Will Exelon Cut the Cord with Comed?

Will ExeloncutthecordwithComEd? masses to the spirits to getcraft BOOZE It’s amove Wall Street hasapplaudedelsewhere inthepower industry years, that strategy paid o. Forbusinesses intimesofneed. helpsboth tion andsupply arm an unregulated power-genera- utilitieslikeed ComEd alongside maintained that owning regulat- Edisonlongmonwealth has power giant andparent ofCom- way. notin agood industry—and like thelast man standing inits e Chicago-based nuclear More andmore, looks Exelon Wrigley’s Halloween candy hitting starts retailers’ ber, in amad dash for trick-or-treat candy. Mars gure out, new avors to develop. Mars U.S. Wrigley ere are packaging trends to says Timcomplex, president LeBel, ofsales at Chicago-based Snickers maker, anditsmost years.for two Halloween makers candy prepare for pandemictrick-or-treat MARS WRIGLEY CANDY CRUSH It culminates ofOcto- weeks inthelast two e treat- isthebiggest forthe season lled VOL. 43,NO.40 NEWSPAPER l : BY STEVE DANIELS Spirit Hub aims Hubaims Spirit . PAGE had planning been Halloween 2020 3 l ALL RIGHTSRESERVED l l COPYRIGHT2020CRAINCOMMUNICATIONSINC. ical realm depend onwhich both other down,at least inthepolit- units appear taking to be each er than helping each other, both rocky look marriage at best. Rath- toalty market forces—make this thatlated arm fe- oncepledged bailouts from Exelon’s unregu- repeated requests forratepayer Illinois Capitol—coupled with lucrativewin legislation inthe overscheme nearly adecade to July that itengaged inabribery But ComEd’s admissions in REAL ESTATE nal buckets. As a result, Chicago-area candy candykids to collect from strangers’ commu- parents ofsending their loween, with wary days ofcandy uncertainty. sales with weeks. last two inthose occur for theseason shelves asearly asJuly, but 55percent ofitssales Fewer are people to celebrate expected Hal- isyear, hey- those thepandemic has riddled CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM : The “Crayola House” on Wisconsin’s shoreline isfor sale. See See versi utilities,ed thinktheval- we pure-playtween utilitiesanddi- more andWashington, D.C. Philadelphia, Balti-nies serving power-deliverynopoly compa- ComEdalong include mo- with from itshealthy utilities, which nancially power struggling plants the U.S., isn’t uncoupling its - major company in electricity ery why unlike ev- virtually Exelon, for nancial success. CANDY “Given thevalue dierential be- Now Wall Street iswondering on Page 20 on the horizon. on thehorizon. But afewclouds are gathering markets equipment. forfarm end flies inthefaceofuncertain inDeere’sThe rise stock price JOE CAHILL BY ALLY MAROTTI | OCTOBER 5,2020| OCTOBER | PAGE 4

JOHN R. BOEHM

at Wolfe Research inNew York. Fleishman, aveteran analyst utility ue isreally compelling,” says Steve $3.50 Exelon CEOChris Crane Indeed, at about 12times2020 City data shows an industry inthepink dataCity shows anindustry sway Chicago o panies shelling out millionsto cials include John Dunn ($7.5million) . Com- million) and Cozen O’Connor’s million), Michael Kasper ($10.3 All-Circo’s John Kelly Jr. ($12.3 byists over that stretch: ing back to 2012. Board ofEthics data dat- according to Chicago ing thebiggest rewards, highly reap- connected past eight years, the with lion from clients inthe have raked in $171 mil- ence-peddling industry. torrents ofcash fueling theinu- from of the city Chicago reveals inlocal politics,money data cast harsh light ontherole of top lobbyists for Chicago’s rolls in Green Among top-paid lob- Chicago lobbyists As high-pro le prosecutions BY A.D.BY QUIG John Kelly Jr. of 2020earnings, analysts say. accountwill for nearly 40 percent though thecompany projects it to Exelon’s merchant even arm essentially novaluetors ascribe evaluation implies that inves- Utilities Index isdown7percent. year, whiletheStandard &Poor’s stock has fallen21percent this average about 16times. Exelon’s badly trails peers, itsutility which isatstock price amultiple that estimated earnings, Exelon’s efewmajor companies utility Lightfoot o took sincefull reportingLori periods ce, outlays million in2018.In the rst four years ino ce, peaking at $24.5 compensationported and client what murky: Data re self-re-ects ing giants andLyft. Uber erage Association andride-hail- and aliates, Bev- theAmerican outdoor advertiser JCDecaux But thenumbers are some- See See See See employers. out-of-town Chicago’s largest ranking:newest Introducing our CRAIN’S LIST EXELON LOBBYISTS uel’s rst andlast full Mayor Rahm Eman- 43 percent between compensation rose reports. oftheir the accuracy lobbyists to task over has never taken any Board ofEthics, which byists to theChicago information from lob- Annual lobbyist PAGE on Page 24 on Page 25 27 PAGE 17 2 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS A crime plan that looks good on paper, at least Of all the things Lori Lightfoot perts on Chicago and crime, my sional to handle crisis situations. was elected to x, none is more gut reaction was confirmed. Talk It’s a good idea, one that makes crucial to Chicago’s future than is cheap. Lining up the money a lot more sense than mere de- somehow ending our tale of two and the political will to actually funding of police on one hand, or GREG HINZ cities—one mostly white, pros- accomplish things is the trick. mindlessly sending police with ON POLITICS perous and safe, the other mostly An indication of just how dif- guns to deal with volatile domes- people of color, working-class cult it will be to implement this tic disputes and drug cases on at best and plagued with violent report is embodied in the person the other. How would the Laquan nice metrics to measure whether decade. Lee told me that’s part crime. But how? Lightfoot’s oce provided to dis- McDonald incident have ended if such expenditures are working of a national trend as more and We nally have at least a cuss this plan with me: Susan Lee, more than cops were there? as they should or merely wasting more cities move to stop treating partial answer. In an action a few deputy mayor for public safety. But two days after I spoke money. 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. days ago that didn’t get near- Lee says the report was with Lee, word leaked that she is But how do you pay for it in But she couldn’t explain ohand designed with an eye headed out, that aldermen want a city that faces a $1.2 billion whether that trend is at all linked toward “shifting from something dierent and more COVID-19-related budget hole? to the growth in gang conict THE PROPOSAL IS CHOCK FULL OF police-only solutions to eective to reverse a terrible year One source I spoke with says at here. GOOD STUFF. BUT LINING UP THE a public health ap- of rising shooting and fatalities. least $50 million a year will be Bottom line, Lightfoot’s plan is proach” toward violence. Welcome to the real world. needed to make a real impact. a beginning in a city where po- MONEY AND THE POLITICAL WILL TO Consistent with that, the Another promising section of Beyond that, the whole idea of licing strategy has changed from nancially strapped city the report deals with bulking up policing reform remains an am- mayor to mayor and season to ACCOMPLISH THINGS IS THE TRICK. is hoping that founda- support services in neighbor- bitious and controversial subject. season. Young people who have tions and other private hoods that clearly need them and Can’t you just hear the Spring eld jobs and solid support structures, ly enough attention, Lightfoot sources will come to the fore with sharply expanding funding for debate now over the report’s spe- who know that hard work will nally laid out her blueprint on money to back things such as violence-prevention programs, ci c proposal to begin licensing pay o, are far less likely to get in how to deal with the crime piece. economic development, mental which got just $11 million in this police, to make it easier to track trouble than someone who sees Titled “Our City, Our Safety: A health services, youth crime-di- year’s city budget. Such pro- and discipline cops with trouble- little future. I think we’re guring Comprehensive Plan to Reduce version programs and the like. grams were particularly eective some records? that out. Violence in Chicago,” the pro- One particularly promising in helping Los Angeles emerge en there’s the eyebrow-rais- So let’s take this plan as a start- posal is chock full of good stu. idea, I thought, is establishing a from a period of turmoil pitting ing nding in the report that ing point and try to determine It’s hard to disagree with huge pilot program that in some cases communities against police in arrests of juveniles for criminal out how to pay for and imple- sections of it. will dispatch not only a police of- the same way that has occurred oenses by Chicago police have ment it. Doing that will be lots But in talking with outside ex- cer but a mental health profes- here. e report includes some dropped 75 percent in the past tougher than writing a report. An antidote to what ails bars, restaurants during COVID Alby Gallun at Crain’s Chica- left a ton of tax revenues on the casino will be ne, too.” go Business reports that sales at table while it waited for a casino e tweeter pointed to subur- Chicago’s bars and restaurants that never materialized. ban towns near Rivers Casino, plunged 64 percent during the And now, when a Chicago ca- the state’s most successful venue, RICH MILLER rst half of 2020 (see Page 6). sino has nally been approved by where video gaming is bringing in ON SPRINGFIELD e worldwide pandemic the General Assembly, the city’s big bucks. ere’s just no evidence crashed a lot of businesses. e leaders are even more reluctant to that the people who’d prefer to city’s particularly tight restrictions approve video gaming. gamble in their neighborhood in response to the crisis made City Chief Financial Ocer joints would head to a big casino directed. “at Daley-era actuarial time for City Hall to roll the dice things even tougher. In com- Jennie Huang Bennett said last downtown. time bomb’s tab is getting paid by on it.” parison, the six-county Chicago month that video gaming “could @ChicagoBars said the city Chicago one way or another. May I agree with the Twitter guy. metropolitan area saw bar and have a ‘cannibalization’ eect on could use video gaming tax as well nally dedicate a revenue restaurant sales fall “only” 30 revenues the city is counting on revenues to pay down its pen- stream to it.” Crain’s contributor Rich Miller percent. from an in-the-works casino and sion debts, which is also where “It’s been a wasted decade,” @ publishes Capitol Fax and is is not a criticism of the cost thousands of jobs,” accord- eventual casino revenues will be ChicagoBars said. “It’s way past CapitolFax.com. city’s restrictions. Mayor Lori ing to WTTW. Lightfoot and her team had to do So, I reached out to one of the what they had (and have) to do to most trusted voices in all of Chi- keep the virus contained. Chicago cago’s hospitality industry, the was slammed hard by COVID-19 @ChicagoBars Twitter account. in the early going, and no sane The fact that a Crain’s editor person wants to risk a repeat or gave me the go-ahead to inter- even an echo of that madness view a Twitter account should again. tell you how authoritative the At Wintrust, your banker knows you. But the restrictions, and the source is. coming cold weather, mean the e tweeter is a passionate city’s bars and restaurants are fac- supporter of and expert on the You can depend on ing annihilation. Something has industry, and rst attracted atten- to be done. But only a fool would tion with photos of drinks being depend on Congress for adequate consumed at various “undis- someone who really cares. help. Illinois’ coers aren’t exactly closed locations” around town. ush with cash, and Chicago’s “For nearly a freaking decade, budget is deeply in the red. City Hall has told Chicago taverns, So the city ought to let these ‘Hold on, we need a casino rst.’ barely surviving businesses help For. A. Decade,” @ChicagoBars themselves by nally opting in to said. legalized video gaming. But what about that casino e games were approved by cannibalization issue? the state over a decade ago, but “Yeah, I’ve been to Vegas every Chicago has never allowed them. year for 20 years and try to hit Relationship is a word that is thrown Some folks had moral objections, places outside the casino and around a lot as a buzzword. I can and others wanted to make sure a o the strip as much as possible. potential downtown casino would ere’s a lot of great ones, and say with the most sincere honesty have a gambling monopoly. almost all of them have video that in my entire career I have never Start the conversation at e end result is that the per- gambling. Vegas casinos seem experienced this level of commitment. petually cash-strapped city has to be doing OK, and Chicago’s wintrust.com/meetus. – Frank Campise, JAB Real Estate Inc. CORRECTION w Taxpayers reporting $100 million annually would pay at least $3.04 million more under the Banking products provided by Wintrust Financial Corp. banks. graduated income tax. The amount was incorrect in a Sept. 28 story. CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • OCTOBER 5, 2020 3

