to win voters over? WI makes sense for the Republicans since it's a competitive state, but IL isn't.

Then again, maybe location of the DNC convention with respect to battle ground status doesn't factor in the decision making process.

Conventions are kind of useless at driving out the vote nowadays, so the DNC is rewarding loyalty this time, and stamping out any narratives of hosting in a Republican state which Georgia still is for most government positions.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

Conventions are kind of useless at driving out the vote nowadays, so the DNC is rewarding loyalty this time, and stamping out any narratives of hosting in a Republican state which Georgia still is for most government positions.

I don't think many people watch these anymore. I haven't in years

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I don't think many people watch these anymore. I haven't in years

Average people will see the highlights in the morning/evening news.

Conventions are still important for party networking and rewarding mid-level operatives and attracting lots of reporters.

So it’s good for publicity and networking, just not for getting-out-the-vote event.

[SIGSEGV]

If anything, a convention might drive away swing voters because it's obnoxious, so for that reason I'm glad they chose Chicago, where it won't matter.

I'm helping to organize some medium-size academic conferences in Chicago next summer... now we can cross that week off our list

[lakeshoredrive]

Good news for the hotel industry. Will be a nice boost.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by lakeshoredrive

Good news for the hotel industry. Will be a nice boost.

Great for hotels, restaurants, shops, probably some cultural institutions, etc.

[Randomguy34]

More good tech news for Chicago. We had the 2nd highest percentage increase in terms of capital investments since 2020. For 2022, we were 5th in terms of raw capital investments.




https://www.washingtonpost.com/techn...bay-area-tech/

[sixo1]

Some positivity about the Loop:

- "[...]hotels now beating out 2019 numbers[...]"

- "[...]Chicago is now leading the nation in office occupancy recovery; that is outside of Texas where the pandemic was handled a little differently."

Source.