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* There are tons of state business rankings out there, but many are based on perceptions. Site Selection Magazine looks at hard data…
Not too bad for a state which is supposedly in a “death spiral.”
* Chicagoland finished in first place…
Frank Sinatra once famously crooned, “My kind of town, Chicago is.” These days he would be joined by a chorus of business and industry executives who have chosen to invest in the Windy City. In fact, 385 companies either expanded or located in Chicago in 2014, resulting in the city being named Site Selection’s Top Metro in the US for the second straight year. The consecutive wins are a pleasant endorsement, says Jeff Malehorn, president and CEO of World Business Chicago.
“Winning back-to-back speaks to the economic leadership and the work being done here in the city and the region,” he says, tipping his cap to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, assorted partner organizations and the business community.
Chicago’s appeal is hardly surprising. The city’s boasts outstanding transportation and logistical assets, including two international airports, a rail hub and seaport, and stands at the crossroads of major Interstates. Chicago and the region are home to a wealth of talent educated at some of the nation’s premier colleges and universities. Foreign companies looking for a US home are drawn to the city’s diverse ethnic population. “Any company outside the US can look to Chicago and see a home,” says Malehorn.
Project highlights for Chicago in 2014 include:
Valence Health — a health services company based in Chicago adding 500 jobs over the next five years;
Yelp — the online review and advertising site based in San Francisco, Calif., is opening an office in Chicago and plans to hire 300 employees;
Braintree — the global payments platform expanded into a 65,000-sq.-ft. (6,000-sq.-m.) headquarters on the eighth floor of the Merchandise Mart. The company is adding 360 new jobs by 2017.
ADM — the food services company opened its new global headquarters in downtown Chicago in August 2014.
But no other Illinois city cracked the top ten in rankings for smaller towns.
* Meanwhile…
For all of the positive national press Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio seem to receive on a regular basis, a recent breakdown of the Gallup-Healthways 2014 Well-Being Index makes the region look less appealing.
Analyzed by Yahoo’s 24/7 Wall St. blog , Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio landed among the nation’s 10 most miserable states, according to key measures of the index.
Areas such as poverty, unemployment, obesity, mental health, smoking habits, vaccination and insufficient sleep were highlighted in Yahoo’s ranking.
Indiana fared worse than Ohio, ranking number 3 on the list with a 31.8 percent obesity rate, among other measures.
The full rankings are here. Illinois finished 36th, behind New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Also, this Illinois Policy Institute study purports to show how high our “global” tax rates are in comparison to surrounding states. But four of the bottom five states (Illinois included) are separated by only half a percentage point.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:20 am
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Look, we’re doomed ok? I’ve taken the pulse of various an sundry important people, and they say we’re doomed, so we’re doomed, I say! The companies are just coming here to get a front row seat to watch us crash and burn.
Comment by PublicServant Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:29 am
Nice try. I remember Quinn trying the same line before last election. The prison barbers are bankrupting us.
Comment by Carhartt Representative Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:32 am
How could this possibly be true after everything the Tribune has led the public to believe the last few years?
Comment by forwhatitsworth Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:33 am
“There’s some bad people at Site Selection Magazine playin’ funny business with the numbers.”
Comment by Central Scrutinizer Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:34 am
It should read: the State of Chicago, not Illinois.
Comment by Westward Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:34 am
Didn’t see Wisconsin or Indiana on the above lists. So to which states are we are losing jobs?
Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:36 am
Did anyone else notice that the Metro Area of Chicago as defined in this study is actually Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and includes parts of Wisconsin and Indiana? Surely with this wide swath of territory it could be argued that the “Chicago Metro Area” is an attractive place to live and work. However, it glosses over the fact that many business and citizens are leaving the Chicago city limits, and even the state. These entries would seemingly still be counted in the Chicago column for Site Selection purposes.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:38 am
No one is coming to Illinois and most people and companies are leaving — oh I see…never mind.
Comment by facts are stubborn things Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:44 am
Can’t be right. The Tribbies have been in a death spiral for years, so every other business must be, too.