Rick and Nicole Zalewski sold their St. Charles COVID home and are having a house built in New Bualo, Mich. schools developers of high-end dorms The pandemic is disrupting the industry for better and for worse

BY ALBY GALLUN e prospects for Ion Lincoln Park, a big student housing complex near DePaul University, looked pretty grim just a couple of months ago. To many students and their parents, committing to a long-term lease during a global pandemic seemed unwise, especially if DePaul decided to hold most of its classes virtually. By early August, Ion’s owner, Scion Group, had only pre-leased about half of the building’s 580 beds for the current academic year, says Scion President Robert Bronstein. JOHN R. BOEHM R. JOHN “We were really struggling,” he says. at all changed Aug. 12, when PANDEMIC PUSHES REAL ESTATE BOOM DePaul said it would not provide on-campus housing for almost all its students. ose who had planned to live in a dorm had to scramble to ACROSS THE LAKE nd an o-campus pad. A bunch of them landed at Ion. e building at Southwest Michigan and northwest Indiana are seeing astounding 1237 W. Fullerton Ave. is about 82 percent leased today. increases in sales over last year BY DENNIS RODKIN “We got ooded with calls,” Bron- stein says. “e phone was ringing In the rst 2½ years of selling buildable home he’d sold between June 2017 and December 2019. “PEOPLE ARE o the hook.” lots at a woodsy southwest Michigan develop- “People are reinventing their lives this year,” Welcome to the roller-coaster ment called White Pine New Bualo, Rob Harte says Harte, whose Michigan City, Ind., rm Up- REINVENTING world of student housing in the sold 11 of the 25 lots. perCross Development Group has development coronavirus era. After bracing for en came the pandemic, which among other projects and a rental management wing. “ey’re THEIR LIVES the worst over the summer, many things has shifted homebuyers’ preferences to- coming my way.” THIS YEAR.” landlords that rent to college stu- ward open space and away from congestion. In Home sales doubled this summer in Lake For- dents are relieved to be lling up the rst ve months after Michigan’s governor est and the Barrington area, places where big Rob Harte, president, their buildings. It’s not going to be a lifted a spring 2020 prohibition on real estate UpperCross Development sales, Harte sold nine lots, or nearly as many as See REAL ESTATE BOOM on Page 20 Group See DORMS on Page 26 Getting craft spirits to the masses online An e-commerce rm takes on orphaned whiskey, gin and vodka labels

whiskey, gin and vodka labels of all is that most states require BY H. LEE MURPHY from small producers who can’t that each bottle of booze pass Fifteen years ago, a mere 50 or get shelf space at retail and in- through both a wholesaler and a so small-batch craft distilleries troducing them to a mass audi- retailer on the way to any con- were operating in the U.S. Today ence online. sumer. they exceed 1,800. But liquor “We’re addressing consum- Weiss intends to meet the law stores, which don’t expand eas- ers who want access to things by enlisting wholesale partners ily, can’t hope to stock most of they’ve never had,” says the in each state and then taking the new products coming from 29-year-old Weiss, founder and out local retail licenses allow- these upstarts. CEO. “And we’re partnering ing Spirit Hub to operate, albe- is is the opening Michael with distilleries that have not it without a brick-and-mortar Weiss sees for his e-commerce been able to get distribution for storefront. So far, the company company, Spirit Hub. Operating their products.” is selling in just Illinois and Ne- since January from a warehouse Weiss faces plenty of road- braska, but Weiss is negotiating in suburban Lincolnwood, Spir- blocks. e U.S. liquor industry to get licensed in Washington, it Hub, which has the help of is regulated separately by all 50 D.C., Florida and Michigan. So some heavy-hitter e-commerce states, each with its own maze of

players, is taking on orphaned regulations. e greatest hurdle See SPIRITS on Page 10 HUB SPIRIT 4 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS CHICAGO COMES BACK

BY JOE CAHILL JOE CAHILL ON BUSINESS Deere leaps over pandemic pitfalls In a nifty bit of corporate acro- earnings report. batics, Deere is reaching new highs at’s no small accomplishment as demand for its products wavers. in the manufacturing industry, Shares of the Moline-based farm where protability tends to track and construction equipment man- production volumes. Margins gen- ufacturer hit an all-time high last erally grow when volumes rise and week. After peaking at $225 Sept. shrink when they fall. Just ask Agco 30, the stock was up nearly 80 per- and CNH, both of which reported cent since bottoming out in March, signicant margin shrinkage for when coronavirus shutdowns the latest quarter. sent equity markets into free-fall. Deere’s operating margin is At about $222 early Oct. 1, Deere more than three times the 4.3

