MAYOR EMANUEL’S RECORD ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND JOB CREATION

As a world-class city located at the center of the nation’s air, rail, and freight networks, has tremendous strengths that leave it poised to be a top global city in the 21st century. Mayor Emanuel is committed to ensuring every neighborhood benefits from these strengths, and has focused on bringing new businesses and creating jobs across the City, cutting red tape and offering more resources to small businesses, investing in infrastructure, creating more affordable housing in our neighborhoods, and modernizing the City’s approach to training our workforce.

DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A PLAN FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH AND JOBS

In early 2012, Mayor Emanuel and World Business Chicago released the City’s first regional economic growth plan to drive Chicago’s leadership in the global economy and articulate clear, actionable strategies for economic growth and job creation in every neighborhood. The plan contained ten strategies to help Chicago advance its economy and become a better destination for families and businesses, including becoming a leading hub of advanced manufacturing, increasing the region’s attractiveness as a center for business services and headquarters, enhancing Chicago’s competitive position as a leading transportation and logistics hub, and making Chicago a premier destination for tourism and entertainment.

Since the launch of the economic plan, World Business Chicago has led and supported the creation of initiatives aimed at driving economic and jobs growth. The efforts are wide- reaching- supporting large and small businesses, education and medical institutions. They touch on 42 communities in Chicago and are owned by over 100 leaders in the community- many are mentioned in this document. Collectively, the initiatives tied to the Plan have impacted potentially more than $1.1 million people.

PROMOTING LOCAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND JOB CREATION

While our central business district is thriving, the backbone of our economic prosperity has always relied on our small businesses. Responsible for half of the city’s workforce, small businesses are what drives success and opportunity in all parts of our city. That’s why Mayor Emanuel has implemented a strategy to support small business growth by becoming an active partner to small businesses, working to cut red tape, lowering costs for business owners, and cultivating community partners that help small businesses get started and grow.

Launching the ‘Chicago Neighborhoods Now’ Plan

In March 2013, Mayor Emanuel launched the “Chicago Neighborhoods Now” plan, which identified seven areas in the city for coordinated public and private investment initiatives. Based on previous targeted efforts in Woodlawn and the South Loop, the seven areas in the “Chicago Neighborhoods Now” plan include Bronzeville, Englewood, Rogers Park, Uptown,

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Little Village, Pullman, and the Eisenhower Corridor. These areas were identified by City departments and sister agencies that convened together to discuss how past, current, and future projects can foster quality-of-life synergies for area residents and businesses.

One year since the Chicago Neighborhoods Now program was launched, total public and private spending has exceeded projections by more than $1 billion. Chicago Neighborhoods now was projected in March 2013 to coordinate $330 million in City funding and $2.6 billion in State, Federal, and private funding for a variety of economic development, housing, and quality of life improvements within in each area. Based on project announcements in the subsequent 12 months, the actual total is expected to exceed $4 billion. Total jobs that were estimated to be created and retained within the areas meanwhile could surpass projections by more than 50 percent. Some highlighted projects completed or underway through the Chicago Neighborhoods Now plan include:

Whole Foods Market in Englewood

As part of his administration’s economic development and food access plans, Mayor Emanuel is partnering with Whole Foods Market to bring a full-service grocery store with healthy and affordable options into the Englewood community. Slated to open in 2016, $13.9 million, 18,000 square-foot store will bring an estimated 100 jobs to the intersection of South Halsted and West 63rd Streets and provide convenient access to fresh, healthy natural and organic food for residents of Englewood and South Side neighborhoods. In addition, a later phase of the project will involve the sale of the land to a developer that will construct the retail complex for Whole Foods and other tenants, with strong retail potential.

