A Year of Success, Innovation, and Growth- Celebrating the Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership

It was one year ago this month that the Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership  launched.

Over the past twelve months, World Business Chicago has pulled in county partners outside their county lines to over 45 events and 7 regional Innovation and Venture convenings. Some of these initiatives included bringing along partners to international events such as the Collision Conference in Toronto and Chicago Sister Cities’ 50-year anniversary in Japan, as well as local Executive Club events and Deep Tech week.

Through the GCEP collaboration, the Research Center at World Business Chicago responds to requests for data analytics and information, economic dashboards, and provides  quarterly updates to all GCEP county members with standard metrics like economic output, employment, unemployment, and job postings to name a few.

What is the GCEP?

The Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership (GCEP) prospects, pitches, sells and markets the Chicagoland region’s  assets—from existing companies and engaged business community, pipeline of talent and skilled workforce, to our world-class infrastructure and our growing resonance as a hub for innovation.

The Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership is comprised of the City of Chicago, Cook County Government, Choose DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kendall County, McHenry County,  Will County Center for Economic Development, and World Business Chicago.

The entire World Business Chicago team is involved in the collaborative support of our GCEP partners. Spearheading is our dedicated business development team, led by Kyle T. Schulz, Lisa Dziekan, and Christopher Chaidez, CGBP. Their steadfast commitment is bolstered by the crucial support of the Research Center namely Robin Ficke and Hannah Loftus. Together, we work hand in hand across all our teams, including Innovation & Venture, Global Strategic Initiatives, Community Impact, Marketing Communications, and Public Sector Investment Strategy, to drive our mission forward.

pro-Chicagoland decisions

Our primary Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is well-known as “pro-Chicagoland Decisions,” the formal tracking of companies that have expanded in the region or new market entrants prospected and supported by World Business Chicago and GCEP county leaders.

Explore the stories of these four companies that have enthusiastically chosen Chicagoland as their destination to navigate their businesses toward a brighter future.

S&G ELECTRIC COMPANY S.A.

S&G Electric Company, a global provider of equipment and services for electric power systems, considered moving out of state. With more than 2,000 jobs at stake, GCEP partners helped the company to identify expansion space, a 275,000 square foot facility in Palatine. In March 2023, S&G announced the new facility is expected to create ~200 production and engineering jobs. Full occupancy and production start-up are expected in early 2024. This is a huge win for Cook County and the greater Chicagoland region.

UPSIDE Foods

Upside Foods is a San Francisco-based maker of cultivated protein that performed a nationwide search for its first full-scale commercial facility. In early 2023,  WBC and GCEP  joined Illinois Governor Pritzker and others in convincing the company that the Chicagoland region (#1 ranked for food production) was the right location for the company’s growth. In September, 2023, Upside Foods signed a 187,000 SF lease at the former Allstate campus in Glenview. The site will support warehousing, logistics, and food production, creating a minimum of 75 jobs over the first two years.

Ravago

Ravago is a Belgian plastic-producing company with its headquarters in Luxembourg. The company is active in polymer and chemical distribution, building materials, recycling and compounding of plastic. GCEP partners  brought together community and workforce resources and assisted with incentives to attract Ravago. Ravago committed to developing its 204 acre Midwest distribution center in Kendall County’s Montgomery, IL, bringing 150 jobs to the region. The Ravago Groundbreaking occurred on October 18th 2023.

Redberri Corporation

The Redberri Earth Foundation & India’s T-Hub partnered to establish an Innovation Center in Kendall County to create a soft landing space for Indian companies and a support hub for thriving US based companies expanding in India. T-Hub’s soft opening took place on August 25th, featuring the Minister of Science and Technology from Telangana. Members from GCEP coordinated the site visit and ribbon cutting ceremony and are excited to begin welcoming five start-ups to the innovation center, which is anticipated to occur in April 2024.

The future of business is happening here in Chicagoland

In August, the  GCEP co-hosted Deputy Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy Daniel R. of U.S. State Department in a discussion of the opportunities to engage in foreign policy at the local level. Highlighted were conversations about the region’s global leadership in Quantum Technology and Manufacturing Innovation. The visit included tours with regional partners of EeroQ Quantum Hardware and mHUB (manufacturing and hard tech innovation center)

WBC’s Innovation & Venture team is actively involved in GCEP, consider:

• • March 23 — Startup Chicago by World Business Chicago Food & Ag Entrepreneur Showcase. GCEP Partners joined our startup growth & VC attraction program Food Showcase, along with Bluestein Ventures.

  • March 28 — GCEP Day at Argonne National Laboratory. Choose DuPage joined the Innovation and Venture team for a tour of Argonne National Laboratory – a Chicagoland regional asset

  • May 4 — Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Food by World Business Chicago saw nearly 1100 startups, innovators, & investors at the Midwest’s flagship event, Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Food. This was the first Chicago Venture Summit sponsored by GCEP, with remarks by Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle.

The Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership invites you to join our collective mission to champion innovation and propel progress within the thriving Chicagoland region. Together, we can illuminate the abundant opportunities and remarkable value that our region offers to companies, both those already situated here and those considering this extraordinary region for their future endeavors.

Resources:

1. Regional Asset Map

2. GCEP Video

3. GCEP Economic Dashboard