shares exceeded their pre-pan- percent average for a group of COMMONS WIKIMEDIA demic high by 25 percent. agricultural equipment manufac- Deere’s rise ies in the face of turers tracked by Bloomberg. e uncertain end markets for tractors, gap reects aggressive cost-cutting combines, backhoes and other at Deere, which slashed operating Ready to say goodbye to 2020? equipment. Farm machinery sales expenses 14 percent in the third sagged early in the pandemic, quarter. Much of the savings came You can blame this chaotic year itself as the source of problem could be solved dierent- compounding other pressures on from the “cost of sales” line, which ly. For a company, or a person, to farmers’ income. Bumper crops includes many variable items that our frustration. Or you can look within and take action. thrive in this moment of disruption in recent years have depressed drop when sales fall. But Deere is not to dene the right answers commodity prices over the past also cut general overhead and BY EMILY DRAKE AND TODD CONNOR going forward, but it’s to stay x- decade, and recent trade tensions research and development by ated on the problem that you were cut farmers o from key export double-digit percentages. Chicago Comes Back is a weekly series on ChicagoBusiness.com provid- hoping to solve in the rst place. markets. row in the impact of e margin growth came at a ing leadership insights to help your business move forward, written by lead- COVID-19 on demand for corn- price in jobs. Deere has initiated ership consultants Emily Drake and Todd Connor. ED: And problems are easy to based ethanol, and farmers have two rounds of cuts in an e cien- Drake and Connor facilitate Crain’s Leadership Academy. Drake is a li- come by. You might be thinking plenty of reasons to stop buying cy drive this year, but it hasn’t censed therapist, owner of the Collective Academy and a leadership coach. about the mental health of your new equipment. disclosed the number of jobs elim- Connor is the founder of Bunker Labs and the Collective Academy and is colleagues—a real and pressing Deere predicts industrywide ag- inated. A company spokeswoman also a leadership consultant. problem. Your ability to begin ask- ricultural equipment sales, which didn’t return my call. Check out previous installments at ChicagoBusiness.com/comesback. ing questions and staying xated accounted for 60 percent of its $39 Deere’s stock market gains also on this challenge will lead you show how a company TODD CONNOR: We’re o cially it’s a time for people to re-imagine to good solutions. Assuming it’s DEERE HAS MANAGED TO BOOST can win simply by into fall, and so many of us are wea- their own lives. While we can say something specic—meditation, exceeding low expec- ry. I passed a woman at the grocery that what has been your precedent more time o, personalized coach- PROFIT WHILE REVENUE IS FALLING. tations. Revenue and store with “2020 sucks” on her face need not dictate your future, it’s a ing, etc.—might miss the mark. We earnings have beaten mask—a new level of directness, dierent thing entirely when you don’t know until we bring others billion in 2019 revenue, will fall 5 to Wall Street predictions in each but it’s one collective expression of look around and know, for a fact, into the process. Similarly, when 10 percent this year. It’s even worse of the last four quarters. At $2.57, what we are feeling. It seems that that whatever was before will not most in-person gatherings were in construction, where Deere third-quarter earnings per share current events—a global pandem- be again. It’s in this environment canceled, we went to the interim predicts a 20 percent decline as more than doubled the consensus ic, partisan divide and an economy that we grab hold of our fear, but solution, which was to attempt to COVID-19 shuts down work sites forecast of $1.24. that holds both occasional record also grab hold of truer and deeper re-create things virtually, which we and stalls new projects. An improving outlook helped, gains along with record unemploy- versions of ourselves. I’m seeing did with some success. Going for- Deere hasn’t escaped the eects too. Industrywide sales of farm ment—have us in widespread un- this sort of personal renaissance ward, though, we need to ask fresh of either slowdown. Company- equipment turned positive in certainty, and that fear is inspiring play out in people’s lives. questions and re-anchor ourselves wide sales fell 12 percent in the recent months. Accordingly, Deere anxiety. It’s hard to stay grounded on the problem we were trying to nine months ended Aug. 2. at’s raised its full-year agricultural and maintain a perspective with all ED: So many people I know are solve in the rst place. roughly in line with declines at sales forecast to a 10 percent de- that is swirling around us. moving out of state, whether it’s rival equipment makers. Agco re- cline from the previous prediction to get more vitamin D, move clos- TC: A provocative question to ask ported an 11 percent sales decline of a 10 to 15 percent drop. On a EMILY DRAKE: As the seasons er to family or simply have more is, “Why did we even hold industry for the rst six months of 2020, and third-quarter earnings call with change, it’s time to reect, too, space and nature on demand. I conferences?” Because, perhaps, it CNH Industrial’s revenue sank 21 analysts, executives noted a recent on our plans for this quarter and hear some calling the phenome- was the best way to show intimate- percent. uptick in orders and increasing closing out the year. While we may non “pandemic positives.” I have ly what our capabilities were. OK, Wall Street is giving those com- demand for “precision agriculture” be ready to say goodbye to 2020, I felt like I’m being pulled rather that’s something to work with—but panies the treatment you would technology that helps farmers worry about people wishing the than pushing as much, as we head don’t let the old model of how we expect. CNH Industrial stock is boost yields and control costs. time away or turning to “the year” into colder weather and more time showed our capabilities to pro- down about 29 percent this year, Deere put a cherry on top for Wall as a source of frustration, rather indoors. In other words, it’s a time spective clients distract us from the and Agco’s is o more than 4 per- Street by announcing that share than the systems that caused some of action and endurance, rather real goal, which was to earn trust, cent. Deere, by contrast, is up 28 buybacks suspended earlier this of the chaos. It’s a more challenging than staying in thinking. Too much build a relationship and then pre- percent, far outstripping the nearly year will resume. perspective to look within and take thinking right now can lead to pa- view how we can help them. e 5 percent rise in the Standard & Still, some clouds dot the hori- action, but it may be what’s best for ralysis. answers to those questions need Poor’s 500. zon. Morningstar’s Pope warns our mental health right now. Apart not involve a conference at all. What gives? Well, Deere has that real farm incomes could from the myriad changes that we TC: To be an optimist, I’ll echo that managed to boost prot while drop 30 percent by 2030, further are experiencing, the pace of the the brother of uncertainty can be ED: New models are being built. revenue is falling. e company’s squeezing farmers’ purchasing changes can also be disorienting. bold action. As a practical matter, And, in fact, each of us can help third-quarter operating prot rose power. Ironically, some of that If you’re feeling uncertain about to the extent no one else is well-de- build them. We do need to strip 16 percent despite an 11 percent pressure could reect the success your role, or earnings, or how the ning for us what the future will away some of the noise, the infra- revenue decline, as lower costs of Deere’s precision agriculture election will aect your business, be, perhaps we can reclaim some structure and the “how” we did and better pricing expanded prot technology in raising crop yields, anticipating how things unfold can agency for the future that we want things in the past to resettle on a margins. which may drive prices down be daunting. for ourselves. In coaching entre- “why” we are in the business of do- “Overall, operating margin further. In the short term, lower preneurs, I’m careful to draw a dis- ing whatever it is that we are doing. increased to 14.5% from 11.6%, fuel consumption during the pan- TC: We’ve talked about how this is a tinction between being obsessed Now, amid this disruption, is which was remarkable in our opin- demic continues to sap ethanol season for leaders to lead dierent- with the problem you are trying when the old is being deconstruct- ion given the signicant margin demand. ly—from a human- and heart-cen- to solve (that’s a good thing) and ed and the new is being construct- declines in the other equipment Deere’s gravity-defying act tered approach, even if answers not with the solution you envision. ed by those who show up with a vi- companies we cover,” Morning- appears to have more running aren’t readily apparent. Not com- Sometimes entrepreneurs fall in sion about what needs to be done. star analyst Scott Pope wrote in a room. But no company can elude municating is not, in our view, an love with their solutions—and then 2020 is not the year we asked for, note to clients after Deere’s latest economic physics forever. option. But if you take that lens they get in their own way or miss but it may be the year we will be and point it inward, I also think customers’ ideas for how the noble grateful for. Forward to a return to work

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20cb0486.pdf RunDate 10/5/20 FULL PAGE Color: 4/C 6 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS How deep has COVID

DEADLINE EXTENDED cut retail sales? Here’s the grim tally. Clothing shops, bars and restaurants su ered big drops IN TECH in the rst half. Even so, a few bright spots remained.

ACCEPTING BY ALBY GALLUN One especially depressing figure: Sales at bars and restaurants e coronavirus pandemic has in the city of Chicago fell 64 per- NOMINATIONS! made life miserable for many cent. NOMINATIONS CLOSE OCT. restaurants and retailers, but Bars and restaurants across business is booming for some. the metro area suffered in the That’s the takeaway from a early days of the pandemic, shut Help us recognize up-and-coming new batch of local sales data down in March by Pritzker’s or- leaders in technology in the from Chicago consulting from der. Though many offered car- Chicago area who are making a Melaniphy & Associates. Total ry-out to get by, Pritzker didn’t signiﬁcant impact at their Chicago-area retail sales fell 12.2 allow them to begin serving cus- percent in the first half of 2020, tomers on-site until May, and company and are advancing their to $54.29 billion, dragged down then only outdoors. Mayor Lori industries as well as Chicago as a by big drops at bars and restau- Lightfoot didn’t allow Chicago tech hub. Candidates must have rants, apparel stores, gas sta- restaurants to begin serving out- assumed a leadership position tions and car dealers, according doors until early June. outside of their own organization. to Melaniphy. But cash registers were ring- OUTDOOR SEATING ing at local grocery and home Though Illinois restaurants improvement stores, as house- now can serve customers in- Learn more & nominate at ChicagoBusiness.com/StarsInTech bound consumers ate in and doors at reduced capacity, many fixed up their homes. Food and need outdoor seating to cover home improvement bucked the their costs—or limit their loss- Nomination deadline is Friday, October 9. Section publishes December 14. broader trend as the only two es. Tents and heaters could help To view Crain’s nomination programs, visit chicagobusiness.com/nominate. retail categories with rising lo- some as the weather turns cold- cal sales in the first six months er, but Melaniphy President John of the year, with food up 8.4 per- Melaniphy isn’t optimistic. cent and home improvement 11 “I certainly don’t see any im- percent. provement on the horizon given The sectors stand out as rare the current guidelines,” he says. bright spots in what is shaping Bars and restaurants are the up to be the worst year in de- fourth-largest retail category in cades for local retailers. Melani- for the six-county metro area, phy forecasts that Chicago-area generating sales of $6.50 billion retail sales will fall 10 percent through June 30, down 30 per- this year, the biggest annual de- cent from a year earlier. cline here since the firm began Only one other category, ap- compiling the figures from state parel, suffered a bigger drop: 53 Department of Revenue data in percent. With stores closed in the late 1980s. That’s bad news the spring because of the gov- for retail landlords, pushing ernor’s order, many consumers some into default, and state and bought their clothes online or local governments, which rely stopped buying them altogeth- on the sales tax to balance their er. After all, who needs new budgets. clothes when they’re working from home? Melaniphy expects STAY HOME ORDER demand for apparel to rebound Broadly speaking, sales fell when more people venture back due to one big factor: Gov. J.B. to their workplaces. Pritzker’s stay-home order in Sales in the area’s largest re- UNDER March forced many retailers and tail category, automotive and restaurants to close. So-called filling stations, fell 14.2 percent, FORTY essential retailers, like grocery to $11.35 billion. Car sales fell CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS 2020 and drugstores, fared better early in the pandemic as show- because they could stay open, rooms closed and the recession while those deemed nonessen- and rising joblessness depressed tial, including department stores demand, Melaniphy says. Gas and specialty chains in malls, sales plunged as many people couldn’t. stopped commuting to work. Must-read, The pandemic, compound- “People hadn’t put gas in their ed by protests over the summer car in two months,” he says. that turned violent, has taken an For now, Melaniphy is sticking must-know especially heavy toll on the city, to his current forecast of a 10 per- where retail sales fell 20 percent cent sales decline. He’s counting 40 Under 40 in the first half. on a slight improvement this fall facts, ﬂashbacks and 2020 previews Sales “were more adversely and into the holidays. affected than the suburbs due to “I believe that the worst is be- the frequency of protests, street hind us,” he says. ChicagoBusiness.com/40sCountdown closures, looting, and store clo- But Melaniphy recognizes that sures as a result of looting,” future sales will depend on one Crain’s 2020 40 Under 40 feature publishes on Nov. 6 Melaniphy says in a statement. key factor he can’t predict: the “The pandemic and civil unrest course of the pandemic. led to the elimination of tourism, “If we have another spike in conventions, trade shows, meet- cases, that could scare the con- ings, and overall daytime work- sumer and they will pull back,” ing population in downtown.” he says. SICKNESS DOESN’T FIGHT FAIR.

NEITHER DO WE.

