TV City in a Garden: Edens Lost & Found

"Stormy, husky, brawling, City of Big Shoulders," is how Carl Sandburg described Chicago in 1916.

Today, Sandburg's statement stands true, and a new PBS documentary series, Edens Lost & Found, backs this up. The series focuses on four cities, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle; hour-long shows on each city highlight how integrated resource planning combined with local community support is a source of great hope for our environment and can serve as models for other cities.

Chicago has challenged its citizens to "stand tall or be dwarfed," and the community is meeting this challenge, beginning with Mayor Richard M. Daley. According to Harry Wiland of Wiland-Bell Productions, producers of Edens Lost & Found, when researching cities for the series, Chicago clearly took the lead in community and administrative-based urban sustainability. As Wiland put it, "Mayor Daley really gets it."

The "it" is how integrated resource planning comes together for a sustainable ecosystem, including open space and public parks, urban forestry, watershed management, public art, waste disposal, recycling, green architecture, environmental justice, neighborhood development and mass transit alternatives. Chicago is a prime example of "best practices" in many of these arenas, which lead to improved quality of life for its citizens.

Urban sustainability is not only shaping the next generations' future, it is also a driver for economic success. According to Wiland, soon "blue collar" and "white collar" jobs will also include a third category—"green collar," as taking care of our environment becomes paramount.

Mayor Daley has been a crusader, radically changing Chicago by bringing green technology and the greening of the city to the forefront. From the 24-acre Millennium Park, which sits a top a parking garage in the center of downtown and earned the reputation as the city's gem, with its impressive outdoor urban space and gardens, to City Hall's rooftop garden, with 250 varieties of plants that help temper heat and add serenity, to impressive undertakings and support in neighborhood parks, nature preserves and schools, Mayor Daley is known for keeping the environment top of mind.

Chicago's initiatives featured in the documentary also include the Center for Neighborhood Technology, which strives to implement new tools and methods that create livable urban communities for everyone. As Chicago transforms public housing into mixed income alternatives, the center has provided cheap reliable internet access to the underserved, among many other things.

The city is also home to a number of effective community organizations under the Chicago Wilderness umbrella. Made up of 163 private and public organizations, the group works together to find the balance between urban culture/resources and nature.

Other program highlights include Friends of the Chicago River, a group fighting for clean water through recreational events making the river more visible. It also features Calumet City, where steel mills and factories have left way to toxic waste, yet pockets of natural areas are being restored and strung together as parks and a museum featuring the area's history is being built.

The program focuses on citizens' involvement to make their communities livable. From restoration of natural prairie land on the southeast side, to Eden Place in Fuller Park, where kids learn hands-on about ecology, to suburban Elgin High School's outdoor classroom, where the next generation is learning by experience about natural history and how to restore it, every program makes a difference.

The story of Chicago is not one story—it is many stories, from its Mayor to a second grade student on the South Side learning the importance of the natural environment. Edens Lost & Found showcases what Chicago is doing well and how our city can serve as a model for others around the world.

The Chicago program will air on PBS—May 18, 2006. A screening will be held on May 17th at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. Click here for more information on Eden's Lost & Found, including action guides for examples of how to get involved in Chicago.

Bio, Nano, Canada!

Biotechnology, life sciences and nanotechnology have recently joined the traditional mainstays of Canada's trade with the American Midwest-energy, auto parts, wood and paper products, manufactured goods, agriculture and food. The local growth and expertise in these areas has turned heads in Canada, as Canadian businesses seek new opportunities in Chicago and the Midwest.

Now, more than ever, Canadian companies are looking for opportunities in an expanding range of US sectors, with the Midwest market at the top of the list. And when Canadians—or Chicagoans—need help exploring these business opportunities, a great place to start is with the trade and investment team at Canada's Consulate General in Chicago.

Based in downtown Chicago, the Consulate General covers Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri, as well as northwest Indiana and the Quad Cities. With a population of approximately 32 million and one of the strongest economies in the world, Canada continues to be the most important trade partner for Chicago and the greater Midwest.

In 2004, total trade in goods and services between the three-state territory and Canada totaled over 43 billion US dollars, more than the US traded with Italy in the same period. Additionally, Canada is by far the largest supplier of energy to these states, sending them over 8 billion US dollars of oil and gas products in 2004.

