CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[marothisu]

500 jobs is still good. My employer added more tech workers in Chicago last year than Google but it's not anywhere in the news

[marothisu]

There's a story on AmericanInno about tech job postings here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...-openings.html

Chicago area is currently 5th for most tech job postings in 2022:

1. NYC MSA: 91,475 postings
2. Washington DC MSA: 78,011
3. Dallas MSA: 73,736
4. Los Angeles MSA: 68,653
5. Chicago MSA: 56,346
6. San Francisco MSA: 54,801
7. Seattle MSA: 44,618
8. Atlanta MSA: 44,504
9. Boston MSA: 43,220
10. San Jose MSA: 39,577
11. Phoenix MSA: 32,681
12. Denver MSA: 29,326
13. Philadelphia MSA: 28,759
14. Austin MSA: 26,105
15. Charlotte MSA: 25,299
16. Houston MSA: 24,751
17. Detroit MSA: 24,667
18. Minneapolis MSA: 23,086
19. Miami MSA: 22,735
20. San Diego MSA: 21,967
21. Tampa MSA: 20,866
22. St. Louis MSA: 19,717
23. Baltimore MSA: 19,369
24. Portland MSA: 14,998
25. Kansas City MSA: 13,773
26. Raleigh, NC MSA: 12,940
27. Orlando MSA: 12,404
28. Richmond, VA MSA: 12,192
29. Columbus, OH: 11,762
30. San Antonio MSA: 11,687
31. Pittsburgh MSA: 11,059
32. Cincinnati MSA: 10,225
33. Nashville MSA: 9690
34. Las Vegas MSA: 9473
35. Indianapolis MSA: 9317
36. Virginia Beach MSA: 9102
37. Sacramento MSA: 8934
38. Milwaukee MSA: 8682
39. Cleveland MSA: 8617
40. Boise MSA: 8590
41. Jacksonville MSA: 8552
42. Hartford, CT MSA: 7933
43. Salt Lake City MSA: 7635
44. Colorado Springs MSA: 7525
45. Durham, NC MSA: 7120
46. Huntsville, AL MSA: 6541
47. Lansing, MI MSA: 6002
48. Oklahoma City MSA: 5720
49. Madison, WI MSA: 5398
50. Providence MSA: 5307
51. Memphis MSA: 5226
52. Omaha MSA: 5153
53. Des Moines MSA: 5127
54. Little Rock MSA: 5065
55. Louisville MSA: 4937
56. Bridgeport, CT MSA: 4774
57. Riverside, CA MSA: 4687
58. Trenton, NJ: 4575
59. Grand Rapids, MI MSA: 4354
60. Boulder, CO MSA: 4226

[VKChaz]

Originally Posted by marothisu

There's a story on AmericanInno about tech job postings here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...-openings.html

Interesting looking at the YOY change between cities and states

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by VKChaz

Google is still pretty small in terms of total employment. Will be interesting to see how the growth compares between some of the locations it plans to hire - NYC, Atlanta, DC

Am curious about that 2 story warehouse. Especially in a world where everything is automated, maybe vertical industrial buildings make a comeback.

It's definitely making a comeback, just look at that cold stirage thing they built at 88 + 39.

[jboy560]

Signs of life for what could be Chicago's next big industry
Of the nation’s top 25 life sciences markets, Chicago ranks sixth for job growth.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/heal...ces-job-growth

[tjp]

Good news for Michigan Ave. Aritzia is taking over the old Gap space in the biggest lease since 2015.

[Chisouthside]

Caterpillar moving HQ to Texas per crains.

[Steely Dan]

^ While the Deerfield HQ was just a C-suite headquarters with only a few hundred people, that is still a big symbolic blow to Illinois and Chicagoland. They were only up in deerfield for 5 years.

[Rizzo]

I laughed at this PR remark “ supports Caterpillar’s strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world”

I’m curious what that is. Is it access to a job pool with lean manufacturing experts, chemical engineers specializing in battery tech? Close proximity to suppliers and vendors? No company ever clarifies this when it’s probably taxes in the end. But it all sounds good when you mention sustainably, whenever Texas fits in that picture.

[ithakas]

Sucks to see it, but not totally surprising.

And while this was in Deerfield, I'd like to see Lightfoot at least try to continue some of Rahm's momentum with bringing HQs into the city. Obviously Covid is responsible for halting things to a major extent, but more could be done by leadership as well.