We are a leading community of physicians, researchers and game changers. We embrace challenges and turn them into opportunities to make a dierence in your life. Because when everything is on the line — nothing is o limits. Schedule an in-person visit or video appointment today. UChicagoMedicine.org/NotFair | 1-888-824-0200

Dr. Shyam Prabhakaran Neurology

20cb0487.pdf RunDate 10/5/20 FULL PAGE Color: 4/C 8 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS Fulton showroom could break Chicago record The developer of Herman Miller’s new Chicago location is looking for a big payday and plans to break ground this month on another o ce building in the trendy Fulton Market neighborhood

BY DANNY ECKER Herman Miller is just kicking o a 15-year lease at 1100 W. Fulton, Four months after a Fulton where it is moving its Chicago of- Market sale shattered the record ces, showroom and retail space for price per square foot for a after eight decades at theMart. Chicago o ce building, anoth- That makes it the type of sta- er landlord hopes to top it. And ble, long-term bet that real estate despite the COVID-19 crisis, it’s investors are looking for amid ready to build even more o ces the pandemic, according to a fly- in the neighborhood. er from Cushman & Wakefield, A venture of Chicago developer which is marketing the property Fulton St. Cos. has put up for sale to investors. Commercial prop- a newly built 45,380-square-foot erty sales have plummeted this building at 1100 W. Fulton Mar- year as many prospective buy- ket in an oering that could fetch ers wait for the COVID-19 fog to more than $40 million, accord- clear before making their next ing to a source familiar with the big moves. property. A sale at that price—or $881 ATTRACTIVE PROSPECTS per square foot—for the ve-story But amid questions about the building at the northwest corner future of the downtown o ce of Fulton and Aberdeen streets market, newly built properties would break the all-time-high with high-credit tenants that mark on a per-square-foot basis. have made lengthy lease com- A rendering of 1100 W. Fulton St. ST. FULTON W. 1100 OF RENDERING A mitments to them are looking more attrac- according to Cook County prop- ty-corner from Herman Miller’s and a 96,000-square-foot proper- “IT WAS DEFINITELY A PROPERTY WE tive. Zeeland, Mich.- erty records. Najem declines to new home. ty at 318 N. Carpenter St. based Herman Miller disclose the cost of construction, at 12-story building would Najem says his rm has not WANTED TO HOLD LONG TERM, BUT IT has 2.5 percent an- but a Fulton St. venture took out take an estimated 15 months to nalized a construction loan for MAKES THE MOST SENSE TO SEE WHAT nual rent escalations. a $25 million construction loan build, Najem says, and Fulton St. the new project but that it has With buyers look- on the property, county records wants to take advantage of lower funding to build the core and THE MARKET WILL YIELD AND GO ing for safe places show. e development includ- nancing and construction costs shell of the new building, “and to park capital and ed retaining the facade facing now “to be able to be more com- once we land tenants, the rest FROM THERE.” interest rates hover- Fulton Street and building a new petitive (in signing tenants) than of the nancing will come into Alex Najem, co-founder, Fulton St. Cos. ing at record lows, it structure behind it that includes the boutique (o ce) buildings in place.” was time to explore a two-level rooftop deck. Fulton Market that are delivering Fulton St. also owns a prop- a sale, says Fulton today.” erty at 917 W. Fulton St., where at was set in May when a Ger- St. co-founder Alex Najem. “It RESILIENCE He’ll have plenty of compe- it is demolishing a former in- man real estate rm paid nearly was denitely a (property) we In the meantime, Fulton St.— tition: ree other Fulton Mar- dustrial property with plans to $87 million, or $879 per square wanted to hold long term, but it which is bankrolled by Oak ket o ce properties developed develop another o ce building, foot, for Mondelez International’s makes the most sense to see what Brook-based Huizenga Capital on speculation, or without any according to Najem. e prop- new headquarters at 905 W. Ful- the market will yield and go from Management—is so bullish on tenants signed, have more than erty is across from the Time Out ton Market, according to research there,” he says. Fulton Market’s resilience as 450,000 square feet to rent com- Market Chicago food hall. rm Real Capital Analytics. At the Herman Miller building, an o ce destination that Na- bined. ose are the recently Cody Hundertmark, David Like that property, Fulton St. Fulton St. is aiming for a big pay- jem says the rm is scheduled completed 12-story building at Knapp and Tom Sitz of Cushman has the long-term commitment day on a property it bought for to break ground this week on a 215 N. Peoria St. and two more & Wakeeld are marketing the from a single corporate user at $6 million in March 2018 from 150,000-square-foot o ce build- under construction: a 13-story Herman Miller property on be- its building. Furniture company Chicago developer Sterling Bay, ing at 1043 W. Fulton St., kit- building at 320 N. Sangamon St. half of Fulton St. Investment firm pledges $5M to minority-owned businesses Founders First Capital Partners wants to help underrepresented Chicago business owners grow their startups “The fund focuses on these ness owners trust like a commu- BY WENDELL HUTSON panies, was the first Chicago busi- types of businesses, which are ness chosen by the fund. CEO nity organization. Without doing Founders First Capital Partners generally not the businesses tra- Valarie King-Bailey says the firm so, I don’t think it would be suc- has expanded its $100 million ditionally targeted by venture plans to use the $500,000 “strate- cessful.” minority fund to Chicago, with a funds (for lending),” explained gic investment to fuel our contin- goal of helping small businesses Folsom. “And the businesses that ued growth and innovation.” ACCENTURE INITIATIVE boost their annual revenues to at we help must already be gener- Founders First plans to find po- Earlier this year, Accenture least $5 million. ating a half a million dollars in tential business partners through Ventures launched a new ini- e minority fund, which was revenue.” local organizations and commu- tiative in Chicago, Atlanta and nanced by California-based Founders First will open an of- nity groups. Melinda Kelly, presi- Washington, D.C., to help Black- Community Investment Manage- fice at the University of Chicago’s dent of the Chatham Business As- owned technology startups and ment, has allocated $5 million to Polsky Exchange on the school’s sociation on the South Side, says Black entrepreneurs gain more help Chicago-area businesses, Hyde Park campus in January, she welcomes the opportunity to access to venture-capital fund- says Kim Folsom, founder and according to Folsom, who added work with Folsom in identifying ing. Kim Folsom is founder and CEO of Founders CEO of Founders First. e ve- that the minority fund also oper- minority-owned businesses that Robert Blackwell Jr., found- First Capital Partners. year-old fund provides education, ates in Dallas, Houston, Denver, could benefit from the fund. er and CEO of EKi-Digital and resources and revenue-based Philadelphia, San Diego, and Mi- “The fact that Founders First chairman of the U.S. Black Busi- businesses only. nancing to minority-owned ami. Partners is seeking small business Participation Task Force for Black people “get mixed in with businesses in the service and nesses more intently to help the Congressional Black Cau- minorities, and everybody (but manufacturing industries. Busi- FIRST BUSINESS them grow I think is wonderful,” cus, says that while he welcomes white men) is a minority now- nesses can receive an investment OnShore Technology Group, says Kelly. “I think it’s import- more initiatives like the minority adays,” says Blackwell. “We are between $250,000 and $1 million, which provides verification and ant for these investment firms to fund, more corporate programs at the bottom of everything, and according to Folsom. IT services to life sciences com- reach out to someone that busi- are needed for Black-owned that’s the problem.” CANCER DOESN’T FIGHT FAIR.

NEITHER DO WE.

Dr. Jessica Donington Thoracic Surgery

20cb0488.pdf RunDate 10/5/20 FULL PAGE Color: 4/C 10 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS Spirit Hub aims to get craft spirits to the masses

SPIRITS from Page 3 Carr-Smith pegs the craft spirits market at about $8 billion in far he’s struck deals to distribute the U.S. “Independent spirits are products made by 250 distilleries the fastest growing segment of around the U.S. and Canada, up the spirits industry,” she says in from 150 in January. a statement. “But they also face Spirit Hub has 25 employ- the most legal roadblocks to sell ees and in July hired the former their products.” president and CEO of Peapod, Before signing on with Spir- Jennifer Carr-Smith, as a nonex- it Hub, Will Drucker, founder ecutive adviser. and president of Split Spirits in “We expect to be in six states Vermont, had persuaded whole- by the first quarter of 2021,” says salers only in New York and Weiss, who originally started California to sell his unusual Spirit Hub under the name Big- whiskeys—each bottle aged in Fish Spirits before changing it in wood and sold with a shard of February. “By 2025 we anticipate Michael Weiss, CEO of Spirit Hub leftover wood inserted into the being in all U.S. markets as well liquid. He was drawn to the firm’s as selling internationally. And Big investment is not welcome so robust website, which describes we want to represent a lot more far. “We need to be able to pivot each distillery and its owners in distilleries in the process.” rapidly as the market develops great detail to online customers. So far, Weiss, who is on his fth and changes, and we can best do “We needed a platform to tell business (he had a real estate that with a small management our story,” Drucker says. “Dis- brokerage in New York and fac- team,” says Osborne, 49, who tributors are limited in what they has helped devel- can do for you.” “WE NEEDED A PLATFORM TO TELL OUR op mobile phone Koval Distillery, founded in products for Mo- Chicago 12 years ago, is also STORY. DISTRIBUTORS ARE LIMITED IN torola and a sports partnering with Spirit Hub. Koval wagering project for already sells across the U.S. and WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR YOU.” the Nevada Gam- overseas, but the COVID pan- ing Board. He notes demic got Sonat Birnecker Hart, Will Drucker, president, Split Spirits that there are plen- the president, worrying about ty of online sources an uncertain future. “People are tored receivables for small busi- for ordering wine, and even beer, changing the way they shop,” she nesses there), is funding Spirit but Spirit Hub has little competi- says. “Spirit Hub is innovating a Hub himself along with a few tion so far in hard liquor, which is new way to reach consumers. We investors including his co-found- typically more tightly controlled think e-commerce will become er, London-based John Osborne. from one state to the next. more and more important.” Koval Distillery, founded in Chicago 12 years ago, is partnering with Spirit Hub. HEART DISEASE DOESN’T FIGHT FAIR.

NEITHER DO WE.

