CHICAGO BOOTH INSIGHTS: One underexplored path to entrepreneurship. PAGE 8
ORPHE DIVOUNGUY: Federal stimulus isn’t a free pass. PAGE 2 CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 15, 2021 | $3.50
JOE CAHILL ON BUSINESS A POST-COVID PIVOT IS POSSIBLE, CHICAGO As the city marks the anniversary of the Great Shutdown, the time for talk is over. A brief window of opportunity is opening to reposition the regional economy for a new era.
A YEAR AFTER COVID 19 forced Chicago and most of from-home arrangements have become widely ac- the world into economic lockdown, glimpses of a cepted among employers, companies have learned post-pandemic recovery are coming into view. to do business remotely, restaurants have embraced As vaccination numbers rise, we’re starting to see take-out and delivery as essential sales channels, and the features of an economic landscape permanently consumers shop online more extensively than ever. altered by the worst contagion in modern times. ese ese trends will outlast the pandemic. new realities will shape Chicago’s destiny for decades. In many ways, the new world is already here: Work- See CAHILL on Page 22 GETTY IMAGES SPACs stack the deck THE WEALTH GAP to favor insiders MAKING THE ‘Founder’s shares’ position big-name promoters for massive returns on minuscule investments Among the Chicago business BY JOHN PLETZ GAME FAIR luminaries announcing or com- It seems like everybody who’s pleting SPAC deals in the past sev- How the enormous disparity in anybody is hatching a SPAC eral weeks are former Walgreens fortunes of white and Black these days, and for good reason. CEO Greg Wasson, tech CEO and ey could get very rich very fast. investor Sam Yagan and marijua- Chicagoans came about, and Veteran CEOs, renowned na mogul Joe Caltabiano. ey dealmakers and even celebrities join billionaire real estate investor what’s being done to try to have convinced public investors Sam Zell, Chicago Cubs Chair- remedy it. PAGE 15 to give them hundreds of mil- man Tom Ricketts and former lions of dollars to buy businesses Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg. through special-purpose acquisi-
GETTY IMAGES tion companies. See SPACs on Page 20
NEWSPAPER l VOL. 44, NO. 11 l COPYRIGHT 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CRAIN’S LIST THE TAKEAWAY A look at the The chair of City area’s largest Colleges looks physician back on a long, groups. colorful life. PAGE 9 PAGE 6
P001_CCB _20210315.indd 1 3/12/21 2:41 PM 2 MARCH 15, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS CTA has to clean up its act ’m an unabashed public transit police presence all but invisible. every person is wearing a mask. lover. Unless the CTA ramps up its I’ve seen one police o cer. O-N-E. I I remember as a kid ask- game, downtown Chicago never will “ ere should be a lot more security ing my mother if we could sit in really recover, even when COVID out here,” says Eric Dixon, president GREG HINZ the rst car and watch the train goes away. People just aren’t going and business agent for Amalgamat- ON POLITICS whoosh through the headlight-lit to ride a system that is dirty, dark ed Transit Union Local 308. tunnel. e rst time I was in and scary. Are you listening, Mayor And the lth! Until a crew came London, I found time to meet with Lori Lightfoot? by the other day at the Lake Street someone from London Transport Now, I have to start by saying that subway stop on the Red Line, de- sanitized, Steele adds. And while many of those 200 o cers are on to compare notes. Even today, the CTA has somehow been able to cals warning people to keep 6 feet security is the job of the Chicago the street at any one time. It can’t be tucked into my wallet next to my continue more or less normal ser- apart were so dirty you couldn’t Police Department, “some of what many; 200 o cers divided by three Ventra card are similar ducats from vice for the past year. Even as 1,200 read what they said. Ditto almost you’ve seen is the result of fewer shifts a day and working ve days a Singapore, Barcelona, Tokyo, New of its workers became ill, the trains every other section of the down- people riding,” which leads to less week doesn’t come out to much in a York, Sydney and San Francisco. and buses kept rolling, and that was town Red Line subway. social pressure to follow rules. big city. Cline candidly concedes he But I’ve got to tell the truth. And no mean feat. Congrats! But that no “I know what you’re describ- CPD has assigned 200 people to needs more. “We’re stretched thin.” the truth is that our own Chicago longer is enough. ing,” sighs Metropolitan Planning its transit unit, and says the number At least he’s trying. And so is In the past couple of Council President MarySue Barrett. of reported crimes has dropped 59 the CTA, though I have to say DOWNTOWN WON’T RECOVER WITHOUT months of taking the “Providing special support systems percent this year—about what rider- that Metra, through events like its train home at night, I’ve is important now.” ship is down compared to normal. recent “come back downtown” SAFE, USER FRIENDLY TRANSPORT. seen dozens of people Now, CTA says there are reasons With a new control center able to conference with an o ce group, smoking tobacco for some of this. For instance, tap the city’s camera network, it was seems to be trying harder. Transit Authority, especially its rapid and other products, and dozens of says spokesman Brian Steele, possible for police to really crack But it’s not enough. Downtown transit operations, are a big, crashing people sprawled out over several deep cleaning crews can’t work down on violent incidents, arresting won’t recover and prosper without mess at the moment, with the tubes seats, with their wordly possessions on subway station platforms until an attempted rapist just last week safe, user-friendly transport. Nei- lthy and stained with gra ti, eleva- plunked beside them. ( ey have the weather reliably is above 40 and earlier busting up a pickpock- ther will those new Invest South/ tors and escalators out of operation, my sympathy, but you just can’t live degrees. Elevators and escalators eting ring that’s been working for West call centers that Lightfoot has cars converted into rolling homeless on the CTA.) I’ve seen public urina- are being xed. e mezzanine decades, says the unit’s new head, been able to open up in job-needy shelters, rules about eating and tion inside a train. Even today, it’s subway level is mopped twice daily Commander Matthew Cline. outlying neighborhoods. smoking seemingly forgotten, and impossible to board a car in which and contact surfaces frequently However, CPD won’t say how Step it up. Please. Federal stimulus needs to be an opportunity, not a free pass
otal income in the U.S. rose state spending on education, social less dependence on public employ- in 2020. services and other essential govern- ment. During the past four decades, T at’s surprising until you ment functions will continue to get a 1 percentage point rise in public- consider the federal government crowded out. sector employment was linked to ORPHE DIVOUNGUY stimulus was poorly targeted: It was In addition, research shows states a 0.2 percentage point higher un- ON THE ECONOMY not limited to the unemployed and tend to signi cantly increase their employment rate. at suggests, on to struggling businesses. Much of discretionary spending over the average, too generous public-sector this stimulus money helped raise long run when they receive uncon- employment contracts reduce op- the level of aggregate savings to ditional transfers from the federal portunities for everyone else. $317 billion pension hole that led to package as a get-out-of-jail-free a mind-blowing $3.9 trillion last government. In Illinois, that’s a If Gov. J.B. Pritzker is serious disinvestment and fueled the state’s pass—but if they don’t use this quarter, according to Bureau of recipe for disaster: State lawmakers about reducing income inequal- persistent population decline. opportunity to x the pre-COVID Economic Analysis data. at’s 20 tend to fund projects that provide ity and reversing Illinois’ exodus, e need for a constitutional policy problems, the state’s nan- percent of disposable income—the little or no value for taxpayers. he must work with lawmakers to amendment to allow for structural cial situation will deteriorate highest personal savings rate since Old habits die hard. abandon unfair collective bar- pension reforms has never been World War II. Without reforms, the intractable gaining that has bene ted a few at greater. Crain’s contributor Orphe Another round of stimulus will growth in pension bene ts, and the expense of everyone else. is Illinois politicians are tempted Divounguy is chief economist at also prop up states, which will give rampant corruption combined with broken system pushed Illinois into a to view the $13 billion federal aid the Illinois Policy Institute. Spring eld lawmakers a break this poor accounting practices mean Il- budgeting season. But they need to linois could easily end up in a worse store the jubilation and invest the place even after a multibillion-dol- windfall wisely. Illinois still faces lar infusion of federal aid. With a real dangers, and state leaders shrinking tax base and a return to cannot count on another bailout to normal interest rates, the state could rescue them again. soon be drowning in debt again. Progress on the vaccine, pent-up Structural problems need struc- consumer demand and “excess” tural reforms. At Wintrust, your banker knows you. savings will be in ationary. If in a- e state should aim to do two tion expectations were to change things: First, enact a constitution- drastically, actual in ation could al amendment that reduces the You can depend on rise by more than expected, thus growth rate of the state’s pension li- triggering a harsh response by the abilities; and second, do everything central bank that would leave highly in its power to grow the tax base. someone who really cares. indebted states, such as Illinois, Growing the tax base doesn’t with much higher borrowing costs. require a miracle cure. e Fraser In ation is expected to remain Institute’s labor market freedom in- tame, but even a modest rise in in- dex provides a road map. Research ation will have implications for the shows labor market freedom is state’s debt. is is because in ation linked to higher population growth, reduces the real returns to savings. lower unemployment and less In turn, bondholders demand high- income inequality. States with fewer er yields as compensation for the labor market regulations are better expected loss of purchasing power able to adjust to conditions. Relationship is a word that is thrown associated with higher in ation. In addition, the evidence suggests around a lot as a buzzword. I can Higher yields mean higher borrow- Americans migrate toward states ing costs. As the cost of debt grows, with less restrictive labor laws, and say with the most sincere honesty that in my entire career I have never Start the conversation at CORRECTION experienced this level of commitment. wintrust.com/meetus. A March 8 article about Peoria’s coronavirus vaccination rate gave an incorrect lo- – Frank Campise, JAB Real Estate Inc. cation for an inoculation center operated by OSF. It is at a clinic on Knoxville Avenue. In Notable Health Care Heroes on March 8, the pro le of Dr. Gamilah Pierre should have said she was former OB-GYN department chair at Silver Cross Hospital when she worked to get N95 masks for all sta . Banking products provided by Wintrust Financial Corp. banks.
P002_CCB_20210315.indd 2 3/12/21 11:13 AM CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 15, 2021 3
Paul Alivisatos will take over as president of the University of Chicago in September. Vaccine push squeezes Horizon Drugmaker’s blockbuster elbowed out of production BY STEPHANIE GOLDBERG Invoking the Defense Produc- tion Act is helping increase supply of badly needed COVID-19 vac- cines, bringing the U.S. one step closer to ending the pandemic— but as one local drug company has learned, there’s a catch. e government mandate to prioritize vaccine production at a biologics manufacturing facility has led to a shortage of Horizon erapeutics’ top-selling prod- uct, a new remedy for thyroid eye disease. Tepezza was on track for $850 million in sales last year, un- til contract manufacturer Catalent was forced to stop making the in- travenous drug. “We’re happy that vaccine man- SILICON VALLEY ufacturing and vaccinations are accelerating, but there are costs to it,” says Horizon CEO Tim Walbert. With Tepezza on ice, Horizon is losing hundreds of millions in revenue, and patients can’t get the COMES TO HYDE PARK only approved treatment for a rare disease that causes bulging eyes The next president of the U of C, a chemist and former national lab director, promises and vision problems. e Tepezza shutdown also shows how the na- to be a major player in the region’s collaborative tech e orts BY STEVEN R. STRAHLER tion’s push to maximize COVID-19 vaccine production siphons o CHRIS POLYDOROFF CHRIS resources, holding back innova- tion in some areas and preventing THOUGH DESCRIBED AS SOFT SPOKEN and even intro- “HE’S GOT THE co-founder of civic-tech group P33, says U of C’s some patients from getting drugs verted, the next president of the University of Chi- choice of a technologist was more or less foreor- they need. President Joe Biden’s cago promises to have a loud say in the region’s IVORY TOWER CRED, dained, as universities increasingly look to the vow that the U.S. will have enough collaborative tech e orts after he arrives in Sep- tech ecosystem to gain or maintain elite status vaccines for all adults by the end tember. Can Armand Paul Alivisatos, who goes by BUT HE’S SHOWN and boost fundraising. He says Northwestern Uni- of May could put additional pres- his middle name, deliver? versity could be next, in the wake of Morton Scha- sure on facilities to divert manu- e chemist and former national lab director, HOW TO GET THOSE piro’s pending retirement as president. facturing capacity. currently provost at the University of California, IDEAS OUT INTO Robert Zimmer, a mathematician, set the stage “It’s a di cult balancing act,” Berkeley, has shown he can turn research into for Alivisatos by betting the farm during his 15 says Tarek Abdallah, assistant pro- commercial products and build companies, the THE REAL WORLD.” years as president on a debt-fueled expansion of fessor of operations at Northwest- very thing tech consortiums like Chicago’s Dis- the university’s physical plant and its faculty and ern University’s Kellogg School of Michael Franklin, covery Partners Institute and P33 aim to do with undergraduate college. His push into science was Management. “Clearly the people academic partners. computer science chair, Chris Gladwin, a tech entrepreneur and University of Chicago See ALIVISATOS on Page 21 See HORIZON on Page 21
Chicagoans in for a shock as winter utility bills come due Late payments to Peoples Gas, ComEd surge, intensi ed by COVID UNPAID UTILITY BILLS Households behind on their utility bills are piling up increasing amounts of bad debt, with BY STEVE DANIELS utor Commonwealth Edison, PIRG, a consumer advocate. totaled $197 million, according For Peoples, the high num- nearly 1 in 3 Chicagoans behind on heating to the tune of more than $600 each. Nearly 3 in 10 Chicago house- to utility reports submitted to ber of Chicagoans unable or holds were behind on their the Illinois Commerce Com- unwilling to pay their heating TOTAL RESIDENTIAL ARREARAGES, JANUARY heating bills as of January, and mission. at was up 23 percent bills is nothing new. Slightly Peoples Gas (Chicago) Nicor Gas (suburbs) Commonwealth Edison (areawide) that was before an unusually from $160 million at the same fewer Chicago households were Total Customers Average per cold and snowy February that’s point last year, on the eve of the late paying their bills in January customers behind on bills Arrearages customer apt to result in some unpleas- pandemic that led to morato- than they were a year before, 818,289 29% $146.5 million $628 ant surprises when people open riums on utility collections en- re ecting the larger amount their bills this month. forcement for most of 2020. of nancial aid available since 2.1 million 8% $53.9 million $340 e amount of money Chica- e data, requested from the pandemic for struggling 3.7 million 9% $120.8 million $347 goans were late paying Peoples utilities late last year by the Gas, as well as electricity distrib- ICC, was obtained by Illinois See UTILITY BILLS on Page 12 Source: Utility submissions to the Illinois Commerce Commission