[thegoatman]

What fortune 500 company has Lightfoot bought to the city? Meanwhile Rahm was all-in on corporate relocation. Can't wait until next year when we get a new mayor

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by thegoatman

What fortune 500 company has Lightfoot bought to the city? Meanwhile Rahm was all-in on corporate relocation. Can't wait until next year when we get a new mayor

I didn't know Lori Lightfoot was the mayor of Deerfield though. Are Fortune 500 companies the only companies to bring into the city for relocation? It does suck to lose this for Illinois 100% so there's no denying that. Probably stings more than Boeing although the fact that Illinois still has a Cat workforce of 17K+ means a lot regardless. Which F500 company did Rahm "get" to move to the city Chicago outside of ADM and McDonald's (from the suburbs)? I honestly cannot remember anybody else.

Say what you will about Lightfoot but acting like somehow companies stopped moving to Chicago while she's been in office is BS. And on top of it, people overrate how much a Mayor has to do with a lot of these things regardless.

Fortune 500 companies do mean something - they mean a certain amount but they aren't the end all be all of these things. Boston punches below its weight in terms of Fortune 500 HQ vs. its size and yet it's still one of the main tech hubs in the US, probably top 2 or 3 biotech hub, and has one of the lowest unemployment rates while also being one of the richest metros per capita in the entire country.

My company hired 600 tech workers in Chicago alone last year and wasn't even on the news, and we've hired at least 300 more this year so far (also not on the news). Most of these are 6 figure paying jobs. I love HQ moves but economically someone hiring 500 people making 6+ figures goes further for the economy than a HQ that employed say 50 people (even if all 50 were making $500K+ minimum a year). Google hired 500 people in Chicago last year and 500+ planned this year.

Here, start to knock yourself out here if you think the sky is falling:

This unicorn tech company moved its HQ from NYC to Chicago recently
https://rejournals.com/loadsmart-inc...175-w-jackson/

This India-based logistics startup expanded to Chicago and the founders moved from India to Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...go-office.html



We probably forgot but Uber Freight announcing their HQ move to Chicago from SF was when Lightfoot was in office. Seems like forever ago:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...w5q-story.html

Bay Area company moves HQ to Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...cago-hiring-20

Company moves HQ to Chicago from DC
https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2022...icago-from-dc/

FTX US opens US HQ in Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...go-office.html

Vancouver based company opens US HQ in Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...expansion.html

Australian company opens US HQ in Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2021/...m-seed-funding

Quantum computing company moves from Michigan to Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...-humboldt-park

Tech startup moves HQ from San Francisco to Chicago
https://www.businessinsider.com/movi...chicago-2022-2

NYC company relocates HQ to Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...om-nyc-chicago

Singapore/Munich based company opens first US office in Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...chicago-office

Europe based software company opening first non-Europe office in Chicago:
https://www.pcgamesinsider.biz/job-n...ce-in-chicago/

London based company opens new office in Chicago
https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/202...outputType=amp

San Diego based pharmaceutical company moves its R&D to Chicago
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...lab-west-coast

Amsterdam based company opens tech hub in Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...ech-hub-hiring

Kimberly Clark (F500 company) expands with new Chicago office
https://reelchicago.com/article/kimb...fulton-market/

Milwaukee Tool (from Milwaukee) opens up new tech office in OPO
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...office-chicago

Silicon Valley biotech company expands to Chicago - CEO and CFO are in Chicago and not Silicon Valley
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...-fulton-market

Snapchat parent (based in LA) expanding to Chicago
https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2022...ds-in-chicago/

SF tech company expands to Chicago
https://rejournals.com/fintech-compa...orleans-lease/

San Diego area company expands to Chicago
https://chicago.suntimes.com/busines...ckloads-routes

Silicon Valley company expands to Chicago
https://rebusinessonline.com/farmers...fulton-market/

NYC based digital advertising firms opens Chicago office
https://reelchicago.com/article/conn...ising-veteran/

Hollywood PR firm opens Chicago office
https://reelchicago.com/article/lobe...hicago-office/

Silicon Valley law firm (that handles a lot of tech IPOs) opens office in Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...ice-to-ge.html

Silicon Valley tech accelerator opens in Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...go-office.html

Boston company expands with Chicago office
https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...Chicago-Office

Silicon Valley opens new Chicago office
https://martechseries.com/sales-mark...-u-s-location/

NYC based company expands to Chicago with new office
https://rejournals.com/cadre-announc...hicago-office/

John Deere opening up new tech hub in Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2021/...ice-hiring-150

Orlando unicorn tech company expanding Chicago office
https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/...go-office.html

DOD opens new unit in Chicago
https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield...est-expansion/


I'm sure I could find many more examples. Losing Cat sucks for the state and there's no doubt about it, from a symbolic reason alone but the sky is not falling. And contrary to popular belief there's still been companies actually moving to Chicago from a HQ perspective or making some notable expansions here in the last 2.5 years. still. Sorry to burst some peoples' bubbles but there's actually a lot of companies moving their HQ to Chicago (or opening up US HQ here) or just expanding to Chicago with new offices.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Which F500 company did Rahm "get" to move to the city Chicago outside of ADM and McDonald's (from the suburbs)?

