CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[IrishIllini]

^ Looks like R&D jobs too...nice

[marothisu]

Very nice. Today has been a pretty good news day for this. The 250 jobs with a HQ relocating from out of state is good news. Not that that's a massive amount of jobs, but still very positive. TMaxSoft adding R&D jobs in Chicago is also good news.

Then there's stuff like this:

Insurance startup Kin raises $13 million

Kin, an online property insurance startup, has raised another $13 million as it makes a move to expand to new markets.

The company recently began offering homeowners' insurance in Florida and Texas. The new funding, led by Silicon Valley-based August Capital, will allow Kin to broaden its reach. "We want to be in all of the big states in pretty short order," says CEO Sean Harper.

Kin is somewhat unique in that it's an online-only company that's actually offering home insurance, through an underwriting partner, rather than just reselling an existing carrier's product. The company has 60 employees, up from about 20 in December.

Tripling your staff in just a few months is pretty amazing if you ask me.

Booth startup gets A-list early backers

A software startup launched by a recent Booth MBA graduate, who aims to help banks and other companies automate the drudgery of monitoring regulatory compliance, has raised $6 million from an impressive list of investors.

Brian Clark, 34, who worked in compliance for CME Group before going to Booth, where his firm Ascent participated in the New Venture Challenge business-plan competition, launched the company in late 2015.

....

The company has 14 employees, and it plans use the capital to hire sales and engineering staff, data engineers and data scientists.

A factory that makes apartment buildings? It's coming to Chicago

When Skender builds an apartment tower or hotel a few years from now, a lot of the action may be hidden from view in a factory, not on the construction site.

The Chicago general contractor is getting into the manufacturing business, with the goal of fabricating and assembling many components of its buildings in a plant on Chicago's southwest side. In the future, plumbers, electricians and other trades workers will build entire apartments or hotel rooms—including light fixtures, flooring and cabinetry—in the factory, said Mark Skender, the company's CEO.

Though modular construction is nothing new to the industry, Skender is embracing it in a big way by investing in the factory, which will employ 100 people or more, and by buying a small Chicago design firm, Ingenious Architecture, to develop its design and manufacturing process.

The company is searching for a CEO of its factory and is close to picking a site for the plant, narrowing its list down to three existing buildings along the Stevenson Expressway between downtown and Midway Airport, Skender said.

[jpIllInoIs]

Repeat Defenders
For the third year in a row, Chicago, Omaha and Sioux City are No. 1 in their respective population categories

"Reflecting a melding of corporate and entrepreneurial cultures, Chicago has more than 100 startup incubators and accelerators and more than 300 corporate R&D centers."

[jpIllInoIs]

Bears Moving Soldier Field Offices Downtown
"The Chicago Bears will move about 30 employees working at Soldier Field to nearly 11,000 square feet of office space the team will lease at 123 N. Wacker Dr. The move will take place this summer.

The Bears will convert their offices at Soldier Field into conference rooms and game-day preparation spaces. Some employees will continue to work at the lakefront stadium.

The Wacker Drive building is undergoing a $30 million renovation. A fund of LaSalle Investment Management recently bought the 30-story building, which is about half-leased."


Good news all around - brings workers into the loop to be closer to partners. But i would like to see a Bears Merch retail store in the lobby of 123 N Wacker Dr. bldg. Capture some foot traffic and liven up the retail scene on Wacker Dr.

[Justin_Chicago]

After His Last Business Sold for $1B, Sean Chou Has Big Plans for Catalytic

Sean Chou helped lead his last tech company to a $1 billion exit. Today, he’s nearly three years in to his next tech venture Catalytic, a fast-growing Chicago startup that’s landing Fortune 500 customers and backing from big-name investors.

In 2016, Catalytic raised $11.1 million from multiple notable venture capital funds, including NEA, Pritzker Group, Hyde Park Angels, Chicago Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners. Now, as the company continues to tweak its platform, the artificial intelligence startup is quietly gearing up to raise more capital.

