Illinois switches marketing gears
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From DCEO’s “Why Illinois” website…
Highly Educated Workforce
In Illinois, our workforce is one of our biggest competitive advantages. According to the last census, 34 percent of Illinoisans have a bachelor’s degree or better. 11 percent have an advanced degree. TechAmerica says that our workforce is in the Top 10 for hi-tech workforces. That means that you will have an easier time finding the talent you need to make your business grow. And since two of the nation’s top engineering schools and top business schools are located in Illinois, you can rest assured that talented personnel will be available for a long time to come.
* There’s a reason for that emphasis…
This year, for the first time since CNBC began keeping track in 2007, workforce is the attribute most frequently cited by states in their efforts to attract business. […]
It’s a sentiment echoed by members of the CNBC Global CFO Council, which includes chief financial officers from a broad array of public and private companies. Asked to rank 10 factors in deciding where to locate or expand facilities, 53 percent of the respondents ranked workforce No. 1. No other factor came close. […]
“We’ve undermarketed ourselves,” [DCEO Director Jim Schultz] said, noting that 56 percent of Illinois’ population has more than a high school diploma. “We think the opportunity is to locate business where the best skill sets reside.”
* But there are two big problems…
Roughly two-thirds of our CFO Council respondents consider so-called “right to work” laws banning mandatory union dues an important or very important factor in deciding where to locate.
Ugh.
* And…
As for Illinois, if last year’s rankings are any guide, it may need to do some catching up to its new workforce sales pitch. Illinois’ workforce finished 32nd last year, contributing to the state’s overall 27th place ranking.
- Anonin' - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 12:49 pm:
So they tout college degrees and want to cut’em +30% makes GovPeace look like total fool.
- chi - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 12:51 pm:
=Roughly two-thirds of our CFO Council respondents consider so-called “right to work” laws banning mandatory union dues an important or very important factor in deciding where to locate.=
If given the opportunity, a large percentage of CFO’s would want to move operations to a state where workers could indentured servants. It keeps costs down. That’s a big part of what CFO’s do. That doesn’t mean you should pass a law legalizing indentured servitude.
- walker - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 12:51 pm:
Good. Go with your strengths. Location, and World City Chicago as well.
- Norseman - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 12:56 pm:
Disregard that our Gov wants to slash higher ed spending, WE HAVE WATER.
- Juvenal - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 12:58 pm:
BINGO, Anonin’.
Check out the talking points from the U of I president in the earlier post.
- Streator Curmudgeon - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 12:59 pm:
=Roughly two-thirds of our CFO Council respondents consider so-called “right to work” laws banning mandatory union dues an important or very important factor in deciding where to locate.=
I wonder how a straw poll would fare on a law capping CFO and CEO salaries to 10 times the minimum wage?
- Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:00 pm:
CFOs want to pay less money for workers. And in other news, scientists have found that water is wet. Film at 10.
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:00 pm:
I guess it beats the governor’s message of “come to the corrupt, wasteful, broken state and we’ll go all bankrupty on ya.”
- Dudeman - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:05 pm:
Can’t we pass a law requiring business to be in Illinois? Oh wait, we are still sort of a free market economy. We got to work on that, I’m tired of these CEO’s and CFO’s having so much power. the economy belongs in the hands of the honest government. Yes, I’m being sarcastic.
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:05 pm:
The CFO Council is filled with people who don’t believe they provide anything beyond a product or a service. If you want personal help and you are employed with one of them, too bad. Your relationship is a one-way street.
The beauty of a faith in the market is how well you can avoid your conscience. You can believe that magical market forces will help the people you underpay, lay off or fire. You believe you are giving them freedom when you pink-slip them. You believe you are giving them an exciting opportunity to find their real place in life when you screw them out of your place of employment. If you need help - you can go to a government agency that they believe overtaxes them to provide help to lazy people.
The CFO Council isn’t filled with paternalistic missionaries - no, that’s passé and obsolete. It is filled with people who believe they have no other responsibilities than to the relationship you have with their end products.
They might as well be robots. Pullman would probably be shocked by their lack of conscience.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:09 pm:
==We’ve undermarketed ourselves==
It doesn’t help when you have politicians banging the drum about how bad Illinois is. It’s nice that somebody is focusing on what Illinois has to offer instead of tearing the state down.
- anon - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:20 pm:
Take out student loans. Check how much higher education costs have increased in the, oh say, dozen years or so.
But, we all know dems care about the middle class, cause they say so.
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:34 pm:
Aside from the RTW nonsense, any marketing changes have to be an improvement over the recent past.
Let’s hope our new tourism chief does a major turn- make that revamping of the terrible Tourism ads Word and I have griped about here for years.
- A Watcher - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:34 pm:
Vanilla, no doubt there are moral CFOs and abusive CFOs just like in everything. However, what all CFOs want is flexibility. Flexibility is required in a fast changing world. If you disagree with that flexibility okay. But don’t wonder why companies choose to go elsewhere if you don’t want to understand what your “customer’s” issues are.
- The Captain - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:36 pm:
Hero job creators aren’t looking to exploit the workforce, they just want you to pay your way through college, accept lower pay and voluntarily weaken yourselves so there’s no risk you could negotiate better pay, that’s all.
- Grandson of Man - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:45 pm:
It’s great that we have one of the best educated workforces, and that this is such an economic driver. This is something we should build on and tout.
As far as right to work, of course many CFO’s would favor it. Income inequality is historically high, with high executive compensation, through salaries and stocks. Why wouldn’t they want to change that?
