WBC         
June 2009 :: Volume 56
In The Headlines:
"Eds & Meds"



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Chicago Welcomes MillerCoors

Mayor Richard M. Daley welcomed MillerCoors, the second largest beer company in the United States, to Chicago when the company officially opened its new corporate headquarters at 250 S. Wacker Dr. last week.

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WBC Connects With Plastics Industry Leaders

The plastics industry employs more than 1.1 million workers in the U.S., and the industry is key to the Chicago-area job market, employing 31 thousand - more than any other US metro area.

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 WBC Gets its MBA

Given that the area's leading business schools possess a wealth of international resources, World Business Chicago (WBC) is partnering with them to help position Chicago as a premier global business destination.

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Chicago Welcomes MillerCoors

Mayor Richard M. Daley welcomed MillerCoors, the second largest beer company in the United States, to Chicago when the company officially opened its new corporate headquarters at 250 S. Wacker Dr. last week. The move brings 325 new jobs to the city.

"The decision of MillerCoors to locate its headquarters here strengthens our reputation as an important global center from which to conduct business and confirms that Chicago is seen as a desirable place to live, work and raise a family," Daley said at a news conference held at the company's offices.

"Especially in these difficult economic times, this kind of an opening sends an important message to all Chicago residents that our city is a vital place and that we are working hard to take the steps necessary to keep our economy moving," he said.

MillerCoors was created in June, 2008, when SABMiller plc (headquartered in London) and Molson Coors Brewing Company (headquartered in Denver, Colorado) combined the U.S. and Puerto Rico operations of their respective subsidiaries, Miller and Coors, in a joint venture.

In July, 2008, the company announced it had selected Chicago as the site of the new corporation's headquarters.

The company signed a 15-year lease agreement for nearly 130,000 square feet of office space at 250 S. Wacker Drive and is the largest tenant in the building.

The headquarters will include the majority of MillerCoors' senior executives, as well as Marketing, Human Resources, Legal, Finance, Information Technology and Communications divisions. MillerCoors' total project costs are currently estimated to be nearly $22 million and include substantial tenant build-out, as well as improvements to the river walk just west of the building.

The company has applied for silver certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System of the U.S. Green Building Council.

MillerCoors decided to locate in Chicago because of the City's access to transportation, attractive talent pool, diverse population, cultural richness, and broad selection of affordable communities for relocating employees to choose from, among other things.

"World Business Chicago worked closely with the City, State and corporate community in order to showcase to MillerCoors that Chicago is the best city for their business," said Rita Athas, Executive Director of World Business Chicago. "We are thrilled that MillerCoors chose to call Chicago home and look forward to the company becoming an engaged member of our corporate community."

 "We believe that Chicago is the ideal place to run a business, because our city offers tremendous economic strength and resources combined with an enhanced quality of life," Daley said.

"We are in a recession now, but we know that won't always be the case, and our goal is to position Chicago to reap the benefits of the better times to come. We are very happy that MillerCoors will be part of Chicago's bright future," he said.

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WBC Connects With Plastics Industry Leaders

The plastics industry employs more than 1.1 million workers in the U.S., and the industry is key to the Chicago-area job market, employing about 31,000 - more than any other US metro area. And, while the plastics industry has a presence in every U.S. state, its GRP in the Chicago metro area is $3.2 billion - again, more than any other U.S. metro area. The plastics industry's GRP is nearly 85% more concentrated in the Chicago area than in the U.S. on average

The NPE2009 International Plastics Exposition took place June 22-26, 2009 at Chicago's McCormick Place, with 2,000 companies exhibiting. New pavilions at this year's show featured cutting-edge research and forward-looking trends in plastics. The industry's commitment to new and emerging technologies including sustainability, bioplastics, energy and nanocomposites, mirror Chicago's effort to become one of the most sustainable cities in the world by using innovative approaches to environmentalism.

By connecting with industry leaders at NPE2009, WBC showcased how the city offers easy access to the world via its central location and two international airports, extensive road and rail networks and an impressive digital infrastructure. Additionally, the show provided WBC with the opportunity to showcase the city's strong and diverse economy, talented workforce and incomparable quality of life.

NPE209 was produced by SPI. Founded in 1937, SPI is the plastics industry trade association representing the third-largest manufacturing industry in the United States. SPI's member companies represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. Visit www.plasticsindustry.org or www.npe.org for more information.

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WBC Gets its MBA

Chicago's universities are a valuable asset for our great city. Given that the area's leading business schools possess a wealth of international resources, World Business Chicago (WBC) is partnering with them to help position Chicago as a premier global business destination.

WBC is working with five top Chicago graduate business schools: Chicago Booth (University of Chicago), the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University), DePaul, Loyola and UIC. The initiative's intent is to leverage the schools' resources to raise the city's profile within the international business community and appeal to the growing number of companies that are considering the U.S. for their operations.

In recent months, WBC has engaged in numerous activities with the schools, including completing a faculty inventory which revealed experts in nearly every country. "The information we've compiled, including data, background information, and translations, is invaluable when visiting other countries or welcoming guests to the city," said Rita Athas, Executive Director of WBC. "The partnership has produced a wealth of resources that other cities could not replicate."

