CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[sukwoo]

Originally Posted by UPChicago

Statefarm?

Yea this does suck for Peoria though. IMO, it would be very nice if the State was able to cultivate economic development and grow other metro areas within the State outside of Chicago.

I'm just not sure that's viable in this day and age aside from Metro east (St. Louis) and Urbana-Champaign. In other midwestern states, isn't all the economic growth in the largest metro areas as well?

Wonder how long before John Deere relocates its HQ to Chicago, they have lots of international business as well. How about Whirlpool? They are in Benton Harbor, that's got to be hard sell for recruiters.

[UPChicago]

I just did a little poking around on American Fact Finder. I looked at some population data for metro areas in the Midwest to see if any have grown.

between 2005-2015
Champaign-Urbana 21% growth (198,091 - 239,672)
Grand Rapids 38% growth (750,962 - 1,038,583)
Madison 24% growth (519,330 - 641,385)
Sprinfield, MO 19% growth (382,521 - 455,074)

I know it isn't an in-depth analysis and there are a lot of factors that have gone into the growth of some of those areas but I think its possible to grow small-mid sized metro areas in the Midwest given some focus. It may benefit the region as a whole to do so.

[Justin_Chicago]

Caterpillar's new headquarters goal: Change culture

To change a corporate culture, change the location of the corporate headquarters.

In a nutshell, that seems to be the goal of James Umpleby, Caterpillar's recently named CEO, who is leading the heavy construction and equipment maker's headquarters relocation from its longtime home in Peoria to an undetermined place in the Chicago area.

In moving its headquarters, Cat is signaling a departure from a storied past and positioning itself to operate a leaner, global manufacturing business in new ways.

For example, expect a greater focus on incorporating more digital and internet-based technologies into its heavy equipment and construction product mix, along with a growing focus on China and emerging international sales markets.

On that score, moving closer to O'Hare International Airport will make it easier and less time-consuming for Cat leadership to zoom around the globe. Cat will rent office space, but not construct a new headquarters, and eventually bring along about 300 jobs.

Such moves are expected to make these old-line companies more attractive to an increasingly urban-based and culturally diverse workforce that's digitally adroit and eager to do business on a worldwide scale.

Article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...31-column.html



I think people here need to realize Chicagoland will always be more attractive for the top brass of Global companies. No one wants to jump on a small airport plane and do a transfer at O'Hare for a flight to Asia. ADM moved to Chicago from Decatur because the St. Louis airport did not grant them sufficient global access. Also, private corporate jets are frowned upon by institutional and activist shareholders, so that is not a valid argument for a Global HQ located in a small market. Most executives fly business first class. Smaller markets are more suitable for U.S. centric companies like Jimmy Johns.

[bnk]

The more I read about this the more since it makes. The John Deer's, State Farm's ... the national and global players from small metro areas will have to follow lead eventually whether its Chicagoland or hopefully not out of state.

I'd rather like to see another Boeing from out of state move though.

[marothisu]

Great news for Cat. Really interested to see not only where they'll move to but when. Hoping for downtown which would make sense more than in the burbs IMO, but who knows.

[Justin_Chicago]

AOL founder invests in Keywell startup

ptake, Brad Keywell's fast-growing Big Data startup, raised a big pile of cash from some old friends.

A $40 million round was led by Revolution Growth, a fund launched by AOL founder Steve Case and Ted Leonsis. The deal values Uptake at more than $2 billion, according to a source familiar with the transaction.

Leonsis, an early backer and board member of Groupon, which Keywell helped launch, will join Uptake's board.

Uptake, founded in 2014, raised $45 million in late 2015. The company specializes in helping big companies, such as Caterpillar, gather and analyze data from their operations to improve efficiency and create new products.

It's grown at an astonishing rate, more than doubling headcount last year as it moved into new industries, such as aerospace and health care—though it has not identified customers other than Cat. The company now has nearly 700 employees.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...eywells-uptake


Energy-trading software startup gets $19 million

Aquilon Energy Services, a small Lisle-based software company, has caught the attention of some very big players.