We are showing people that we have a strong union workforce who’s fending off attacks by super-wealthy anti-union individuals and groups. Kudos also to the Democrats in the GA who stand resolutely for labor rights.
- In a Minute - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:48 pm:
Illinois job creation strategy for the last 30 years can best be summarized this way:
1. Enact legislation and regulations that promote the growth of government jobs at the state and local level and work to make sure that comp and benefits exceed that of the private sector.
2. Promote growth of private sector union jobs.
3. Promote growth of private sector non-union jobs with tax incentives, usually to large employers.
4. Villify and drive away anyone who questions the execution of points 1-3.
- A guy - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:51 pm:
A real, hard targeted campaign for business relocation here would be helpful and productive. We do have a great workforce, great natural resources, world class assets in sports, culture, etc.
We’ve also been very generous, even too generous in many cases to companies. What we really need is a standard business incentive program to replace the patchwork of legislatively approved (one at a time) unique deals which lead to the whole “Illinois held hostage by Company X” situations.
Just a very good solid business incentive package for companies of varying sizes (one size won’t fit all). More important than just about anything for business is “stability over a long term”.
A good marketing strategy and program is an excellent idea. Hope they do it well.
- Carhartt Representative - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:56 pm:
I think one successful marketing strategy might be not badmouthing our own workers and our state.
- Chicago 20 - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 1:58 pm:
There is an way for CFO’s to get rid of unions.
Treat their workers with respect and pay their workers a decent wage while providing long term benefits.
Happy and content workers don’t need a union to fight for them.
Oh to dream…
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 2:05 pm:
A smart businessman once thought it would be a good idea to pay his employees enough so that they could buy his product. His grandson runs his company now, almost 100 years later, and it’s doing pretty well for the family and other shareholders. I wish more business leaders could figure this out.
- nona - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 2:06 pm:
=== Enact legislation and regulations that promote the growth of government jobs at the state and local level ===
The number of state workers has been cut by 25% since 2002. Illinois has the smallest or second smallest state workforce per capita among the 50 states.
- nona - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 2:07 pm:
Our highly education workforce is such an asset that the governor wants to slash our spending on higher ed by 31% in FY 16.
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 2:13 pm:
AA, tourism ads and strategy, both.
IBOT hates to hear it, but the biggest market for Illinois tourism is Illinoisans. Targeted seasonal and regional spots in-state have proven to put heads in beds, when employed.
But chasing the very small international market is way sexier and fun, though it doesn’t generate ROI.
- Chicago 20 - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 2:21 pm:
Word ===But chasing the very small international market is way sexier and fun, though it doesn’t generate ROI.====
But it does let the tourism bureaus travel the world on the taxpayer’s money.
- Judgment Day (on the road) - Wednesday, May 27, 15 @ 3:42 pm:
“Our highly education workforce is such an asset that the governor wants to slash our spending on higher ed by 31% in FY 16.”
———–
IF the Universities would use the money smarter, they probably wouldn’t be facing such cuts.
I’ll give you a practical example (just one in a multitude):
Got a business associate who is a “Machinery Whisperer”. For those of you who don’t know what that means, this is somebody who can take just about any malfunctioning/non-operational equipment and get it back working properly again.
Working with the ’suits’ - not so much. But with students - he’s MONEY! CNC, laser/water cutting technology, additive manufacturing, rehabbing tooling - he’s there.
You walk into his shop - for most people, they’ve never seen such disorganization. But for a gearhead/techie, it’s HEAVEN!
He wanted to start up a collaboration with an University Industrial Technology program here in IL. Tried to talk to one of our 4 year universities into using him to train the next generation into using all this gear so we could start to rebuild our manufacturing base here in IL. He was trying to create a new base of talent because he realized that creating a group of small shops with talent specializing in all sorts of different areas means that before long (in the materials fabrication business) you end up on ’short lists’ from all over when somebody elsewhere needs work fabricated.
And with a 4 year university (and a Community College) both in the area, and with collaborative programs, and a very good transportation network, you have some real growth potential.
But you have to have leadership capable of seeing the possibilities. AND WE DIDN’T. AND STILL DON’T.
You wouldn’t believe all the obstacles that got tossed in his path. In the end, there was no other choice but to walk away.
Truth is, those university folks would have had to stretch to make this work. They would have had to go out of their comfort zone. Wasn’t happening.
Guess what. We’re starting to see work coming back from China to the US. But our manufacturing infrastructure in IL isn’t in good shape - so we’re not likely to get much of it.
IMO, our universities here in IL are in too many ways not willing to be creative in how they approach our needs.
And if they are not willing to change, IMO, they deserve the serious budget reductions they are likely to get.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, May 28, 15 @ 7:12 am:
“Without being fully aware of the shift, Americans have drifted from having a market economy to becoming a market society … where almost everything is up for sale … a way of life where market values seep into almost every sphere of life and sometimes crowd out or corrode important values, nonmarket values.”
- Michael Sandel, “What Isn’t for Sale?” , Atlantic Monthly
- Arizona Bob - Thursday, May 28, 15 @ 7:48 am:
@Chicago 20
Treat their workers with respect and pay their workers a decent wage while providing long term benefits.
=Happy and content workers don’t need a union to fight for them.=
You obviously don’t know anything about labor history. In Illinois even workers who were “happy and contented” were forced to join unions. Read a little about the way Jimmy Hoffa built the Teamsters union with “muscle” help from the mob (Allesandro). Truck company owners were forced to support unionization and anyone vocally dissenting joining the Teamsters “got a visit”.
The “card check” provisions proposed in labor law would make worker intimidation all that much easier. Little has changed since the Hoffa days, and that’s the problem.