CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[emathias]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Far from it.

While every other region is building "clusters", we're here doubling down on mindless labor that will surely be supplanted by automation within a decade.

I'm frankly surprised it's not already automated. There have been automated sorting facilities for packages for decades.

[Justin_Chicago]

SpotHero tops off with another $30 million

SpotHero, which recently bought rival Parking Panda, raised another $30 million to continue expanding its footprint and its technology. The latest infusion of cash brings SpotHero's total fundraising to $57.5 million.

"This is the funding round that gets us to profitability," said CEO Mark Lawrence. "We're in control of our own destiny."

The Chicago-based startup already has added 53 employees this year, including the Parking Panda acquisition, and headcount tops 200. Lawrence declined to disclose revenue, but he said it doubled last year.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...ses-30-million

[marothisu]

Some unemployment data out for the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights metropolitan division which is a large chunk of the overall Chicago area.

The unemployment percentage rose 1%, which is quite a bit. However, the total labor force rose over 85,000 people from May to June (+2.78%) and the number of employed persons went up nearly 46,000 people (+1.28%). Unfortunately, the number of unemployed persons went up by nearly 40,000 people. However, with the large increase of employed persons and labor force, I believe a lot of this might be formerly discouraged workers re-entering the work force to look for jobs. Will be interesting to see what the numbers do in the next few months.

[bnk]

Sounding almost official now. In SE Wisconsin somewhere, the location is unknown. I'm hoping for Kenosha county as close to Illinois as it can get. Wisconsin is going to shell out enormous state benefits for this plant.

More info to come after the announcement sometime in the next week.



https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-s...sin-1500884344

Apple Supplier Foxconn Looks at Producing Display Panels in Wisconsin


By Yoko Kubota and Takashi Mochizuki
July 24, 2017 4:19 a.m. ET

Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles Apple Inc.’s iPhones, is nearing a decision to invest in Wisconsin and could hold an event in Washington, D.C., as soon as this week to discuss U.S. investment plans, people familiar with the matter said.


...

[the urban politician]

^ Did you even read the first line of the article?

They are also looking at the Detroit area, so it's still not a done deal.

Having the Speaker of the House from SE Wisconsin sure helps our chances, though

[bnk]

I've been following this pretty closely. I happen to be one of those Lake county residents that works in Kenosha county. BTW there is going to be more than one Foxconn plant in the USA, several, and the Detroit area could be another. But no other location seems to be getting the amount of news buzz as the Wisconsin deal. Example. If you google news just the name Foxconn and nothing else 80% of the reporting is Wisconsin.
All of the reading and following seems to indicate to me Wisconsin will be one of the first announcements. Interesting note the plant will require lots of Lake Michigan water, both Racine and Kenosha counties straddle the watershed. Water will be a major factor for this plant.
I won't add anymore news about this again until a formal announcement takes place. It might drag out longer than they are reporting.

[the urban politician]

^ I see, well if all goes through this will be a staggering number of jobs and a huge boost for the region.

Too bad it will once again benefit north Chicagoland. We need help down south

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I see, well if all goes through this will be a staggering number of jobs and a huge boost for the region.

Too bad it will once again benefit north Chicagoland. We need help down south

Even if you ignore the jobs from this facility, there's no doubt that the connection to the HQ from the region is through Chicago, as would be distribution. More than that, really big, manufacturing facilities create supplier networks--parts makers serving parts makers--and no doubt some of those satellite facilities would be in Illinois.

[marothisu]

I don't know why the news is acting as if Foxconn only wants to create one factory in the US. I read an article a month or two ago stating it could be 5 or more across the country.

[bnk]

dup

[bnk]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I don't know why the news is acting as if Foxconn only wants to create one factory in the US. I read an article a month or two ago stating it could be 5 or more across the country.

I have read through the last two pages and nowhere did I say only one plant or operation was involved. I am sure you are not implicating me in your accusation.

I do think personally there will be some nexus of a center of gravity that will congregate In the Great Lake states that will have to flow through Chicago.


See Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and PA as the next places to get some kind of investment.

As a side note. Most of the best jobs will be in construction, engeeres and the supplyers Like others that have stated this can and will be largely automated in less than a decade.


But here is a question to you. When was any TV or large screen device ever manufactured in the USA? Are you old enough to remember that we never that that tech in the last 3 decades?
What Foxconn it doing is logical. They are building large screen components that are more costly to ship vs the now only slight advantage of shipping across the pacific ocean. There are also political issues. Its multiple layered.

Michigan will get some, Ohio too, PA likely also. All Midwest swing states if you can read a map.

Its not that complicated and I never stated that only Wisconsin would take the whole pie.

I talked but I did not produce news like I said I would not, until it is official.