P003_CCB_20210315.indd 3 3/12/21 2:40 PM 4 MARCH 15, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS Former CME leader CHICAGO COMES BACK Jack Sandner dies at 79 He was a giant of the Merc who helped lead the group as it became the rst U.S. exchange to go public
BY STEVEN R. STRAHLER hair on the tail wagging the dog. It’s ludicrous.” Jack Sandner, whose epic battles Another threat to the exchanges with Leo Melamed over leader- emerged in the late 1980s when ship of the Chicago Mercantile Ex- federal agents posed as traders change reected and de ned the in an undercover sting operation. tumult and outsider status of the Indicted were 46 Merc and CBOT city’s futures markets, has died. He traders who were charged with was 79. racketeering and fraud and lying Sandner died March 11 at to agents. Northwestern Memorial Hospi- Sandner claimed more corrup-
tal after su ering a stroke in late tion could be found at a hot dog GETTY IMAGES February at his Lake Blu home, stand, “but it was a real, real bad according to his son Chris. period,” he said in the interview. “It’s a sad, sad day,” Melamed Sandner and Melamed were an said in a statement. unmatched pair of egos personify- Sandner chaired the Merc in ing the two dominant ethnic cul- What jobs might vanish three stints during the 1980s and tures of local traders. Sandner was 1990s and was on the board in Chicago Irish, Melamed a Jewish 2002 when it became the rst refugee from Poland. exchange to go public, setting “Leo and I were always friends, the stage for acquisition of its but there was always some issues,” after the pandemic? once-dominant rival, the Chicago Sandner said in the Lothian inter- Board of Trade. view. One forecast highlights the ways tech will make some workers extinct. Companies “He was a true visionary who ey worked together to mod- made many contributions to our ernize the Merc, introducing an would be wise to consider ways to help employees establish a sense of control. industry,” CME Group Chairman early version of electronic trading and CEO Terry Du y said in a three decades ago to get ahead of BY EMILY DRAKE AND TODD CONNOR tribute to this dislocation? Will we statement. “It was with sheer grit a trend that would decimate tradi- see small communes emerge as and determination that he also tional open-outcry trading pits. Chicago Comes Back is a weekly series on ChicagoBusiness.com pro- an antidote to this change? ese steadied the organization through In a 2018 Tribune story, viding leadership insights to help your business move forward, written by are, of course, speculative. More some of the biggest crises of the Melamed deemed Sandner cru- leadership consultants Emily Drake and Todd Connor. predictable is the political turmoil day including the Gold and Silver cial to the Merc’s success as it Drake and Connor facilitate Crain’s Leadership Academy. Drake is that is sure to follow if people feel crisis of 1980 and the Black Mon- overtook and ultimately swal- a licensed therapist, owner of the Collective Academy and a leadership unheard, unseen. day crash of 1987.” lowed the CBOT. coach. Connor is the founder of Bunker Labs and the Collective Academy He was a feisty, bantam gure Sandner grew up in various and is also a leadership consultant. ED: Putting on my therapist lens, who boxed in 60 amateur bouts South Side neighborhoods and Check out previous installments at ChicagoBusiness.com/comesback. I do worry about the human con- and won a Golden Gloves title. He attended Chicago Vocational and struct here. ere is a tension was also a lawyer who borrowed Leo High schools, according to TODD CONNOR: e McKinsey try, will be centered and ignored between these trends, which are money to buy a Merc membership businessman Andrew McKenna Global Institute is out with a re- yet again. ese essential roles so global—supply chains that are after going to a holiday party in Sr. Sandner was fond of relating port this week that previews some often require physical proximity, global, economies that are global- Melamed’s o ce—where he be- how, after graduating from South- devastating potential e ects of and even if they can’t be automat- ly bound, and e ciencies that are came involved in a st ght. “I was ern Illinois University, he talked COVID-19 on the post-pandemic ed—like jobs performed at gyms, globally realized—and the very lo- pretty wired and not too measured his way into the University of No- world of work. One nding across hair salons, home health care, hos- cal lives that we all live. e neigh- at the time.” tre Dame’s law school after the eight focus countries, including the pitals and clinics, and schools—no bor next door. e blighted prop- Sandner headed the Merc in deadline for admission. U.S., is that more than 100 million doubt they will be changed. erty down the street. e main 1987, when Chicago’s exchanges Despite his success, “he was an workers, or one in every 16, will street in town that has lost all of were accused of exacerbating the ordinary guy, and that’s the way he need to nd a new occupation post- ED: I suppose if you’re an entre- its retail tenants. It’s discordant for stock market crash. wanted to be remembered,” says COVID, accelerating pre-pandemic preneur, you can look at this list people. Unwinding this is not sim- “We were Darth Vader,” Sandner McKenna. Sandner and his wife, trends spurred by automation, AI and see opportunity against the ple, or maybe not even doable, but recalled in an interview with John Carole, adopted eight children. and other technology adoptions. broad thesis: that where people it matters how we support people Lothian News. He fought back, “He worked hard with a number In particular, they looked at jobs are required to come together to through this as an existential chal- testifying before Congress. His of people to make sure the indus- where physical proximity is re- work, there are opportunities for lenge—and support has to involve take on the exchanges’ alleged re- try grew and we were treated fairly quired and many of those jobs will improvement. And while I’m all government, companies, investors sponsibility for the crash: “It’s not in Washington,” says Scott Early, a be re-tooled or automated. for getting better, I’m not for get- and leaders. the tail wagging the dog. It’s the former CME general counsel. ting better from a starting point of EMILY DRAKE: e report is reveal- systems that don’t work to provide TC: We’ve always known that tech- ing, indeed. So we need to be ask- baseline equality. I’m always go- nology disrupts practices and pro- ing ourselves: If your work requires ing to be the voice that is bearish fessions, and in some ways that is you to be in close proximity with about how innovation a ects the the sister of innovation and prog- people, are you at risk of losing your whole of us: Where we optimize ress. What feels new is the speed job? What strikes me is that many e ciency, we may have to switch and immediacy with which this of the people we have heralded as careers, and even further never will happen. at we can write “essential workers,” often working have to see people, and automate this in 2021 and know that by 2030 low-wage jobs, are the same people anything that can be automated. these dislocations will be perma- a ected by job loss. Under the um- at hardly sounds aspirational. nent, demands a greater urgency brella of innovation, we will nd for how we discuss, prepare, ad- ways to automate their roles, deliv- TC: I would agree. I suppose a just or mitigate the e ects of this. er the products, implement tech- question that emerges around Companies, to bring this home, nology and do other things that these trends is, what other inno- would be wise to think about help- disrupt the livelihoods, and lives, vations might arise to combat the ing employees establish a locus of of retail workers, customer service e ects of our trajectory, on how we control over their own lives. agents, restaurant employees and interact as humans? Could the next warehouse workers. disruption be an employee-owned ED: I do think control is at the heart competitor to Amazon that seeks of this. People need some sem- TC: I sense some sadness in you, or to compete, but with a shared blance of inuence, or will nd maybe that’s anger, and I feel some ethos of employees wanting to it through unproductive means. as well. e report predicts that the de ne value di erently? Beyond Companies that create environ-
ALAMY same communities and classes of e ciency and stock price? Will the ments in which people feel em- Jack Sandner, from left, Leo Melamed and Terry Du y ring the opening bell on the agriculture people who have been dispropor- markets begin to judge companies, powered will persevere, and do oor of the Chicago Board of Trade building in 2007 on the rst o cial trading day of the newly tionately a ected by the pandem- as an extension of our consumer so with the co-authorship of their formed CME Group. ic, and other disasters in our coun- judgments, for practices that con- teams.
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21cb0091.pdf RunDate 3/15/21 FULL PAGE Color: 4/C 6 MARCH 15, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS THE TAKEAWAY Walter Massey
Massey, a physicist, was director of Argonne National Laboratory and president of alma mater Morehouse College and of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At 82 and chair of City Colleges of Chicago, he’s penned a memoir, “In the Eye of the Storm,” about his year chairing the Bank of America board Growing up in Mississippi, during the nancial crisis. By Steven R. Strahler you said you had a happy upbringing but knew your > place in the racial order, which included the back You drop a few names: Spike, Oprah, Denzel, of the bus when traveling Queen Elizabeth. across town to school. Going back to Morehouse as president really put me in a I was never beaten or physical- position to become deeply involved in the Black community, ly threatened in my childhood, which I had not been for years. Spike Lee is an alumnus, > but there was always the fear Oprah a major donor and Denzel is a parent. I happened to that it could happen, like meet the queen at the invitation of President (George W.) walking on a tightrope. Bush at a dinner the president hosted in London.
Royal Bank offers commercial loans You don’t mention Emmett Till. with attractive rates and terms. I had just started college. It was shocking but not all that surprising, because you knew the most dangerous thing you could do is to have < an encounter with a white woman. It could literally be deadly. The fact that a kid could be killed because of that is not shocking. Contact Richard Nichols, Senior Vice President 2IƓFH Ř0RELOH (PDLO UQLFKROV#UR\DOEDQNXV Putting community first since 1887. You used an outhouse and bathed in a galvanized tub. True. We got our rst indoor > bathroom and toilet—oh, I must royal-bank.us have been in the fourth grade. It Member FDIC /RFDWLRQVLQ&KLFDJR:HVWPRQWDQG1LOHV was fantastic. >
You recount that when then-University of Chicago president Hanna Gray recruited you to run Argonne in 1979, you had managed fewer than a hundred em- LUXURY HOME OF THE WEEK ployees as a Brown University dean, compared with the lab’s 5,200. What did she see in you? Advertising Section When she received an honorary degree at Brown, I was her faculty host. She saw how much I was liked and respected at Brown. Exceptional condominiums providing I think she took a gamble on my management skills privacy, service, wellness, refined living. and experience. She took away from that experience that at least I was a leader and someone people liked working with. >
Why did the B of A board turn to you? I was knowledgeable about the board, board relations. I was also one of the longest-serving board members there. It turned out to be a full-time job, which I didn’t anticipate. We didn’t know when I took the job the Federal Reserve would put restrictions on what we could do and lay out a framework for things we had to do. > Your curated city lifestyle, awaits. curated Your
What’s your take on race relations today? There’s been tremendous progress, especially measured against ONEBENNETTPARK.COM where I started o . What is distressing, there seems to be a signif-
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P006_CCB_20210315.indd 6 3/12/21 12:19 PM One year ago, COVID-19 changed our community.
Today, we honor all of the lives lost during the pandemic and acknowledge those serving our community.
Thank you to our many supporters, volunteers, staff and community partners – especially those on the front line – who have helped us meet the rising need.
Demand for food assistance is still soaring, but your hard work and generosity are powering a daily response to hunger.
The need is great. Together we are Greater.
21cb0090.pdf RunDate 3/15/21 FULL PAGE Color: 4/C 8 MARCH 15, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS ‘Entrepreneurship through acquisition’ e right partnerships o er opportunities for businesses to grow faster and more strategically
mall businesses are always they’re using it to catapult forward looking to grow, but owners the businesses they join. Mark Agnew and Brian O’Connor might not understand their ey come armed with capital, are adjunct associate profes- full scope of possibilities deep and strategic networks from sors of entrepreneurship in Sthese days. ey might purchase a the prestigious institutions where the University of Chicago’s new piece of equipment or make a they have earned their degrees, Booth School of Business. hire or two. and a good amount of hustle and Agnew is the former president ere’s nothing wrong with those grit. Once on board, they can help of Lou Malnati’s. O’Connor approaches, but as business educa- identify several paths to help grow is the founder and managing tors, we’ve seen tremendous growth a small business: additional strate- partner of NextGen Growth opportunities in “entrepreneurship gic acquisitions and partnerships, Partners. Together, they teach through acquisition.” investment into technology and in- the Entrepreneurship rough Small-business owners look- frastructure, investment in strategic Acquisition class at Booth. ing for larger growth opportunities talent, and business development, might consider partnering with ear- to name a few. GETTY IMAGES ly-career, entrepreneurial business leaders such as those coming out LOCAL EXAMPLE that enable them to better serve ecosystem. ere may be opportu- of local top-tier MBA programs like Dave Newberry, president and their customers on a more cost-ef- nities to grow more quickly than you Chicago Booth. Depending on the CEO of ConData Global in Oak Advice for small businesses and fective basis. once thought and mitigate the risk owner’s objectives, these deals can Brook, is a great local example. New- entrepreneurs in partnership with is is a new avenue for growth that many fear comes with entrepre- include the sale of all, some or none berry, a recent Booth MBA graduate, the University of Chicago Booth for small businesses, and we know neurship through acquisition. School of Business. of the small business. led the merger of ConData, a global small-business owners may be hes- And check out resources that of- While these MBA graduates tra- leader in freight auditing, and TNL itant to consider whether they’re fer up-to-date information on these ditionally would be starting their Global, which specializes in related in a position to go down this road. ideas. We suggest Chicago Booth’s own businesses, many are now parcel auditing. tion added complementary pieces Our advice: Take the call from the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship considering bringing their talents to e companies essentially do to its own business, and the com- ambitious MBA grad who express- & Innovation, which has an “Entre- small and midsize businesses. eir similar things—audit companies to pany now has an expanded client es interest in your business, or start preneurship rough Acquisition” education gives them cutting-edge look for e ciencies and save their base to work with. As the companies to develop some relationships with podcast series, among many other knowledge about innovation, and clients money. ConData’s acquisi- blend, they’ll develop e ciencies the talented entrepreneurs in this resources.