Dr. Bryan Smith Cardiology

20cb0489.pdf RunDate 10/5/20 FULL PAGE Color: 4/C 12 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS Suburban medical office campus sells for $51 million Demand for properties that house clinics has remained strong amid the COVID-19 pandemic the 12 Salt Creek anchor build- BY DANNY ECKER ing, among other upgrades. That A Chicago developer has helped reel in new tenants and cashed out on a medical office bring the campus to more than campus in west suburban Hins- 90 percent leased today, accord- dale in a deal that shows the re- ing to MedProperties. Tenants silience of a property sector rel- include Amita Health, Adventist atively unscathed by COVID-19. Health, University of Chicago A venture of Chicago-based Medicine and the Hinsdale Sur- MBRE Healthcare and Boca Ra- gical Center. ton, Fla.-based investor Kayne The sale illustrates inves- Anderson Real Estate paid $51 tor demand for medical office million in late August for the buildings during a global pan- four-building Salt Creek Medical demic that has raised questions Campus, according to DuPage about the future of many types County property records. The of commercial real estate. While venture bought the properties, the fundamentals of traditional totaling nearly 157,000 square offices, bricks-and-mortar re- feet, from Chicago-based Med- tail space and hotels have been Properties Group. The addresses upended by the coronavirus, are 901 and 907 Elm St. and 8 and demand for outpatient medical

12 Salt Creek Lane. offices remains a fairly safe bet GROUP COSTAR MedProperties bought the with relatively little competition 8 Salt Creek Lane in Hinsdale buildings for $19 million in 2012 from new supply in the works, and 2013 when they made up the according to a report last month volume in the U.S. more than limited rent deferment and re- care,” Kayne Anderson Chief In- Salt Creek office park and were by Newport Beach, Calif.-based doubled between 2012 and 2017 lief required,” JLL Healthcare & vestment Officer David Selznick 31 percent leased to a mix of pro- real estate research firm Green to $14.7 billion, and annual vol- Life Sciences Research Director says in a statement to Crain’s. fessional services and medical Street. ume has remained above $13 Audrey Symes says in the report. MedProperties owns medical office tenants. The purchases in- billion since then, according to a “This performance illustrates office buildings in Chicago and cluded vacant land on which it ‘DURABILITY OF INCOME’ July report from brokerage Jones both the cyclical and structural Phoenix and manages 2 million built a 32,000-square-foot outpa- “Investors are flocking to de- Lang LaSalle. Despite some clin- tailwinds enjoyed by medical of- square feet of medical office tient facility at 8 Salt Creek Lane fensive positions, and the Salt ics closing temporarily during fice investments.” space nationwide, according to for Edward-Elmhurst Health. Creek Medical Campus is a great the first months of the pandemic, A Kayne Anderson spokes- a spokesman. The company was The developer also spent an example of an investment offer- most continued to pay rent. woman did not provide details of founded in 1994 by CEO Matthew undisclosed amount renovat- ing durability of income,” CBRE “Rent collections by the largest the firm’s plans for the campus. Campbell, who started the busi- ing the existing buildings on the Vice Chairman Chris Bodnar, owners of medical office space “We are pleased to add another ness after working in commercial campus with new lobbies, sig- who represented MedProperties were consistently noted in the high-quality, well located med- real estate with a predecessor to nage, HVAC and elevator sys- in the deal, says in a statement. high 90 percent range through- ical office asset to our portfolio JLL and the real estate division of tems, and a two-story atrium in Medical office building sales out the lockdown period, with with our partner MBRE Health- Goldman Sachs.

REAL ESTATE AUCTION Lincoln Park apartments fetch $64 million OCTOBER 30, 2020 The price for the 162-unit building could suggest that apartment values are holding 129,000 SQ. FT. MANUFACTURING/ up during the pandemic and recession. But it’s more complicated than that. WAREHOUSING BUILDING BY ALBY GALLUN since Horizon completed the deal landlords are holding up well. Even in June. e Lincoln Park building’s within the city, smaller buildings on To be sold subject to a published minimum bid of $465,000* Chicago landlord Horizon Realty occupancy has fallen from about 95 the North Side are faring better than Total Purchase Price UNDER $4 a foot at the minimum bid Group has acquired a Lincoln Park percent then to 92 percent now, Mi- big high-rises in the Loop or South apartment building for $64 million, chael says. Loop, Michael says. e pandemic a price suggesting that multifamily Horizon’s $64 million price also and recent civil unrest have reduced values might not be falling after all. may not reect the true market val- the appeal of high-rise living for Horizon acquired the 162-unit ue of the property at the time of the many downtown residents. building at 2555 N. Clark St. in sale. Horizon paid more than a typ- “People just want to be out of the late June from DWS, a unit of ical investor would because it ac- Loop, out of those larger buildings, Deutsche Bank, con rms Horizon quired the building in part to defer and be in the neighborhoods for a Chief Operating Ocer Je Mi- capital gains taxes on an earlier sale while,” Michael says. “We see that in chael. At $64 million, or $395,000 of Elmhurst Terrace, an apartment our portfolio.” per unit, DWS came out ahead complex in west suburban Elm- Horizon owns about 2,500 apart- Located just 1.5 hours from Chicago’s Southwest Suburbs at on the sale: It paid $50.5 million hurst, Michael says. ments, mainly on the North Side, 1642 Burlington, Kewanee, Illinois. Easy drive on I-80 from suburbs. for the property in early 2014, ac- but its holdings include the Park Great central Illinois location very close to I-80 and I-74 corridors. cording to Real Capital Analytics, TAX BENEFIT Michigan, a 344-unit tower in the The 1-story property features 14 ft. ceilings, 8 dock doors, 2 ground a New York research rm. Under federal law, investors that South Loop. Figuring out what big Chicago sell properties for a gain can delay Built in 1987, 2555 N. Clark has a level overhead doors, overhead crane on approximately 5 acres. apartment buildings are worth taxes on the transaction if they plow location that’s hard to beat. It’s sur- Building can easily be subdivided to accommodate multiple tenants. has become tough amid the coro- the proceeds into another proper- rounded by restaurants and bars Enterprise zone and TIF district. Low property taxes. Good condition. navirus pandemic and recession. ty. e tax bene t often is attractive and is just a short walk from Lincoln Occupancies and rents have fall- enough that investors are willing to Park and the lakefront. DWS com- Onsite Inspections Noon to 2 pm, October 15, 20, and 28 en at many properties, but only a pay a premium for a new building. pleted a major renovation of the and by appointment. small number of large buildings “Your choice is to pay a heavy cap- 19-story building several years ago. have changed hands over the past ital gains tax to the government or “It’s in great shape,” Michael says. *plus a 10% buyers premium six months, making it hard to de- be a little more aggressive” on price, Rents at the property range termine where values have settled. Michael says. from $1,422 to $3,627 per month, BROKER PARTICIPATION INVITED In August, a 150-unit apartment A spokesman for DWS, formerly according to Horizon’s website. FOR INFORMATION CONTACT complex in Ravenswood sold for RREEF, did not respond to an email Given recent market weakness, Rick Levin & Associates, Inc. | since $46 million, less than the $48.1 for comment. Horizon, like many landlords, now million it fetched in 2016. It’s hard to make a blanket state- oers one month of free rent to 312.440.2000 | www.ricklevin.com Some investors might view the ment about the state of the Chicago new tenants, and even two months price for 2555 N. Clark as a sign apartment market these days. While if they sign a lease within 24 hours that apartment values are holding occupancies and rents have fallen of looking at an apartment, Mi- up. But the market has weakened at downtown buildings, suburban chael says. CROHN’S DISEASE DOESN’T FIGHT FAIR.

NEITHER DO WE.

Dr. David T. Rubin Gastroenterology

20cb0490.pdf RunDate 10/5/20 FULL PAGE Color: 4/C 14 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

We need progress on bikeways As Chicagoans struggle to get around safely during the pandemic, the Divvy EDITORIAL bike share system has further cemented itself as a critical component of our city’s public transit network. In August alone, Divvy set daily (28,541) and monthly (614,216) ridership records. Thousands of health care and other Send in the clowns essential workers are relying on Divvy he chairman of a special Illi- by Welch’s stonewalling. As revealed by to get to work. With interest in biking nois House panel investigating WBEZ on Sept. 28, Madigan tried to get booming and bikes in short supply, Div- Speaker Michael Madigan’s state jobs last year for a half-dozen peo- vy is there for people who want to ride to role in the Commonwealth ple with close ties to Welch—including the Lakefront or head to a restaurant to Edison bribery scandal wants Welch’s wife. As WBEZ put it: “Madigan pick up takeout. Tus to believe the dangers of a show tri- recommended more people with con- The system is in the midst of a two-year al outweigh the benefits of learning the nections to Welch than anybody else truth. during the months after (J.B.) Pritzker That’s the only logical conclusion one was sworn in, when the rookie governor can draw in the wake of the news, re- was looking to fill many job openings in ported by Crain’s columnist Greg Hinz his administration.” on Oct. 1, that state Rep. Chris Welch, Madigan, who has not been charged President KC Crain D-Hillside, is forbidding his commit- Group publisher Mary Kramer tee from issuing subpoenas to people Publisher/executive editor Jim Kirk who could shed light on a specter that’s SPRINGFIELD IS ALREADY A CIRCUS. Associate publisher Kate Van Etten haunted Springfield for months. He says LET’S PULL THE CLOWN CAR UP * * * he won’t allow his panel “to be used as a Editor Ann Dwyer stage for political theater.” TO THE CAPITOL STEPS AND HAVE Creative director Thomas J. Linden Here’s news for Welch and his Demo- Assistant managing editor Jan Parr cratic counterparts on this committee: ITS OCCUPANTS FILE OUT IN AN Assistant managing editor/digital Ann R. Weiler Springfield is already a circus. Let’s pull Deputy digital editor Todd J. Behme the clown car up to the Capitol steps and ORDERLY FASHION. Digital design editor Jason McGregor have its occupants file out in an orderly Senior art director Karen Freese Zane fashion. It’s showtime. in the ongoing federal investigation of Copy chief Danielle Narcissé GOP members of Welch’s panel want the Springfield bribery scandal and has Deputy digital editor/ Sarah Zimmerman to call in Madigan himself, as well as denied wrongdoing, notes that “helping audience and social media lobbyists such as Michael McClain and people find jobs is not a crime.” Columnist/contributing editor Joe Cahill former City Club of Chicago chieftain Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan Crazy as it may sound to some, Illinois Forum editor Cassandra West Political columnist Greg Hinz

