World Business Chicago
  WBC         
July 2008 :: Volume 45
Chicago by the Numbers



Read More		 MillerCoors Chooses Chicago for HQ

MillerCoors, the joint venture between SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors, announced that it will locate its headquarters in downtown Chicago. The company will bring between 300 and 400 executive and management jobs to the city beginning in June, 2009.

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A Growing Green Giant

In the race towards becoming the ultimate green city, Chicago is leading the way. With 40 LEED-certified buildings, Chicago has topped the "Greenest Cities" rankings by Business Facilities magazine two years in a row. San Francisco placed 5th with 20 LEED-certified buildings and New York ranked 8th with 16.

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 Chicago Area Among Top-10 Metros for Exports

With $14.8 billion of goods exported during the first half of 2007, the 14-county Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) ranked #6 among 369 U.S. metro areas tracked by the International Trade Administration (ITA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Read More
MillerCoors Chooses Chicago for HQ

MillerCoors, the joint venture between SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors, announced that it will locate its headquarters in downtown Chicago. The company will bring between 300 and 400 executive and management jobs to the city beginning in June, 2009.

The decision comes after an extensive search, under the guidance of The Staubach Company (recently merged with Jones Lang LaSalle); the final decision between Dallas and Chicago was announced to MillerCoors employees on July 15. The City of Chicago, State of Illinois and World Business Chicago worked in close partnership to showcase Chicago's business advantages.

"The decision to select Chicago as the location for our corporate headquarters was made to achieve our goal of becoming the best beer company in America by having access to an attractive base of talent, transportation and business resources," said Tom Long President MillerCoors. "We are grateful to the State of Illinois and City of Chicago for their support."

"We are excited that MillerCoors, a company with such a rich history and legacy in the brewing industry, has selected Chicago as the site of its corporate headquarters," said Mayor Richard M. Daley. "The company's decision to locate its headquarters here strengthens our reputation as a world-class city in which to conduct business and confirms that Chicago is a great place to live, work and raise a family."

MillerCoors is finalizing its exact building location within Chicago. The City of Chicago has offered tax increment financing (TIF), dependent on the building selection and City Council approval. In addition, the State of Illinois is offering EDGE tax credit and employer training grants, as well as a business development grant. MillerCoors may also be eligible for additional grants and incentives, pending final building selection.

"We are delighted to welcome MillerCoors to our highly engaged business community," said Rita Athas, executive director of World Business Chicago, the city's economic development office. "Chicago's multifaceted transportation system, diverse workforce and strong business culture will help provide a world-class home for MillerCoors."

SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors Brewing Company announced the closing transaction to combine their U.S. and Puerto Rico operations to create MillerCoors on June 30 and began operation as a combined entity on July 1, 2008. For more information visit www.millercoors.com/ .

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A Growing Green Giant
In the race towards becoming the ultimate green city, Chicago is leading the way. With 40 LEED-certified buildings, Chicago has topped the "Greenest Cities" rankings by Business Facilities magazine two years in a row. San Francisco placed 5th with 20 LEED-certified buildings and New York ranked 8th with 16.

In today's increasingly eco-conscious marketplace, businesses are continually searching for ways to shrink their carbon footprint.  Chicago's historic Merchandise Mart, implementing policies such as a comprehensive energy management plan, received LEED certification in November and serves as one of the many examples of how Chicago inspires responsible growth.

Chicago was also a winner of the first annual Sustainable Cities Awards, which honor global examples of programs that demonstrate the future of best practices in sustainable land use. Sponsored jointly by the Financial Times and the Urban Land Institute, nine winners were selected from a field of 86 entries submitted from 15 countries. The jury was particularly impressed with the comprehensiveness of Chicago's involvement in green practices, how integrated they were with city ordinances, and the size and scale of its influence. Chicago has certainly been setting the bar.

In 2007, Chicago installed over half-a-million new square feet of green roofs, winning the coveted No. 1 ranking on this year's "Top 10 List of Best U.S. Green Roof Cities" in Green Roofs for Healthy Cities' 3rd Annual Green Roof Market Industry Survey. This is the fourth consecutive year that Chicago has topped the annual survey. Environmental sustainability is a moving target and Chicago recognizes what it takes to be a global leader.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in wind energy development. It's pollution-free, inexhaustible, and thanks to technological breakthroughs, it's cost-competitive with new coal- or gas-fired power plants. And business is booming. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has ranked Illinois 8th in the country for existing wind power capacity -- that's 736 megawatts, and an additional 171 megawatts-worth of projects are currently under construction. To put that into perspective, one megawatt of wind power generates roughly enough electricity to serve 250 American households.  

Wind power is expected to expand rapidly to meet a much larger portion of U.S. energy demand in the coming years, and Chicago is proud to be home to the headquarters of such wind-savvy companies as Acciona North America, E.ON North America, Invenergy LLC, Midwest Wind Energy LLC, Suzlon Wind Energy Corp. and Trintek Energy Consulting.

With rising concerns about energy prices and global warming, more businesses are recognizing the importance and responsibility of investing in green technologies. For Chicago and its many eco-centric public-private initiatives, this holds the promise of increased competitiveness in the global economy, a higher quality of life for its residents, and a challenge to become the ultimate model for other metropolises around the world.