P008_CCB_20210315.indd 8 3/12/21 12:18 PM CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 15, 2021 9 CRAIN’S LIST CHICAGO’S LARGEST PHYSICIAN GROUPS Ranked by 2020 net revenue. Crain’s estimates are in gray. FY 2020 net revenue (millions); Board- Hospital Managed Capitated 2020 % change from certi ed inpatient Outpatient care or covered Form of rank Physician group Practice administrator FY 2019 Physicians physicians admissions visits contracts individuals organization 1 ADVOCATE MEDICAL GROUP Dr. Vincent Bufalino $1,585.0 1,797 1,797 92,115 3,897,000 110 234,834 Nonpro t 1 3075 Highland Parkway, Suite 600, Downers Grove 60515 Chief medical group o cer 4.7% corporation 630-572-9393; AdvocateHealth.com/AMG 2 DUPAGE MEDICAL GROUP Steve Nelson $1,100.0 743 740 25,982 3,100,000 22 72,587 For-pro t 2 3010 Highland Parkway, Suite 800, Downers Grove 60515 CEO NC corporation 630-469-9200; DuPageMedicalGroup.com 3 NORTHWESTERN MEDICAL GROUP Dr. Howard Chrisman $1,012.8 1,821 1,711 45,188 1,637,751 143 1,170 Nonpro t 3 211 E. Ontario St., Suite 1600, Chicago 60611 President 1.5% corporation 312-926-8400; NMG.NM.org 4 NORTHSHORE UNIVERSITY HEALTHSYSTEM MEDICAL GROUP Dr. Joseph Golbus $615.1 938 895 37,322 947,742 38 48,900 Faculty 4 1301 Central St., Suite 301, Evanston 60201 President -5.1% practice plan 847-570-5272; NorthShore.org 5 RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL GROUP Shannon Driscoll $380.5 791 735 29,904 576,279 49 NA Nonpro t 5 1725 W. Harrison St., Suite 364, Chicago 60612 Associate vice president, -0.6% corporation 312-942-5000; Rush.edu practice operations 11 LOYOLA MEDICAL GROUP Dr. Richard K. Freeman $337.9 741 741 41,456 1,178,037 131 36,105 Faculty 6 2160 S. First Ave., Maywood 60153 Regional chief clinical o cer -3.6% practice plan 708-216-9000; LoyolaMedicine.org 10 UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PHYSICIANS GROUP Mamoon Nawabi $313.8 1,026 906 32,178 588,927 118 11,214 Faculty 7 5841 S. Maryland Ave., Chicago 60637 Executive director, revenue 2.7% practice plan 773-834-2390; UChicagoMedicine.org cycle 12 ILLINOIS BONE & JOINT INSTITUTE LLC Andre Blom $280.0 157 NA NA NA NA NA For-pro t 8 900 Rand Road, Suite 300, Des Plaines 60016 CEO 37.3% corporation 847-375-3984; IBJI.com 8 AMITA HEALTH MEDICAL GROUP Dr. Reinhold Llerena, $268.4 692 629 32,461 1,553,219 139 29,272 Nonpro t 9 200 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago 60606 President, Drew Palumbo, -1.1% corporation 844-366-0610; AmitaHealth.org Chief operating o cer 9 NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE REGIONAL MEDICAL GROUP Dr. Patrick Towne $233.4 641 606 42,351 1,072,001 143 29,303 Nonpro t 10 25 N. Win eld Road, Win eld 60190 President -4.0% corporation 630-933-2374; RMG.NM.org 13 EDWARD ELMHURST MEDICAL GROUPS Dr. Daniel Sullivan $205.9 371 371 61,061 1,038,958 24 29,289 Nonpro t 11 4201 Win eld Road, Warrenville 60555 Chief physician executive and 1.7% corporation 630-527-3000; EEHealth.org executive VP, physician and ambulatory network 14 CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO FACULTY PRACTICE PLAN Dr. John Walkup $201.0 1,086 1,003 10,655 627,281 30 0 Faculty 12 737 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2040, Chicago 60611 President 8.6% practice plan 312-227-6413; LurieChildrens.org 10 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO MEDICAL SERVICE PLAN Dr. Heather Prendergast $149.3 816 719 16,798 433,590 205 23,742 Nonpro t 13 1919 W. Taylor Ave., Suite 823, Chicago 60612 Interim executive director, -30.0% association 312-413-1350; Hospital.UIC.edu physician group 15 NEPHROLOGY ASSOCIATES OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS/INDIANA Brian J. O’Dea $102.8 132 132 47,550 61,000 30 9,800 For-pro t 14 120 W. 22nd St., Oak Brook 60523 CEO 19.5% corporation 630-573-5000; NephDocs.com 17 ILLINOIS GASTROENTEROLOGY GROUP Michael Cline $94.3 76 76 21,000 156,000 61 280,000 Partnership 15 1415 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights 60005 Chief operating o cer 63.5% 312-331-0927; IllinoisGastro.com 16 NORTHWEST COMMUNITY HEALTH MEDICAL GROUP Margie Rumpsa $80.0 225 NA NA NA NA NA Nonpro t 16 3040 W. Salt Creek Lane, Arlington Heights 60005 Executive director NC corporation 847-618-3475; NCH.org/MedicalGroup New HUMBOLDT PARK HEALTH PARTNERS Dr. Abha Agrawal $70.0 103 60 5,805 21,582 15 2,177 Nonpro t 17 1044 N. Mozart St., Suite 100, Chicago 60622 Chief medical o cer 3.1% corporation 773-292-8200; HPH.care New SINAI MEDICAL GROUP Edward Carne $59.3 344 267 15,473 96,821 30 14,019 Nonpro t 18 1500 S. California Ave. , Suite F105, Chicago 60608 President -5.2% corporation 773-257-2273; Sinai.org 18 CARDIAC SURGERY ASSOCIATES John Barakat $40.0 31 NA NA NA NA NA For-pro t 19 2650 Warrenville Road, Suite 280, Downers Grove 60515 Chief nancial o cer, chief -7.4% corporation 630-324-7900; OpenHeart.net operating o cer 19 MIDWEST CENTER FOR WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE Heidi J. Spears $36.4 50 46 4,822 148,182 25 0 Partnership 20 2801 Lakeside Drive, Suite 209, Bannockburn 60015 CEO -9.3% 847-562-1410; MCWHC.com New PEDIATRUST Kathleen McTigue $31.5 57 57 NA 153,000 15 NA Partnership 21 2215 Sanders Road, Suite 105, Northbrook 60089 CEO -6.9% 224-330-6300; PediaTrust.com New ILLINOIS DERMATOLOGY INSTITUTE LLC James Wonnacott $30.0 25 25 1 150,000 15 0 Partnership 22 903 Commerce Drive, Suite 333, Oak Brook 60523 CEO NC 847-769-3528; IllinoisDerm.com 20 SHIRLEY RYAN ABILITYLAB Joan Berta $25.3 75 75 3,393 33,000 44 0 Nonpro t 23 355 E. Erie St., Chicago 60611 Director, physician practice -12.6% corporation 312-238-1000; SRALab.org 21 VISTA PHYSICIAN GROUP Cli ord L. Moudy II $8.9 17 17 1,947 55,424 4 2,095 For-pro t 24 200 S. Greenleaf St., Suite A, Gurnee 60031 Executive director 1.8% corporation 847-599-1142; VistaPhysicianGroup.com 23 ADVANCED FOOT & ANKLE Patrice Cooper $2.8 52 50 63 4,000 21 1,200 Partnership 25 70 E. Lake St., Suite 1102, Chicago 60601 Chief operating o cer -9.0% 312-372-1160; AdvFoot.org To qualify, groups must be located in the seven-county area of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake (Ill.), Lake (Ind.), McHenry and Will counties. Net revenue is net of contractual allowances, bad accounts and charity care. “Covered individuals” is the number of people for whom an amount is paid to cover medical services over a speci ed period. NA: Not available. NC: No change. 1. On Jan. 1, 2021, Northwest Community Healthcare became a subsidiary of NorthShore University HealthSystem. 2. Formerly Norwegian Physicians Group. Researched by Chuck Soder ([email protected]) WANT THE EXCEL VERSION OF THIS LIST, AND EVERY CRAIN'S LIST? BECOME A DATA MEMBER: CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM/DATA LISTS
P009_CCB_20210315.indd 9 3/12/21 12:18 PM 10 MARCH 15, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
EDITORIAL Don’t blow this federal bailout, please s Crain’s columnist Joe Cahill which is earmarked to receive $7.5 bil- puts it so eloquently in this lion to shore up its budget and pay off week’s issue, the end of the old bills. The Pritzker administration is pandemic, now tantalizingly expected first to pay off more than $2 bil- near,A represents a once-in-a-lifetime op- lion in outstanding loans from the Fed- portunity for Chicago and its leadership eral Reserve, Hinz reports, and to reduce to think anew about the regional econo- its backlog of unpaid local bills. my and adapt to new realities. The skill The city of Chicago, meanwhile, is in sets that once made Chicago great—our for roughly $1.8 billion. The Regional trading savvy, our talent for building big Transportation Authority: $1.5 billion. things, our entrepreneurial drive, cul- The Lightfoot administration is also tural bona fides, health care leadership, likely to use a large portion of its fed- logistics know-how, university firepower eral allotment to pay off debts. Officials and marketing chops—are among the assets that will help the local econo- my rebuild after a historic setback. But OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS MUST these talents can’t be directed toward SEIZE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PUT rebuilding the economy that was. They must be leveraged to build the economy THE CITY AND STATE’S FINANCIAL that will be—a world where cutting-edge technology, intellectual capital, light- AFFAIRS IN THE BEST POSSIBLE ning-fast efficiency, green credentials as ORDER. well as values like diversity, equity and inclusion will be the qualities that win investment and growth. had planned to balance much of her Of course, an enormous infusion of 2021 budget by refinancing $500 million federal money will have its own effect in debt and deferring repayment costs
on the Chicago-area economy, and GETTY IMAGES years into the future, a tactic known as here, too, our leaders must not allow President Joe Biden signs the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill into law. scoop and toss. But they also said they’d yesterday’s habits of thought and deed hold off until seeing what, if anything, to shape future actions. Our elected of- ident Joe Biden signed the American COVID relief bill was signed into law on Biden was able to get out of Congress. ficials—Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Rescue Plan, Moody’s Investors Service March 11, Crain’s columnist Greg Hinz Some progressive members of the City Mayor Lori Lightfoot—must seize this upgraded Chicago Public Schools’ debt enumerated how the money is going to Council already have been urging that opportunity to put the city and state’s fi- slightly, citing the prospect that federal be distributed locally. Aside from dollars any new money be spent, not saved or nancial affairs in the best possible order. aid will help stabilize the still-junk-rat- being funneled to individuals and busi- used as a substitute for borrowing. Light- Paying down debts and fulfilling IOUs is ed school system’s finances. With luck, nesses—for example, about 11 million foot should stand firm that repairing the not the sort of spending that’s splashy, more such upgrades are in the offing for Illinoisans will get stimulus checks of up city’s finances, balanced with smart in- but it’s the kind that can go a long way all local government bodies, as new fed- to $1,400 each, Hinz figures—local gov- vestments in infrastructure, are the best toward repairing our battered fiscal im- eral money helps put budgets back into ernments and agencies are big winners. way to position Chicago for the econo- age. Proof of that effect is already start- balance. The single largest chunk of the local my of the future, not the money-wasting, ing to emerge: On the same day Pres- Even before the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus will go to the state of Illinois, slow-motion deterioration of the past.
YOUR VIEW I would love a Target on the Mag Mile ike many people who keep mall’s owner, which is reported- For anyone with a short memory, Wa- our college town drugstores didn’t have. up on Chicago retailing, I ly in negotiations with Target. ter Tower Place opened in 1976 with Lord Walgreens didn’t seem a bit incongru- Lwoke up last week to spec- “I’m like, ‘What are you thinking, & Taylor as the anchor store to the north, ous on the elegant street; it seemed nec- ulation that a Target might go Brook eld?’ ” she said. Marshall Field to the south. essary. I often thought how lucky the res- into Macy’s space in Water Tower In her view, Brook eld is so To a young shopper like me, it was re- idents of its apartment building were to Place. desperate for a tenant that “they tail heaven, and a reason in itself to take have a Walgreens downstairs. “Wow,” was my rst thought. would take anybody who would the train from Ann Arbor to Chicago. My I feel the same way now about a Target “What a fantastic idea for the give them a dollar to get into the mother and I would drop o neighborhood!” I meant both the building,” Pappas said. our bags at the Park Hyatt, stroll Gold Coast, where I used to live, Micheline Maynard Embarrassing? Cue the sound to Michigan Avenue, and head URBAN TARGETS MEET THE NEEDS OF and Streeterville, where I worked is an author and of a record scratch. north. TODAY’S CITY DWELLERS, THE WAY THE at WBEZ on Navy Pier. writer in Ann Ar- As a former resident of 900 N. We could spend an entire af- en I read on and learned bor, Mich., who Lake Shore Drive, one of Mies ternoon at Water Tower, shop- ORIGINAL WAVE OF CHICAGO DEPARTMENT that Cook County Treasurer Ma- was senior editor van der Rohe’s Four Black Boxes, ping until we dropped. When we ria Pappas, also a Water Tower of the Changing let me put it as simply as his ar- nished with Field’s, we’d head STORES DID IN THE 20TH CENTURY. neighbor, did not share my en- Gears public ra- chitecture. to Lord & Taylor. Somewhere thusiasm. dio project, based An urban Target is not embar- along the way, we’d get a snack, usually in on the Magni cent Mile. “How embarrassing is this to at WBEZ. rassing. Urban Targets meet the Field’s food section upstairs. Imagine how convenient it will be for the city?” Pappas said during an needs of today’s city dwellers, the But here’s something else. On our way Gold Coasters as well as tourists and busi- interview March 5 on WGN. “I’m trying to way the original wave of Chicago depart- back to the hotel, we often popped into Wal- ness travelers to pop in. People stressed for gure out what is magni cent on the Mag- ment stores, like Marshall Field, Carson greens at 757 N. Michigan Ave., for snacks time can place orders in advance and col- ni cent Mile about Target. It’s disgusting.” Pirie Scott and Goldbatt’s did in the 20th and forgotten hair spray and to look at the lect them at customer service. She called out Brook eld Properties, the century. vast section of makeup and toiletries that at’s what I did when I lived in Boston,
Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited. Send letters Sound o : Send a column for the Opinion page to editor@ to Crain’s Chicago Business, 150 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60601, or email us at [email protected]. Please chicagobusiness.com. Please include a phone number for veri cation include your full name, the city from which you’re writing and a phone number for fact-checking purposes. purposes, and limit submissions to 425 words or fewer.
P010-P011_CCB_20210315.indd 10 3/12/21 2:04 PM CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 15, 2021 11
YOUR VIEW Continued
where I had two urban Targets within I cut my teeth in the retail world. I Avenue has been the Drake Hotel. Crate walking distance. One was at Packard’s worked at Jacobson’s department stores & Barrel is gone, replaced by Starbucks Water Corner, a block from my o ce at WBUR in Ann Arbor and East Lansing when I Reserve. Even Topshop, which replaced Tower on Commonwealth Avenue, the other was in high school and college. Borders, disappeared. Place near Fenway Park, an easy stop on the Decades ago, my mother sold shoes at While the pandemic has hastened the way home, or before a ballgame. Field’s in the Loop, in between her real damage, the shift has been underway for ose Targets kept my money in Bos- job in the blood bank at Cook County years. When I lived at 900 N. Lake Shore ton and meant I didn’t have to go to a Hospital and her studies at what was then last decade, I only went to Water Tower suburb. e one near Boston University is Roosevelt College. for two purposes: to eat or to see theater. in a renovated historic building, which is I would like nothing more than for the Shopping? I did that online or else- what Target has done with its store in the Magni cent Mile to look like it did when where, like the Target at South Clark Loop. Water Tower Place was bustling, when Street and Roosevelt Road. As my friend Peter Sagal, the host of Stanley Korshak supplied elegant dresses So yes, put an urban Target in Wa- “Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me” on public to my mother and her friends, and when ter Tower Place. Give the neighborhood radio, pointed out on Twitter, “Target has I could spend hours in the cafe at Borders something useful that both visitors and already saved the Louis Sullivan facade of Books & Music, dreaming about the day residents can enjoy. And realize that to the old Carson Pirie Scott store by mak- when I’d become a writer. keep people coming to cities, they have to ing it a viable retail operation in the Loop. But cities change. Retailing changes. meet their shopping needs, not only the
C’mon, people.” About the only constant on Michigan image you’d like a street to project. BOEHM R. JOHN
Chief executive o cer KC Crain Group publisher/executive editor Jim Kirk Associate publisher Kate Van Etten * * * Editor Ann Dwyer Creative director Thomas J. Linden Assistant managing editor Jan Parr Assistant managing editor/ Joe Cahill columnist Assistant managing editor/digital Ann R. Weiler Deputy digital editor Todd J. Behme Digital design editor Jason McGregor Senior art director Karen Freese Zane Copy chief Scott Williams Deputy digital editor/ Sarah Zimmerman audience and social media Forum editor Cassandra West Political columnist Greg Hinz Senior reporters Steve Daniels Alby Gallun John Pletz Reporters Danny Ecker Stephanie Goldberg Wendell Hutson Ally Marotti A.D. Quig Dennis Rodkin Steven R. Strahler Contributing photographer John R. Boehm 2021 * * * Director of digital strategy Frank Sennett Director of custom media Sarah Chow NOMINATE NOW! * * * Production manager David Adair Deadline is Apr. 16 Account executives Claudia Hippel Christine Rozmanich GENERAL COUNSELS Bridget Sevcik Laura Warren Courtney Rush Amy Skarnulis People on the Move manager Debora Stein Evemts /marketing coordinator Lauren Jackson Calling distinguished general counsels Project manager Joanna Metzger Marketing manager Jessica Dalka Featuring Chicago-area general counsels who practice with distinction Digital designer Christine Balch at public and private companies; nonprofit, government and health care Crain Communications Inc. Keith E. Crain Mary Kay Crain organizations; and higher-education institutions and are active in civic Chairman Vice chairman KC Crain Chris Crain Chief executive o cer Senior executive vice president affairs and generous in contributions of pro bono work. Lexie Crain Armstrong Robert Recchia Secretary Chief nancial o cer Veebha Mehta Chief marketing o cer * * * G.D. Crain Jr. Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Nominate at ChicagoBusiness.com/NotableGC Founder Chairman (1885-1973) (1911-1996) For subscription information and delivery concerns Nomination deadline is Friday, Apr. 16. please email [email protected] or call 877-812-1590 (in the U.S. and Canada) Section publishes June 7. or 313-446-0450 (all other locations). To view Crain’s Notable Executives nomination programs, Sound o : Send a column for the Opinion page to editor@ visit chicagobusiness.com/notablenoms. chicagobusiness.com. Please include a phone number for veri cation purposes, and limit submissions to 425 words or fewer.
