Chicago Growing, First Quarter 2014

Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently joined Motorola Mobility leadership at the public unveiling of the company’s global headquarters in downtown Chicago. Motorola Mobility announced its relocation from Libertyville, Illinois to Chicago’s historic Merchandise Mart in July 2012. Motorola Mobility is one of 27 headquarters that has relocated to Chicago during Mayor Emanuel’s tenure.

“The city is thrilled to welcome Motorola Mobility back to downtown Chicago,” said Mayor Emanuel, referring to the company’s origins in Chicago before moving to the suburbs in the 1970’s. “As a global leader of the rapidly growing technology industry, Motorola Mobility will now have access our exceptional workforce, transportation system and business climate. Motorola Mobility will act as a major economic engine, bringing 2,000 jobs to the city.”

Companies of all sizes are choosing to locate in Chicago. Marketing technology startup, Revenew also announced that it relocated from Palatine to downtown Chicago. The new office, at 200 W. Monroe Street, places Revenew in the heart of the city’s tech startup community and houses the company’s thirty-plus employees, with room to accommodate additional planned growth.

In addition to Motorola and Revenew, this issue of Chicago Growing identifies 47 growing companies,* illustrated on the interactive map below (red map markers indicate a headquarters):

*Refers to data for new and expanding companies with a physical address in Chicago that meet at least one of these criteria: $1M investment, a net gain of 20,000 sq ft, a net gain of 50 jobs, a headquarters facility and/or WBC involvement. WBC captures project information at the time of announcement from media outlets, press releases, company websites, and WBC internal reporting on a rolling basis; the quality of each record depends on the availability of data and resources to input and confirm information. Data subject to revision.