Piloting and Expanding the Large Lot Program

Launched in March 2014, a new Department of Planning & Development (DPD) land sale program is enabling homeowners, block-clubs and non-profit groups in greater Englewood to purchase City-owned land for $1 per parcel. The Large Lot Pilot Program was launched on a pilot basis within Englewood, where the City owns several hundred vacant lots that will be eligible for this program. Since launching in Englewood, over 500 lots have been applied for from over 400 received applications, which are now under review by DPD. Following the successful launch in Greater Englewood, Mayor Emanuel and DPD have now announced the expansion of the Large Lot Program to the East Garfield Park neighborhood.

47th Street Shops and Lofts in Bronzeville

A new $45.6 million “Shops and Lofts” project at 47th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue is part of a three-acre development that includes new homes, stores and employment opportunities. The project includes a new five-story, 72-unit building with 55,000 square feet of retail space; two new six-flats; a new nine-flat; and a

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rehabilitated three-flat; along with parking for residents and visitors. A Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market will occupy most of the retail space. The development is projected to create 100 permanent jobs and 144 temporary jobs.

Bronzeville Artists Lofts

A new $6 million Artists Lofts project in the Bronzeville neighborhood will involve the renovation of a 90-year-old building as 16 affordable units that will be leased to working artists, half of whom will earn no more than 120 percent of area median income (AMI). The other half would earn less than 60 percent of AMI.

Method Projects Complex in the Pullman Neighborhood

Method’s first manufacturing facility in the U.S. will be located in the Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s south side. The new, $40 million facility is expected to bring nearly 100 new jobs to the City of Chicago and Method plans to recruit local residents throughout the hiring process for the plant’s workforce. Construction on the facility is expected to continue throughout the year, with the facility expected to open in early 2015. The facility will include the manufacturing and bottling of formulas for both Method and its sister eco-cleaning brand, Ecover, as well as an on- site distribution center.

Removing Barriers to Doing Business in Chicago

Since coming into office, Mayor Emanuel has overhauled the way City Hall works with businesses in order to cut red tape and more effectively support economic development across Chicago’s neighborhoods. Mayor Emanuel has worked with the City Council and departments to remove disincentives to doing business in Chicago, institute efficient building permit and license process reforms, and reduce the time Chicagoans spend waiting in line for City services. In his first 6 months as Mayor, City Council voted to slash the City’s anti-business “head tax,” which was a deterrent for businesses to start and grow in the City. The Mayor slashed the tax by 50 percent in the 2012 budget, and completely phased it out in 2013. This shift in policy saved Chicago businesses over $40 million from 2012-2014 and will save them almost $25 million per year going forward.

In year one, Mayor Emanuel open the new City Hall Small Business Center and streamlined permit and licensing reviews so that small business owners and entrepreneurs across the city now have a “one-stop-shop” and dedicated staff working with them every step of the way to support their success. And under the leadership of a new Chief Small Business Officer, City Hall is now equipped to advocate for small business owners and entrepreneurs and ensure policies and procedures are implemented in a way that works for small business.

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By the Numbers: Small Business Center Improvements 50%: Reduction in overall wait time at the small business center, from 69 minutes in April 2013 to 34 minutes in April 2014 25%: Percent of customers in and out of the Small Business Center within 20 minutes 7,500: Number of businesses that paid an average of $181 less in 2013 due to licensing reform, for a total savings of over $1.3M

Mayor Emanuel has also worked to streamline small business services to make it easier for owners to get started and succeed. Under his leadership, the City reduced the number of business licenses from 117 to 49, a 60% decrease, which saved small businesses $1,300,000 in 2013. The project has allowed the City to spend less time citing businesses for failing to display the right licenses and more time focusing on problem businesses that defraud and deceive consumers, sell tobacco to minors, and break the law.

Additional efforts to improve services for businesses have included the launch of the Restaurant Start-up Program that reduces the time it takes to open a restaurant by 33%, the creation of a Business Express Lane that serves 25% of visitors to the Small Business Center in 20 minutes or less, and a “one-stop-shop” website for entrepreneurs and business owners available in English and Spanish.