P010-P011_CCB_20210315.indd 11 3/12/21 2:04 PM 12 MARCH 15, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS PAID ADVERTISEMENT DON’T LET YOUR BUSINESS GO UP IN FLAMES! COVID drives surge in late payments to Peoples, ComEd ly a function of the pandemic and UTILITY BILLS from Page 3 the moratoriums for most of the last consumers. e di erence now is year on shut-o s. that the hardship cases are in worse “Because ComEd temporarily shape. e average arrearage is far suspended disconnections last year, greater, totaling $629 per customer particularly for low-income cus- DEDUCT THE FULL COST OF QUALIFIED PROPERTY IMPROVEMENT! versus $518 in January 2020. tomers and customers who express Chicagoans collectively owed hardship, and temporarily waived Peoples $147 million for their late late-payment fees, past-due bal- NEW TAX LAW system or retrofit completed between September Allows fire sprinkler system installation and retrofits 27, 2017 and December 31, 2022 will be able to be bills; the gure was $128 million a ances are trending higher,” spokes- to be fully tax deductible. The May 2020 Federal fully expensed in one year. After 2022, the allowed year before. ey owed ComEd $50 man Paul Elsberg says in an email. COVID-19 legislation has strengthened Small deduction percentage is as follows: million, up 56 percent from $32 mil- “Our goal is to keep every ComEd Business Section 179 expensing to include both new 2023: 80% | 2024: 60% | 2025: 40% lion in early 2020. customer connected and provide fire sprinkler installation and building retrofits. In the 2026: 20% | 2027 and after: The depreciation Peoples is under re for heating assistance where needed, and it is past, the cost of a fire sprinkler system upgrade was schedule becomes permanently set at 15 years. bills rising solely due to the utility’s important that customers who can tax deductible over a 39-year depreciation schedule. With Section 179 expensing, these costs slow-progressing and costly infra- a ord to pay their bills continue to EXPENSE AMOUNT INCREASED can now be fully expensed in the same year. In the structure program to update aging do so to prevent higher past-due In the past, the annual cap on purchases was set at past, small businesses were only able to fully gas pipes in the city, as well as to amounts from causing rates to in- $500,000 per year. With the addition of fire deduct small equipment purchases like computers, protection upgrades in Section 179, congress also convert the system to medium pres- crease for all customers.” and light duty vehicles that were used more than increased the annual limit to $1 million. sure. To nance the work, state law 50% of the time for business only use. allows gas utilities to slap a monthly HARDEST HIT Contact your tax expert for more information Section 179 expensing does not allow for the full surcharge on its bills, which for Peo- Chicago’s heating a ordabili- deduction of sprinkler retrofits from converting ples now totals well over $10. at’s ty crisis is hitting the South and MUNICIPAL BENEFITS OF FIRE SPRINKLERS commercial structures into residential buildings, but on top of the cost of gas and delivery. West sides most acutely. Two out this permanant change in the provision can be • Businesses can move into dierent unprotected Legislation to phase out the sur- of every 3 households not already utilized for any crictical occupancies, including occupant spaces and get the fire sprinkler charge, which currently will sun- on utility-payment assistance in entertainment occupancies. protection required under the code at full cost set in 2023, was reintroduced in Englewood’s ZIP code were delin- recovery! THE TIME IS NOW the House and Senate last month. quent on their heating bills in Jan- • No need for code variances for political reasons Time to upgrade your building’s fire safety with a “ is year has made clear that we uary, according to the data. Two fire sprinkler system or a sprinkler retrofit. Under the •Your community and businesses will be much fire need to restore utility oversight in of every 5 were late by more than new Section 179 guidelines, the one year deduction safer for your citizens, business owners and first Illinois,” House sponsor Joyce Ma- four months. Collectively, past-due period phases out after 2022. Any new sprinkler responders son, D-Gurnee, said in a March 10 totals in that neighborhood alone release. “As families are tightening from those customers approached their belts, we can no longer allow $5 million, more than $952 for each CALL OR CLICK 844-372-7283 • FIREPROTECTIONCONTRACTORS.COM unaccountable utility spending to account on average. raise heating bills unchecked.” In North Lawndale on the West Gov. J.B. Pritzker also supports Side, nearly half of the households ending the surcharge authority, are delinquent and nearly a quarter which gas utilities like Peoples con- are late by more than four months. tinue to insist is needed to perform e average delinquent account is work aimed at making the RISING WITH RESILIENCE system safer. Advocates including “THIS YEAR HAS MADE CLEAR THAT PIRG and the Citizens Utility HEARTLAND ALLIANCE THANKS OUR Board are backing the initia- WE NEED TO RESTORE UTILITY tive, but in recent years sim- OVERSIGHT IN ILLINOIS.” 2021 ANNUAL EVENT SPONSORS ilar bills to halt the lightly We applaud the commitment and partnership of our sponsors in regulated rate hikes haven’t State Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee Heartland Alliance’s efforts to achieve equity and opportunity for all. progressed thanks in large part to opposition from unions $692. In Woodlawn on the South whose members bene t from the Side, 55 percent of households are * PREMIER SPONSOR infrastructure work. late, and 31 percent by more than Peoples, which serves more than four months. Households are be- 818,000 residential customers in the hind by $676 on average. city, accounted for 45 percent of all Given that the average household delinquent utility bills in the Chi- Peoples bill last year was $1,128, cago area when including ComEd those arrearages signal that many and much larger suburban gas util- residents weren’t paying virtually PRESENTING SPONSOR* ity Nicor. ComEd serves 3.7 million any of their gas bills. households throughout northern Of course, the pandemic only has Illinois, and Nicor serves 2.1 million worsened what already was a crisis households. in communities like Englewood. In “ e comparison to ComEd and January 2020, before COVID struck, Nicor is not appropriate in this more than half of Englewood PLATINUM SPONSORS* case. . . .We have very di erent cus- households were delinquent on tomer bases and counts,” Peoples their Peoples bill to the tune of $849 spokeswoman Danisha Hall says in each on average. Peoples has said in an email. the past it treated disconnections as a last resort and hoped that repeat- * GOLD SPONSORS COLLECTIONS ed shut-o warnings would prompt If collection activity resumes as delinquent customers to negotiate scheduled next month, Peoples payment plans.
LINN-MATHES INC. considers 116,000 of the 233,409 Informal discussions are under- delinquent households eligible way between the utilities, consum- ® for warnings and shut-o s, 1 in er advocates and the ICC on how PRITZKER-TRAUBERT 10 residential accounts, she says. to handle the unpaid utility bills, FOUNDATION at corresponds almost exactly as well as what to do in the future. to the number of households that State law allows utilities to pass are more than four months late, along all their costs of uncollectible NICKEL SPONSORS* although Hall says the threshold bills to ratepayers in a surcharge. for launching collections is an un- Says ComEd’s Elsberg, “We’re THE ALLYN FOUND ATION, INC. BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF ILLINOIS BMO HARRIS BANK COMBINED INSURANCE disclosed dollar amount, not how continuing to work with a broad set PUBLICIS HEALTH MEDIA SERVICEMASTER DSI STAUB ANDERSON U.S. BANK many months behind a customer is. of groups in the state on new pro- For ComEd, which in recent years posals that we hope will provide has been considerably more aggres- carefully designed support, more sive than Peoples in cutting o ser- customer protections and the most *As of March 3, 2021 vice to customers who don’t pay, exible terms for our vulnerable the increase in unpaid bills is main- customers.”
P012_CCB_20210315.indd 12 3/12/21 2:44 PM SPONSORED CONTENT Preparing to Take Advantage of a Post-Pandemic Rebound As changes related to COVID-19 continue to ripple through the business community, resilient organizations are setting themselves up for future success
To call the COVID-19 pandemic an HOW BUSINESSES ADJUSTED TO A NEW NORMAL your employees and externally with your customers and within the community in which you operate.” unprecedented challenge for businesses More than two of every three companies surveyed indicated their business was negatively a ected by the pandemic. Sue contacted by Ipsos and Crain’s Content Studio EXPECT MORE CHANGES AS A NEW NORMAL Duckett, executive vice president at Franklin Capital, a nancial almost undersells its impact. A recent survey BEGINS TO EMERGE conducted by Crain’s Content Studio, Ipsos and services rm in Highland Park, Ill., notes that the immediate Bank of America nds that 86% of companies impact of the pandemic depended on her clients’ industries. Nearly three of four business leaders (73%) expect permanent “Anybody that was dealing with big-box companies—apparel, changes to their industry as a result of the pandemic. In the have re-evaluated, redirected or retooled their the food industry—all of those were being hurt,” she says. “But long run, they most expect to see bene ts from the investments strategy in the past year due to the pandemic. the [personal protective equipment] businesses and anybody their companies have made and will continue to make in Businesses have had to respond to shi ing client that pivoted to that eld suddenly were doing very well.” technology, greater workforce exibility, and a more nimble, needs, workforce changes and supply chain resilient workforce. disruptions. e rapidly evolving situation has Businesses say the top challenges they’ve faced during the o en required quick decisions, as well as periods pandemic include maintaining workforce productivity in a Gary’s Wine and Marketplace had to rapidly add digital of extended uncertainty. remote environment, dealing with reduced customer demand, ordering capability that could be ful lled by curbside deliver- executing an accelerated digital transformation and supply ies, as patrons fearful of a shutdown crowded the company’s chain disruptions. In many cases, they moved quickly to New York-area stores. “It forced an immediate acceleration for Despite these hardships, businesses have address these challenges. Six in 10 businesses report they have us,” says Gary Fisch, the rm’s founder and CEO. “We need to remained generally positive about the future. already completed workforce adjustments designed to keep continue to upgrade the technology because it was not With the arrival of vaccines, most businesses their employees safe and 63% have completed the transition to designed to do as many deliveries as we’re doing—we’ve are optimistic for a return to usual operations remote work. upgraded our phone system, we’ve got queuing now and we’re in the coming months. How much the new going to continue to invest in all that back-end technology,” he normal will resemble the pre-pandemic normal Further adjustments to supply chains and business strategies says. remains an open question, however. In many are more likely to be in the works, however. Another 39% of companies plan to redesign their supply chains, compared to e introduction of digital channels has potential to expand cases, taking advantage of a post-pandemic 41% that have already managed to complete that work. organizations’ reach as things return to normal. Even as some rebound will require businesses to stay exible customers resume in-person transactions, others will stick with as they roll with a whole new set of changes. GrandPad, a California-based manufacturer of tablet computers digital. Still others will take advantage of new opportunities as designed for senior citizens, shi ed its supply chain early on. “ e well. Phil Michaelson, CEO of New York-based Live Auctioneers, Asian supply chain was de nitely disrupted last spring,” says a digital platform for online auctions, sees strong potential to GrandPad’s CEO and co-founder, Scott Lien. “We have worked expand his company’s user base. “We see buyers who are really really closely on more long-term visibility and forecasting, getting excited to participate in multiple auctions on a Saturday morning, more bu er stock in terms of raw materials and parts, and as opposed to just one,” he says. “I envision a future where the keeping more bu er stock of nished goods in the US.” folks who like attending events in person go in person, but also attend other auctions around the world virtually at the same BUSINESSES ARE GENERALLY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE t i m e .” FUTURE STAYING FLEXIBLE WHILE MOVING FORWARD A large majority of decision makers (72%) expect their business to return to usual operations in the next six to 24 months. During the pandemic, business leaders have been forced to deal Business leaders in the technology and nancial services with a massive amount of uncertainty in a short period of time. industries are generally most optimistic about these timelines, Over the long run, companies may build on the exibility and possibly because their rms have seen less negative impact resilience they’ve developed during this period. Katherine from the pandemic than those in other sectors. Executives in Zabloudil, CEO of consumer products manufacturer the the professional services industry tend to see a slower return. Vertical Collective, headquartered in Redondo Beach, California, recalls the moment her team dug into the task of In many cases, leaders’ overall optimism reects an expectation manufacturing personal protective equipment. “At rst we were that the changes they have made during the pandemic will bear just paralyzed, and then a er a couple hours, we basically just fruit in the months and years to come. “I’m not sure there were rolled up our sleeves and started going—calling factories, any new trends that happened during COVID—I think it just calling suppliers and securing airspace on cargo ights, just made certain trends happen faster,” says Amy Binder, CEO of moving quickly. at’s what makes me the most proud of our RF/Binder, a communications and consulting company based company and how we de ne ourselves—the ability to move so in New York City. fast that we don’t even have time to think about fear at all,” she says. “We have a nimble and smart team of people who can Binder sees a more purpose-driven work ethic as a long-term work really quickly and pivot really quickly.” bene t of this period. “ ere’s been a lot of talk in the past couple years about the role of purpose,” she says. “I think companies understand in a very di erent way that your purpose needs to link to what you do, both internally with
METHODOLOGY Ipsos and Crain Communications conducted the Bank of America Better Business Banking Report survey online between October 13th – November 20th, 2020 and January 4th – January 15th, 2021. Responses were collected using an online sample of business decision makers in the United States with annual revenue between $5 million and $99,999,999. From October 13th – November 20th, 2020 Crain’s contacted 73 business decision makers using a propriety list in Chicago, New York, Detroit, Boston, Minneapolis and Houston. From October 13th – November 20th, 2020 Ipsos contacted 751 business decision makers using a pre-recruited online sample of small business owners from across the country outside of the following markets: Seattle, Minneapolis/St Paul, Washington DC, San Francisco/Silicon Valley, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Detroit, Charlotte, San Diego, Boston, Orlando, Phoenix, New York, Miami, Houston, Philadelphia. From January 4th – January 15th, 2021 Ipsos contacted 400 business decision makers using a pre-recruited online sample of small business owners from within the following markets: Seattle, Minneapolis/St Paul, Washington DC, San Francisco/Silicon Valley, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Detroit, Charlotte, San Diego, Boston, Orlando, Phoenix, New York, Miami, Houston, Philadelphia. The nal results for the study are not weighted. ACCOUNTING / CONSULTING Advertising Section Mann Weitz & Associates, Deerfield PEOPLE ON THE MOVE To place your listing, visit www.chicagobusiness.com/peoplemoves Dan Reznick, CPA, or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / [email protected] has been named Tax Department Practice DESIGN / CONSTRUCTION LAW NON-PROFIT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Leader of MWA. Since joining the Firm, Dan, Custom Crafters, Forest Park Latham & Watkins LLP, Chicago American Cancer Society Illinois West Monroe, Chicago with 15 years of experience Board, Chicago in public and private Kris Imala is the new CEO Laura N. Ferrell has West Monroe, a national accounting, and the real estate & Managing Principal been elected a partner Ken Hallman of greater business and technology industry, has been a leader in for Custom Crafters, a at Latham & Watkins in Chicago has joined consulting firm, is the department, impacting client provider of beautifully Chicago, effective March 1. the American Cancer pleased to announce the service and staff development. A handcrafted custom She is a member of Society Illinois Board appointment of Jason graduate of the University of Illinois, furniture, casegoods and the Investment Funds in its mission to save Cutler as managing Dan focuses on putting clients at architectural millwork. Practice in the Corporate lives, celebrate lives, director in its Customer ease by helping them understand Custom Crafters’ reputation for Department who advises a broad and lead the fight Experience practice. Cutler is a complex tax concepts in a simple and outstanding workmanship enables cross-section of the asset management for a world without Hallman recognized Salesforce expert with straightforward manner. He is a board the company to play a key role in industry on complex legal, regulatory, cancer. Ken brings over a diverse background in finance, member at Hair For You Foundation. many projects across the country and compliance matters, including 30 years of general strategy, and operations. He has led for organizations including Chicago SEC examinations and investigations. management, strategic multiple $1 million-plus transformation Blackhawks, DuPage Medical Group In addition to advising leading global planning, and industrial initiatives for financial services, and Northwestern University. “I’m financial services institutions, she also product management & manufacturing, healthcare/life sciences, energized by the creativity, hard work represents a variety of public and development experience. and software clients. He joined the firm and pride that each team member private investment vehicles. He has led several in 2015 through an acquisition. puts into every piece made.” multibillion-dollar product families, including the McNerney PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN LAW Kenmore brand and the Motorola Droid product family. West Monroe, Chicago Kahler Slater, Chicago / Milwaukee Latham & Watkins LLP, Chicago Dr. Megan E. McNerney, M.D., Ph.D. was asked to join the board to consult