The company raised $19 million from Citi, Goldman Sachs, Macquarie Group and Chicago-based Invenergy. Aquilon's software helps buyers and sellers of contracts for electricity and natural gas reconcile those transactions after delivery. It's a process that's mostly done manually with spreadsheets, says Jeff Wagner, who founded the company about five years ago.

The company has grown to 32 people, up from 12 a year ago. Six employees are in Houston. Wagner hopes to have 50 employees by year-end, including 30 in Chicago. Most of the growth will be in Houston, where much of the U.S. energy trading business is conducted. Aquilon plans to build out the platform to include petroleum products, as well as electricity and natural gas, as well as companies that transport energy, such as natural gas.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...m-citi-goldman
Article: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...300400011.html

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

[B][SIZE="4"]

It's grown at an astonishing rate, more than doubling headcount last year as it moved into new industries, such as aerospace and health care—though it has not identified customers other than Cat. The company now has nearly 700 employees.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...eywells-uptake

Oh however will we fill all these apartment towers???

[the urban politician]

I think it was in 2015 it was declared that the Loop had its highest employment since they've been keeping records. There have been no signs yet of a recession and no major company defections thus I would presume those numbers are only continuing to climb.

When the doomsayers predict an apartment glut I often wonder if they are assuming that all other factors are remaining the same. Job growth downtown is continuing to fuel the demand. But, of course, I'm sure they are taking this into account--they aren't idiots.

[ithakas]

Why Cat won't be the last Chicago-bound HQ

Caterpillar's Jan. 31 decision to move its headquarters from Peoria to the Chicago area follows on the heels of similar moves by ADM and ConAgra—and ramps up recruiting pressure on downstate's other big corporate fish, Deere and State Farm, as well as out-of-state companies like Kellogg and SC Johnson, which remains headquartered in its historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed campus in Racine, Wis., despite announcing plans in November 2015 to move approximately 175 white-collar workers to Chicago. SC Johnson's move came just days after Kraft Heinz confirmed it would transplant the headquarters of its Oscar Mayer unit from Madison, Wis. to Chicago's Aon Center.

Within a 300-mile radius of Chicago lie such tantalizing targets as Steelcase of Grand Rapids, Mich., Eli Lilly of Indianapolis or Fiserv of Brookfield, Wis. Could Chicago hope to capture such deeply entrenched out-of-town players?

Source: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...d-headquarters

[the urban politician]

If Illinois got its financial house in order I salivate at how much the region could be booming right now.

[rgolch]

Johnson Controls is a definite no for the near future. They are probably going to build a signature highrise headquarters in Milwaukee. And Fiserv seems bent on staying in Brookfield, even dismissing the idea of going downtown Milwaukee.

I could see SC Johnson having a deeper connection to Chicago. Their having a satellite location in Chicago shows the understand the need to tap a larger talent pool. State Farm and Deere have the best odds of a Chicago move. Who knows about the others.

[the urban politician]

I remember about a year ago reading that Dow Chemical was mulling a Chicago move

[bnk]

There is no way Eli Lily is leaving its HQ in Indi and its sprawling manufacturing/research campus east of Indi.

Dow Chemical would be huge as well as Monsanto but the latter just made a public statement on hiring and say they are committed to St. Louis.

http://www.southwestfarmpress.com/re...bayer-monsanto


But I can see Dow happening someday. They already have a presence here.

https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/e...obstochic.html



I would much rather get a HQ relocation outside of 300 miles and particularly from places Chicagoland companies relocated to back in the 90's like Waste Management, Rubbermaid ect.

Likely never to happen getting but id love to get back the over seas losses, BP Amoco, and tax evaders like Aon.

Lets Think outside of a 300 mile bubble.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by bnk

...
Lets Think outside of a 300 mile bubble.

What I'd like to see focused on is snagging North American headquarters for fast-growing Asian and African companies. Leverage our centrality and transportation prowess. I think Chicago tries for that already, but continued pushes for regional headquarters of companies we've never even heard of would be good. American headquarters for new Chinese or Malaysian or Indian or Indonesian or African companies. We get the economic boost, more global ties, and incentive for ever more delicious ethnic foods!

[Arch City]

Just an FYI, there's no way Monsanto/Bayer's R&D and Ag division would leave St. Louis.