By the Numbers: Restaurant Start-up Program 1,000+: Number of restaurants that have opened since program started in June 2012 33%: The average time it takes to open a restaurant has improved by 33% from 66 to 44 days 50%: The 200+ restaurants with construction saw their start-up time drop by 50%, from 254 to 128 days 67%: Initial health inspection pass rates have improved by 67%

Creating a Coordinated Strategy for Small Business Growth

In 2013, Mayor Emanuel announced the launch of the Neighborhood Small Business Growth Strategy, which will help ensure that small businesses in every neighborhood receive the resources and support they need to successfully open and grow. The plan makes new resources and services available to small businesses, strengthens the City’s partnership with local Chambers of Commerce and other economic development agencies, unveils new approaches to driving customers to commercial corridors, and enlists small businesses in making neighborhoods safer.

Since unveiling the strategy, the City has developed and delivered a number of initiatives that provide Chicago’s small businesses with support to help them grow and thrive. These initiatives include launching a redesigned website devoted to small business services, partnering large anchor institutions like World Business Chicago and Chicagoland Chamber

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of Commerce to support local businesses through procurements, developing new tools such as Site Selector, which helps small businesses list and find available retail space, and launching an innovative funding competition for local nonprofit organizations to propose and enact plans to strengthen Chicago’s neighborhoods and local small businesses.

Expanding Access to Capital in Chicago’s Neighborhoods

Launching a Microlending Institute

To ensure that access to credit is available to entrepreneurs in low-income communities, Mayor Emanuel worked to form the Chicago Microlending Institute, a first-in-the-nation institute administered by ACCION Chicago that will train nonprofit and community-based organizations to make targeted loans to the city’s smallest businesses. The CMI has support the smallest businesses in Chicago with targeted microlending. Once graduated from the program, the new microlenders receive funds from a $1 million Small Business Loan Fund as seed capital to lend to small businesses. Since launching in May 2012, 126 small business owners have received $1,100,000 in loans. In addition, Mayor Emanuel and City Treasurer Stephanie Neely recently announced a new partnership to invest an additional $1 million to expand the City’s successful microlending initiative by providing critical loans to help support an additional 300 small businesses by 2016.

Seed Chicago

To help create jobs and economic growth in Chicago’s neighborhoods, World Business Chicago (WBC) and Mayor Emanuel launched Seed Chicago, a collaboration with Kickstarter that, helps small businesses raise capital online. The inaugural set of Seed Chicago projects completed their Kickstarter campaigns in May 2013, with five of the 11 featured projects achieving full backing from supporters. More than $50,000 was pledged to those five projects from nearly 900 contributors. A second round featuring 14 companies was launched in July 2013, and for this round, the Mayor’s office worked with Chicago-based MillerCoors to create a $50,000 matching fund for Seed Chicago projects. The second round of Seed Chicago projects completed their Kickstarter campaigns, raising over $104,000 from more than 1,300 contributors, with additional matching funds of $50,000 contributed by MillerCoors; totaling $154,000.

Ensuring Chicago’s Families Receive the Tax Credits They Have Earned

Mayor Emanuel is committed to ensuring everyone eligible takes advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Each year, approximately 100,000 eligible households in the City do not claim the EITC, leaving as much as $200 million in unclaimed dollars that could help individuals provide for themselves and their families. This year, the City launched the Chicago Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Campaign to promote participation in the City’s

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free Tax Preparation Assistance Program. In addition the City opened two new locations to offer free, offer free, confidential tax help by trained, qualified volunteers at 20 sites from January through April 15, 2014. The City’s program assisted 19,945 qualifying families in applying for the EITC this year – a 6.27 percent increase over last year, when the program helped 18,767 working families receive more than $36 million in refunds.

In addition, Mayor Emanuel’s administration has taken concrete steps to ensure that commercial tax preparers are honest and upfront with consumers about their choices and rights. With passage of Mayor Emanuel’s Taxpayer Protection Ordinance in 2012, every tax preparer is now required to provide consumers with a bill of rights and to properly disclose any fees or charges. In addition, the City has launched an annual investigation during tax season to root out unscrupulous tax series. Durign the second year of the investigation, the City found that 57 percent of tax preparation businesses visited by City inspectors were not in compliance with the City ordinance regulating tax preparation services. This was a 30 percent improvement from the 91 percent that were not in compliance last year, and the investigations will continue as the administration continues to protect consumers from predatory practices.