Hard numbers like this have been out there for years, but they do not fit the marketing campaign by Ty, Civvies, Tribbies,
Rauner et al to stiff pension funds, claw back earned pension benefits, bust unions and stifle any movement toward a progressive income tax.
Those are and have been the goals of the nattering nabobs of negativism. And like the man said, you can fool some of the people all of the time.
Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:46 am
Chicago is a a whole different world when it comes to jobs and business. The downstate communities who have compete with other states are ones most impacted by our poor business climate (workers comp, unemployment insurance & volatility toward businesses by the GA).
Comment by Ahoy! Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:52 am
Congratulations to our new governor, Bruce Rauner. Less than two months in office and you’ve turned things around!
Now let’s get after those windmills!
Comment by Don Quixote Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:53 am
@ forwhatitsworth
Well to be fair, The smoldering remains of TribCo are doomed.
Comment by HappyToaster Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:54 am
@Anon…even now, there are 4 commuters coming in from Lake County IN to work in Illinois for every one commuter coming from Cook or Will to work in Lake. Those South Shore trains and traffic on the Borman are heavy with westbound workers in the morning, and eastbound workers in the afternoon. Not mentioned here is that Chicago, for all the doom and gloom, is the #3 or #4 tourist destination in the whole USA (depending on the year and who’s counting), trailing only Orlando/Disney and NYC and sometimes beating out Anaheim/Disney.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:58 am
Ahoy, you mean like ADM?
Comment by Concerned Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:00 am
I think John Cullerton is the most honest pol on the face of the earth. Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said that “I don’t think you can use the word ‘crisis’” to describe the state’s pension woes, claiming that it’s an issue being flogged by business interests looking for a tax cut at the expense of government retirees.
Comment by howard Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:01 am
It seems like the IL Policy Institue data goes against their entire premise. IL taxes are really no worse than surrounding states and often lower.
It even looks as if IL is competitive with Kentucky.
Comment by Ace Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:07 am
Whew, I guess we can all relax now. The crisis is over. Or, perhaps, it was never a crisis. Or, perhaps it still is a crisis but it isn’t as bad as we were told, here and elsewhere. Or, perhaps the crisis was overblown for political reasons. Or, perhaps it was just all a dream.
Comment by dupage dan Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:09 am
Those looking rationally will have a hard time voting Rahm out. None of the fiscal challenges can be tackled without this sort of strong growth.
Comment by Very Fed Up Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:12 am
Well Anon, 9:38, if you were to visit the Indiana Dunes area, you would not see an area where businesses are moving to, but rather that area of Indiana looks economically depressed. It does have a few ancient steel mills, but no real growth.
However, it would be a nice area to live in and commute to Chicago.
Comment by A Jack Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:18 am
I guess that explains why Chicago is in such a good finacial situation…
Comment by Fed up Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:19 am
This is a measure on how popular Chicago is for residents and businesses. Millenials are moving into Chicago for the ubran lifestyle and businesses are following suit because they want to attract them into their workforce. The real question and concern is how sustainable is this. The state of Illinois does have real budget problems that are tied to pensions and the same is true in the city of Chicago. Policy makers need to fix address those issues so that they have the available budgets to continue the current quality of living that is attracting young professionals and businesses. Also note that this same quality of living is not available to all the people currently living in Chicago or surround metro areas. It all requires a balancing act of affordable taxes and stable market rates that can at any point tip one way or the other and result in a reverse trend. These studies are great when you want to pat yourself on the back for being great, at a current fixed point in time, but it takes more to make it last.
Comment by CLJ Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:23 am
Dem control has brought Chicago massive debt, considerable swaths of poverty, pension shortfalls (i.e. the betrayal of union workers), aging infrastructure, corporate cronyism/deals, etc. If only Chicago controlled the entire state we might get somewhere…
Comment by Fed up Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:31 am
It’s interesting that Illinois ranked 50th in “Community” in the Gallup rankings (”Liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community”). No wonder we’re so good at griping about everything.
Comment by Sarge Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:38 am
==Dem control==
Ahh, the ever so brilliant analysis of the hyper partisan. If we only had [insert political party] everything would be rainbows and roses.