Catalytic, an artificial intelligence startup which helps businesses automate business processes, is planning to launch its Series B funding round in the second quarter of 2018. Chou, the startup’s CEO, declined to say how much the company plans to raise, but he said that the funding will enable the company to “double or triple the staff over the next six to 12 months.”

Article: https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...for-catalytic/


Revolution Backs $5M Series A for Chicago Startup Paro

Paro, a Chicago startup that connects businesses with freelance finance professionals, just snagged $5 million in funding in a round led by Steve Case’s firm Revolution Ventures.

Paro announced the $5 million round Monday, which also included investments by Global Founders Capital and Tom Williams, a venture investor and founder of BetterCompany.

Paro, which launched in 2015, connects companies with freelance finance pros like bookkeepers, accountants and analysts who provide remote, hourly support on-demand.

Founded by Michael Burdick and Dan Wywrot, Paro says it has worked with nearly a thousand businesses and hundreds of freelancers.

Article: https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...-startup-paro/

[bnk]

Originally Posted by jpIllInoIs

Repeat Defenders
For the third year in a row, Chicago, Omaha and Sioux City are No. 1 in their respective population categories

"Reflecting a melding of corporate and entrepreneurial cultures, Chicago has more than 100 startup incubators and accelerators and more than 300 corporate R&D centers."

Always good to see this report. It is almost weird how far ahead Chicago ranks year in year out. More than twice the number of projects as # 2 Houstion # 3. Dallas combined.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by bnk

Always good to see this report. It is almost weird how far ahead Chicago ranks year in year out. More than twice the number of projects as # 2 Houstion # 3. Dallas combined.

Combined? Looks like Dallas and Houston came in just shy of 200 each, unless I'm missing something.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Combined? Looks like Dallas and Houston came in just shy of 200 each, unless I'm missing something.

True and Chicago clocked in at 402.

402>388


As a State Illinois ranked # 3 with only 17 other projects outside of Chicagoland.


https://capitolfax.com/2018/03/05/ra...tion-magazine/

"Illinois had 419 projects over the course of the year, coming in behind only Texas 594 and Ohio 467. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area remained the top metropolitan area of 1 million or more for new and expanded facilities with 402 projects."




Although on a per capita basis Texas didn't break into the top Ten rankings.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by bnk

True and Chicago clocked in at 402.

402>388


As a State Illinois ranked # 3 with only 17 other projects outside of Chicagoland.


https://capitolfax.com/2018/03/05/ra...tion-magazine/

"Illinois had 419 projects over the course of the year, coming in behind only Texas 594 and Ohio 467. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area remained the top metropolitan area of 1 million or more for new and expanded facilities with 402 projects."




Although on a per capita basis Texas didn't break into the top Ten rankings.

Right, so according to Site Selection, Chicago outranked Dallas and Houston combined, but not by twice the amount . Individually Chicago has twice as many projects as Dallas and Houston.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Very nice. Today has been a pretty good news day for this. The 250 jobs with a HQ relocating from out of state is good news. Not that that's a massive amount of jobs, but still very positive. TMaxSoft adding R&D jobs in Chicago is also good news.

Then there's stuff like this:

Insurance startup Kin raises $13 million



Tripling your staff in just a few months is pretty amazing if you ask me.

Booth startup gets A-list early backers




A factory that makes apartment buildings? It's coming to Chicago

Nice, the Skender one is very interesting.

[Kenmore]

isn't site selection just a chicago booster org?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Kenmore

isn't site selection just a chicago booster org?

And what did your research on this topic reveal?

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Kenmore

isn't site selection just a chicago booster org?

Originally Posted by the urban politician

And what did your research on this topic reveal?

Yeah, I'm sure an industry magazine based in Georgia is a Chicago booster.