Launching “Step Up Chicago” Business Coaching Series

In April 2014, Mayor Emanuel announced the launch of Step Up Chicago, a new series of free events pairing business leaders with entrepreneurs for personalized coaching sessions. Step Up Chicago, a program supported by the City’s Small Business Advisory Council (SBAC) and Accion Chicago, will help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses by learning from leaders in their industries. The series is modeled after the successful Samuel Adams “Brewing the American Dream” Speed Coaching series. The SBAC and Accion Chicago will hold several Step Up Chicago events throughout the City in 2014, hosted by different sponsors.

Creating the Micro Market Recovery Program

In 2011, Mayor Emanuel launched the Micro Market Recovery Program, a neighborhood stabilization initiative targeting small geographic areas that are experiencing higher-than- normal problems with foreclosures. In each area, the City of Chicago is working with sister agencies and community partners to re-occupy vacant residential buildings and to help existing residents remain in their homes. The City of Chicago through its NSP program and TIF-Purchase Rehab initiative has provided subsidy available for owner-occupants ready to buy or rehab a home in an MMRP area. The City also has forgivable loans available to help current owner-occupants make home repairs. Since launching, MMRP has captured $85 million in public investment, $94.6 million in private investment, and engaged with over 800 buildings and nearly 4,000 units. To date, 232 buildings and 585 units are re-occupied through the program.

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Releasing a Plan for $1.3 Billion in Housing Investments over the Next 4 years In February 2014, the City Council approved the City’s new five-year housing plan, which will provide an important roadmap for housing-related public investments in local neighborhoods through 2018. The plan identifies issues, presents solutions, and establishes priorities for the City’s housing initiatives over the next five years, including the commitment to expand affordability and reduce the burdensome cost of housing on many owners and renters. To this end, the plan outlines City investments of more than $1.3 billion toward the construction, rehab, and preservation of more than 40,000 units of housing citywide. Launching a Building Rental Redevelopment Program In April 2014, Mayor Emanuel partnered with Attorney General Lisa Madigan and civil leaders to launch the $26 million dollar “Small Apartment Building Rental Redevelopment Program” which makes financing available to rehab and preserve groups of vacant, one- to four- unit buildings as affordable rental housing. The loan pool targets the redevelopment of one- to four-unit buildings, which represent nearly 50 percent of all rental units in Chicago and are too often under-resourced. Administered by the Community Investment Corporation, the loan pool provides 10-year loans for projects involving a minimum of nine housing units.

Launching a Plan Forward to Support Public Housing and its Residents In 2013, the Chicago Housing Authority launched the comprehensive, strategic “Plan Forward” approach for coordinating public and private investments to develop vibrant, complete communities for residents and former residents of CHA supported- housing. The Plan Forward aims to reimagine the final phase of the Plan for Transformation, ensure that CHA’s housing portfolio is safe, decent, and sustainable, and expand services to more residents targeted to their needs. The Plan Forward was developed following months of 32 stakeholder input sessions with more than 300 people representing over 160 organizations. Additionally, four regional CHA resident input sessions involved more than 800 residents. CAPITALIZING ON A GLOBAL ECONOMY

Creating Jobs at Leading Businesses

Chicago is a premier location for businesses to grow and thrive: our region has access to the world via our unique transportation system and central location, and we also have an unrivaled talent pool, fueled by our extensive higher education institutions. Over the past three years, Mayor Emanuel has worked closely with companies who are looking to Chicago as a potential location to re-locate and expand, and in 2013, the Chicago region was home to more new or expanded corporate facilities than any other metropolitan area in the

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nation. Referred to as the "Hottest Urban Center in the U.S." by Crain's Chicago Business, Chicago welcomed 217 new and expanding businesses in 2013—nearly one-third of the region's total. Chicago-area business expansions tracked by World Business Chicago (WBC) represented the addition of nearly 40,000 jobs, 35 million square feet of space, and over $6 billion in investments, contributing to a top honor from Site Selection magazine as the #1 Metro for Corporate Investment in the U.S.

