CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[SIGSEGV]

new $25M NSF insitute for quantum biology:
https://news.uchicago.edu/story/nsf-...ology-research

[the urban politician]

^ U Chicago is truly a gem

[Tom In Chicago]

From today's Crain's. . .

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ld-post-office

Originally Posted by CRAINS

Old Post Office adds a tenant
Retail analytics company ShopperTrak will cut its footprint by almost 50% as it moves from Willis Tower.

. . .

[marothisu]

^ OPO now 90% leased with this. Thats pretty good considering how massive this building is.

[left of center]

50% cut in footprint? Looks like its going to keep some employees as WFH on a more permanent basis then, at least in the near term.

I had hoped that even with more WFH happening, increased spacing of in-office employees would keep square footage requirements more or less the same, or at the least kept reductions more modest.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by sentinel

...
For the record, here is the latest Global Financial Centres Index ranking, Chicago is 15th, below San Fran, DC and even LA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global..._Centres_Index

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

Yes, it is behind SF, LA and DC, but they are all ranked one after the other and they are separated by one or two points. They are all ranked as global leaders and in the “trading” section Chicago is ranked second in the US. It also seems we jumped up 5 positions since the last ranking. This all seems positive to me.

First off, having the mega exchange here keeps other players from picking off the smaller ones. Where's the NYSE now, for example?

Second, your list is financial centers, not trading centers. Trading is one part of financial activity. Chicago is consistently in the top three centers for trading. There basically are New York, London, and Chicago. Sometimes Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore get honorable mentions.

[jpIllInoIs]

Originally Posted by emathias

First off, having the mega exchange here keeps other players from picking off the smaller ones. Where's the NYSE now, for example?

Second, your list is financial centers, not trading centers. Trading is one part of financial activity. Chicago is consistently in the top three centers for trading. There basically are New York, London, and Chicago. Sometimes Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore get honorable mentions.

Yep ever since banking consolodation Chicago has been missing out on having a Big Bank HQ. Now Discover Financial, Wintrust, Northern Trust are the largest. Why cant we have a PNC from PA, 5/3 from Cincy/Clev??

[the urban politician]

^ Chicago was up until recently a top 10 (roughly number 6 or 7) Global Financial Center.

So it has slipped

[jboy560]

Chicago's latest billion-dollar firm

Fast-growing software firm Copado becomes the 12th venture-backed private company in Chicago this year to reach “unicorn” status. After raising $96m, it’s valued at $1.2b. I think it’s also noteworthy to add that Copado moved its headquarters here from Madrid in 2018.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john...DC064D182F418F

Marothisu, do you happen to know where Chicago stands currently with respect to tech funding/deals? I know tech has been booming everywhere, but Chicago had particularly exceptional growth for the first half of the year. Has Chicago kept pace or has growth slowed compared to Q1/Q2 2021? Regardless, the city’s tech scene is breaking records this year and has had impressive growth.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by jboy560

Chicago's latest billion-dollar firm

Fast-growing software firm Copado becomes the 12th venture-backed private company in Chicago this year to reach “unicorn” status. After raising $96m, it’s valued at $1.2b. I think it’s also noteworthy to add that Copado moved its headquarters here from Madrid in 2018.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john...DC064D182F418F

Marothisu, do you happen to know where Chicago stands currently with respect to tech funding/deals? I know tech has been booming everywhere, but Chicago had particularly exceptional growth for the first half of the year. Has Chicago kept pace or has growth slowed compared to Q1/Q2 2021? Regardless, the city’s tech scene is breaking records this year and has had impressive growth.

Areas like NYC, Bay Area, Boston, and LA are a bit above Chicago. However, Chicago is basically after that with just under $5B in funding so far this year for all industries (not just tech - but a large percentage of this is in fact tech).

Here's a look at what I have for the Chicago area month by month so far this year:

* January: $1,197,282,100
* February: $250,399,200
* March: $483,300,000
* April: $1,009,524,018
* May: $257,050,000
* June: $626,400,000
* July: $754,075,000
* August: $268,575,000
* September (So Far): $146,924,000


By the way, this is interesting:
https://insights.dice.com/2021/09/08...-job-postings/

Atlanta, Chicago Surpassing Silicon Valley in Tech Job Postings

This is for the past 90 days, but according to the article the top are:
1. NYC: 38,913 postings
2. Atlanta: 23,290
3. Chicago: 23,270
4. Austin: 20,180
5. San Francisco: 18,002
6. Dallas: 17,717
7. Seattle: 16,773
8. DC: 16,352
9. Los Angeles: 15,563
10. Boston: 15,079
11. Houston: 13,783
12. Charlotte: 12,740
13. Phoenix: 12,109
14. Denver: 11,722
15. San Diego: 11,529

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Chicago was up until recently a top 10 (roughly number 6 or 7) Global Financial Center.