-- Jennifer Xu
Research Associate
World Business Chicago

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Chicago Area Among Top-10 Metros for Exports

With $14.8 billion of goods exported during the first half of 2007, the 14-county Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) ranked #6 among 369 U.S. metro areas tracked by the International Trade Administration (ITA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The MSA has held this #6 national position since the ITA began reporting this series of metro-level export data in 2005. The top 5 metros for the first half of 2007 were:

1.    New York -- $39.7 billion
2.    Houston -- $29.9 billion
3.    Los Angeles -- $26.0 billion
4.    Seattle -- $25.1 billion
5.    Detroit -- $24.3 billion

Chicago MSA's export value represents 13% of the export value generated by the 94 Midwestern MSAs (including those in IA, IL, IN, KS, ME, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD & WI).

Chicago's top destinations for exported goods come as no surprise -- like the U.S. as a whole, the Chicago MSA's exported goods were bound for NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico to a greater extent than any other trading partners. The MSA exported more goods to Canada in the first half of 2007 than any other MSA in the country, a total of more than $4.8 billion. Including the $1.9 billion of goods exported to Mexico, the Chicago MSA exported a total of $6.7 billion (45% of total exported goods) to its NAFTA partners.

After these two nations, Chicago exports most heavily to European Union member states, followed by Asia Pacific nations. Germany ($708 million, second only to Boston in exported value), Japan ($608 million), and the United Kingdom ($568 million) accounted for an additional 13% of the value of exported goods.

"Exports are driving the U.S. economy," said U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez. "Opening new markets for Chicago's exporters will further bolster the metropolitan area trade and support local jobs."

In the first half of 2007, the Chicago MSA experienced the most exporting success in industries that are among its long-term regional strengths:

Industry

Exports -- 1st Half 2007

2007 Employment*

Value ($billion)

% Total Exports

Chemicals

$2.9

20%

40,700

Computer & Electronic Products

$2.5

17%

32,900

Machinery (Excl. Electrical)

$1.8

12%

46,700

Transportation Equipment

$1.6

11%

20,300

Total, Top Industries

$8.8

60%

140,600

* Moody's Economy.com

Computer & electronic products rank among the top export goods for all of the top-five MSAs, with Chicago's other top categories (chemicals, machinery, and transportation equipment) also major export industries for most metros. In the table below, the share of total MSA exports is shown for each MSA's top export industry, with industry rank shown for others:

MSA

Comp. & Elec. Prods.

Machinery, Excl. Elec.

Transpo. Equip.

Chemicals

Misc. Mfr'd. Goods

Primary Metals

Petrol. & Coal Prods.

New York

4

         -       -

2

19%

3

      -

Houston

4

2

       -

35%

     -       -

3

Los Angeles

21%

         -

2

3

4

      -       
      -

Seattle(1)

2

4

1

        -      -       -       -

Detroit(2)

3

2

69%

        -      -       -       -
(1) Value/share of transportation exports not disclosed. Industry #3 = fishing, hunting, & trapping (not shown).
(2) Industry #4 = electrical equipment, appliances, & components (not shown).

MSA-specific press releases and fact sheets, as well as the full data set for the first half of 2007 can be found on the ITA website (http://ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/metro/). Full-year statistics for U.S. MSAs are anticipated to be released in the coming months.

-- Gretchen Kosarko
Director of Research
World Business Chicago


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Chicago by the Numbers
 Indicator - MSA
May '08
Apr. '08
Mar. '08
May '07
Total Employment
4,585.3
4,545.2
4,505.8
4,580.2
     Total Private Sector
4,007.6
3,970.9
3,930.6
4,007.1
     Construction
213.5
205.8
195.3
220.8
     Manufacturing
478.8
478.9
479.6
483.7
     Wholesale Trade
250.7
249.3
248.9
250.6
     Retail Trade
480.2
473.9
473.4
472.3
     Transportation & Utilities
204.3
203.6
203.2
203.7
     Information
91.1
91.2
91.3
90.8
     Financial Activities
325.0
325.0
325.4
330.6
     Prof. & Business Services
749.1
740.9
724.8
746.0
     Education & Health Services
601.6
601.1
599.3
591.8
     Leisure & Hospitality
413.8
402.0
390.1
415.6
     Other Services
197.0
196.9
197.1
198.1
     Government
577.7
574.3
575.2
573.1
     Mining
2.5
2.3
2.2
2.5
Unemployment Rate
6.3
5.3
5.6
4.6
Midwest Housing Starts
143
164
135
246
Office Availability Rate
-
-
11.4
-
Office Net Absorption
-
-
-202,688
-
Producer's Price Index
178.5
176.1
175.8
166.5
Consumer Price Index -U
215.1
213.7
213.3
206.7
Consumer Confidence
58.1
62.8
65.9
108.5
National Purchasing
     Managers Index
49.6
48.6
48.6
52.8
Chicago Purchasing
     Managers Index
49.1
48.3
48.2
61.7
Chicago Midwest
     Manufacturing Index
104.8
105.7
107.6
104.9
New Automobile Sales
5.3
4.9
4.9
5.5
New Truck Sales
5.1
5.7
6.2
6.9

Footnotes
The Chicago MSA (metropolitan statistical area) consists of a fourteen-county, tri-state region: Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin. The employment, housing, and net absorption numbers are listed in thousands. The unemployment rate for May 2008 and the Producer Price Index figures are preliminary only. The office absorption and availability rate are 2008 first quarter numbers for the downtown Chicago market. Data is from CB Richard Ellis. Net Absorption is the change in available space in square feet. Availability rate is space that is currently vacant or in the process of being marketed. Consumer confidence, automobile and truck sales are U.S. numbers. The Chicago Midwest Manufacturing Index is a monthly estimate of manufacturing output in the 7th Federal Reserve district (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin). It is a composite index of sixteen manufacturing industries that use electrical power and hours worked data to measure monthly changes in regional activity.

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