West Monroe, a national in the development of a pay-if council Kahler Slater is pleased to INSURANCE BROKERAGE Cindy Caillavet Sinclair business and technology announce the promotion has been elected a partner focused on increasing approved consulting firm, is of Tracie Parent to state research project funding. Dr. GCG Financial, Deerfield at Latham & Watkins pleased to announce the Vice President and McNerney is a cancer genomicist Chris in Chicago, effective appointment of Chief Operating Officer. and physician-scientist investigating Stafford as managing GCG Financial has March 1. A member of Parent will continue her how genetic changes alter normal director in its M&A promoted two members the Banking Practice in responsibilities as Chief hematopoiesis and drive cancer. practice. Stafford is a leader in West of its executive team as the Finance Department, Financial Officer and expand her Monroe’s longstanding M&A practice, part of its ongoing efforts she represents financial institutions, duties to be a member of the firm’s focusing on software companies. to accelerate growth and private equity firms, and corporate Executive Team which oversees the He helps software-as-a-service and position the company for borrowers in leveraged finance firm’s strategic direction and planning. NON-PROFIT tech-enabled services companies long-term success, while transactions, such as acquisition Parent will direct the day-to-day navigate complex situations. A trusted continuing to focus on Levitz financings, working capital revolvers, operations of Kahler Slater’s four Embarc, Chicago advisor to PE firms and management delivering an exceptional large cap and middle market cash offices as well providing executive teams, he has led more than 300 client experience. David flow and asset-based lending facilities, direction to her team in finance, Lonnie Thomas, transactions. He joined West Monroe Levitz will now serve as reserve-based lending facilities, and technology, and human resources. debtor-in-possession and exit facilities. Managing Partner of directly from college in 2008. a Managing Partner of Throop Street Capital, the firm, with a focus on has joined Embarc’s corporate growth and new Board of Directors. REAL ESTATE business development. LAW Lonnie will support Carla DeMello will Embarc in transforming Patrinely Group, Chicago succeed Levitz as DeMello Robbins, Salomon & Patt, Ltd., Chicago’s education system into the Chicago Patrinely Group, LLC, CONSTRUCTION President, Employee most experiential and equitable in Benefits, with responsibility for the the country. Lonnie founded Throop a national real estate Robbins, Salomon & Patt, firm, announces the Bulley & Andrews Masonry strategic direction of the employee Street Capital, a Chicago-based Ltd., a full-service law addition of Jon Levy as Restoration, LLC, Chicago benefits business along with all firm specializing in investing and aspects of client experience and firm in the Chicagoland managing assets in challenging Executive Vice President operations oversight. The move makes area, is pleased to to help lead its growing Joshua Freedland urban areas to help our city stay DeMello the highest ranking woman announce veteran development team. joined Bulley & Andrews thriving and prosperous. at GCG, and one of very few women attorney Rita W. Garry Levy joins Patrinely Group with over Masonry Restoration, nationally to serve as president of such has joined the firm’s 20 years of experience in the real the nation’s leading a large employee benefits business. Chicago Office as a member of estate industry, most recently at terra cotta and façade the Business Transactions Group. NON-PROFIT Amazon and previously at Pircher, restoration contractor, Garry’s extensive work with her Nichols & Meeks. As a part of the as Director of Historic client base involves many enterprise Embarc, Chicago Patrinely team, he will lead the Preservation. During his 20+ year matters including choice of entity and industrial platform for the company, career, Joshua’s expertise has governance, employment, finance, which will focus on build-to-suit benefited hundreds of significant LAW Danny Wirtz, Vice real estate, mergers and acquisitions, Chairman of Breakthru and speculative development for buildings including Prudential Plaza, commercial contracting, software warehouse and e-commerce users. Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the Benesch Law, Chicago Beverage and Chief licensing, and data privacy and Executive Officer of the Washington Monument. Joshua cybersecurity compliance. brings an exceptional depth of Ryan T. Sulkin has Chicago Blackhawks has knowledge in investigation, analysis joined Benesch as a joined Embarc’s Board of Directors. His work and recommendations that BAMR Partner in the firm’s WELLNESS will leverage on assignments across Innovations, Information with Embarc will help grow their mission of educating students while the country. Technology & Intellectual Studio Three, Chicago Property (3iP) Practice breaking down barriers that prevent NON-PROFIT journeys to successful careers and Group. Ryan’s practice Studio Three, Chicago’s resides squarely at the intersection inspired futures. Danny is the Vice American Cancer Society Illinois Chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks leader in group of technology and data. He regularly fitness innovation, has advises clients with respect to Board, Chicago Foundation whose vision is a healthier, smarter, more secure world announced Richard complex technology transactions, Earney as President. including SaaS, cloud, software John T. Greene, a for families in and around Chicago. newer business leader In this newly added DESIGN / BUILD development, professional services, role, Earney will further and outsourcing arrangements. to the state, joined Discover Financial Studio Three’s award-winning fitness Ventana, Chicago PHARMACEUTICAL environment, implement innovative LAW Services in September 2019 as Chief Financial programming experiences, lead Merry Wirth has Officer. John adds a Orphazyme US, Inc., Chicago the group’s team of elite fitness been named Director Latham & Watkins LLP, Chicago trove of leadership Greene instructors, and strategize for the of Preconstruction at experience to the ACS Izabella Tyszler is Vice brand’s continued growth. Earney Ventana, a Chicago- Nineveh Alkhas has Illinois Board. Like too President of Marketing joins Studio Three with 23 years based designer, supplier been elected a partner many people, he has and Field Execution at of experience steering premier and installer of curtain at Latham & Watkins in experienced a personal Orphazyme. She joined fitness programs throughout North wall façade systems. Chicago, effective March 1. loss from cancer and the company as a member America, Europe, and Australasia. Merry brings over 20 years of She is a member of the is driven to make a of its U.S. leadership experience in managing building Benefits, Compensation difference in every team. She has more than enclosure systems and vendor & Employment Practice in aspect of the fight. 15 years of healthcare experience, relationships. In her new role, the Tax Department who focuses her Carlos F. Cata is the including most recently as Senior she will ensure that estimates are practice on labor and employment Cata managing partner of Director of U.S. Marketing for Novartis accurate, complete and reflect law, advising clients in corporate Caldwell’s Chicago office and a Gene Therapies ( formerly known the requirements of world-class transactions and counseling on member of the Financial Services, as AveXis Inc). Tyszler is a graduate residential and commercial towers. day-to-day employment matters. Consumer, & Marketing, Sales & of DePaul University. Orphazyme Merry holds an MBA from DePaul She capitalizes on her employment Strategy Officers practices. Carlos is a late-stage biopharmaceutical University and a BS in biology from litigation and counseling experience has extensive experience recruiting company preparing to launch its first To order frames or plaques Loyola University Chicago. to assess risks and strategize with impactful senior leaders across rare disease treatment. of profiles contact respect to labor and employment multiple industry sectors, with a Lauren Melesio matters implicated in a deal. at strong focus on companies seeking [email protected] or transformational growth. 212-210-0707 CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 15, 2021 15
COMMUNITY VOICES: The more who participate in the local ecomomy, the better everyone does. PAGE 16 NEWS TO USE: Concrete suggestions from a pair of experts. PAGE 19 REAL ESTATE: How contract selling devastated Black CRAIN’S CHICATHEGO WEALTH BUSINESS GAP homeowners. PAGE 17
MAKING THE GAME FAIR How the enormous disparity in fortunes of white and Black Chicagoans came John Gri n Jr. and his wife, Denitra Gri n, own about, and what’s being done to try to security rm AGB, where 92 percent of employees remedy it. BY JUDITH CROWN are minorities. “When you contract with us, you are helping to bridge the wealth gap,” Denitra Gri n says. JOHN R. BOEHM R. JOHN
e wealth of a typical Black Black families had a median fund educational programs, hir- holds. White families owned 85 REDLINING AND PREDATORY LENDING family in the United States is wealth (assets minus debt) of ing and training, mortgage and percent of household wealth but Starting in the 1930s, Black about 13 percent of a white fam- $23,000 as of 2019, compared to business lending and economic represented only 66 percent of families encountered redlining, ily. For a Hispanic family, it’s $184,000 for white families, ac- development. Will this round households, the report says. the practice of mapping Black about 21 percent. And the aver- cording to the Federal Reserve of action change the equation? Hispanic families fared slight- neighborhoods as a warning to age median household income Bank of St. Louis. “ at’s not a “ ere’s no shortcut,” Moore ly better, with median wealth of mortgage lenders, isolating them for Black families is about 60 per- gap, it’s a black hole,” says Ralph says. “You have to build capaci- $38,000, but there is still a chasm and discouraging investment. cent of the average income for a Moore, a veteran consultant in t y .” when compared to white house- Realtors steered Black families white family. supplier diversity and minori- e wealth gap has remained holds. away from white neighborhoods. ose stark numbers tell us ty business development. Since fairly constant for 30 years, ac- What’s to blame for the huge Predatory housing contracts much about the wealth gap, that gap isn’t going to be nar- cording to a December report gap? e legacy of slavery and during the 1950s and 1960s si- a phrase that has become the rowed anytime soon, the more by the St. Louis Fed. Overall, 82 Jim Crow prevented generations phoned capital from Black fam- shorthand term for the enor- immediate and practical task percent of Black families had of Black families from building ilies with big markups and pu- mous disparity in the fortunes of ahead is to increase Black and less wealth than the typical white wealth. “In addition, there were nitive terms. Contract buyers white and minority families that Hispanic household income and family in 2019. As a group, Black many wealth-stripping practic- accumulated no equity until their has been underscored in the past wealth, he says. families owned 3 percent of total es,” says Ana Hernandez Kent, home was paid o and they could year following the police killing Area corporations have em- household wealth, an amount policy analyst at the Federal Re- easily be evicted. A 2019 study by of George Floyd and focus on sys- braced the moment and an- unchanged from 2016, despite serve Bank of St. Louis Center for temic racism. nounced millions of dollars to making up 15 percent of house- Household Financial Stability. See WEALTH on Page 18
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P015-P019_CCB_20210315.indd 15 3/12/21 12:22 PM 16 MARCH 15, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
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COMMUNITY VOICES Our economy is not a zero-sum game can’t claim to be a sports expert, taxes, spend money and contribute to but I know that the Bears, Bulls and more stable neighborhoods. IBlackhawks wouldn’t be very com- e private sector has a major petitive if they left two-thirds of their role to play, as well. Businesses can players on the bench every game. expand the pool of people from which Yet, as Chicago ghts to come back they hire. Aon and Accenture are from the impacts of the COVID-19 examples of local companies that are pandemic, that’s precisely what we’re bringing people to the workforce from doing—by allowing the wealth gap non-traditional backgrounds. Initia- with Black and Latinx residents to tives such as OneTen, through which persist. businesses have committed to hiring Helene D. Gayle is As local economies everywhere one million Black Americans over president and CEO struggle to recover, Chicago’s is lag- the next 10 years in family-sustaining of the Chicago ging the nation. Even more worri- jobs, can play an important role. Community Trust, some, one-third of Chicago’s young Businesses also can use their dollars which is a sponsor people don’t see their futures here. di erently. For example, deposit- of Crain’s Equity. In rebuilding our economy, both ing their money in banks that make our health care system and expanded ing the health care gap. Increasing now and for the long term, we need a point of lending in disinvested unemployment bene ts for laid-o opportunities to grow household to make sure that everybody is in the communities will encourage more workers. e federal Paycheck Protec- wealth. Investing more in disinvested game. banks to start serving Black- and Lat- tion Program has provided billions of neighborhoods. Engaging communi- When it comes to growing our local inx-owned businesses and entrepre- dollars to keep workers on the payroll ties that do not typically have a seat at economy, all Chicagoans are team- neurs. And by procuring more prod- and small businesses from closing the table. All of these actions will grow mates. e more who participate, ucts and services from vendors owned their doors for good. our economy and improve the quality the more we produce and the better by people of color, as the University State and city lending programs of life for all. everyone does. Conversely, the more of Chicago has begun, local enter- have followed suit. While imperfect, Our economy is not a zero-sum people who are excluded from oppor- prises can enable those businesses to the result of these changes has meant game. When those who traditionally tunity, the more di cult it is for our succeed. far less economic damage and job- are left out get the chance to succeed, region to compete. We’re playing the e COVID-19 pandemic has shut lessness than was forecast and hopes we all do better. eir progress doesn’t game shorthanded, but it doesn’t have down large portions of Chicago’s for a quicker recovery when the pan- come at someone else’s expense. to be this way. economy. Service industries, such demic nally ends. We should learn Instead, everybody gains. Government can help by adopt- as hotels and restaurants, have been from this experience by maintaining So as Chicago rebuilds its economy ing policies that expand the pie and particularly hard hit. Recognizing the the momentum after COVID, making after the ravages of the coronavirus, spread the wealth. Developing inno- negative impact on workers and small sure that our economy continues to we should be guided by the principles vative approaches like child savings businesses, governments at every lev- expand. of equity, opportunity and prosperity. accounts, expanding job training el have stepped up with strong rescue Let’s bring this same commitment Let’s put our strongest team on the programs and ensuring a living wage plans. to solving the conditions that con- eld by making sure that everyone will result in more workers who pay We’ve seen major investments in strain our economic future. Address- plays. Blacks lag in investing in stocks, saving for retirement
But an Ariel-Schwab survey nds a rising number of younger HOW COVID 19 IMPACTED FINANCES Black people are getting into the market for the rst time BLACK AMERICANS WHITE AMERICANS Cut spending/extras 50% 41% BY WENDELL HUTSON level since Ariel Investments, a Chicago-based investment rm, Cut spending/basics 19% 13% Black people continue to lag conducted its rst survey in 1998. behind their white peers when Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ari- Dipped into emergency fund 18% 10% it comes to investing in the stock el, noted that 51 percent of whites market, saving for retirement and say they have inherited wealth, Financially supported family/friends 18% 13% building long-term wealth. compared with just 23 percent of Delayed/deferred student loan payment 16% 5% ose are the ndings from a Blacks. new Ariel-Schwab Black Investor Not surprisingly, the pandemic Borrowed money from plan* 12% 5% survey, released last month. played a big part in how investors, One reason for the disparity is both Black and white, performed Asked family/friends for financial support 9% 4% trust, which historically has been a in 2020 but clearly impacted Blacks *For 401(k) participants. Source: Ariel-Schwab Black Investor survey major factor within the Black com- more, the survey found. munity when it comes to investing. More Blacks reported cutting Blacks (23 percent) and whites (20 spending on both extras (50 per- earning $100,000 per year. e sur- 401(k) accounts than Blacks ($231). much as whites. In 2020, three percent) are similar in their belief cent versus 41 percent for whites) vey found that those earners save Blacks are less likely than whites times as many Black investors as that nancial services rms cannot and basics (19 percent versus 13 or invest much less than whites to have a written will, nancial white investors (15 percent versus be trusted, but only 35 percent of percent). Since the pandemic be- with the same income. plans or retirement plans, the 5 percent) reported investing in the Black investors surveyed said they gan last year, student loan provid- For decades Blacks (63 per- survey found. White (44 percent) stock market for the rst time. And felt respected by nancial institu- ers reported higher loan deferrals cent) have gotten their rst taste and Black Americans (33 percent) 29 percent of Blacks were new to tions versus 62 percent for white from Blacks (16 percent) than of investments through a 401(k) said that preparing for retirement investing, compared with 16 per- investors. All the more reason why whites (5 percent). plan. And while ownership rates is their most important nancial cent for whites. Blacks (21 percent) are less likely to While Blacks save $393 overall of 401(k) plans are now similar goal. e online survey, conducted by work with nancial advisers as op- per month, whites are saving 76 between Blacks (53 percent) and e trends could be changing: Helical Research, was done in De- posed to whites (45 percent). percent more, $693 per month. whites (55 percent), savings rates Blacks (63 percent) under age 40 cember 2020 and included 2,104 Black participation in the stock at number does not change remain unequal. Whites invest 26 (mainly new investors) are now Americans age 18 and older whose market in 2020 stood at its lowest much for upper-income Blacks percent more per month ($291) in investing in the stock market as 2019 income was $50,000 or higher.