Since May 2011, the Mayor has announced a total of 26,655 jobs at 115 leading businesses. These announcements have included 2,000 jobs at 17 new grocery stores, 1,200 jobs at Ford Motor Company, 1,000 jobs at ComEd, and 3,000 jobs at Motorola Mobility, and 2,000 at additional tech companies.

City on the Move: By the Numbers 198: Number of companies that moved to Chicago from 2011 to the present 64: Number of corporate headquarters making the move since 2011 48%: Increase in home sales from 2011-2013, above national average of 19% 1.5%: Growth in average wages from 2010-2013, greater than NYC or LA $25 million: Savings per year for Chicago businesses from 2012-2014, resulting from eliminating of the City’s head tax 195%: Increase in Foreign Direct Investment from 2011-2013

Becoming a Leading Hub of Advanced Manufacturing

Mayor Emanuel believes that Chicago can preserve and improve its competitiveness in manufacturing by capitalizing on the shift into high-tech products and processes underway in the manufacturing sector nationwide. As a crucial step in the development of Chicago as an advanced manufacturing hub, Chicago was awarded in February with a highly competitive $70 million federal grant to build a Digital Manufacturing Design Lab (Digital Lab). An additional $250 million in public and private sector matching funds was raised to support the winning bid. The Digital Lab will be the nation's flagship research institute in digital manufacturing. The lab will apply cutting edge computing technologies to address the manufacturing challenges faced by the Department of Defense (DoD), other large OEMs and small and medium manufacturers leading to a manufacturing transformation across the country. The computing technologies of the Digital Lab include mobile computing, cloud computing, and high performance computing. The Digital Lab will build online communities and leverage the power of networks and big data to reduce the time and cost of manufacturing, make the U.S. supply chain more competitive globally, and reduce acquisition costs for DoD.

Creating a Coordinated and Ambitious Tourism Strategy

Since taking office, Mayor Emanuel has focused on tourism as a key driver of our economy and an area in which Chicago needs a comprehensive strategy and focus. When Mayor Emanuel took office, the City of Chicago had approximately 40 million visitors annually.

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After years of a disjointed tourism effort, the Mayor worked in his first year to merge the City’s three tourism entities into a single organization – Choose Chicago – that combined the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau and the tourism portion of Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture. The reduction in overlapping services and costs has saved nearly $2 million a year, which will be reinvested into annual marketing advertising efforts to attract out of market visitation.

In addition, Mayor Emanuel initially set an ambitious goal of attracting 50 million visitors to Chicago by 2020. Earlier this year, Mayor Emanuel increased the annual visitation goal from 50 million to 55 million visitors by 2020. Achieving this target will result in 30,000 additional jobs related to the tourism industry and hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue into the city of Chicago.

Chicago hit an all-time record of 48.4 million visitors in 2013, a gain of 23.3 percent over 2010. With 2013 overseas visitation expected to increase to more than 1.4 million visitors, the City is on its way to meeting the mayor’s goal of attracting 55 million visitors by 2020.Overnight leisure visitation fueled the growth with a record 18.65 million visitors, a gain of 3.8 percent over 2012. Overnight business visitation remained stable at a 10-year high of 7.23 million. Chicago’s hotel community benefited from the increase in 2013 visitation with record performance. Room demand set a record with 9.889 million rooms occupied, a gain of 2.3 percent over 2012. Hotel occupancy was 75.28%, a gain of 0.2% over 2012, surpassing the previous record of 75.18% in 2007 when the market had over 1.9 million fewer room-nights. The 26.9 million domestic and expected overseas visitors who stayed in Chicago hotels generated $105.92 million in Chicago Hotel Tax Revenue, a 4.9 percent increase over the 2012 tax receipts.

