Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: I’ll believe it when I see it
Next Post: Illinois DCFS Director Marc Smith announces resignation
Posted in:
* Good news from Crain’s…
One of the largest independent clean energy producers in the world is adding about 84,000 square feet to its Wacker Drive headquarters, a rare massive expansion of workspace and a deal that could tee up the creation of a new clean energy innovation hub in downtown Chicago.
In a move that bucks the trend of companies slashing office space in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Invenergy has inked a long-term extension of its lease at 1 S. Wacker Drive and increased its footprint to around 180,000 square feet in the building, a company spokesman confirmed. The three-floor expansion fortifies the renewable power company’s position as the 40-story tower’s largest tenant. It also comes a few months after Invenergy announced private-equity giant Blackstone Group was adding $1 billion in new backing for the company to the $3 billion it had invested in it over the previous two years. […]
Invenergy also might not be done expanding in the building. In a move that could help raise Chicago’s profile in the renewable energy sector, the company is working with city of Chicago officials on a plan to build out an innovation hub in the building that would be akin to tech incubator 1871, but for the clean energy industry, according to sources familiar with the plan. Details of that concept, including the city’s role and when it would be created, were not immediately available. But the space would be in addition to Invenergy’s office expansion, sources said.
1871 really helped transform Chicago, so let’s hope this works out.
* Speaking of tech…
University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen, Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones, Chicago Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda, Springfield Chancellor Janet Gooch and other members of the U of I leadership team stopped at the Giant City Lodge on Tuesday to discuss expanding access to broadband service in rural Illinois. […]
Chapman said Jackson County is one of a few Illinois counties who is putting ARPA funds into broadband. They have invested $5 million in broadband.
In the county, 8,160 people are unserved or underserved regarding internet rates. After conducting surveys, a plan has been developed and Western Kentucky and Tennessee Telecooperative has been chosen as the provider for Jackson County broadband.
* Tribune…
The battle over massive carbon dioxide pipelines proposed for Illinois and other Midwestern states has reached Congress, with 13 House Democrats — including U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois — calling on President Joe Biden to block construction until new federal safety guidelines are released.
In a letter sent to the president Tuesday, the lawmakers cited a 2020 pipeline rupture in Mississippi in which CO2, an invisible gas that displaces oxygen, spread to the nearby town of Satartia. There were reports that victims experienced breathing problems and confusion, and three men were found in a stalled car, unconscious.
No one died but 45 people sought hospital care, and federal regulators started working on updated safety standards, which are expected to be completed and in place in 2024.
* Granite City…
Between 260 and 265 steel and iron workers at Granite City Works will be officially out of work starting this week, according to the union local’s president.
Those layoffs come less than two weeks after U.S. Steel, the Pittsburgh-based parent company, said it would temporarily shutter the only operational furnace on the mill’s campus.
Dan Simmons, president of United Steelworkers Local 1899, said the union will host informational meetings on Tuesday for the workers who lost their jobs.
* Sun-Times…
Temporary workers in Illinois have new protections — and the right to equal pay — thanks to a new state law passed in August.
The Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act aims to prevent “permatemping,” when an employer keeps a temp worker indefinitely, by requiring employers pay temps similar wages as direct hires after 90 days on the job.
Worker advocates who helped pass the law took the first step toward enforcing it Tuesday by filing complaints against 15 staffing agencies that haven’t registered with the state, as required by the new law.
* In other business news…
As Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson works to close a yawning budget gap, he’s under pressure to find more money for the city’s performing arts sector, which still hasn’t recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
To aid struggling Chicago theaters, Claire Rice, executive director of Arts Alliance Illinois, the state’s top arts advocacy group, is asking Johnson to tap the city’s corporate fund for nearly 35% of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events’ $81 million annual budget, an unprecedented move for a department traditionally funded primarily by other sources.
* Oy…
A vote on a measure to require all Chicago businesses to pay their workers the same minimum hourly wage, regardless of whether they earn tips, has been delayed after an error by City Clerk Anna Valencia’s office, officials said Tuesday.