P015-P019_CCB_20210315.indd 16 3/12/21 1:56 PM CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 15, 2021 17
The toll of racism in Chicago’s real estate market How contract selling—a ‘color tax’—devastated Black homeowners BY WHET MOSER e legacy of racism in Chica- go’s real estate market has been told extensively in recent years. But what was its toll? In 2019, a consortium of researchers from Duke University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Loyola University Chicago put a number to it: $3 billion to $4 billion was extracted from Black communities in the city in Bruce Orenstein the 1950s and 1960s through the practice of contract selling, a rent-to-own model that Black families were forced into by public policy and private mar- kets. Between 75 percent and 95 percent of all homes sold to Black buyers during those decades were on contract. Unable to get mortgages, pre- vented from moving into white neighborhoods by violent resis- This Chicago Tribune photo used in the documentary shows a crowd on the South Side confronting police over evictions in the 1970s. tance, contract buyers typically paid 84 percent markups on the it’s an easy process for a preda- dale and eventually purchased houses they could buy, at several tory contract seller to get them a home in Skokie in 1962, just a points more in interest. On av- evicted. It only cost like $4.50 to couple years’ di erence between erage, Black families paid $587 go to court and le an eviction when Clyde Ross (a subject of more per month as a result—what contract. Whereas if someone the documentary) purchased his the report calls a “color tax.” had a mortgage, there would be home in Lawndale. My father and at meant less money in a whole process to protect the mother paid $27,000 for a brand retirement accounts, less money homeowner. new three-bedroom, two-bath for education, and less money house in Skokie. Clyde Ross to maintain those houses. ose What does that do to a neigh- paid $27,000 for his greystone in who couldn’t keep up with the borhood? Lawndale. additional expense could be Contracts bled families of their My parents paid less on their evicted easily with no equity from disposable income so that they mortgage than Clyde Ross paid their investment. had little money to invest other- on his contract, even though We spoke with Bruce Oren- wise. And they had a hard time Clyde Ross made more money stein, the study’s project director, getting repairs, because they than my father made. My father were always having to meet this drove a cab and later on had a WHITE AMERICANS about the e ects of redlining and contract buying on fami- The Chicago Commission on Human Relations has a map of attacks on Blacks moving into white monthly contract bill. is was small delivery service, which was lies, neighborhoods and cities. neighborhoods around the 1950s. pretty old housing stock to begin him in his station wagon. Clyde Orenstein, artist in residence at with that needed repair in the Ross put more money down on the Samuel DuBois Cook Center working in government. ey’re of a neighborhood, and they rst place. his house in Lawndale than my on Social Equity at Duke Univer- doctors, lawyers. An educated, would make some money o of And on top of that, in order father had to put down on his sity, is producing a documentary Black middle class is burgeoning the white family because they to get more income, they would house in Skokie, and had a higher series, “Shame of Chicago: e during these years. But they can’t were able to buy low, and they often divide up their house into interest rate. In the 1980s, my Segregation of an American City.” get loans from banks because of were able to turn around and sell other units and rent out rooms. mother sold our house for over the determination of these redlin- their house for 80 percent or 90 So the neighborhood became way $300,000. Today, Clyde’s house CRAIN’S: How does redlining ing policies. percent or more. overpopulated. still isn’t worth $200,000. force Black families into con- Black families were willing to At the same time, you have tract selling? Why not move into non-redlined pay that because there wasn’t any redlining, which meant that the Chicago has gotten a lot of focus for its history of redlin- ORENSTEIN: In the 1950s and neighborhoods? alternative for owning a home. So banks were not investing in the ing and contract selling. Were ’60s, you’ve got this post-WWII It was reinforced by violence. they paid this extra kind of color businesses and the community. things worse here? economic boom, and owning a Bombings that took place as tax. It was a forced market in You couldn’t get a loan even if home became the centerpiece of Black families tried to move into which people selling the con- you had the money. Let’s say I don’t think that’s true at all. I the American Dream. But the real white neighborhoods, year after tracts were able to charge those you’re a contract owner. You think it happened all over the estate industry, whose policy was year after year. e segregation exorbitant rates. couldn’t go to a bank and get a country. Because the redlining federal policy, had determined was enforced by policies, but also loan to improve your property, maps, and the policies, and the that certain neighborhoods people’s attitudes. Underlying it What’s the problem with because your community was practices in the banking and real were not worthy of investment. all was the threat of violence. contract selling? redlined. So the disinvestment estate industry were similar—in In those neighborhoods, Black In a contract, you don’t get that took place on top of the Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, families were unable to take What does this do to the mar- any equity. You pay it o at the fact that so many families were Baltimore, all over urban centers. advantage of federally backed ket? end of the contract, or halfway struggling. We’re the only ones to do a study loans that allowed white people If Black families wanted a home, through. And you have none of that measures it, but we’ve had to enter the middle class. ey’re they would have to turn to the safeguards that people who What does that look like to an inquiries from other cities on working at the post o ce. ey’re contracts. e contract seller had mortgages have. Oftentimes, individual family? how to go about doing that kind working in the education system, would scare a white family out if they missed a payment or two, My parents grew up in Lawn- of research.
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WEALTH Continued from Page 15
researchers at Duke University in tan areas, the report said. collaboration with policy groups “At the end of the day, the at the University of Illinois at Chi- challenge to home ownership is cago, Roosevelt University and meeting the underwriting condi- Loyola University Chicago found tions,” says Lowell Ricketts, lead the contracts cost Black families analyst at the Center for House- in Chicago between $3 billion hold Financial Stability. “You and $4 billion in wealth. need enough wealth for a down ere were more subtle forces payment.” at work, too. Although Black vet- e language that frames the erans returning from service in discussion of poverty isn’t help- World War II were eligible for tu- ful, says Audra Wilson, CEO of ition assistance under the GI Bill, the Shriver Center on Poverty they were barred from enrolling Law. “It’s accusatory and as- in state universities in the South. sumes people are responsible for And although Black workers tech- the conditions in which they nd nically were eligible for Social Se- themselves,” Wilson says. e curity bene ts, the system barred terminology has existed for cen- agricultural workers, who were turies. In Elizabethan England, disproportionately Black. And poor people were either worthy, white families rarely paid Social such as widows and orphans, or Security bene ts for domestic unworthy, the shiftless and lazy. workers, also disproportionately Modern-day narratives are racial-
African American and Hispanic. ly charged, Wilson notes, point- BOEHM R. JOHN In the early 2000s housing bub- ing to the stereotype of the Cadil- Audra Wilson, CEO of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, says the language that frames the discussion of poverty isn’t helpful. ble, predatory lenders steered lac-driving welfare queen. low-income families to subprime en there’s a double stan- ned, she says. make up for opportunity gaps (the and possible career paths,” says loans with excessive interest dard: Is government aid a hand- Education is a key piece of the barriers they face due to race, eth- executive director Kara Kennedy. rates, prepayment penalties or out or an investment? Settlers in equation, and disparities begin nicity or socioeconomic circum- “We took a group to CDW head- other onerous terms that dispro- the American frontier received early. e ability to read pro - stances) and resource inequities quarters (in Vernon Hills) and you portionately hurt Black and His- tracks of land under the Home- ciently by fourth grade is a power- and prepare all students for col- could see which of the workspac- panic borrowers. stead Act that enabled them to ful predictor of future success, ac- lege and careers,” Figueira says. es—warehouse, oce and sales at legacy hindered oppor- build wealth. e government cording to the nonpro t Advance Education is absolutely neces- room—resonated. e exposure tunities to build wealth through subsidizes many industries: corn Illinois. In 2017, just 15 percent of sary but insucient to address enables students to ne-tune homeownership, buying stocks and soybean farmers, oil and Black students read pro ciently the wealth gap, says Brian Fabes, their interests and home in on or simply building savings. In gas exploration and air and rail by fourth grade compared to 22 managing director of the Cor- what they want to do.” Chicago the home ownership rate transportation. “ ere are plenty percent of Latino students and porate Coalition, which seeks to Guiding high school gradu- among Black families was only 34 of points in history where we’ve 47 percent of white students. Just reduce severe inequities in the ates to higher education and/or percent for the ve years ending made strategic investments in the 2 out of every 10 students from Chicago region. “If parents are good-paying jobs that o er a ca- in 2019, compared to 45 percent population for a bene t,” Wilson low-income homes read at grade working two low-wage jobs and reer path is critical, experts say. for all households and 51 percent says. level by fourth grade, compared keep getting laid o , how do they e average median household for white families, according to to half of their more a uent class- nd the time and knowledge to income for Black families in 2017 the St. Louis Fed. THE FUTURE IS STEM mates. guide their school-age children was $40,258, about 60 percent of National data for the fourth Shrinking the wealth gap, or at ere’s progress at the second- and also gain access to education- the average income for a white quarter of 2020 from the St. Lou- least improving the income and ary level, with three-quarters of al opportunities to nd better jobs family of $68,145, according to is Fed shows 44 percent of Black wealth of minority families, re- Black students graduating high for themselves?” Skills for Chicagoland’s Future families owning homes, lagging quires a variety of strategies, a school, up 7 percentage points Community organizations are and the Economic Policy Insti- the 66 percent ownership for all fresh mindset and persistence, ex- since 2012. For Latinos and stu- trying to ll gaps at Chicago Pub- tute. households and 75 percent for perts say. It’s not that there’s been dents from low-income house- lic Schools and other districts to e average unemployment white families. a lack of e ort in the past—dozens holds, the graduation rates are focus middle and high school rate for African Americans last Moreover, typical Black-owned if not hundreds of nonpro ts aim even higher. Between third and students on career opportunities, year was 14.4 percent, outpacing homes are worth about 37 per- to ll gaps in education, job train- eighth grades, the academic particularly in STEM elds. e Hispanics at 12 percent and the cent less than typical homes in ing and community development. growth of Black and Latino stu- nonpro t Lumity brings African general population at 9.1 percent, the market, according to a report Past e orts have su ered from a dents equals or outpaces their American and Hispanic profes- according to the Illinois Depart- released earlier this year by Zil- lack of coordination and scale, white peers, says Melissa Figueira, sionals to talk about their career ment of Employment Security. low. e gap between the value Wilson says. ere have been senior policy adviser at Advance journeys and opportunities in Black and Latino workers were of Black-owned homes and the successes that changed people’s Illinois. technology. hit hard because large numbers overall value of homes in the re- lives, such as the A ordable Care “But the current rate of growth Lumity also brings students work in industries punished by gion is larger than in any of the Act. Initiatives have to be more while signi cant, is neither to area companies, which helps the pandemic such as restaurants, other 10-largest U.S. metropoli- concentrated, deliberate and re- far-reaching nor fast enough to students “start seeing their future hospitality and travel, says Rick-
DISPARITY BY THE NUMBERS White Black Hispanic MEDIAN FAMILY’S WEALTH, 2019 PERCENTAGES OF HOUSEHOLDS MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD WEALTH BY RACE/ETHNICITY AND EDUCATION, 2019 $597,000 Each block equals $1,000 THAT ARE MILLIONAIRES, 2019 $600,000 15% 500,000 2% 3% 400,000 $298,000 300,000 $243,000 PERCENTAGES OF FAMILIES $184,000 THAT WERE IN DEBT, 2019 200,000 $115,000 $132,000 $115,000 8% $47,000 $47,000 $45,000 $77,000 100,000 $10,000 $38,000 $43,000 $51,000 18% $8,000 $14,000 0 $23,000 12% Less than high school High school Associate Bachelor’s Postgraduate Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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etts of the St. Louis Fed. Lakes States. “We have to focus COMMUNITY VOICES One way to reduce the gap: on creating opportunities, so Black-owned companies hiring residents can look to a better fu- Black employees. ture,” Mitchell says. African American-owned Improving income and wealth AGB, which o ers guard and pa- also requires revitalizing South Concrete ways to help trol services, ngerprinting and and West Side neighborhoods cybersecurity, recruits workers that have been hollowed by the from impoverished neighbor- loss of manufacturing jobs and hoods: 92 percent of employees an exodus of Black residents to are minority, and 76 percent live the suburbs, surrounding coun- bridge the wealth gap in communities where unem- ties and the South. ployment is 40 percent or high- Entire communities thrived er. around steel mills and factories e wealth gap—better described that invest in the African AGB, which stands for “al- that paid good, solid wages with as a chasm—is well documented. American community. ways giving back,” was founded which you could raise a fam- We asked two local executives for 20 years ago on the South Side ily, says Wilson of the Shriver concrete suggestions about how w Create a health care fund by John Gri n Jr. and his wife, Center. When the plants closed businesspeople and government that will subsidize health care Denitra Gri n, and has grown there was nothing to replace can help bridge it. for companies located in the to more than 800 employees. It them and communities on the African American community. serves Fortune 100 companies, South Side became blighted as Jessica Droste Yagan, who notes utilities, government agencies businesses shuttered and the that Chicago is one of the most 2. African American entrepre- and retailers. downtown areas became “fro- segregated cities in America with neurs cannot get access to capital. “My husband and I tell com- zen in time,” Wilson says. some of the most devastating in- Jessica Droste Yagan and Ronald E. Damper Create a consortium bank to panies, ‘When you contract with Community development in equalities in access to education, piggyback on the Community us, you are helping to bridge the these neighborhoods is compli- health care and transportation, scheduling more exible (know- Reinvestment Act. wealth gap,’ ” Denitra Gri n says. cated and requires multiple lay- is CEO of Impact Engine. Impact ing most minimum-wage workers
JOHN R. BOEHM R. JOHN “We hire African American peo- ers of capital such as tax credits Engine is a Chicago-based ven- have to work multiple jobs). 3. Create programs to increase the ple. We develop and train them and tax-increment nancing ture-capital and private- equity number of African American high and o er livable wages.” district designation. e non- rm investing in companies w Use your purchasing power to school graduates. Equally important, Gri n pro t Chicago Neighborhood driving positive impacts in edu- buy from local Black or Latinx says, is o ering a career path. Initiatives spent the better part cation, economic empowerment, businesses, or businesses like w A program similar to the “From the rst day of onboard- of a decade on a revitalization health and environmental sus- B corporations that proactively Peace Corps, earned repayment ing, we show employees the op- of the Pullman neighborhood, tainability. Here are her ideas: manage their impacts on the amortization (ERA), in which portunities for them to grow,” coordinating $370 million in community. student debt would be forgiven Gri n says. ey can be pro- investment and creating 1,500 w Invest in or make deposits at for time spent working in moted in rank and responsibil- jobs. e initiative attracted a banks or Community Develop- From Ronald E. Damper, found- African American communities. ity or to a position at headquar- Walmart, a Whole Foods dis- ment Financial Institutions (CD- er and president of Damron ters. One employee who started tribution center and a plant FIs) which serve underinvested Enterprises, which operates 4. Reduce incarceration rates for as a security o cer earning $14 operated by a manufacturer of neighborhoods. Damron Packaging & Logistics in nonviolent o enses. an hour is now a regional direc- green cleaning products. CNI Chicago: tor of operations managing rev- teamed with other groups on w Invest in local funds that are 5. Establish phased-in minimum enue of $2 million. the development of an Engle- intentionally aligning nancial 1. Increase the number of job wage increase. e company generated rev- wood retail center anchored and social returns. opportunities in the African enue of $28.4 million in 2019 by a Whole Foods Market that American community by o ering 6. Commit to a holistic govern- and ranks No. 23 on the Crain’s opened in 2016. And it’s working w Hire LiftUp Enterprises, Cleans- low-cost loans to small businesses mental approach with speci c list of Chicago’s biggest minori- with a team of developers on the late, Purpose Workforce or other departments addressing speci c ty-owned businesses. Revenue Bronzeville Lakefront project organizations o ering employ- w SBA (Forgivable) loans issues. We need a task force com- grew 17.1 percent from the year that includes redevelopment of ment to those who have been left similar to those triggered by prised of departments of com- before. the former Michael Reese Hos- out. COVID. Create programs to do merce, housing and banking to pital. this all year long. develop solutions for these issues. REBUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP “We need to rebuild commu- w Be proactive in helping your Large corporate employees nities from the ground up and low-wage workers sustain them- w Eliminate penalties for 401(k) 7. Tie executive compensation to also are trying to move the nee- from within,” says CNI Presi- selves. If you can’t pay more, withdrawals for workers in the diversity and inclusion goals. For dle. Companies in the Chicago dent David Doig, a veteran of think about practices like paying African American community. this e ort to advance, it must start Apprentice Network that was community development and wages more often (so they can at the top and be incentivized for founded by Aon, Accenture and former superintendent of the avoid payday loans) or making w Reduce taxes for companies real top-down commitment. Zurich o er full-time, entry-lev- Chicago Park District. “at way el jobs to full-time students at you start to bring population, community colleges. More than jobs and retail back so people 40 companies recently were of- that live there can bene t and fering 800 apprentice roles. not feel that they have to leave e nonpro t Skills for Chicagoland’s Fu- ture recruits and trains THERE’S OPTIMISM ABOUT A NEW unemployed and un- deremployed Cook ERA OF MORE OPPORTUNITY. County job seekers for dozens of companies. Since its to get what they need.” start in 2012, it has placed more ere’s optimism that the than 8,000 workers for 100 em- turbulence of 2020 will usher ployers including Bank of Amer- in an era of more opportunity. ica, CDW, McDonald’s, PepsiCo e Floyd killing highlighted the and Walgreens. inequities that exist but also es- AT&T in 2018 opened a call tablished a platform where Afri- center in the Horner Park neigh- can Americans can speak open- borhood and sta ed it with ly of the challenges, says Denitra employees recruited from 19 Gri n of AGB. neighborhoods on the South “e good thing is that there’s and West sides most a ected by willingness to be open, to high unemployment and gun vi- change and to listen,” she says. olence. e telecom giant hired “I think there’s substance be- more than 600 workers from hind the changed behavior. It’s these neighborhoods for jobs not just checking the box. is is at call centers and retail stores, providing a glimpse to people of says Eileen Mitchell, president what success can look like and