NEWSCOM would do well to expect its elected offi- Jay Doherty, and have them testify un- Senior reporters Steve Daniels der oath as to how Chicago-based power cials to do more than clear the “it isn’t Alby Gallun giant ComEd seems to consistently get worth sharing. There’s also reason to be- has no intention of testifying: “I have a crime” threshold. Welch may have Lynne Marek everything it wants out of Springfield, lieve the only way we’ll get a straight an- provided all of the answers I can give.” If the power to block his panel’s efforts to John Pletz and who benefits in the process. Based swer from some of them is under oath. Madigan has nothing to hide, then why get to the bottom of this mess, but he Reporters Danny Ecker on public reporting, we have ample rea- As Madigan himself put it in a letter sent not let the political theater play out? doesn’t have the power to make it smell Stephanie Goldberg son to believe these people have insights to the special committee on Sept. 25, he Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised good. Wendell Hutson Ally Marotti A.D. Quig Dennis Rodkin YOUR VIEW Steven R. Strahler Copy editor Scott Williams Contributing photographer John R. Boehm Researcher Kasey Hariman Safety-net hospitals need partners, not saviors * * * Director of digital strategy Frank Sennett oe Cahill’s recent column dependent on appropriate and Health System are looking beyond pro- Chicago, where access to care and good Director of custom media Sarah Chow Associate director, Jaimee Holway (“Northwestern and other big timely payments for services viding the best health care possible, un- health is a fundamental right for every per- events and marketing hospitals could save safety provided to our Medicaid ben- derstanding that we need to provide real son. We have so many excellent medical J * * * nets,” Sept. 15) makes an import- eciaries, and we serve those opportunity for our communities. We are providers, multiple trauma centers, highly Production manager David Adair ant point in part of a bigger pic- who are uninsured and under- looking at what impacts people’s health— regarded medical schools and a strong civic Account executives Aileen Elliott ture. He calls on the larger, and insured without hesitation. jobs, housing, available healthy food, spirit. Civic-minded foundations and cor- Claudia Hippel wealthier, health systems in the e nancial challenges we neighborhood safety, and transportation porations are investing philanthropically Christine Rozmanich Chicago area to make a greater face every day impact our ability for getting to school, work or the doctor. to support eorts in areas that lift up com- Bridget Sevcik commitment to “health equity to deal with the crises at hand— And because we are an integral part of munities, such as job creation and hous- Laura Warren across the city and particularly the twin pandemics of COVID-19 our communities, we understand and can ing. Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/ Courtney Rush in our most vulnerable neigh- Karen Teitelbaum and violence—which dispropor- respond to these needs eectively, but al- West initiative of placing assets in targeted Amy Skarnulis borhoods” by focusing more on is president and tionately impact the communi- ways in partnership with our community communities in order to revitalize and build People on the Move manager Debora Stein safety-net hospitals for potential CEO of Sinai ties we serve because of decades organizations such as the North Lawndale health and well-being has been encourag- Sales assistant Lauren Jackson mergers and acquisitions. Health System of inherent racial inequities in Community Coordinating Council, En- ing for those of us who work and live in these Project manager Joanna Metzger But when we think about sus- terms of economics, education lace and Southwest Organizing Project, to neighborhoods with so much potential. Event planner Katie Robinson tainability of Chicago’s health providers and health care. For many, it’s a truly hercu- name a few. But to accelerate and sustain the invest- Event manager Tenille Johnson for the most vulnerable, what safety nets lean task to operate our programs and ser- Safety nets are collaborating in unique ments beyond a philanthropic check, we Digital designer Christine Balch really need are partners, not saviors. We vices and also proactively plan and invest ways with untraditional partners to in- need to embrace the practice of perma- Crain Communications Inc. don’t need a knight in shining armor, but in needed equipment, services and other vest in and heal our neighborhoods. is nence of commitment. Health care always Keith E. Crain Mary Kay Crain collaborators willing to work together, items. And yet, operate we must in order to means partnering with real estate devel- has been a tale of haves and have-nots. Chairman Vice chairman KC Crain Chris Crain along with our community residents, to ensure that we have a healthy Chicago for opers, local businesses and housing ad- While we would appreciate the support of President Senior executive vice president address disparities. all, not just those who live in more auent vocates to invest in projects that will bring our colleague institutions with greater re- Lexie Crain Armstrong Robert Recchia ere’s no doubt that safety-net hos- or stable parts of our city. needed permanent investments in hous- serves, the true solution lies in a partner- Secretary Chief nancial ocer pitals in Illinois face extreme challenges. Safety nets are really about opportunity, ing, commercial development and jobs to ship of those institutions together with safe- Veebha Mehta Chief marketing ocer While staying focused on our mission of and Mr. Cahill was spot on when he called our communities, as the Ogden Commons ty-net providers, corporations, government * * * G.D. Crain Jr. Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. serving those most in need, we struggle out the need for additional resources to project in North Lawndale promises. But and, most importantly, the community. Founder Chairman with limited resources and, in some cas- address inequities faced by people of color there’s always room for more. Working together, we can realize the (1885-1973) (1911-1996) es, minimal cash reserves. We are highly throughout Chicago. Safety nets like Sinai e opportunity exists for a truly healthy possibilities. For subscription information and delivery concerns please email [email protected] or call 877-812-1590 (in the U.S. and Canada) or 313-446-0450 (all other locations). 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. CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • OCTOBER 5, 2020 15

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

We need progress on bikeways expansion that will end with people in is imperative. The buildout of protect- every Chicago neighborhood having ac- ed bike lanes specifically is critical to As Chicagoans struggle to get around cess to Divvy bikes. This includes Black the continued growth of bicycling. After safely during the pandemic, the Divvy and Brown communities on the South a spurt of activity from 2011-16, only 3 EDITORIAL bike share system has further cemented and West sides that have historically miles of protected bike lanes have been itself as a critical component of our city’s been underserved by public transit. Dis- installed over the last four years. public transit network. counted pricing is available for residents Divvy is two-wheeled public transit. In August alone, Divvy set daily who qualify for public benefits. To build a cleaner, healthier, and more (28,541) and monthly (614,216) ridership The expansion also includes the roll- equitable city, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and records. out of thousands of electric-assist pedal the City Council need to further invest in Thousands of health care and other bikes that provide a boost once the rider biking. This means dedicated funding for Send in the clowns essential workers are relying on Divvy gets going. These bikes can help encour- new bike infrastructure, with a focus on by Welch’s stonewalling. As revealed by to get to work. With interest in biking age people to take longer rides and get underserved communities on the South WBEZ on Sept. 28, Madigan tried to get booming and bikes in short supply, Div- people riding who feel they don’t have and West sides. state jobs last year for a half-dozen peo- vy is there for people who want to ride to the strength for the traditional blue bikes. ple with close ties to Welch—including the Lakefront or head to a restaurant to For Chicago to be able to fully take AMY RYNELL

Welch’s wife. As WBEZ put it: “Madigan pick up takeout. advantage of the success of Divvy, more Executive director, GETTY IMAGES recommended more people with con- The system is in the midst of a two-year progress on creating a bikeways network Active Transportation Alliance Divvy is expanding in Chicago. nections to Welch than anybody else during the months after (J.B.) Pritzker was sworn in, when the rookie governor was looking to fill many job openings in his administration.” Madigan, who has not been charged President KC Crain Group publisher Mary Kramer Publisher/executive editor Jim Kirk SPRINGFIELD IS ALREADY A CIRCUS. Associate publisher Kate Van Etten LET’S PULL THE CLOWN CAR UP * * * Editor Ann Dwyer TO THE CAPITOL STEPS AND HAVE Creative director Thomas J. Linden Assistant managing editor Jan Parr ... ITS OCCUPANTS FILE OUT IN AN Assistant managing editor/digital Ann R. Weiler Deputy digital editor Todd J. Behme ORDERLY FASHION. Digital design editor Jason McGregor Senior art director Karen Freese Zane in the ongoing federal investigation of Copy chief Danielle Narcissé the Springfield bribery scandal and has Deputy digital editor/ Sarah Zimmerman denied wrongdoing, notes that “helping audience and social media people find jobs is not a crime.” Columnist/contributing editor Joe Cahill Crazy as it may sound to some, Illinois Forum editor Cassandra West Political columnist Greg Hinz would do well to expect its elected offi- Senior reporters Steve Daniels cials to do more than clear the “it isn’t Alby Gallun a crime” threshold. Welch may have Lynne Marek the power to block his panel’s efforts to John Pletz get to the bottom of this mess, but he Reporters Danny Ecker doesn’t have the power to make it smell Stephanie Goldberg good. Wendell Hutson Ally Marotti A.D. Quig Dennis Rodkin YOUR VIEW Steven R. Strahler Copy editor Scott Williams Contributing photographer John R. Boehm Researcher Kasey Hariman Safety-net hospitals need partners, not saviors * * * Director of digital strategy Frank Sennett Chicago, where access to care and good Director of custom media Sarah Chow Associate director, Jaimee Holway health is a fundamental right for every per- events and marketing son. We have so many excellent medical providers, multiple trauma centers, highly * * * Production manager David Adair regarded medical schools and a strong civic Account executives Aileen Elliott spirit. Civic-minded foundations and cor- Claudia Hippel porations are investing philanthropically Christine Rozmanich to support e orts in areas that lift up com- Bridget Sevcik munities, such as job creation and hous- Laura Warren ing. Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/ Courtney Rush West initiative of placing assets in targeted Amy Skarnulis communities in order to revitalize and build People on the Move manager Debora Stein health and well-being has been encourag- Sales assistant Lauren Jackson ing for those of us who work and live in these Project manager Joanna Metzger neighborhoods with so much potential. Event planner Katie Robinson But to accelerate and sustain the invest- Event manager Tenille Johnson ments beyond a philanthropic check, we Digital designer Christine Balch need to embrace the practice of perma- Crain Communications Inc. nence of commitment. Health care always Keith E. Crain Mary Kay Crain has been a tale of haves and have-nots. Chairman Vice chairman KC Crain Chris Crain While we would appreciate the support of President Senior executive vice president our colleague institutions with greater re- Lexie Crain Armstrong Robert Recchia Zurich North American Headquarters serves, the true solution lies in a partner- Secretary Chief nancial ocer ship of those institutions together with safe- Veebha Mehta Chief marketing ocer Schaumburg, Illinois ty-net providers, corporations, government * * * G.D. Crain Jr. Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. and, most importantly, the community. Founder Chairman Working together, we can realize the (1885-1973) (1911-1996) We see our work through the eyes of the people who will use them every day. Through their possibilities. For subscription information and delivery concerns eyes, we see places of innovation, industry, technology, healing, research and entertainment. please email [email protected] or call 877-812-1590 (in the U.S. and Canada) The result? Powerful structures with impacts that reach far beyond these walls. or 313-446-0450 (all other locations). Sound o : Send a column for the Opinion page to editor@ claycorp.com chicagobusiness.com. Please include a phone number for veri cation purposes, and limit submissions to 425 words or fewer.