As a part of the initiative, WBC presents on Chicago's global business climate to international executive MBA delegations that come to Chicago for short visits during their programs. To date, presentations have been made to senior executives from India, France, the Czech Republic, and Russia, with several more international groups expected during the course of the year.

Communications with international students has proven to be very beneficial. "These students are the future leaders of business in their countries," according to Ms. Athas. "And, we want them to walk away with a solid education and a good sense of our business capabilities in Chicago. We also want to maintain a strong connection to those alumni networks and build global ambassadors for the city."

Additionally, the initiative has led the business school deans to participate in WBC events, including the recent Global Cities Forum Luncheon, at which they met with visiting mayors from around the world. They have also taken part in business school conferences, one of the most notable being the Kellogg Centennial conference in Shanghai, China.

The universities have provided WBC with editorial coverage on this project in their magazines, electronic newsletters, and on their websites.

The deans and their key staff members have also embraced Chicago messaging provided by WBC, spreading the word while they are traveling domestically and internationally. Recently, Dean Ted Snyder of Chicago Booth, not only spoke of Chicago and its benefits at the school's Alumni Council meeting with senior international executives, but also sent them home with materials to engage these alumni as Chicago ambassadors.

Dean Snyder commented, "This partnership allows Chicago Booth to support the city in its efforts to connect with all sectors throughout the world and helps our school further develop our global approach to management education.  We are proud to be part of this worthwhile initiative to help Chicago achieve its aspirations."
The other deans involved in this effort are Dean Dipak Jain - Kellogg School of Management, Dean Ray Whittington - DePaul, Dean Abol Jalilvand - Loyola, and Dean Stefanie Lenway - UIC.


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In The Headlines: "Eds & Meds"

The April edition of "In the Headlines" examined the extent to which Chicago-area employment has been tracking national trends in the 12 major economic sectors over the course of the current recession. In particular, we assessed which sectors had seen the most job losses both nationally & locally.

In this month's edition, we focus on the one sector that has continued to show positive growth at the national level since the official beginning of the recession in December 2007: Education & Health Care & Social Assistance ("Education/Health"). We will review the sector's performance at the national & local levels, as well as its overall presence in the Chicago area.

On a month-to-month basis, Education/Health is the only economic sector to show uninterrupted employment growth at the national level since December 2007, increasing by a total of +2.6%, or a modest compound rate of +0.1% per month. The chart below illustrates this pattern of month-to-month national employment changes for all sectors (excluding Agriculture & Natural Resources/Mining) - red signifies a decrease in employment versus the prior month, while green indicates a month-over-month increase.


You can see that Government, the second-best performing sector, fared relatively well for the first 9 months of the recession, before posting losses in employment along with most  of the other sectors. It has, however, posted a +0.5% increase in employment since December 2007 - i.e., early gains have not been canceled out by more recent declines.

In the 14-county Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), Transportation/Utilities has been the best performing sector during the current recession. Education/Health has also fared well relative to most other sectors, though not as well as at the national level. The sector showed monthly employment growth through November 2008 before beginning monthly declines through May 2009, for total growth of +1.4% over the past 18 months. Again, early monthly gains have thus far outweighed the declines seen in recent months.


While slightly less concentrated in the Chicago area than the US overall (6% less), metro Chicago still boasts sizable Education & Health economies, as illustrated in the summary table below.

In the realm of Education, Chicago is not only highly concentrated in terms of employment, but is truly a top-tier player. Deemed the #2 Best City to Get a Degree in A.T. Kearney's 2008 Global Cities Index, the area boasts more than 130 institutions of higher education, including 4-year colleges & universities, community colleges & technical/specialty schools. These institutions have a combined enrollment of more than 566,000 students - downtown Chicago alone is home to more than 50,000 college students, which is more than 5 times the size of the University of Notre Dame. This group of institutions grants more than 27,200 master's degrees, 4,200 professional degrees & 2,000 doctoral degrees each year.

Among the world-class institutions granting graduate & professional degrees in the Chicago area are two of the top business schools in the nation: University of Chicago's Booth School of Business (#1 per Businessweek & #3 by The Economist) & Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management (#3 & #16). Further, the area is home to 6 medical schools - including the nation's largest at the University of Illinois at Chicago - & 47 teaching hospitals

Chicago's presence in the Health Care & Social Assistance industry is also very significant, with total industry employment ranking behind only the New York City & Los Angeles metro areas. The area boasts nearly 2,000 family practice/general practitioners, more than 15,000 specialists, 6,500 hospital-based physicians & 86 hospitals. It is also a hub for training the next generation of medical professionals - further building on its specialization in higher education - with six medical schools (including the nation's largest, at the University of Illinois-Chicago) & 47 teaching hospitals. The Chicago-area is home to more than 5,000 medical and dental residents, second only to the New York City metro area.

Chicagoland not only has a meaningful presence in the Education/Health sector, but has earned a stellar reputation in both sub-areas as well. Its strength in these growth industries holds significant potential for future economic growth & development in the region.

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Sources: Moody's Economy.com; IL Board of Higher Ed., Data Book 2007; Indiana Commission of Higher Education, CHE Dynamic Report 2007; Univ. of WI System, Office of Policy Analysis & Research 2007; AMA's Graduate Medical Education Directory, 2007-2008; Physician Characteristics and Distribution in the US, 2008 Edition (AMA); American Hospital Association,  Hospital Statistics, 2008 edition.


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