BTW these jobs will become expendable once full automation takes place. There is less than a 10 year window on the mindless crap this factory will produce.

I would never advise anyone to work here as a youngster unless they have a high degree of robotics in their diploma. And it is not likely they will hire out of work auto workers. It just is not going to happen.
Or are You are your just reading this one news wrong?

[Justin_Chicago]

YCharts founder raises $1.1 million from Pritzker, among others

Shawn Carpenter, who took on Bloomberg and investment data with YCharts, is tackling the business of selling. He and co-founder Jonathan Suchland, a former Amazon cloud software engineer, have raised $1.1 million for RepIQ, which provides intelligence to sales reps looking for prospects and contacts.

Chicago investors include Pritzker Group Venture Capital; Hyde Park Angels; Tao Huang, a former Morningstar executive; and Jeremie Bacon, CEO of software startup Synap; as well as West Coast funds Amicus Capital Partners, which backed Grubhub and YCharts, and family investment group Arba.

River North-based RepIQ has seven employees. Carpenter is just starting to hire a sales team and expects headcount to be in the 20s by the end of next year.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...ritzker-amicus


Health internet of things startup gets $8 million

Gary Conkright was working on the internet of things before it had such a catchy name.

He's on his second IoT startup, PhysIQ, which he started 12 years ago. The Chicago health-technology company, which has offices in the Loop and Naperville, just raised another $8 million. Its software helps health care providers automatically monitor the vital signs of patients.

Bringing new technology—even software—to health care is a long slog. Since raising $5 million in 2014, PhysIQ has gotten FDA approval and it's technology has been tested in a pilot program with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

PhysIQ uses an Android-based app that connects with Bluetooth-enabled patches and wearables that patients rely upon to monitor their heart rate, respiration and overall activity. Its algorithms track the information, automatically alerting medical personnel if there are significant changes.

PhysIQ has grown from 11 to 19 employees, primarily data scientists and coders. Conkright expects to reach 25 employees by the end of the year.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...gets-8-million

[the urban politician]

Why Chicagoland wins with the Foxconn move:

Wisconsin shells out the money to land the plant, but Illinois may very well get a sizable proportion of the jobs (Illinois residents) as well as spillover effect from suppliers, distribution, etc

[Tom In Chicago]

This Foxconn talk is all bullshit. . . they're not building anything anywhere. . . they've done this schtick before. . . yawn. . .

. . .

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by bnk

I have read through the last two pages and nowhere did I say only one plant or operation was involved. I am sure you are not implicating me in your accusation.

Not sure why you are being so defensive as i never quoted you nor wasn't responding to you. I made a general comment - your post comes off rather weird, no offense. You also stated that there would be more than one Foxxconn plant, at least planned, in the US, so I was agreeing with you from the beginning really.

[bnk]

Above

Sorry about the confusion marothisu. I had read your post wrong. When you said "why the news is acting as if" I thought you meant ssp foumers. My bad.

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Why Chicagoland wins with the Foxconn move:

Wisconsin shells out the money to land the plant, but Illinois may very well get a sizable proportion of the jobs (Illinois residents) as well as spillover effect from suppliers, distribution, etc

Totally correct assessment TUP.

Illinois is better off not bidding on this one. The state incentive concessions are going to be massive. Location still unknown but as Sneed would say the birdie says its more likey Racine County south of HWY 20 close to I 94, but there is still a possibility of Kenosha County. We may find out Wednesday at around 4 pm Eastern time or perhaps longer.

Foxconn has played this game before but not with this much press or pressure from above from before. Trump wants all of these plants in the purple rust states he won inexplicably.





Tom says it never happen based upon Foxconn's history in the past, but we will see on this one.



There is just too much buzz on this one to fizzle IMO.

Two Videos in link below.





http://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/...rounds-foxconn

Skepticism surrounds Foxconn as announcement appears imminent

Coreen Zell
10:19 PM, Jul 25, 2017
2 hours ago




The buzz about the potential for a Taiwanese manufacturer coming to southeast Wisconsin has gained momentum, especially with the news of a "jobs announcement" being added to President Donald Trump's calendar Wednesday, but some are skeptical about the idea. 
State Rep. Tom Weatherton, whose district includes Racine, told our partners at the Milwaukee Business Journal that the Foxconn incentive package could be the largest in the state history. The details remain hush-hush.

...


"We don't know what the benefits package is or the incentive package is because they're holding their cards very close to their face," said Steven Deller, Professor of Agriculture and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Deller said companies like Foxconn typically ask for tax breaks.  He's worried the governor could agree to too much.