ARCHITECTURE / ENGINEERING Advertising Section ZS LLC, Chicago PEOPLE ON THE MOVE ZS is pleased to announce the To place your listing, visit www.chicagobusiness.com/peoplemoves promotion of or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / [email protected] Gregory Dowell, RA, NCARB, to Director of ZS’ Building FINANCIAL SERVICES HEALTH CARE LAW FIRM PUBLIC AFFAIRS Enclosure Group. Gregory is a Licensed Architect Telemus, Chicago NorthShore University Firsel Ross, Bannockburn Res Publica Group, Chicago in Illinois & Wisconsin, and has HealthSystem, Evanston over a decade of experience in Telemus, a Southfield, The law firm of Firsel Bernardo Gómez building enclosure consulting MI-based firm NorthShore University Ross announced that joins strategic and preservation & restoration providing wealth HealthSystem two of its attorneys communications of historic buildings. Over the advisory, investment (NorthShore) has have been recognized agency Res Publica past two years Gregory has management and named Aikaterini as “Ones to Watch” Group as Vice contributed greatly in his role asset management Markopoulou, MD, in the 2021 Best President + Creative at ZS & focused his efforts solutions for high net PhD, as Stanley Lawyers award listings. Cooper Director. Res Publica on managing & performing worth and ultra-high net worth C. Golder Chair of Markopoulou Jessica T. Cooper leverages creative storytelling to building enclosure assessment, individuals and institutional Neuroscience Research and Karen Jerwood enhance reputations and drive design and commissioning for investors, is pleased to welcome and Susan M. are associates at the public opinion. Bernardo will new, existing & historic facilities. Matt Heckler as Director of Rubin, MD, as Ruth Bannockburn, Illinois lead the agency’s creative team, Corporate Executive Services. Cain Ruggles Chair firm, specializing bringing perspective gained BANKING Matt is leading a new division of Neurology. Dr. in commercial real from 20 years of experience of the firm that provides Markopoulou is the estate law. Jessica in brand strategy and creative First Bank of Highland Park, comprehensive financial development. Prior to joining Director, Movement T. Cooper’s legal Jerwood Highland Park planning and implementation Disorders Section at practice encompasses RPG, Bernardo formed The Rubin for senior level management NorthShore and is all aspects of commercial real Corazón Agency, and launched As one of the five from income tax and estate principal investigator estate, including the acquisition, Havas Latino, the multi-cultural largest privately held planning to insurance, benefits, for the Dodona Project to identify financing, leasing, disposition, division of Havas Worldwide. banks in Chicago, investments, and more. molecular predictors of long-term and zoning of commercial, First Bank of Highland clinical outcomes in neurologic industrial, and multi-unit Park (FBHP) is pleased diseases, including brain tumors. residential properties. to announce Claudia HEALTH CARE Dr. Rubin is the Clinical Chair, Karen Jerwood focuses REAL ESTATE Phalen has been Department of Neurology at her practice on real estate promoted to Vice President/ Discovery Health Partners, NorthShore and Medical Director, transactions, representing parties ML Realty Partners, Itasca Business Banking Credit Officer. Itasca NorthShore Neurological in transactions that include As the bank continues to grow, Institute with 37 neurologists the development, financing, ML Realty Partners she is responsible for focusing Discovery Health with subspecialties including acquisition, and disposition of has promoted Shari on underwriting, analysis, and Partners has tapped neuropathic pain, autonomic commercial real estate, including Crivello to Senior ensuring overall quality in our Jeff Fasy as its new neuropathies, and concussion, restaurants, medical offices. Director. Crivello, Business Banking and Consumer Chief Financial Officer. working with Neurosurgery, Physical who joined the firm Lending portfolios. Claudia Fasy brings decades Medicine and Rehabilitation. in 2010, has been joined FBHP in 2019 with 20+ of strategic financial an important part of years of banking expertise. management and shaping many functions inside financial analytics capabilities, the company. Her attention to along with robust experience NON-PROFIT detail and reputation in the real in healthcare technology and HEALTH CARE estate community has benefited LGC Board of Directors, Chicago data-centric organizations. Fasy’s the firm in many ways. EDUCATION NorthShore University appointment follows other recent HealthSystem, Evanston Leadership Greater College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn significant growth news from Chicago, the Discovery, including its recent NorthShore University region’s premier Wendy E. Parks, a acquisition of Consova and its HealthSystem civic leadership seasoned industry seventh consecutive placement (NorthShore) named development leader, has been on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest John P. Erwin, III, organization, named vice president growing companies in America. MD, FACC, FAHA, announces the for PR, marketing and FACP, as the Louise election of Leif Elsmo (LGC REAL ESTATE communications at W. Coon Chair of Fellow since 2011) to the College of DuPage— Medicine, NorthShore Chairman LGC Board of Directors. Leif ML Realty Partners, Itasca the largest community college of the Department of Medicine. is the Executive Director of in IL. At COD, she has garnered Prior to joining NorthShore, he Community & External Affairs at ML Realty Partners significant increased media was Clinical Professor and Chair UChicago Medicine where he has promoted exposure, social media and HEALTH CARE of the Dept. of Internal Medicine oversees community programs John Benson to community engagement. at Baylor Scott & White Health. that benefit the South Side of Senior Director of Department awards include Health Care Service Corporation, He graduated with honors Chicago. Previously he served Development. Since the international Telly Awards Chicago from Texas A&M University as the Executive Director of joining the firm in 2016, and the National Council for Health Care Service College of Medicine, serving his Urban Options and as Program Benson’s industrial Marketing & Public Relations. Corporation (HCSC) residency in internal medicine Director of the AmeriCorps market experience and passion Parks holds a bachelor’s degree promoted Catherine and fellowship in cardiovascular National Service Program Public for the company have been great in Mass Communications from Nelson to Chief Legal medicine at Mayo Clinic. Allies Chicago. contributions to his success. UW-Milwaukee and an MBA Officer. In her new from Loyola University. role, Nelson will lead the company’s legal strategy, including overseeing LAW FIRM internal and outside counsel NON-PROFIT EDUCATION support of all regulatory, litigation, Husch Blackwell LLP, Chicago LGC Board of Directors, Chicago College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn contract, transactional, and governance matters affecting Husch Blackwell welcomes Jai Khanna Leadership Greater Lilianna Kalin has HCSC and its operating units. REAL ESTATE to its Energy & Natural Chicago, the been appointed Nelson has a Juris Doctor from Resources industry region’s premier general counsel the Northwestern University ML Realty Partners, Itasca team as partner. Jai civic leadership at College of Pritzker School of Law and a brings to the firm a development DuPage – the largest bachelor’s degree in business ML Realty Partners broad-based finance organization, is community college administration from the has promoted Matt practice with a concentration pleased to announce in Illinois. Kalin University of Illinois. Novak to Leasing in project finance relating to the election of Cedric D. Thurman joined the College in 2018 as Manager for his conventional and renewable (LGC Fellow since 2008) to the assistant general counsel. In reliable, hard work energy generation facilities, real LGC Board of Directors. He is her new role, Kalin oversees all and growth within his estate and related infrastructure. Chief Diversity Officer, Group legal matters for the institution. role since joining the His finance clientele includes Head, Community Investment Prior to joining COD, Kalin held firm in 2015. Novak will oversee large global banks and financial and Diversity and Inclusion at positions at the Cook County the leasing efforts of ML Realty institutions, project developers, the Federal Home Loan Bank of State’s Attorney’s Office in Partners’ Chicagoland portfolio. equity investors, asset managers, Chicago. Prior, Cedric founded Chicago and the Cook County To order frames or plaques investment funds, and corporate Talks Inc., a nonprofit developing Health and Hospitals System. of profiles contact Lauren Melesio at issuers and borrowers. life skills programming for youth She holds a juris doctorate from and was US Head of Inclusion at Chicago-Kent College of Law. [email protected] or 212-210-0707 BMO Harris Bank. CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • OCTOBER 5, 2020 17 CRAIN’S LIST CHICAGO’S LARGEST OUT-OF-TOWN EMPLOYERS Ranked by the number of local full-time employees. Crain’s estimates in gray. No. of full-time local No. of full-time employees as of worldwide employees Percentage of total 12/31/19; as of 12/31/19; employees in the Company Head of Chicago o ce % change from 2018 % change from 2018 Chicago area Type of organization