Because of cultural similarities and well established transportation, logistics, and business relationships, opportunities for partnership and collaboration for both Chicago and Canada abound. This equation adds up to a very dynamic set of opportunities for the city and its northern neighbor. Chicago is the industrial heart of the Midwest and a key food processing center, so the area's manufactured and processed products, and their associated transportation systems and services, are a priority for Canadian businesses. At the same time, Canada's interest in new or newly flourishing sectors here, such as value-added building products and agricultural biotech, continues to grow.

"We provide a range of contact and advisory services for Canadian companies that have done their research on the Midwest market and have decided to enter it," says Maurice Egan, the Consulate General's Deputy Consul General and Senior Trade Commissioner. "We can provide the kind of on-the-ground intelligence that's hard to find, along with the networking and contact base they can use to develop relationships with American businesses in the region."

This level of activity keeps everybody busy. In October 2005, the Chicago trade and investment team responded to service requests from some 60 Canadian companies investigating business opportunities in Chicago and the Midwest-all while helping organize a 30 company mission from Canada's Atlantic Provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador) to Chicago. That same month, the Consulate hosted trade and investment delegations from at least a dozen Canadian municipalities and managed Canada's participation in NanoCommerce 2005 and SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, and Functional Art)-the high-end three dimensional arts expo.

To deliver these practical services, the Chicago Consulate has a team of officers who are responsible for specific market sectors. "All of us," Egan says, "participate in activities and meetings of the local and national industry associations here in the Chicago area. We stay current by expanding our network of contacts and increasing our knowledge of the regional marketplace."

There are dozens of organizations and networks in which the Consulate's trade and investment team takes part in Chicago. The Business Development Officer responsible for biotechnology, information and communications technology, and life sciences currently serves as co-chair of the International Marketing Committee for BIO 2006 and is a member of the show's executive committee. It's the energetic use of resources like this that have helped Canada's Chicago trade and investment team contribute to many cross-border successes in the Chicago market.

For more information, email Maurice Egan at the Canadian Consulate General or call 312.616.1860.

Chicago Hotels to Record Strongest Year Since 2000

Chicago's hotels are booked for 2006. And with over 30,000 hotel rooms available in the central business district, that is saying a lot.

This year is gearing up to be the strongest since 2000 for the Chicago hotel industry, as more than 2.2 million room nights are already on the books as a result of 39 citywide events planned to date.

A variety of factors including economic turnaround and an increase in domestic leisure travel have made a significant impact on hotel bookings. Additionally, hotels are reporting longer vacations on the rise, with reservations for five or more room nights being sold—a first since 9/11.

New conventions, tradeshows and meetings contribute to the strong growth, as well as less favorable circumstances such as the natural disaster in New Orleans.

As a result of Hurricane Katrina, three shows were relocated to Chicago. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons hosted its 42nd annual meeting at McCormick Place in late January. The show's record-breaking attendance of more than 5,000 delegates contributed an estimated $4.7 million to Chicago's economy. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons will bring 28,000 delegates to Chicago in March; The National School Boards Association will host its 66th Annual Conference in April, bringing 13,000 delegates into the city.

But that's not to say that Chicago is merely profiting from New Orleans' loss. For each room night booked, Chicago donates $10 back to the hurricane relief effort—an amount that is expected to reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau (CCTB) sales team, working hard to bring in new business, won the city two new shows that will be making their debut here this year—the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and the National Business Travel Association (NBTA).

The BIO 2006 International Convention is expected to bring 18,000-20,000 biotech professionals to Chicago, a third of those professionals from international cities. It is also estimated by CCTB that the presence of the BIO show will pour $36-40 million dollars into the Chicago economy.

But Chicago's convention business wouldn't be what it is without the faithful shows returning every two, three or even four years. This year, those include:

• The Association of Manufacturing Technology, with 90,000 delegates
• The Packaging Machinery Manufacturer's Institute, with 72,000 delegates
• Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, with 50,000 delegates
• The American College of Surgeons, with 16,500 delegates
• ISSA Interclean, with 20,000 delegates
• The American Heart Association, with an expected attendance of 30,000

Chicago by the Numbers

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