http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070423/20070....v=1&printer=1
Chicago Declared North American ''City of the Future'' for Its Economic, Business and Financial Strength
Monday April 23, 9:05 am ET
Financial Times' fDi Magazine Awards Chicago the Top Honor
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Financial Times publication, fDi Magazine (Foreign Direct Investment), today announced that Chicago is North America's "City of the Future" for 2007/2008. The award distinguishes the city as having the best prospects for inward investment, economic development and business expansion in the NAFTA region (USA, Canada and Mexico).
Chicago was chosen based on more than 60 criteria including everything from cost effectiveness to human resources to infrastructure. An independent panel of experts looked at data submitted by each individual city, and Chicago ranks number one overall in its category of "major cities" (cities with populations greater than 2 million people) in the publication, which is distributed worldwide.
Scores were given to each city based on seven selection factors. Chicago was the only city (in any size range) to rank in the top five of all seven selection factors:
# 1 - Best Economic Potential
# 1 - Best Infrastructure
# 1 - Best Development and Investment Promotion
# 2 - Most Cost Effective
# 3 - Best Human Resources
# 3 - Best Quality of Life
# 5 - Most Business Friendly
"Chicago has the most diversified economy in the country," said Mayor Richard M. Daley. "The combination of this and our tremendous talent pool, dynamic quality of life and unmatched infrastructure have made us a truly global competitor."
"No other city has dominated any of these benchmarking exercises anywhere around the globe in the way Chicago has in the Major city category," said David East, Publisher, fDi - Foreign Direct Investment.
fDi Magazine researches and awards the honor every other year. Chicago was also awarded "City of the Future" in 2005, when there were separate award categories for the USA, Canada and Mexico. This year, being grouped together, Chicago takes the honor for the whole region, making the title more competitive. Additionally, this year fDi Magazine reported twice the number of applicants as in 2005.
"We are striving to showcase Chicago's tremendous business, cultural and human capital resources to the world," said Paul O'Connor, executive director of World Business Chicago. "Winning this award consecutively proves that our strength as a global competitor is being recognized internationally."
The "City of the Future" feature is one of a global series of regional reports led by the fDi research staff. Unlike other frequent media rankings led by opinion polls, this competition reflects independent analysis of factual data. The selection process is similar to the way executives and site selection consultants weigh potential locations on many critical selection factors as they develop a list of preferences out of an extensive list of alternatives.