They have already recommitted to St. Louis. Plus, a $700-million new campus is nearing completion. Monsanto/Bayer's Global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial division will be HQ'd in St. Louis.

In addition, Pfizer is confirmed to be be building a $200-million campus (no renderings yet) nearby because the two firms usually work together on discovery.

• Video Link

"Bayer and Monsanto reiterated that the combined company’s global seeds and traits R&D and agriculture North American headquarters would be based in St. Louis, with additional research and commercial locations throughout the U.S." Source

The division in St. Louis will focus on the plant sciences and research - not the North American conglomerate functions.

Bayer is a big company, obviously, with pharma etc., which I believe is based in New Jersey.

Chicago cannot compete with St. Louis in the plant sciences and plant science R&D - only RTP and San Diego come close.

The infrastructure in St. Louis is too extensive for Monsanto/Bayer to abandon.

Also, St. Louis is already nailing down plans for a 575-acre Plant Science Innovation District. St. Louis currently has more PhD plant scientist than other city in the world and a world-class plant science center - the largest private in the world. Then Missouri Botanical Garden, the world's leading research botanical garden, and research schools like Washington University and University of Missouri-St. Louis are well-known for their plant science research.

Now Chicago might be able to pick off another St. Louis company, but not Monsanto/Bayer. This company is way too entrenched in St. Louis.

It basically built plant/ag in St. Louis.

[Justin_Chicago]

I think you are missing the argument. The corporate functions and R&D will likely always remain in St. Louis but the executive team and support staff (Investor Relations, Corporate Development, Treasury, Corporate FP&A) could be attracted to Chicago in the near future due to globalization. This is exactly what happened with Caterpillar. Plant scientists do not need access to O'Hare airport for a direct flight to Australia or Southeast Asia.

I personally doubt Monsanto (even an executive office) will ever leave St. Louis. The city has a lot of great stuff going for it, such as strong universities (Washington Univ), a good presence of fortune 500 companies (AB InBev, Express Scripts, Ameren, Reinsurance), and decent airport access (#32 busiest). Minneapolis also shares similar attributes. I think Chicago will attract companies with global ambitions from the next tier of cities and start-ups looking for readily available tech talent, support structure, robust B2B ecosystem, and capital.

[Justin_Chicago]

SIM Partners raises $5 million

Marketing-technology company SIM Partners raised another $5 million from investors River Cities Capital Funds in Cincinnati and Chicago-based Jump Capital.

SIM's software helps companies improve mobile search advertising. Clients include Advocate Health Care, American Family Insurance, ATI Physical Therapy, Costco, Red Wing Shoes, Save-A-Lot, Starwood Hotels & Resorts and U.S. Bank.

The new funding will help SIM expand faster into health care, which is fueling the company's growth.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...p-river-cities

[MayorOfChicago]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I think it was in 2015 it was declared that the Loop had its highest employment since they've been keeping records. There have been no signs yet of a recession and no major company defections thus I would presume those numbers are only continuing to climb.

When the doomsayers predict an apartment glut I often wonder if they are assuming that all other factors are remaining the same. Job growth downtown is continuing to fuel the demand. But, of course, I'm sure they are taking this into account--they aren't idiots.

Yes, the downtown area has been booming the past few years for sure:

Downtown Chicago peaked around 2000, then slid for a few years, gained almost all of it back by 2008, took a quick nosedive, then rebounded greatly up to a peak that's almost 50,000 jobs above its previous peak. Adding almost 100,000 jobs since 2010, around 27% of all jobs gained by the metro during that time:

1998: 512,108
2000: 528,868
2002: 505,866
2004: 481,875
2006: 499,421
2008: 520,409
2010: 479,199
2012: 513,533
2014: 541,752
2016: 574,217

City of Chicago hit a peak in 2001, then slowly wafted down by around 150,000 jobs through 2010, but in the past six years has gained back all of those 150,000 jobs:

1998: 1,136,809
2000: 1,155,978
2002: 1,101,827
2004: 1,061,748
2006: 1,089,347
2008: 1,096,131
2010: 1,011,151
2012: 1,071,227
2014: 1,107,326
2016: 1,155,332

Cook County hit a peak in 2000, then actually slid straight through 2010 before getting back to a peak not seen since 2001 at least:

1998: 2,322,716
2000: 2,340,639
2002: 2,216,958
2004: 2,149,402
2006: 2,185,786
2008: 2,176,935
2010: 2,004,132
2012: 2,073,558
2014: 2,131,857
2016: 2,224,707


http://www.ides.illinois.gov/LMI/Whe...0Work/2016.PDF

[Emprise du Lion]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

I think you are missing the argument. The corporate functions and R&D will likely always remain in St. Louis but the executive team and support staff (Investor Relations, Corporate Development, Treasury, Corporate FP&A) could be attracted to Chicago in the near future due to globalization. This is exactly what happened with Caterpillar. Plant scientists do not need access to O'Hare airport for a direct flight to Australia or Southeast Asia.

I personally doubt Monsanto (even an executive office) will ever leave St. Louis. The city has a lot of great stuff going for it, such as strong universities (Washington Univ), a good presence of fortune 500 companies (AB InBev, Express Scripts, Ameren, Reinsurance), and decent airport access (#32 busiest). Minneapolis also shares similar attributes. I think Chicago will attract companies with global ambitions from the next tier of cities and start-ups looking for readily available tech talent, support structure, robust B2B ecosystem, and capital.

Considering Bayer is attempting to purchase Monsanto, I'd imagine that if Monsanto's corporate left metro St. Louis that it would be merged with Bayer's North American headquarters in NJ, not Chicago.

[MayorOfChicago]

Here are the peaks and valleys over the past 26 years for various Illinois metro areas. They're specific to each metro during the two main recessions and recoveries over this period. For instance some areas like Carbondale grew from 1990 right through 2007 before shifting course:

Bloomington:
1990: 80,147
1999: 98,385
2004: 89,094
2010: 97,397
2016: 92,828

Carbondale:
1990: 53,185
2007: 65,670
2013: 53,981
2016: 55,713

Champaign:
1990: 106,910
2007: 116,469
2016: 113,128

Chicago CSA
1990: 4,011,176
2000: 4,559,774
2003: 4,344,274
2007: 4,644,986
2010: 4,358,407
2016: 4,673,495

Danville:
1990: 38,755
2016: 32,721

Davenport/Quad Cities:
1990: 179,456
1998: 193,328
2003: 184,104
2007: 197,330
2016: 178,637

Illinois piece of Quad Cities:
1990: 104,081
2007: 111,778
2015: 98,815

Decatur:
1990: 56,438
2016: 46,447

Elgin:
1990: 203,709
2007: 313,996
2010: 288,213
2015: 303,637

Kankakee:
1990: 45,815
2007: 52,393
2015: 52,248

Lake County:
1990: 340,155
2007: 434,729
2009: 404,607
2015: 430,958

Peoria:
1990: 175,473
1998: 191,152
2003: 169,492
2007: 194,558
2015: 172,838

Rockford:
1990: 151,453
1999: 166,477
2003: 148,824
2007: 165,348
2015: 159,269

Springfield:
1990: 106,179
2015: 106,872

Illinois piece of St Louis:
1990: 301,300
2000: 321,181
2003: 307,360
2007: 333,230
2009: 310,760
2015: 322,824

Illinois is fairly stagnant except for Chicago, but even that isn't going above and beyond its previous peaks outside downtown Chicago.

Just looking at a few cities in Iowa doing well, they have definite momentum that Illinois just doesn't.

Iowa City:
1990: 65,926
2016: 95,017

Cedar Rapids:
1990: 111,117
2016: 140,100

Des Moines:
1990: 230,261
2016: 332,303

One that's good to see is Detroit finally waking up. They had a slow burn from 2000 straight through 2007, then a bust through 2010, but finally are gaining back jobs:

Detroit:
1990: 1,945,607
2000: 2,216,021
2004: 2,050,260
2007: 1,998,781
2010: 1,772,626
2016: 1,950,213

Michigan in general is recovering:
1976: 3,618,361
2000: 4,976,322
2007: 4,658,939
2010: 4,194,041
2016: 4,612,036

Illinois:
1976: 4,808,498
2000: 6,211,404
2007: 6,334,010
2010: 5,937,047
2016: 6,197,757