of AT&T Illinois and AT&T Great change your life.” GETTY IMAGES
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æ`ÛiÀÌÃ}-iVÌ CLASSIFIEDS “SPACs ARE A To place your listing, contact Claudia Hippel at 312-659-0076 COMPENSATION or email [email protected] .www.chicagobusiness.com/classi eds SCHEME, LIKE PEOPLE USED BUSINESS FOR SALE LEGAL SERVICES TO SAY ABOUT OWN A SUCCESSFUL OPERATING Car Wash, Detail Shop & Parking Facility DADS’ RIGHTS! HEDGE FUNDS, in Wilmette Illinois. Great location & customer base. Motivated seller! BUT IT’S EVEN EMAIL: John at [email protected] WORSE.” Bill Ackman, Follow Our Victories ! CAREER OPPORTUNITIES hedge fund manager GRUBHUB HOLDINGS, INC. seeks JR. DECISION SCIENTIST LOANS in Chicago, IL to build & deploy routing MULTIFAMILY REAL ESTATE LOANS algorithms at scale to improve the business. $500,000 to $5,000,000 Apply at jobpostingtoday.com REF: 26114. Great Rates and E cient Closing Times DEVON BANK CALL 7734232527 BLOOMBERG CAREER OPPORTUNITIES CHICAGO • ORLAND PARK • BRIDGEVIEW MEMBER FDIC. EQUAL HOUSING LENDER. GRUBHUB HOLDINGS, INC. seeks w THE SPAC TSUNAMI SENIOR INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEER SPACs: A huge in Chicago, IL to plan, analyze, design, RETAIL SPACE FOR RENT Special-purpose acquisition companies once were a small part of the IPO market. Now implement, & maintain systems & networks, they dominate. virtual machines, container solutions, Downtown Chicago Loop storefront upside for little open source apps, & a variety of databases on ground fl oor at 22 E. Adams IPOs MONEY RAISED in both cloud & on on-premise hosting btwn State & Wabash, 1500 SF, clean/ready space Percentage of total that are SPACs Total IPOs Percentage of total that are SPACs Total raised environments. Applicants may apply ½ block to Adam L, 1 ½ block to Art Instit./Mlnl. Pk investment https://www.jobpostingtoday.com/ 773 354 3940 Brad 500 456 $200 billion REF # 68194. $167.7 SPACs from Page 1 400 150 SPAC founders raise money for LAW acquisitions in public o erings of 300 265 AUCTIONS $90.9 SPAC shares. In most cases, they 232 211 100 QUESTIONS? We got ANSWERS! advertising opportunities available 189 54% get 20 percent of the SPAC for 200 $60.8 $62.5 77% $49.4 49% HALE & MONICO To advertise contact $25,000, or less than 1 cent per 111 72% 50 (312) 500-2951 Claudia Hippel share, while outside investors typ- 100 $24.3 [email protected] ically pay $10 a share. Sponsors 20% 18% 22% HaleMonico.com 12% 18% 20% 28% 15% 312-659-0076 also generally put up $5 million 0 0 Injury Attorneys to $10 million for warrants to buy ‘16 ‘17 ‘18 ‘19 ‘20 ‘21 ‘16 ‘17 ‘18 ‘19 ‘20 ‘21 3 percent to 4 percent of the SPAC Source: Dealogic shares at or slightly above the IPO price, usually $11.50 per share. e founder’s shares and war- Investor. “In a hedge fund, you get incentive could be too strong. rants become worthless if the 15 to 20 percent of the pro t,” he “ e sponsor has a choice: If the SPAC doesn’t nd an acquisition said. “Here you get 20 percent of SPAC liquidates, they get no value within two years, unless share- the company.” from their shares, and they lose the OUR READERS ARE holders agree to an extension. But Tontine insiders put up $65 mil- up-front investment they made. If 125% MORE LIKELY if sponsors close a deal, they’re in lion for warrants priced at $24, the SPAC merges, they get shares line for a big payday after a lock-up compared with the $20 price inves- that will almost certainly be worth TO INFLUENCE period, which usually lasts a year. tors paid for their shares in the IPO. much more than the sponsor paid OFFICE SPACE “ ey basically pay a fair price “Our sponsor and our independent for them, even if those shares drop for the warrants but give them- directors will only participate in the well below $10 per share,” says Mi- DECISIONS selves stock for next to nothing,” value of our company if our stock chael Ohlrogge, an assistant profes- says Jay Ritter, a nance profes- price is at least 20 percent higher sor at New York University School sor at the University of Florida’s than the initial o ering price,” the of Law, who co-authored a study Warrington School of Business. company’s ling says. on SPACs. “Basically, there’s abso- “On average they’ve been really Caltabiano and his fellow spon- lutely no reason for a SPAC sponsor great deals for the sponsors. Even sors of Choice Consolidation, a to ever let the SPAC liquidate, if the though some wind up with no Chicago-based cannabis SPAC sponsor can possibly avoid it.” merger, and the sponsor loses ev- that raised $172 million, bought Jay Clayton, former chairman of erything, others resulted in hun- $37.5 million worth of shares at the Securities & Exchange Com- dreds of percent returns.” the o er price, in addition to $5 mission, raised the issue last fall. More than 200 new SPACs have million for warrants, as well as the “One of the areas in the SPAC been announced so far this year, founder’s shares that cost $25,000. space I’m particularly focused on, pitting these teams against each e sponsor group of Wasson’s and my colleagues are particularly other in a race to nd deals before SPAC, Foresight Acquisition, got focused on, is the incentives and their time runs out. A hedge fund founder’s shares and bought $8.3 compensation to the SPAC spon- mogul and a former SEC chairman million worth of shares at the o er sors,” he said in a CNBC interview have questioned whether such all- price in a $325 million IPO. Sept. 24. “How much of the equity or-nothing propositions create “We felt it was important to do they have now? How much of fundamental con icts of interest show our commitment to the deal the equity do they have at the time that should be disclosed or even by putting in an outsize amount of the IPO-like transaction? What disallowed. Insurers, meanwhile, of capital and putting our money are their incentives? We want to are demanding higher premiums where our mouth is,” says Calt- make sure investors understand for directors and ocers policies. abiano, co-founder of Chicago those things.” Find your next Hedge fund manager Bill Ack- cannabis company Cresco Labs. e SEC issued guidelines in De- corporate tenant or leaser. man calls founder’s shares “egre- “ ere’s certainly a nancial re- cember focused on increased dis- gious” and didn’t include them ward to sponsors putting together closures regarding insiders’ owner- when he oated one of the big- a SPAC, no doubt,” he acknowl- ship and con icts of interest. gest SPAC deals, last summer’s $4 edges. “But there’s a risk you don’t Potential con icts haven’t billion Pershing Square Tontine nd a transaction.” dampened the enthusiasm for Holdings o ering. e potential windfall from SPACs, which accounted for 1 in “SPACs are a compensation nearly free founder’s shares, as well 5 IPOs in 2018 but now make up Connect with Claudia Hippel at scheme, like people used to say as the millions they pay for war- nearly 4 out of 5 initial public of- [email protected] for more information. about hedge funds, but it’s even rants, gives sponsors a powerful in- ferings, according to research rm worse,” Ackman told Institutional centive to nd deals. Some fear the Dealogic.
P020_CCB_20210315.indd 20 3/12/21 2:49 PM CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 15, 2021 21 Horizon loses millions in sales as feds commandeer drug production capacity
HORIZON from Page 3 w DRUG DEFERRED that need that drug are getting The government mandate to prioritize disadvantaged by this. But on the vaccine production has led to a shortage other end, vaccines are getting of Horizon Therapeutics’ top-selling produced at a bigger quantity and product. The shortage deprives Horizon more e ciently.” Catalent last year agreed to ll of sales, and patients can’t get the only and package vials of Moderna’s vac- approved treatment for thyroid eye cine at its Bloomington, Ind., facility disease, which causes bulging eyes and that makes Tepezza. But devoting vision problems. more resources to vaccine produc- tion, as required by Operation Warp TEPEZZA NET SALES Speed under the Defense Produc- $350 million tion Act, meant Catalent had to 300 stop manufacturing Horizon’s rare disease drug in late November, less 250 than a year after it hit the market. Horizon in December an- 200 nounced it would delay new pa- 150 tients from starting the treatment $90 million to conserve supply for existing us- 100 ers. But the drug was completely out of stock by the end of 2020. 50 Walbert won’t estimate how 0 many Tepezza patients have been Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 a ected but notes that several 2020 2020 2020 2020 2021* thousand were on the drug last *Wall Street estimate. Tepezza was approved by the FDA on Jan. 21, 2020. year and says a “signi cant num- Source: SEC filings ber” had to stop treatment. Horizon in December announced it would delay new patients from starting Tepezza treatment to conserve supply for existing users. Since demand for Tepezza was so strong during its rst year on cent of the company’s total net $200,000 for a six-month course FDA approval to produce the drug As more facilities join the vaccine the market, Horizon wasn’t able sales of $2.2 billion. of treatment. With no competing at a higher rate than before. Sepa- production e ort, contract man- to build up its inventory, Je eries In the fourth quarter alone, net remedy available, Horizon doesn’t rately, the company aims to have a ufacturers might have more lee- analyst David Steinberg says. For sales of Tepezza were $344 million, have to worry about a rival capital- second contract manufacturer up way to produce other drugs. Deer- many drugs, companies will stock- a 20 percent increase from the izing on its production hiatus. and running by year-end. eld-based Baxter International’s pile six months’ worth of supply so third quarter. Walbert estimates “If there was competition it “Because pharmaceutical com- BioPharma Solutions, which spe- they can withstand a temporary sales would have climbed more would be a di erent story,” Stein- panies are now prioritizing stu cializes in injectable pharmaceuti- setback like this one, he says. than 30 percent without the supply berg says. “ at’s why I’d say in the related to the vaccine, they don’t cals, has entered into an agreement In addition to denying patients disruption. long term this will be viewed as a have enough capacity to produce with Moderna to help manufacture the only drug approved to treat “To be able to have the launch blip, because no one is able to step other types of pharmaceutical up to 90 million COVID-19 vaccines. their debilitating condition, the we had with Tepezza in the face into this void and supply patients.” products, which is an expected Provided Horizon gets FDA ap- shortage also deprives Horizon of this pandemic is even more im- Horizon is hoping a new high- trade-o ,” Abdallah says. “ e only proval to increase the production of sales. Approved by the Food & pressive,” Walbert says. “Without speed vaccine production line in way you can mitigate the e ect on rate of Tepezza, it expects the drug Drug Administration on Jan. 21, the pandemic we believe we would the works at Catalent will open those products getting low priority to generate net sales of more than 2020, Tepezza contributed $820 have done over $1 billion in 2020.” up capacity, enabling the contract is to increase capacity, and that’s $1.2 billion in 2021. It estimates million in net sales during the If there’s a silver lining for Hori- manufacturer to resume produc- something that takes a while. It’s annual net sales of the drug could year—more than 23 times Hori- zon, it’s the lack of competition tion of Tepezza in the second quar- not clear we can get away without peak at more than $3.5 billion zon’s initial forecast and 37 per- for Tepezza, which costs roughly ter. Horizon also is working to get having to incur those trade-o s.” globally in the long term.
U of C’s next president positioned to scale up tech efforts w MATH PROOF The numbers show a transformed ALIVISATOS from Page 3 the molecular engineering school a was a year ahead. “It’s like decades of nanoscience University of Chicago awaiting Paul decade ago, and Michael Franklin, Alivisatos specializes in nanosci- all together!” exclaims Teri Odom, Alivisatos when he succeeds Robert highlighted by a new school of mo- chair of a reinvigorated computer ence, the study of extraordinarily who chairs Northwestern Universi- Zimmer as president. lecular engineering. science department. tiny matter and how it can be ma- ty’s chemistry department and edits is won’t be the rst time Alivi- According to these profs, Alivisa- nipulated to form new materials or Nano Letters, a journal Alivisatos OPERATING REVENUE satos is taking the lead from Zimmer. tos is positioned to scale up e orts speed computation. His personal co-founded. “It’s a big translation- FY 2006 $2.2 billion e two met on campus four de- in quantum information science, lab at Berkeley turned out research al success . . . that is changing the cades ago in a math course Zimmer brain research and renewable en- into quantum dot crystals for vid- world, literally,” she says. FY 2020 $5.0 billion taught in real analysis. (Alivisatos re- ergy, while pursuing more collab- eo display screens and spawned Meanwhile, P33, named after calls he got a B or B-plus.) oration with universities arcing two startup companies, one sold Chicago’s centennial World’s Fair in OPERATING SURPLUS/DEFICIT Alivisatos’ experience as director from Urbana to DeKalb. to a larger rm and another whose 1933 and goals for 2033, is working of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab- “He’ll be a strong agent in devel- accumulated revenue has topped on quantum connections between FY 2006 $10.8 million oratory until 2016 gures to inform oping relationships with major com- $250 million. industry and academia and a start- FY 2020 the U of C’s management roles at panies,” adds Tirrell. “We haven’t “He’s got the ivory tower cred, up accelerator. Tirrell envisions his $185.4 million Argonne National Laboratory and sold ourselves to the world of tech as but he’s shown how to get those molecular engineering school, with Fermilab and improve the comfort well as we might. Paul will really cat- ideas out into the real world,” says 32 faculty members, doubling in size DEBT (NOTES/BONDS) zone of their owner, the U.S. Depart- alyze that because of his experience Franklin. over the next decade. FY 2006 $1.5 billion ment of Energy. Argonne’s contract and his name.” When he won a chemistry prize Along with the science, Alivisatos, comes up for extension this year and in 2019, Alivisatos described his re- of course, will inherit scal and oth- FY 2020 $5.2 billion goes out to bid in 2026. HOMECOMING search into using nanocrystals and er challenges of leading a university Berkeley has done a better job To a certain extent, the Chicago sunlight to make fuel out of water, during a pandemic. Under Zimmer, ENDOWMENT than Argonne in stewarding agship native (who moved to Greece at 10 something that reects the Biden revenue doubled, but debt grew projects, says U of C physics profes- or 11 to live with an uncle’s family administration’s interest in renew- even faster; in scal 2020 it exceeded FY 2006 $4.8 billion sor Peter Littlewood, a former Ar- after the death of his mother) will be able energy projects. operating revenue. FY 2020 $8.2 billion gonne director: “ e university and returning home four decades after “We’re o on a crazy quest right Alivisatos may nd some relief in the labs really need to be teaming graduating from the U of C with a now . . . for new kinds of engines,” Zimmer becoming chancellor and Note: Figures include UChicago Medicine together to help those along.” chemistry degree. Alivisatos said in a video in which tending to high-touch donors who Source: University of Chicago Alivisatos, 61, will join a cadre of Of the trustees who gave him the he resembles a thoughtful version were a factor in the endowment al- Hyde Parkers carrying cell phones nod, nearly a dozen were on cam- of the late manic comic Charles most doubling in size since he took whom he met at Berkeley, also with the 510 Silicon Valley area code, pus then. Financier Byron Trott and Nelson Reilly. the reins in 2006. was involved in the birth of Nano a legacy of their days at Berkeley and Brady Dougan, who endowed a pro- A more immediate example of In the video, Alivisatos reported Letters. And his physician sister Lawrence Berkeley Lab. Among fessorship in molecular engineer- nanoscience at work has been that he likes to bike and take pho- Regina is married to Princeton them: Matthew Tirrell, whom Zim- ing, were classmates of Alivisatos. rapid development of coronavirus tographs. Nanoscience is never University’s chair of chemical and mer recruited from Berkeley to start Andrew Alper, former board chair, vaccines. far away, though: His wife, Nicole, biological engineering.