==Whew, I guess we can all relax now. The crisis is over. Or, perhaps, it was never a crisis. Or, perhaps it still is a crisis but it isn’t as bad as we were told, here and elsewhere. Or, perhaps the crisis was overblown for political reasons. Or, perhaps it was just all a dream.==
That wasn’t at all what was implied but if your dopey rant makes you feel better . . .
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:39 am
==No wonder we’re so good at griping about everything.==
Very well said. Some people just need to gripe. Doesn’t matter about what. It’s just what they do.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:40 am
I sound like a broken record:
Not bad for a “Hellhole”
Site Selection Magazine has once again named Illinois one of the top states in the country to do business, contradicting efforts by the U.S. Chamber to portray the state as a “hellhole.”
The annual survey by one of the nation’s premiere business guides ranked Illinois 13th in its 2005 Top State Business Climates.
- November 21, 2005
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:41 am
So the highlights in 2014 were 4 companies who added about 1000 jobs, in a city like Chicago?
Uh, okay.
Comment by anon Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:53 am
I am very proud of Chicago’s business growth, and the environment in which growth occurs–schools, roads, smart workforce, unions, businesses, entrepreneurs, lakefront, culture, etc.
I await the Obama Library decision with hope that Chicago will be selected. The Obama Foundation recently polled south side residents and got very favorable results. None of the other library sites were polled. I hope this means something.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:56 am
Buh… buh… but… DETROIT!!1!
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:03 am
No problem. The Rauner semi-trust will buy this magazine and the rating will plummet as it should.
Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:13 am
These top rankings, two years in a row, belie the rhetoric about Illinois being the nation’s economic hellhole. Obviously much of the business community does not share the perception of the GOP that IL has been doing everything wrong.
Comment by anon Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:19 am
So, is there anything that Brucie didn’t lie about during the campaign?
Comment by D.P.Gumby Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:31 am
Anon 9:38 the metropolitan area definition comes from the U.S. Census Bureau. It’s been used for many years.
What it means basically is that there are parts of Wisconsin and Indiana close to the state line that benefit as being part of the overall Chicago economic impact area.
Comment by DuPage Dave Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:33 am
Somebody tell Oprah.
Executives with OWN and Harpo Studios said the Chicago studios will be moved to network facilities in West Hollywood, Calif., by December.
Comment by vinron Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:41 am
Didn’t the Chicago area lose somewhere between 1500-2500 jobs when Office Depot and Staples merged? And how about those Twinkie jobs???
Comment by anon Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 12:07 pm
–Somebody tell Oprah–
Yeah, Oprah’s Chicago experience was very sad. Couldn’t make a buck. Really struggled.
–And how about those Twinkie jobs???–
LOL, what is going on between the ears of those who lash out crazily at any hint of positive news based in reality?
In college, I interviewed Oprah her first week in town when she came to co-host “A.M. Chicago.”
Nice enough. Forgot about it a half hour after I filed.
Oh, where was that little voice of intuition that said “hitch your wagon to that star?”
Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 1:04 pm
Anon:
Media coverage is based largely on “surveys” that are nothing more than customer complaint lines. Very few customers call you to tell you you are doing a great job.
Site Selection looks at actual data.
Rich makes an important point though: the data is really a tale of two states. The Chicago MSA is doing well, but outside of that and a few bright spots the rest of the state is really struggling.
I suspect that is an economic reality across America. If there’s somewhere in rural America where the economy is growing thanks to 21st Century jobs, I haven’t heard of it.
Comment by Juvenal Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 2:27 pm
” If there’s somewhere in rural America where the economy is growing thanks to 21st Century jobs, I haven’t heard of it.”
North Dakota, NE Pennsylvania?
Comment by CapnCrunch Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 3:21 pm
When you say North Dakota and development probably the first image is oil, but their
is another narrative that may have great
meaning to Illinois. Farmers being farmers
starting building turbines on land too remote
for electrical markets. To use the energy
they started converting it to ammonia since
that is a product they have to buy on the open
marketplace. Texas, California and many other
wind generating areas lack the moisture to do
this and this type of growth could to much for
the landless rural population who have taken so
much of the pain from globalization. Scrolling
down you can see that the ammonia pipeline crosses
the state, but do we have the political will to
extend it up and down the state and maybe grow
our way out of stagnation?
http://www.agmrc.org/renewable_energy/renewable_energy/ammonia-as-a-transportation-fuel/
Comment by Illinoisvoter Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 3:54 pm
This study just tracks “projects”, not actual job growth, overall investment, average wage growth or GDP growth, more valuable indicators of economic condition.