[MayorOfChicago]

ATT currently announcing a 500 employee “platinum” call center on the northwest side. I started to kinda roll my eyes at call center, but they said wages starting at $18 which is fairly solid for that industry.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by MayorOfChicago

ATT currently announcing a 500 employee “platinum” call center on the northwest side. I started to kinda roll my eyes at call center, but they said wages starting at $18 which is fairly solid for that industry.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...306-story.html

[the urban politician]

^ Will probably be staffed by a lot of immigrants, which is great

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by jpIllInoIs

Repeat Defenders
For the third year in a row, Chicago, Omaha and Sioux City are No. 1 in their respective population categories

I'm always happy and proud to see Chicago do so well on this list. And I'm aware of advantages that Chicago has that most other peer cities don't: It's the de facto capital of a region. It has a diverse economy. It's got great distribution networks for logistics. It's especially benefiting from a back-to-the city movement in a way that no other interior cities have. It has relatively low costs and great transit and great access to talent and great research universities. It has world class air connections.

But other cities have advantages too. New York is 3x the size. NYC and San Fransisco are the centers for booming global industries. Chicago is in a slow growth region while Dallas and Houston are rapidly gaining population.

For all those reasons, I'd expect Chicago to do well, but not sit at the top of this list for the same reason that the very best (and worst) fund returns in a given year are usually tracking some niche market space, like energy or developing markets. The S&P 500 might do great, but it's too diverse and big to add 80% in a year.

So what gives? Is there growth in some specific sector I'm not fully aware of, like warehousing? I know there's a constant trickle of small North American HQs being placed in this central location with a high quality of life, is this more significant and substantial than I know?

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Will probably be staffed by a lot of immigrants, which is great

Yep, close to Albany Park, Avondale, Irving Park, etc.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

I'm always happy and proud to see Chicago do so well on this list. And I'm aware of advantages that Chicago has that most other peer cities don't: It's the de facto capital of a region. It has a diverse economy. It's got great distribution networks for logistics. It's especially benefiting from a back-to-the city movement in a way that no other interior cities have. It has relatively low costs and great transit and great access to talent and great research universities. It has world class air connections.

But other cities have advantages too. New York is 3x the size. NYC and San Fransisco are the centers for booming global industries. Chicago is in a slow growth region while Dallas and Houston are rapidly gaining population.

For all those reasons, I'd expect Chicago to do well, but not sit at the top of this list for the same reason that the very best (and worst) fund returns in a given year are usually tracking some niche market space, like energy or developing markets. The S&P 500 might do great, but it's too diverse and big to add 80% in a year.

So what gives? Is there growth in some specific sector I'm not fully aware of, like warehousing? I know there's a constant trickle of small North American HQs being placed in this central location with a high quality of life, is this more significant and substantial than I know?

Chicago's economy is definitely stronger than the general perception. I think a lot of people are still hanging onto antiquated perceptions of places like Houston and Dallas (affordable, decent jobs, easy to get around, etc.). Houston's GDP growth hasn't been great this decade. Phoenix never really had a "hot" economy, but it's also seeing lackluster economic growth despite huge gains in population. People move for countless reasons and it's not always rational. It takes time for perceptions to change, but I do think we're trending towards a new era for the Midwest. It may happen at the expense of other regions, but I guess its always been that way...

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Chicago's economy is definitely stronger than the general perception. I think a lot of people are still hanging onto antiquated perceptions of places like Houston and Dallas (affordable, decent jobs, easy to get around, etc.). Houston's GDP growth hasn't been great this decade. Phoenix never really had a "hot" economy, but it's also seeing lackluster economic growth despite huge gains in population. People move for countless reasons and it's not always rational. It takes time for perceptions to change, but I do think we're trending towards a new era for the Midwest. It may happen at the expense of other regions, but I guess its always been that way...

Correct, if you strip out population growth, Texas economic growth doesn't look good. Phoenix looks terrible. Florida is a third world nation.