The earliest the Chicago City Council could vote on the compromise crafted by Mayor Brandon Johnson and backed by the Illinois Restaurant association to give restaurants five years to prepare for the end of the tipped minimum wage would be Friday morning, because state law requires the public to be given at least 48 hours’ notice before a legislative body takes final action on a measure.
Valencia acknowledged her office had erred, delaying a triumphant moment for Johnson and the progressive political movement that elected him to office earlier this year. Valencia, who was reelected without opposition, blamed “an administrative and human issue” and pledged new procedures “to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future.”
Speaking of that ordinance…
Hospitality in Chicago is a tough industry. Even tougher when almost every competing bar and restaurant in your adjacent suburbs has lower sales taxes, license fees, and City mandated payroll costs. 👇 https://t.co/iGyOW6Ydq9
— Chicago Bars (@chicagobars) October 3, 2023
* Crain’s…
Latino representation on corporate boards continues to lag behind the demographic’s headcount in the broader Illinois population.
While Latinos make up 18% of the state’s residents, only 3% hold board seats in Illinois-based public companies, according to a study by the Latino Corporate Directors Association.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 9:28 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: I’ll believe it when I see it
Next Post: Illinois DCFS Director Marc Smith announces resignation
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Oof. Get a tweet put on capfax but it’s one where I forgot to mention many of the outlying ward bars & restaurants also have to compete with nearby suburb spots that can also earn significant legal video poker money. Going to be a near impossible predicament for several hundred places.
Comment by ChicagoBars Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 10:09 am
@ChicagoBars makes a point often ignored at city hall and among the downtown media. The businesses located in Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Hyde Park, etc., don’t really compete against establishments in the suburbs. But businesses in Edison Park, Galewood, Mt. Greenwood, etc., very much do — and they often get nickel-and-dimed to death by well intentioned but economically burdensome city regulations. When the city jacked up its minimum wage before the state did a few years ago, a Potbelly Sandwich Shop in my neighborhood (Beverly) closed and moved about 200 feet directly across Western Avenue into suburban Evergreen Park.
In almost every aldermanic race in border wards, economic development becomes a big issue. “Why can’t we have nice restaurants like (insert adjacent suburb) in our neighborhood?” is a constant refrain.
Comment by SWSider Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:46 am
With regard to Invenergy- we would all be served to remember that these are for profit entities. Just because their product aligns with the goals of the left, that does not preclude them from exploiting workers or disregarding other blue values in the name maximizing profit. It would be a mistake to assume that they will be good actors just because they are a green company.
Comment by Retired School Board Member Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:49 pm
Meh, if you serve good food combined with good service I’ll happily pay some more money. Plus my initial thought is always to the closest restaurants, not the least expensive. I don’t want to drive more than 20 minutes or so from my house in most cases.
Comment by Original Rambler Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 1:21 pm
== I don’t want to drive more than 20 minutes or so from my house ==
That’s my entire point. People won’t bypass a restaurant in Lincoln Park to drive to the burbs, but they will literally cross the street into the burbs from the wards on the city border — that takes 20 seconds not 20 minutes.
We should also consider this through the lens of a business owner trying to decide where to set up shop and not just that of a consumer deciding where to shop/dine. If there are higher employment and operating costs in the city than there are at a suburban location a block or two away, the business is usually gonna pick the lower cost option in the burbs and still have access to the same customer base. That really hurts economic development in neighborhoods on the city’s edges.
Comment by SWSider Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 2:09 pm
Another point is how it affects the employee. Tipped employee at a higher grossing restaurant will probably not want the straight wage. If this causes employees to take a pay cut those employees will go to the suburbs. After reading a report about this there are definitely some bad actors in the industry that this should root out.
Comment by EP1082 Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 3:21 pm
I’ll never understand how so many people fail in an industry where it’s essentially legal to not pay your employees.
Comment by Former Downstater Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 5:01 pm
That didn’t come out right. I meant to say: an industry where the burden of paying employees is placed almost entirely on the customer.
Comment by Former Downstater Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 5:03 pm