So it has slipped

More likely they changed their criteria

[the urban politician]

Marothisu, I wish you could post threads in City Discussions posting all of this wealth of data showing how Chicago is performing so well by so many measures. You could be our counterpart to Dimondpark who just posts thread after mind-numbing thread that literally all serve as a constant drone of Bay Area cheerleading.

[moorhosj1]

If we can keep these local startups close to home, maybe we don't need to lure as many of the suburban or Boston-area biotechs.

From Crain's

Vanqua Bio, a startup based on research from NU’s medical school, is developing therapies for Parkinson’s that it says will slow or stop symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease.

Also notable:

Since the beginning of 2021, Vanqua Bio has been working out of Sterling Bay’s life sciences hub in Lincoln Park. Other tenants in the building include Evozyne and Exicure.

[marothisu]

^ That puts the Chicago area over $5B for the year in funding for all industries (mostly tech and bio tech).

Also this was missed a few weeks ago. This company was founded in NYC but now HQ'd in Chicago:

Freight Company Loadsmart Is Going on a 200-Person Hiring Spree

https://www.builtinchicago.org/2021/...chicago-office

Loadsmart uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and strategic partnerships to automate freight operations, from booking to pricing, shipping and more. On Thursday, the company announced that it’s hiring for 200 new positions in the second half of 2021, which represents a 152 percent jump in employee headcount when compared to the year before.

“We’re growing exponentially — from 167 employees at the end of 2019 to 500 today,” Loadsmart co-founder and co-CEO Felipe Capella said in a statement. “The expansion of our employee base coincides with our business success, as reflected by our 232 percent year-over-year revenue growth.”

The company already has dozens of open jobs listed on its website for positions across all sides of the company — including roles in customer success, sales, engineering, marketing, HR and more. Loadsmart has already grown significantly in 2021, increasing its headcount by 140 percent in the first half of the year alone.

In order to accommodate this company growth, the company plans to open a new 40,000-square-foot office in Chicago.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Marothisu, I wish you could post threads in City Discussions posting all of this wealth of data showing how Chicago is performing so well by so many measures. You could be our counterpart to Dimondpark who just posts thread after mind-numbing thread that literally all serve as a constant drone of Bay Area cheerleading.

Agreed. I LOVE reading these numbers as they really show how much weight Chicago is throwing around these days. Super interesting to see how different cities are ranking against each other right now.

[Randomguy34]

" 'The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated' - Mark Twain"
- City of Chicago

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

" 'The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated' - Mark Twain"
- City of Chicago

I think that should be the City's new official motto.

[bnk]

Kind of old news and these are not the high paying ones. But Any new jobs in the south suburbs has to be good. Some white collar jobs too, that's what the video in the link states.
Logistically well located for Amazon into and around the Chicago area. Spaghetti of interstates all round the centers. 57, 80, 88, 294, 39, 355, 55, 290, 90, 94. And close to 65, 72 and 74. Should have happened years ago really.


https://abc7chicago.com/amazon-markh...jobs/10993318/

Sept 1/21

Amazon to open 6000 jobs to two south suburban suburbs.


...

3K jobs in Markham and 3K jobs in Matteson.

...

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by bnk

Kind of old news and these are not the high paying ones. But Any new jobs in the south suburbs has to be good. Some white collar jobs too, that's what the video in the link states.

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.

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by bnk

Kind of old news and these are not the high paying ones. But Any new jobs in the south suburbs has to be good. Some white collar jobs too, that's what the video in the link states.



https://abc7chicago.com/amazon-markh...jobs/10993318/

Sept 1/21

Amazon to open 6000 jobs to two south suburban suburbs.


3K jobs in Markham and 3K jobs in Matteson.

...

6000 jobs moves the needle. That's a LOT of jobs.

The U.S. had about 18,000,000 manufacturing jobs from 1970 to 2000. Then from 2000 to 2010 we lost a third of them, basically all at once. Chicago took more than our fair share of those losses. Now that bleeding has stopped, look out.