P021_CCB_20210315.indd 21 3/12/21 2:56 PM 22 MARCH 15, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS Chicago has a window of opportunity to reinvent its post-COVID economy
CAHILL from Page 1 Bureau of Labor Statistics shows joblessness in the Chicago area e time for talk and prepa- was 8.7 percent in December, well ration is over. Chicago needs to below April’s 16.4 percent peak activate its post-COVID agenda. but more than twice the rate be- A brief window of opportunity is fore COVID struck. Getting people opening to reposition the regional back to work will help jump-start economy for a new era. Critical to the economy. But many jobs elimi- the e ort is a recognition of how nated in the pandemic aren’t com- the viral crisis has permanently al- ing back. So we have to help idled tered the economy and how those workers make the connections and changes a ect Chicago. Adapting build the skills they need to shift to new realities should be the goal, into growth sectors. not re-creating an old normal that isn’t coming back. COMING SURGE Some sectors won’t be the Small businesses and workers growth engines they once were. who bore the brunt of COVID’s MAURICE SMITH, CEO, HCSC Others will rise in their place. economic impact can take encour- Michigan Avenue and suburban agement from the likelihood of a shopping malls may never draw growth surge in coming months. WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU the crowds they attracted before Expanding immunity and reced- DISCOVERED ABOUT YOURSELF COVID. But Chicago’s transpor- ing health restrictions seem cer- AS A LEADER DURING THIS tation and warehousing sector is tain to unleash pent-up demand poised to capitalize on the con- as a $1.9 trillion federal stimulus CRISIS? tinuing rise of e-commerce. Shifts program rains cash on the country. I gained a deeper apprecia- like that reverberate across the lo- But the economic damage of tion of the energy and insights cal economy, a ecting everything a calamity that left metropolitan I derive from daily in-person from employment to municipal Chicago down more than 300,000 BOEHM R. JOHN interaction with colleagues, nance. jobs won’t disappear overnight. Michigan Avenue is likely to bounce back, but probably with a di erent business model. including casual elevator and To respond e ectively, we need Toia predicts restaurants won’t re- a comprehensive regional game turn to pre-pandemic levels until ture. She predicts a shift to more recommending more festivals and cafeteria conversations. Those plan and a high level of collabora- 2023. Business travel—a key seg- “experiential” retail like the Apple other events. un-curated conversations tion among business groups, gov- ment of Chicago’s economy—is store and says pandemic-era ad- O ce building owners also will reveal a lot about what’s on ernmental bodies and others with also on a long runway, with United aptations like curbside pickup and look to repurpose properties. One employees’ minds. a stake in metropolitan Chicago’s Airlines CEO Scott Kirby warning virtual appointments are here to possibility is converting o ce future. corporate travel won’t fully recover stay. space into labs for a growing life Chicago launched such an e ort for three years. “My guess is within 18 months to sciences industry. research breakthroughs into local last year when Mayor Lori Light- Sectors that have thrived during two years, the vitality of the district What city landlords beset by businesses and jobs. foot commissioned a recovery task the pandemic face a potential will return,” Bares says. higher vacancies don’t need is a An underappreciated strength of force comprising dozens of local slowdown. Packaged-foods mak- Flexibility will be essential, and higher property tax bill. But that our region is a deep, diverse talent organizations and leaders. In July, ers like Kraft Heinz, Mondelez it may include hard-to-swallow may be what they get, as Cook pool spanning a range of indus- the group produced a sweeping and Conagra, along with Jewel changes like a Target logo on Chi- County Assessor Fritz Kaegi turns tries. We have the skilled workers report with 17 major recommen- and other grocery chains, made cago’s agship mall. As Brook eld to downtown in the next phase of that companies need to compete dations. hay as bunkered consumers ate told my colleague Alby Gallun, re- his e ort to address historic imbal- in an economy where talent has “We’re taking this very serious- more meals at home. Sales could designing old malls also requires ances in property tax burdens by become a competitive di erentia- ly because the mayor wants us slide when people start dining out support from the city, county as- shifting more of the load to com- tor. Our history of attracting immi- to recover more quickly than we again. sessor, retailers and the surround- mercial properties. grants means we also have workers did from the 2008 recession,” says Chicago’s greatest challenge is ing community. Both the city and state aim to from all over the world, an import- Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar, sustaining growth after the adren- bolster industries where we have ant consideration for companies who’s overseeing the city’s recov- aline of pent-up demand and stim- CONVENTIONS VITAL an edge. High on that list is trans- competing in global markets. ery e ort. ulus money wears o . A cleareyed Key to recovery for local restau- portation and distribution. As the Our challenge is keeping those e state of Illinois is sticking acceptance of reality and a long- rants, retailers, hotels and others nation’s freight shipping hub, Chi- workers here. Too often, gradu- with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pre-COVID term vision of future opportunities is a revival of the convention in- cago has long played a central role ates of our world-class universi- ve-year economic plan, adapted are keys to meeting that challenge. dustry. While in-person gatherings in moving goods around the coun- ties leave on the next ight out of to address coronavirus e ects. Take brick-and-mortar retailing, may not return to pre-pandemic try. Employment in the sector has O’Hare. Creative incentives like the “ e key pillars of that plan are historically a major source of jobs highs, conventions are still an eco- boomed with the rise in e-com- recently announced state program still solid,” says Sylvia Garcia, the and tax revenues. But foot tra c on nomic catalyst. An encouraging merce, as intermodal rail yards to pay o student debt for new newly appointed director of the Il- Chicago’s premier shopping strip, sign came March 10 when Deputy and warehouses sprouted across homebuyers could help keep them linois Department of Commerce & Michigan Avenue, was down 40 Gov. Dan Hynes told my colleague the region. in Illinois. Economic Opportunity. to 60 percent during the past year, Greg Hinz the state is prepared to Growth in the sector shows no e list of Illinois’ strengths as a Both the city and state empha- according to Kimberly Bares, CEO ease restrictions so conventions sign of slackening. e challenge business location goes on—high of the Magni cent can be held this summer. is maintaining Chicago’s lead as levels of digital connectivity, global “MY GUESS IS WITHIN 18 MONTHS TO Mile Association. e Loop is another econom- other areas vie for a piece of the ac- travel connections at O’Hare and Macy’s is closing its ic engine in need of an overhaul. tion. Removing obstacles to growth highly reliable, low-cost electric- TWO YEARS, THE VITALITY OF MICHIGAN Water Tower Place As lockdowns sent o ce workers will help keep rival regions at bay. ity, to name a few. Unfortunately, store, and Ameri- home, occupancy rates in down- We need to fully fund and nish serious weaknesses threaten to AVENUE WILL RETURN.” can Girl is dramat- town towers plunged about 85 per- the CREATE project aimed at un- follow us into the post-COVID era. Kimberly Bares, CEO, Magni cent Mile Association ically shrinking its cent, and foot tra c in the central snarling the railroad bottlenecks To fully capitalize on the expected space at the Mag business district fell by two-thirds, that delay freight trains passing economic recovery, Illinois needs size equity in their approach to Mile’s agship mall. e street has according to the Loop Alliance. e through the region. And o cials to take on deep-seated problems economic recovery, as well as a fo- lost 22 stores and restaurants since depopulation of downtown devas- need to facilitate critical infrastruc- our leaders have ducked for years. cus on helping workers and small March 2020, the Mag Mile Associ- tated public transit and the myriad ture improvements; for example, Foremost among those prob- businesses in sectors hardest hit by ation says. shops, restaurants and other busi- an industrial park with 10,000 jobs lems are chronic scal de cits at COVID-19-related e ects. Restau- Suburban malls and downtowns nesses that serve o ce workers. could rise in Will County if the state the state and local level. ese rants, for example, saw about 5,000 have su ered a similar wave of Although occupancy is expect- clears the way for a bridge linking are a deterrent to companies con- of 25,000 establishments close and closings. ed to rise as immunity spreads, it’s two intermodal yards. sidering a move here and a spur 124,000 of 590,000 workers lose Will retailing bounce back? Very unlikely to reach pre-COVID levels Other sectors targeted for to companies leaving. Massive their jobs, according to Sam Toia, likely, but probably with a di er- anytime soon. Employers are mov- growth include life sciences and public pension funding short- CEO of the Illinois Restaurant As- ent business model. Shopping ing toward hybrid working arrange- advanced computing. Lake Coun- falls hang over us like a sword of sociation. corridors and malls besieged by ments in which workers spend ty has a large concentration of Damocles, while unsustainably Short-term help for these busi- online competition need reinven- some working hours at home and major pharmaceutical companies high property tax burdens drain nesses is essential to stabilize the tion. Water Tower owner Brook- come to the o ce less often. including Abbott Laboratories, household and corporate co ers. economy. More dollars appear to eld plans to recon gure the mall, “In our surveys, a lot of (employ- AbbVie and Baxter International. e state needs a serious plan to be coming in the form of federal carving up big spaces like Macy’s ers) say, ‘We aren’t going to be back In information technology, our reduce pension debt and ease the aid for restaurants and other small for smaller shops and converting 100 percent in the o ce,’ ” says two national laboratories—Fermi- property tax burden. Comprehen- businesses hit hard by shutdowns. upper levels to nonretail uses. Jack Lavin, CEO of the Chicago- lab and Argonne—have an inside sive scal reform also would in- Bringing down unemployment Bares acknowledges that retail- land Chamber of Commerce. Lavin track on the next big thing: quan- clude new revenue sources such quickly should be another priority. ers without a strong online com- says Chicago needs to give people tum computing. We need to fos- as an expanded sales tax that cov- e most recent data from the U.S. ponent don’t have much of a fu- more reasons to come downtown, ter the connections that will turn ers more services.
P022-P023_CCB_20210315.indd 22 3/12/21 2:45 PM CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 15, 2021 23
MICHELE GHEE, CEO, EBONY THAD WONG, CO-CEO, @PROPERTIES VHT STUDIOS PHOTOS STUDIOS VHT
THIS PAST YEAR, YOU WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU SURVIVED COVID. WHAT LEARNED THAT YOU APPLIED EFFECT DID ALL THAT HAVE TO YOUR WORK LIFE? A Gold Coast co-op that’s ON YOU? The pandemic did not It just made me look a ect people equally. It af- at everything di erent. It fected the poor signi cantly straight out of the Jazz Age made me look at leadership harder than it a ected the di erent, made me look rich. I really saw for the rst Nate Berkus’ rm revamped this two-story unit in a 1920s building to be both at the world di erent. . . .It time that some people, some modern and true to its vintage BY DENNIS RODKIN ripped the Band-Aid o all parts of the country, could the systemic injustices that not be bothered by injustice ALL THE HOMES that Michiganders had been going on and I felt and inequality, and this was Randi Williams and Dale Wa- every inch of that. It woke the painful to see. tchowski have ever owned have world up. I think COVID fatigue con- been from the Jazz Age, the 1920s. tributed to the divisiveness, “It seems to be our era,” Williams where everything was polit- tells Crain’s. Crime is another issue Chica- icized. It was a public health So when their daughter was in go must confront. Nothing scares concern, not a political issue, law school in Chicago and they away residents and businesses but people were divided on wanted to buy a place for long-term like crime and the perception of it, and they were divided on visits here, they gravitated toward a crime. A recent surge of armed Gold Coast co-op straight out of the racial inequality. carjackings, on top of last sum- 1920s. It’s a two-story unit within mer’s downtown looting, feeds a I have a visceral response 40-50 W. Schiller St., a pair of build- growing sense that Chicago is too to intolerance, but I had to ings designed by architect Andrew dangerous. gure out how to respond in Rebori and built in 1924. If we can tackle these chal- an articulate way knowing Connected by a walled court- lenges, our economic strengths we have 3,500 agents we yard, the buildings have a classi- will come to the fore, setting the work with. We have Demo- cal brick exterior but interiors that stage for a strong recovery when crats, we have Republicans, exude 1920s style with their bands COVID recedes. we have extreme left and of windows, curvaceous interior As states and cities around extreme right. staircases, Juliet balconies on the the country start to emerge from inside looking over the foyer, and When I’m speaking to our lockdowns, some throwing the other details. doors open wide and others tak- agents, my politics are irrel- e couple then brought in in- ing a more measured approach, evant, but my values aren’t. terior designer Lauren Buxbaum it’s important to send the mes- Everyone wants to know the Gordon, a partner in designer-to- sage that Chicago and Illinois are values of the people they’re the-stars Nate Berkus’ rm whose reopening. working for. But because val- designs, including one for her own “ ey’ve got to devote signi - ues became more political, it former Gold Coast home, are styl- cant money to an ambitious cam- became more challenging to ish and dramatic. paign at both the city and state,” communicate our values of Gordon’s approach to the cou- says Paul O’Connor of POChicago tolerance without sounding ple’s two-bedroom unit: Paint it Consulting. As head of the city’s black. Window frames, kitchen political. World Business Chicago econom- cabinets, an original skylight and ic development agency, O’Con- even one whole bathroom are nor led the successful campaign Field when baseball season opens done in black, mostly lacquer, to land Boeing’s headquarters in next month. with a gleam suited to the 1920s. 2001. He says Chicago needs a Fassnacht says he’s developing Williams and Watchows- forward-looking theme empha- an overarching theme and indus- ki’s daughter is now working in sizing its digital assets, global con- try-targeted messaging that es- Charleston, S.C., and the parents nections and talent pool. chews dated cliches like “City of have purchased a house there Except for the money part, Mi- the Big Shoulders” and “the City from the 1750s, breaking their chael Fassnacht is thinking along at Works” in favor of “a more long-term preference for the Roar- the same lines. e interim head authentic expression of Chicago” ing ’20s. eir Schiller Street unit of World Business Chicago is that emphasizes equity and di- will come on the market sometime working on a marketing o ensive versity. next week, represented by Sophia that won’t include expensive ad Here’s an authentic message: Worden of Berkshire Hathaway buys. Instead, he’s relying on do- Don’t blow this opportunity to HomeServices Chicago. nated services from ad agencies shape Chicago’s future. Worden says the asking price, and “earned media” from events $950,000, is for the home and all its like the recent announcement Stephanie Goldberg, furnishings. Worden says it could that fans will be allowed at Wrig- Ally Marotti and also be sold without the furnish- MORE PHOTOS ONLINE: ChicagoBusiness.com/residential-real-estate ley Field and Guaranteed Rate Dennis Rodkin contributed. ings at a to-be-negotiated price.
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