In 2013, Mayor Emanuel also announced Elevate Chicago, an ambitious tourism and tradeshow infrastructure redevelopment program. This program will bring to bear nearly $640 million in new investments, which will combine with $470 million of recently announced investments will become a $1.1 billion program that will create 10,000 construction jobs, 3,700 permanent jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic growth annually. The program initially features two major components: creation of a McCormick Place entertainment district, and the redevelopment of Navy Pier so the popular attraction will draw even more visitors and elevate it to a world-class destination.

Under Mayor Emanuel’s leadership, the City has also set a goal of moving into the top five cities for overseas visitation by adopting an international focus and emphasis on cultural tourism. To do this, Chicago’s tourism strategy must be focused on the whole city; not one segment of it. In 2014, Mayor Emanuel unveiled the first-ever cultural tourism strategy to position Chicago as a premier global cultural destination. Based off the findings from an eight-month analysis, the cultural tourism strategy calls for the implementation of a neighborhood tourism plan, promotion of cultural asset infrastructure and enhanced tourism sales efforts

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2011-2013: Record Years for Tourism in Chicago 48.4 million: Visitors to Chicago in 2013, a 23% increase from 2010 55 million: Revised goal for yearly visitors to Chicago by 2020 Over 75%: Chicago’s 2013 hotel occupancy rate, the highest ever. 9.9 million: Hotel room nights filled in 2013, by far a record. 5.5%: Increase in the hotel occupancy rate from 2010 to 2013 318: Number of major conventions in Chicago from 2011 – 2013 6.6 million: Number of visitors to Chicago as a result of conventions

Solidifying Chicago as a Leader in Conventions

Mayor Emanuel has made it a priority to draw more convention business to the Chicago area. In his first year, Mayor Emanuel helped preserve Chicago’s status as a premier convention destination thanks to important agreements with two McCormick Place labor unions that have given greater autonomy and flexibility to show managers and exhibitors, reduced parking rates, lowered food and beverage pricing, enhanced menu options, and provided free Wi-Fi access. In 2013, in order to make Chicago a more attractive location for trade shows and conventions, he launched a historic investment in the downtown area, including the expansion and redevelopment of McCormick Place and Navy Pier, which will promote more business in the city and create new jobs in the industry for Chicagoans.

Furthering the path towards reaching a goal of 55 million visitors by 2020, Choose Chicago booked 78 conventions and trade shows at McCormick Place in 2013. Of the 78 events booked, 60 were new events with 18 events retained business, a 22.4% increase from 2012. In August 2013, Chicago was been ranked the second most popular conventions and meetings destination in the United States by Cvent Supplier Network, an event management technology company. Chicago moved up three spots from 2012, leapfrogging Las Vegas, and is second only to Orlando, Florida.

Doubling the Size of Chicago’s Tech Economy

Technology is critical for both job creation and improving quality of life for our residents, development of technology in Chicago has been a key area of focus for the Mayor’s administration. Over the next 10 years, Mayor Emanuel has established a commitment to doubling the size of Chicago’s tech economy in the next ten years, which will add an additional 40,000 jobs to the Chicago economy. Chicago is now home to one new tech startup every day and a digital economy that employs nearly 40,000 people. The reach this goal, his administration has supported innovative spaces like 1871, in the Merchandise Mart, to harbor and expand the tech industries of the future – so that our city can compete and win in the global competition in the tech sector. In 2013, Mayor Emanuel launched the city’s first ever technology plan, a framework that will allow the city to maintain its leadership in technology and build on a commitment to modern infrastructure, smart communities, and technological innovation.