Business Insider just published a study on state economies, and Illinois ranked 15th, tied with Georgia. The problems indicated were that net job growth is pathetic, with only a 0.89% job growth from Dec. 2013 to Dec 2014. It’ll take a very long time to recover the remaining 150,000 jobs lost, and not regained, since the Pelosi/Reid recession in 2008. That’s the ninth worst job growth in the nation. Average weekly salaries are very high comparatively which may indicate the effect of compensation being disproportionately high due to excessive union power, making Illinois less competitive for lower skill labor.
Smallish businesses are coming to Illinois, but the state has to change politically and fiscally to get real job growth needed to sustain high income population retention and growth.
One other thing to note from this Site Selection Survey. Much of the growth is “planned” but not necessarily implemented. Wait till the hiring starts before counting those chickens….
Comment by Arizona Bob Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 4:19 pm
@Word
=Yeah, Oprah’s Chicago experience was very sad. Couldn’t make a buck. Really struggled=
Yeah things were so comfy for her in Chicago that she bailed on what she called the “real Chicago” (black Chicago) and closed up Harpo studios on the near West side, and took her tax revenues with her. Yep, with “friends” like Oprah……
Comment by Arizona Bob Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 4:23 pm
I see Chicago as a bastion for small business growth if and when wages are $15/hour!
Comment by anon Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 4:35 pm
Did Arizona Bob just call the Great Recession the “Pelosi/Reid recession of 2008″
Hahahahahahahahah!
Back to reality. I wonder if Gov Rauner will actually applaud some good news for our state or will continue the Illinois is doomed language.
Comment by SuburbsGreg Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 4:37 pm
AB, have somebody go fill your scripts or eat a Snickers or something. Turning off cable TV chatter would probably help.
Is it too cold for you to go outside in AZ? A little fresh air could do wonders.
Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 5:20 pm
find a ranking that has Illinois and Chicago near the top, and people still find a way to knock it. those projects may just be projects, but they could have gone to say, oh i don’t know, Wisconsin, Indiana, Texas and so on. but no, they are being located in Illinois and Chicago metro. jeesh. and I don’t see either Wisconsin or Indiana in the top 10.
I realize they are just rankings. but other rankings like CEO magazine have Illinois at or near the bottom, mostly for tax reasons, so you can only take a ranking like that so much to heart as well.
and as for Business Insider rankings, I see that Wisconsin, Indiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arizona, Missouri, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and even North Carolina are below Illinois.
this doesn’t fit the typical narrative how Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky are all better than us. also RTW states Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Louisiana rank horribly, that’s very telling. RTW Texas is near the top, but so in North Dakota, so oil mostly tells that story.
also, California and New York are ahead of us with their high taxes? how can that be? and Texas and Ohio are ahead of us, just like Site Selection’s rankings, which shows a similar parallel in my opinion.
both Site Selection and Business Insider rankings are not flattering for Wisconsin and Indiana, yet those are two states constantly being used in arguments against Illinois. I don’t get it even after factoring in current fiscal and pension issues.
Comment by PoolGuy Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 5:31 pm
concerning the IPI study. One thing they put out there is that the median income is 83,000k for an ilinois family. There is no mention that the other states that are being compared have a much lower median income. So while you may save .5% in taxes in Michigan. You will lose over 6k in median income.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/ACS_13_1YR_B19119_States.xls
Comment by Person 8 Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:18 pm
Chicago with this kind of economic performance, despite the general weakness of the Midwest on whose economy Chicago formerly depended, plus Illinois in fiscal crisis, equals taxes too low. That’s where to look for fixing the majority of the state’s budget problems. Extend the five percent income tax.
Comment by Angry Chicagoan Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:35 pm