11 Comments - MAMA - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 3:17 pm: This data does not support what Rauner has been stating about IL, and that is a good thing. However, the sad part is, Chicago and the Chicago metro area is the only place where IL is doing well - job wise. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 3:22 pm: Lot of wide open spaces there. Rural America has been depopulating for decades, as technology advances continue to reduce the demand for labor in agriculture and manufacturing. And now in Illinois, we’re busting out higher ed, the economic engine and hope for much of Downstate. The governor is selling snake-oil on manufacturing, while doing real damage to institutions that can drive growth. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303325204579463761632103386 http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/February-2016/Where-Is-Illinois-Losing-Population/ - walker - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 3:32 pm: Two takeaways: Despite the often-pushed message of Illinois going down the tubes in 2010-2014, these date show that we outperformed most other states, and all other Northern ones, in new business growth. The concentration of growth in big city and suburban areas is due to the clustering of highly technical labor and industries. Even with modern communications infrastructure, companies choose to start and grow where similar companies and target employees abound. Higher education and cultural attraction remain key investment areas. - Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 3:45 pm: I have talked to a few Loop employers, and they almost universally state that CTA, Metra and the South Shore, and to some extent the expressways, allow them to draw from a bigger talent pool than if they were located out in the burbs. Some employers even pay their employees a transportation stipend. Of course, there is ex-migration from the Loop when a suburban employee finds something that pays well closer to home. In either case, that’s where the action is. If you are too far flung, you had better have a wage, tax, natural resource, transportation or other advantage, or be VERY good at what you do, or you won’t be able to make a very good go at it. - hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 3:49 pm: You need capital to start a business. As capital becomes more closely held and concentrated in urban locations, so do the jobs. - Fairness and Fairness Only - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 3:55 pm: Thanks for sharing the report link. It’s striking data, and explains why so many areas feel threatened. With most of the growth and recovery concentrated in a few large counties, the news that “everything is failing and you need outsiders to turn this around!” is an affirmation of what they see everyday. - Ebenezer - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 4:01 pm: From page 14 of the report: Only 8% of Illinois residents lived in counties where jobs grew at least equal to the national rate. - Ebenezer - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 4:07 pm: @hisgirlfriday ==You need capital to start a business. == Capital is the easy part. A compelling idea, and the right team to execute it are harder. Capital is dying to invest in quality teams with promising ideas, they are very hard to find. Both the ideas and people are easier to find in certain big cities today. - thechampaignlife - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 4:46 pm: We could fix that. Give every bill introduced in the GA a business. Seriously, though, how useful is this metric if the hottest startup is lumped in with Joe’s dodo bird clinic. And if we add 500k businesses a year for long enough, every man, woman, and child will have one. Making the ones we have more successful seems like a better goal. - Union Thug Gramma - Thursday, Dec 8, 16 @ 7:19 pm: Does this also show what happens when we allow monopolies to take over, it’s much harder for the little guy to pull up those bootstraps? Yes, it’s easier in Cook County because the county and Chicago enjoy transportation, a much larger pool of talent, the ability to take risks that others would not feel safe doing? - Oneman - Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 9:18 am: Find the growth of growth areas in FL to be interesting. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.