CHICAGO, September 5, 2000 – Northeastern Illinois’ top business leaders have united to position Chicago as a global business location with the merger of World Business Chicago and The Chicago Partnership for Economic Development.
The merger will combine the local expertise of the Partnership and the international marketing skills of World Business Chicago into a single, business-driven organization that will raise the profile of the Chicago region worldwide and market the entire nine-county region to international businesses.
“World Business Chicago is now in the best position to reach out to international businesses looking for a North American home,” said Mayor Richard M. Daley. “We want them here and we want the jobs that they bring. The mission is just that: bring home the jobs. And by home, I mean anywhere in this region. We are one region, and one economy. We go forward together, or we will be left behind together. If a business doesn’t want to locate in Chicago, so be it, it’s the company’s choice. I would much rather that they move to Palatine or Markham than to Atlanta.”
The newly merged organization will use the name World Business Chicago (WBC) and be chaired by Mayor Daley and co-chaired by Michael D. O’Halleran, president and chief operating officer of Aon Corporation. WBC founding chairman John H. Bryan, chairman of Sara Lee Corporation, will serve through the merger transition.
The new publicly and privately funded nonprofit corporation will provide a unique opportunity for corporate leaders to market the region internationally. It is a businessdirected organization that will work to bring international businesses to the region, strengthen the local economy and increase the impact on the area from more jobs, more technology and more investment.
“The Chicago region has everything it takes to be a global business leader,” said Paul O’Connor, who will serve as Executive Director of the new World Business Chicago. “We are North America’s largest intermodal container port, and the world’s only container port that straddles both the European and the Asian markets. As international trade volume grows, so do this region and its employment opportunities. We are North America’s number one manufacturing city, the world’s number one passenger air center, the world’s number one convention city, and America’s third largest technology exporter. We need to build on what we already have and to tell our compelling story to corporate decision-makers worldwide.”
Before the Merger
The original World Business Chicago was an initiative of the Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago, which documented the need for an international business development organization. Sara Lee Corporation chairman John H. Bryan led the creation of the WBC as a joint venture of the Civic Committee, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the World Trade Center – Chicago. Since 1998, WBC founding Managing Partners Robert M. Ady and David J. Paulus have successfully attracted international investment to the nine counties that make up the Chicago metropolitan area.
The Chicago Partnership for Economic Development was created by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1999 to retain and foster business development in Chicago. As a non-profit corporation equally funded by the City of Chicago and the private sector, the Partnership facilitates economic expansion to keep and attract new business and establish Chicago as a leading international city in the global economy.
The New World Business Chicago
The new WBC will help raise the image of the Chicago region internationally, as well as continue to lead the City of Chicago’s economic development marketing efforts. By bringing together the corporate leadership of many of the significant multi-national corporations that are headquartered in our metropolis, WBC will allow the region to compete effectively in a globalizing world.
“The Chicago area already has some of the world’s top executives living and working right here. It makes sense to capitalize on their relationships with other businesses all over the world,” said Michael O’Halleran.
“We plan on recruiting a new generation of corporate leaders for our board of directors. We hope that they will help market this great region through their personal travels and contacts. Under the leadership of Mayor Daley, the new organization will maneuver the Chicago region into the prominent position on the world map of great cities that was first defined generations ago in the Burnham Plan.”
“Chicago and its metropolitan region are perhaps unique in the world for our ability to involve corporate leadership in the pursuit of greater public good,” said John Bryan. “Combining that tradition with the strengths and resources of the next generation of corporate leadership, Chicago can advance as a great global metropolis. With Mayor Daley at the helm of this expanded, business-driven organization, it will happen.”
A new board of directors is being formed, and is scheduled to be announced in October.
Media Contact:
Meghan Risch
(312) 553-4658