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In addition, Mayor Emanuel is working to attracting tech talent and venture capital from the coasts rather than watching them flow the other way. Now in its fourth year, the Mayor’s ThinkChicago program invites top tech university students from around the country to take a VIP tour of Chicago’s tech scene and attend and Chicago Ideas Week. ThinkChicago has grown into a highly competitive program with an acceptance rate of under 13%. This March, for the first time ever, Chicago sent a coordinated delegation to the South by Southwest conference in Austin to showcase Chicago’s local tech and cultural talent. The initiative, called “Chicago Made,” educated SXSW attendees about Chicago natives who have made an indelible mark on their respective industries, and demonstrated the human and physical infrastructure that makes Chicago an ideal location to start a new business or career.

Making Chicago More Competitive as a Leading Transportation and Logistics Hub

Chicago sits at the center of air, rail, and freight networks, and is therefore at a strategic advantage in the field of transportation and logistics. That’s why Mayor Emanuel has made it a priority of his administration to advance our region’s rank as a domestic hub for transportation and logistics. By removing current barriers and driving future growth, Chicago can maintain its strength particularly in freight and logistics, which is essential to the success of other regional industries, such as manufacturing. In February 2012, Mayor Emanuel along with Gov. Quinn announced the construction of a Transportation Distribution and Logistics center at Olive-Harvey College. The facility will be the first comprehensive Transportation Distribution and Logistics education center in the state, preparing students for in-demand careers in ground, air, and rail transport, multi-modal distribution and logistics as part of City Colleges’ College to Careers initiative.

By the Numbers: Transportation and Logistics $19.4 billion: Amount that Chicago’s transportation and logistics industry accounts our GRP 6: Number of major North American railroads that intersect in Chicago, the most in the country

Promoting Chicago as a Global City

Attracting International Summits

Mayor Emanuel has attracted numerous of international summits that chose Chicago because of its easy access, world-class facilities and growing influence on the global stage.

Leaders from around the world gathered in Chicago for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit. The Summit allowed the city to highlight its economic vitality and cultural attractions. This was the first time an American city other than

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Washington has hosted a NATO summit, and an estimated 2,000 journalists from across the world attended in Chicago to chronicle the events.

Chicago was the first North American city to host Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and global dignitaries for an annual summit on human rights, peace and individual activism. The 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates was internationally recognized as among the most important annual events in the field of peacemaking, attracting hundreds of high-profile leaders and organizations from around the globe.

Chicago hosted an OECD Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers, which convened international mayors and national ministers to share best practices and identify roadblocks to mobilizing investment for urban sustainability and resilience.

Fostering Economic Development Opportunities with Foreign Nations

Mayor Emanuel has sought out opportunities to foster positive economic development opportunities with China. During Mayor Emanuel’s time in office, multiple prominent Chinese companies have started operations in Chicago. In December 2012, the Bank of China opened a branch in the city, making Chicago only the third city for it to locate in the United States. Hainan Airlines and Cathay Pacific have also begun direct flights into Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Cathay Pacific’s service alone accounts for nearly $200 million in economic activity to the Chicago region. These additional flights bring the total number of direct flights between Chicago and China up to 44 each week. In addition to expanded direct airline service, Chicago is the leading national gateway for air exports to China, representing more than 25 percent of the entire market. In 2010, Chicago passed LAX as the #1 gateway for air imports from China. Mayor Emanuel has met with numerous delegations including Mayor Tang Liangzhi of Wuhan, who signed a memorandum of understanding to promote further collaboration and dialogue between the two cities.

In November 2013, Mayor Emanuel traveled to Mexico, his first international trip as Mayor, to sign the Global Cities Economic Partnership with Mexico City Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera, an agreement that will help foster trade, exchange and learning, while seeking to develop global trade and investment strategies. Mayor Emanuel will met with civic and business leaders interested in the Chicago market. With the signing of the Global Cities Agreement, Mayor Emanuel and México City Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera expanded the economic ties between the two cities and built on several market opportunities, such as shared industry specializations, existing foreign investments, and strong research institutions.

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Revitalized World Business Chicago through an Empowered Board of Directors

The Mayor has dramatically expanded the World Business Chicago board and charged the reinvigorated organization with a broad mandate of economic development for businesses of all sizes. The board now features nearly 50 of the leading businesspeople in Chicago. Each board member has agreed to provide assistance on bringing business to Chicago, to sell and promote Chicago and Chicago businesses around the world, and to provide ideas for economic development that enhances the city and creates jobs.