Laying all the credit or blame for F500 HQ relocations solely at the mayor's feet is a very myopic and silly way to view things. these things often happen or don't happen regardless of who occupies the fifth floor at city hall. Any given individual mayor only has so much power to influence things.


That said, during rahm's 8 year tenure as mayor, these were the big HQ relocations to the city that I can remember.

- Hillshire Farms was spun off from Sarah Lee and moved from Downers Grove to the west loop. HF was then quickly acquired by Tyson Foods

- McDonald moved from Oak Brook to the west loop

- ADM moved from Decatur to the loop

- ConAgra moved from Omaha to the merchandise mart

- Kraft split into two different companies and Mondelez moved into the city from Glenview and Kraft eventually merged with Heinz with a nebulous dual-HQ in Chicago and Pittsburgh

- Additionally, Caterpillar moved from Peoria up to Deerfiled (and now they're leaving for Texas)

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Laying all the credit or blame for F500 HQ relocations solely at the mayor's feet is a very myopic and silly way to view things. these things often happen or don't happen regardless of who occupies the fifth floor at city hall. Any given individual mayor only has so much power to influence things.


That said, during rahm's 8 year tenure as mayor, these were the big HQ relocations to the city that I can remember.

- Hillshire Farms was spun off from Sarah Lee and moved from Downers Grove to the west loop. HF was then quickly acquired by Tyson Foods

- McDonald moved from Oak Brook to the west loop

- ADM moved from Decatur to the loop

- ConAgra moved from Omaha to the merchandise mart

- Kraft split into two different companies and Mondelez moved into the city from Glenview and Kraft eventually merged with Heinz with a nebulous dual-HQ in Chicago and Pittsburgh

- Additionally, Caterpillar moved from Peoria up to Deerfiled (and now they're leaving for Texas)

I agree - it's actually dumb to lay blame or give credit to a Mayor for all of this. There might be a few of them where they played a big role, but most of the role of a Mayor in this is pretty overrated.

And look, I don't even like Lori Lightfoot but saying that somehow corporate relocations or expansions stopped under her watch is utter bullshit. Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean it gives anyone free pass to completely overlook this type of thing.

[Steely Dan]

^ agreed on all counts.

But I learned long ago not to go looking for critical thinking from internet political axe-grinders. Their world is all hip-shooting and hot-takes; noise that is best ignored.

[rgolch]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Here, start to knock yourself out here if you think the sky is falling:

And will the Wall Street Journal, or any other business publication list any of those? No.

This isn't about a perceptible hit to the local economy. It's about significant damage in the ability of Chicago to market itself as a viable, thriving city. And when it loses an iconic company, and has little to no population growth, it's frustrating to those of us who love this place.

I also find it weird that I never read anything about CAT or Boeing trying to get tax concession from the city or state. Maybe it just escaped my radar. But it seems like they didn't even bother with the whole dog and pony show and just up and left.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by rgolch

And will the Wall Street Journal, or any other business publication list any of those? No.

This isn't about a perceptible hit to the local economy. It's about significant damage in the ability of Chicago to market itself as a viable, thriving city. And when it loses an iconic company, and has little to no population growth, it's frustrating to those of us who love this place.

I also find it weird that I never read anything about CAT or Boeing trying to get tax concession from the city or state. Maybe it just escaped my radar. But it seems like they didn't even bother with the whole dog and pony show and just up and left.

You seem to be confused. I stated specifically that it sucks, which is the truth.

Me listing these were to the 2 posters that believe that corporate expansions and relocations have grinded to a halt since LL took office , which is bullshit but also unrelated to why losing Cat sucks. But also fucking weird since Cat came to Deerfield and not Chicago.

Hopefully you can begin to distinguish the 2 lines of thought though. This move ia odd but probably boils down to the top ones wanting to be in TX now. This is a blow to Illinois - they were in the Chicago area for 5 years of their 100+ year history here. To bring Chicago into the picture when they were in Deerfield for 5 years and Peoria for their history before is frankly weird. But let's hear more about how a Deerfield company moving to TX is the fault of the City of Chicago.

[left of center]

Whatever the actual economic effects of it, on the surface this is definitely a psychological blow, especially with the news of Boeing leaving for NOVA just a few weeks ago.

Hopefully we can offset these losses with some new HQ relocations.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by left of center

Whatever the actual economic effects of it, on the surface this is definitely a psychological blow, especially with the news of Boeing leaving for NOVA just a few weeks ago.

Hopefully we can offset these losses with some new HQ relocations.