"The governor is a bit between a rock and a hard place because he made the promise of 250,000 jobs...but at the same time if the benefits package is too aggressive, too generous he may be accused of essentially giving away the baby in order to get the cred," said Deller.

The professor thinks Foxconn wants to tap into the Chicago market, while Wisconsin takes on the cost of incentives.
"The down side is that a lot of workers and a lot of suppliers may be coming out of the Illinois market," said Deller.

...










One video in the link below.

http://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/...letion-of-deal
4:30 PM, Jul 25, 2017

"Property tax abatements, hiring tax credits, infrastructure will be part of the deal I'm sure, but ultimately water. 

The access to water Wisconsin has that's a commodity. I think Foxconn values this will be a very energetic intensive factory," said John Boyd of The Boyd Company, Inc.
He says the multi-billion dollar plant is also looking at Racine County's proximity to Chicago's O'Hare airport.


.








And one last stupid link talking about ozone issues but does touch on the 1 to 3 billion giveaway that could happen.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...ant/510873001/

Apple iPhone supplier Foxconn could get huge tax deal for U.S. plant

USA Today 8:12 p.m. ET July 25, 2017

A plan to bring a massive Foxconn Technology Group plant to Wisconsin could cost $1 billion to $3 billion in local, state and federal incentives over coming years — a stunning sum for a project that backers say


...


EDIT

Foxconn not ready to announce. This might be the greatest bait and switch of all time.

[ardecila]

Crain's is reporting that Trump is encouraging Foxconn to take the American Motors site in Kenosha. This is not the typical greenfield industrial site, it's a large brownfield right in town, surrounded by walkable neighborhoods and 1/2 mile from Kenosha's Metra station. (In fact, my great-uncle worked there)

Ordinarily the truck access would be a deal killer for this kind of site, but Foxconn's products are high value and physically compact, so even a huge volume of production won't necessarily generate a lot of truck trips. Of course the site also has rail access.

By the Census Bureau's own standard, this is Chicagoland. I like that note about tapping into the Chicago labor and supplier market, this location is great for Chicagoland, without the pain of broke-ass Illinois putting up huge incentives.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Crain's is reporting that Trump is encouraging Foxconn to take the American Motors site in Kenosha. This is not the typical greenfield industrial site, it's a large brownfield right in town, surrounded by walkable neighborhoods and 1/2 mile from Kenosha's Metra station. (In fact, my great-uncle worked there)

Ordinarily the truck access would be a deal killer for this kind of site, but Foxconn's products are high value and physically compact, so even a huge volume of production won't necessarily generate a lot of truck trips. Of course the site also has rail access.

By the Census Bureau's own standard, this is Chicagoland. I like that note about tapping into the Chicago labor and supplier market, this location is great for Chicagoland, without the pain of broke-ass Illinois putting up huge incentives.

If it does end up in Kenosha, this is clearly a big gain for Chicago metro and Illinois.

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Crain's is reporting that Trump is encouraging Foxconn to take the American Motors site in Kenosha. This is not the typical greenfield industrial site, it's a large brownfield right in town, surrounded by walkable neighborhoods and 1/2 mile from Kenosha's Metra station.

I grew up in Kenosha and - if this Foxconn story is even remotely to be believed - felt it should go here more than anywhere else. . . I suspect they will announce that it will end up in Mount Pleasant. . . but I don't think they'll build anything in the end. . . it's all political spin at this point. . .

. . .

[bnk]

The more I think and analyze this Foxconn thing the more I think it really won't happen. Foxconn is famous for announcements and pulling the plug when they don't get the concessions they want.

There is no official location yet.

The incentive package has not been approved yet.

It will need bipartisan approval and I can see some dems and some republican that will balk at the 1-3 Billion dollar concessions, and not get state approval for the hostage attempt.

[That's $1,000,000.00 dollars of concessions per job, think about that]

There are going to be farming families and landowners that will not budge unless hugely compensated. This will only push up the concessions even more that can be palatable.

I hope I am wrong but I just don't see this happening anytime soon.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/...ant-wisconsin/

Critics have cautioned that Foxconn has made promises before to invest in the U.S. and not followed through. Foxconn promised in 2013, for example, to invest $30 million and hire 500 workers for a new, high-tech factory in Pennsylvania that was never built. State Sen. Alberta Darling, co-chair of the Wisconsin Legislature’s budget committee, said any deal would be examined with a “fine-toothed comb” and need to win approval by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The announcement stated 3 K jobs far less than the 10K suggested, with only a suggestion of more in the future.

I think Foxconn is still playing the states against each other. Some desperate state will give them all they want. See Texas. Than the Orange can say well we gave you the first shot and you failed to deliver.

Until the building is complete, running and up to speed I will not accept this as real. As of now this is just a dog and pony show.