INVESTING IN A SKILLED WORKFORCE THAT MEETS EMPLOYER NEEDS

Job training programs work when they are tailored to the needs of employers, but too many programs are disconnected from employers or the skills and requirements of the workplace. Mayor Emanuel’s has worked to close the skills gap by launching an innovative program at the City Colleges of Chicago – called College to Careers. The program, launched in 2011, partners faculty and staff at City Colleges with more than 100 industry leaders to design curriculum and facilities and offer internships and job opportunities to ensure Chicagoans are ready to hit the ground running in fast-growing fields. Leaders from the private and public sectors, college faculties and industry groups come together to design innovative coursework, curriculum and training, to ensure students are trained with the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow.

In December 2013, Mayor Emanuel and JPMorgan Chase today announced an unprecedented five-year, $250 million global New Skills at Work initiative, the largest ever private-sector effort aimed at addressing the “skills gap” that exists across many industries, such as healthcare and advanced manufacturing, where not enough trained workers have the specific skills to fill the jobs available.

Launching Groundbreaking College to Careers Program

To create the economy of tomorrow, we must ensure that Chicago residents are ready for jobs in high growth industries - jobs that are available today but remain unfilled because of a skills gap. College to Careers is a nationally-recognized initiative of Mayor Emanuel’s launched in December 2011, designed to ensure that students gain the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the jobs of today and the careers of tomorrow in 6 high- growth industries: healthcare; business; information technology; culinary and hospitality; transportation, distribution, and logistics; and advanced manufacturing. Over 150 local and national businesses and organizations are committed partners with the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) to build out the curriculum, offer internships and work experience, and make CCC graduates first in line for their positions.

This approach is already demonstrating results. To date, over 1,000 CCC students have landed jobs or internships through College to Careers. City Colleges of Chicago’s graduation rate reached 13% in 2013 – up from 7% in 2010. Enrollment in programs that lead to high

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growth careers (health care, transportation distribution and logistics, manufacturing or culinary and hospitality) was up 4% last year – the first increase since 2008. Two of Chicago’s seven community colleges (Kennedy-King College and Wright College) are among 150 schools from 37 states being considered for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. A World Bank delegation visited Chicago to learn about the design and implementation of College to Careers, in hopes that the model can be instructive for designing education and workforce development programs elsewhere around the nation and the world.

Coordinating Resources to Launch Innovative Workforce Partnerships

In 2012, Mayor Emanuel worked with Cook County to launch the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, the second largest public workforce system in the U.S., which administers more than $50 million in federal, public, and private fund and serves more than 140,000 job seekers and hundreds of businesses annually. The Partnership consolidates the city and county's workforce resources creating access for job seekers and business across the Chicagoland region. Free services provided through The Partnership include: access to career resources such as computer labs, resume writing and interviewing skills workshops, career counseling; occupational training, and job placement services for eligible youth, adults (senior adults and veterans).

In addition, the City and the County have also partnered to announce Skills for Chicagoland’s Future (SCF), a program that identifies companies’ immediate hiring needs and connects them with qualified, unemployed job seekers and/or the resources necessary to fund training programs to equip job seekers with the skills to fill those positions. To date, SCF has engaged with more than 25 employers, resulting in 750 commitments to interview and hire unemployed Cook County job seekers through direct placement and/or train-to-hire programs. More than 600 unemployed job seekers have been hired since SCF launched in September 2012, with an increased positive trajectory month over month. Additionally, 150 unemployed job seekers have been enrolled in train-to-hire programs which result in immediate employment upon successful completion of the programs. In March 2014, Skills for Chicagoland’s Future announced a new partnership with Divvy, operated by Alta Bicycle Share, and Gap Inc. that will bring year-round employment opportunities to unemployed Chicago and Cook County job seekers.

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