Yes, to the state of Illinois it's a blow. Everyone agrees on that. Bringing up Chicago in this is naive, otoh.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I didn't know Lori Lightfoot was the mayor of Deerfield though. Are Fortune 500 companies the only companies to bring into the city for relocation? It does suck to lose this for Illinois 100% so there's no denying that. Probably stings more than Boeing although the fact that Illinois still has a Cat workforce of 17K+ means a lot regardless. Which F500 company did Rahm "get" to move to the city Chicago outside of ADM and McDonald's (from the suburbs)? I honestly cannot remember anybody else.

Say what you will about Lightfoot but acting like somehow companies stopped moving to Chicago while she's been in office is BS. And on top of it, people overrate how much a Mayor has to do with a lot of these things regardless.

Fortune 500 companies do mean something - they mean a certain amount but they aren't the end all be all of these things. Boston punches below its weight in terms of Fortune 500 HQ vs. its size and yet it's still one of the main tech hubs in the US, probably top 2 or 3 biotech hub, and has one of the lowest unemployment rates while also being one of the richest metros per capita in the entire country.

My company hired 600 tech workers in Chicago alone last year and wasn't even on the news, and we've hired at least 300 more this year so far (also not on the news). Most of these are 6 figure paying jobs. I love HQ moves but economically someone hiring 500 people making 6+ figures goes further for the economy than a HQ that employed say 50 people (even if all 50 were making $500K+ minimum a year). Google hired 500 people in Chicago last year and 500+ planned this year.

Here, start to knock yourself out here if you think the sky is falling:

This unicorn tech company moved its HQ from NYC to Chicago recently
https://rejournals.com/loadsmart-inc...175-w-jackson/

This India-based logistics startup expanded to Chicago and the founders moved from India to Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...go-office.html



We probably forgot but Uber Freight announcing their HQ move to Chicago from SF was when Lightfoot was in office. Seems like forever ago:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...w5q-story.html

Bay Area company moves HQ to Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...cago-hiring-20

Company moves HQ to Chicago from DC
https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2022...icago-from-dc/

FTX US opens US HQ in Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...go-office.html

Vancouver based company opens US HQ in Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...expansion.html

Australian company opens US HQ in Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2021/...m-seed-funding

Quantum computing company moves from Michigan to Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...-humboldt-park

Tech startup moves HQ from San Francisco to Chicago
https://www.businessinsider.com/movi...chicago-2022-2

NYC company relocates HQ to Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...om-nyc-chicago

Singapore/Munich based company opens first US office in Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...chicago-office

Europe based software company opening first non-Europe office in Chicago:
https://www.pcgamesinsider.biz/job-n...ce-in-chicago/

London based company opens new office in Chicago
https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/202...outputType=amp

San Diego based pharmaceutical company moves its R&D to Chicago
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...lab-west-coast

Amsterdam based company opens tech hub in Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...ech-hub-hiring

Kimberly Clark (F500 company) expands with new Chicago office
https://reelchicago.com/article/kimb...fulton-market/

Milwaukee Tool (from Milwaukee) opens up new tech office in OPO
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...office-chicago

Silicon Valley biotech company expands to Chicago - CEO and CFO are in Chicago and not Silicon Valley
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...-fulton-market

Snapchat parent (based in LA) expanding to Chicago
https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2022...ds-in-chicago/

SF tech company expands to Chicago
https://rejournals.com/fintech-compa...orleans-lease/

San Diego area company expands to Chicago
https://chicago.suntimes.com/busines...ckloads-routes

Silicon Valley company expands to Chicago
https://rebusinessonline.com/farmers...fulton-market/

NYC based digital advertising firms opens Chicago office
https://reelchicago.com/article/conn...ising-veteran/

Hollywood PR firm opens Chicago office
https://reelchicago.com/article/lobe...hicago-office/

Silicon Valley law firm (that handles a lot of tech IPOs) opens office in Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...ice-to-ge.html

Silicon Valley tech accelerator opens in Chicago
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...go-office.html

Boston company expands with Chicago office
https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...Chicago-Office

Silicon Valley opens new Chicago office
https://martechseries.com/sales-mark...-u-s-location/

NYC based company expands to Chicago with new office
https://rejournals.com/cadre-announc...hicago-office/

John Deere opening up new tech hub in Chicago
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2021/...ice-hiring-150

Orlando unicorn tech company expanding Chicago office
https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/...go-office.html

DOD opens new unit in Chicago
https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield...est-expansion/


I'm sure I could find many more examples. Losing Cat sucks for the state and there's no doubt about it, from a symbolic reason alone but the sky is not falling. And contrary to popular belief there's still been companies actually moving to Chicago from a HQ perspective or making some notable expansions here in the last 2.5 years. still. Sorry to burst some peoples' bubbles but there's actually a lot of companies moving their HQ to Chicago (or opening up US HQ here) or just expanding to Chicago with new offices.

Wow - Thanks for the list articles there......

I agree - Symbolic blow to Illinois, but in the long run for Chicago, probably not as big of a deal as some people are making it out to be.