U.S. GOVERNMENT Pamela Langston-Cox 45,736 2,600,000 1.8% Federal government 1 230 S. Dearborn St., 35th oor, Chicago 60604; Chair, Chicago Federal Executive Board -5.0% NC Chicago.FEB.gov

WALMART INC. Dale Murphy 15,000 2,200,000 0.7% Home goods and grocery retailer 2 8430 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago 60631; Walmart.com Vice president, regional general manager NA NC

AMAZON.COM INC. Je Bezos 14,610 798,000 1.8% E-commerce, tech and telecom 3 227 W. Monroe St., Chicago 60606; Amazon.com CEO 4.2% 30.1%

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. Tony Maggiore 13,742 256,105 5.4% Banking and nancial services 4 10 S. Dearborn St., Chicago 60603; JPMorganChase.com President, Midwest middle market banking -0.4% NC

STATE OF ILLINOIS J.B. Pritzker 12,207 44,653 27.3% State government 5 100 W. Randolph St., Suite 16-100, Chicago 60601; Governor -10.5% -1.1% Illinois.gov

AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. Franco Tedeschi 10,000 130,000 7.7% Airline 6 O’Hare International Airport, Terminal 3, Chicago 60666; Vice president, Chicago oce 5.0% NC AA.com

JEWELOSCO Mike K. Withers 9,744 10,410 93.6% Grocery retailer 7 150 Pierce Road, Suite 400, Itasca 60143; JewelOsco.com President, executive vice president, East NC NC region operations

AT&T INC. Eileen M. Mitchell 9,590 247,800 3.9% Tech and telecom 8 225 W. Randolph St., Chicago 60606; ATT.com President, Illinois -0.5% -7.6%

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC. Marvin Hill 7,560 295,080 2.6% Logistics 9 55 Glenlake Parkway NE, Atlanta 30328; UPS.com President, UPS Central Plains district NA NA

BMO HARRIS BANK NA David R. Casper 7,354 56,420 13.0% Banking 10 111 W. Monroe St., 2nd oor, Chicago 60603; U.S. CEO, BMO Financial Group 21.4% 36.2% BMOHarris.com

FORD MOTOR CO. Salih Ahmad, manager, Chicago Stamping 7,100 191,000 3.7% Automaker 11 12600 S. Torrence Ave., Chicago 60633; Ford.com Plant; Jon Giord, manager, Chicago NA NA Assembly Plant

ACCENTURE LTD. Jim Coleman 6,200 477,000 1.3% Management consulting, 12 161 N. Clark St., Chicago 60601; Accenture.com Managing director, Chicago oce NA NA technology services

DELOITTE LLP Kathy Scherer 6,008 106,918 5.6% Audit, consulting, tax and advisory 13 111 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago 60606; Deloitte.com Chicago managing partner NA 13.0% services

BANK OF AMERICA Paul T. Lambert 6,000 208,000 2.9% Financial services 14 100 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago 60606; BankOfAmerica.com Chicago market president NA NA

COMCAST CORP. John Crowley 5,800 190,000 3.1% Telecommunications 15 1500 McConnor Parkway, Schaumburg 60173; Regional senior vice president 0.9% 3.3% Chicago.Comcast.com

HOME DEPOT INC. Craig Menear 5,636 400,000 1.4% Home improvement retailer 16 2455 Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta 30339; HomeDepot.com Chairman, CEO NA NA

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES Gary C. Kelly 5,400 60,000 9.0% Airline 17 2702 Love Field Drive, Dallas 75235; Southwest.com CEO, Chairman 0.1% 1.7%

AON PLC Gregory C. Case 4,958 50,000 9.9% Professional services 18 200 E. Randolph St., Floors 3-15, Chicago 60601; Aon.com CEO NA NC

UNITEDHEALTHCARE Tom Kunst 4,700 325,000 1.4% Health insurance and health care 19 200 E. Randolph St., Suite 5300, Chicago 60601; UHC.com CEO 4.4% 16.1%

TARGET CORP. Brian Cornell 4,515 350,000 1.3% Home goods and grocery retailer 20 6000 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis 55403; Target.com Chairman, CEO NA NA

ARCELORMITTAL USA John Brett 4,483 191,000 2.3% Steel and mining 21 1 S. Dearborn St., 18th oor, Chicago 60603; President, CEO, ArcelorMittal USA NA NA USA.ArcelorMittal.com

ERNST & YOUNG LLP Jud Snyder 4,065 284,018 1.4% Advisory and accounting services 22 155 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago 60606; EY.com Managing partner, Chicago oce 11.5% 8.6%

MARIANO’S Mchael Marx 3,918 3,918 100.0% Grocery retailer 23 9501 W. Devon Ave., 5th oor, Rosemont 60018; President, CEO NA NA Marianos.com

PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP Jim Kolar 3,603 276,005 1.3% Audit, assurance, consulting and 24 1 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago 60606; PWC.com Central market managing partner 3.7% 10.0% tax services

KPMG LLP Linda Imonti 2,593 219,000 1.2% Audit, tax and advisory services 25 200 E. Randolph St., Suite 5500, Chicago 60601; KPMG.com Oce managing principal 4.3% 5.8%

Includes large employers with primary headquarters outside Cook, Kane, Lake, DuPage, Will, and McHenry counties in Illinois and Lake county in Indiana. Crain’s estimates are in gray; gures estimated by Crain’s are derived from a variety of sources. The list is built using data submitted by companies, Crain’s estimates and information reported elsewhere when available, but it is not a complete list of all large employers with headquarters outside the Chicago area. Local addresses and top Chicago-area executives are included when available, but some addresses and executives outside the Chicago area are included. In cases where we’ve published a full-time local employment gure alongside a worldwide gure that also includes part-time employees, the gures in the column listing the percentage of employees in Chicago should be taken as rough approximations. NA: Not available. NC: No change. 1. Fiscal year ends in September. 2. Estimate includes more than 50 federal agencies with oces in the seven-county area. 3. Does not include soldiers from any branch of the military. 4. Fiscal year ends in January. 5. Includes part-time employees. 6. Includes Whole Foods employees. 7. Fiscal year ends in June. 8. Prior-year gure includes full-time-equivalent employees. 9. Fiscal year ends in February. 10. Calculated from SEC lings. 11. Includes gures for BMO Harris Bank NA and BMO Harris Central NA. 12. Figure is from Built in Chicago and as of July 2019. 13. Figure is from the Chicago Tribune and as of July 2019. 14. In- cludes subsidiaries of Deloitte LLP. 15. Fiscal year ends in May. 16. Includes employees of Deloitte US only. 17. Includes only employees in Chicago, Aurora, Joliet, Naperville, Waukegan, Elgin, Cicero, Arlington Heights, Bolingbrook and Evanston. 18. Refers to the number of local full-time professional sta as of 6/30/19. 19. Includes employees of global network partners. Researched by Kasey Hariman 18 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS PHOTOS COURTESY OF JAMESON SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY INTERNATIONAL SOTHEBY’S JAMESON OF COURTESY PHOTOS Look inside a Gold Coast mansion listed at $13.5 million Infused with the spirit of ‘the timeless elegance’ of grand homes in Paris, New York and Chicago, it’s the second-highest-priced existing house in the city

BY DENNIS RODKIN Before building this classical- ly inspired mansion on Burton Place, Lowell and Caryn Kra gathered inspiration from tours and photos of a few hundred ne homes in Paris, New York and Chicago. Far from being a patchwork of souvenirs from those homes, the house the Kra s completed in 2008 is infused with their spirit of “the timeless elegance that we saw in them,” Lowell Kra says. It’s evident in the well-ordered facade lit by antique gas lamps; in- terior walls nished in white oak, silk, vellum and other materials; an in-house elevator with leath- er-padded walls; and a rooftop terrace nestled into the treetops.

MULTIYEAR PROJECT e project took the Kra s several years to complete. ey bought the corner site at Dear- born Street and Burton Place in 2000, when it held a decaying 19th-century apartment building. ey worked with Darcy Bonner and Scott Himmel, each of whom has his own namesake Chicago architecture and design rm, to create a 10,000-square-foot house that would “look like something that had been there for a century,” Lowell Kra says. e house was built by Chicago rm BGD&C. e Kra s are shifting to living in ey listed the home last week fered for more, and a Lake Shore Florida full time since Caryn Kra , at $13.5 million, making it the Drive condo is on the market at an ophthalmologist, recently re- second-highest-priced existing the same price. tired from the Kra Eye Institute, house in the city, after a $45 mil- e listing agents are Nancy founded by Lowell Kra ’s father. lion Lincoln Park mansion. Some Tassone and Tim Salm of James- Lowell Kra is a private investor. proposed new construction is of- on Sotheby’s International Realty. WE’RE RISING TOGETHER OCTOBER at the 19th annual 19th 2020 4:00-5:15pm CHICAGO A LIVE VIRTUAL INNOVATION EVENT AWARDS

A 75-MINUTE LOVE POEM TO CHICAGO... Featuring 10 iconic locations CELEBRITY APPEARANCES PRIZES&GIVEAWAYS MEET THE 2020 MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT Remarks from the Governor, AWARD WINNERS Mayor, & Cook County President

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20cb0494.pdf RunDate 10/5/20 FULL PAGE Color: 4/C 20 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

w SWEET AND SOUR Chicago candy makers brace for an unconventional Halloween Fewer people are planning to CANDY from Page 1 changed during the pandemic, all and candy sales were up 13 per- celebrate Halloween this year, but eliminating the impulse can- cent from a year earlier during according to data from the National manufacturers have appealed di- dy buy, she says. Halloween will the four weeks that ended Sept. 6, Retail Federation. But those who are rectly to consumers to make sure create a road map for Christmas, according to the National Confec- celebrating are expected to spend they don’t overlook the seasonal Valentine’s Day and whatever tioners Association. treats. At the same time, the com- other holiday might occur before e numbers could be trending more on candy. panies shifted manufacturing to a vaccine becomes widely avail- upward because most Halloween adapt to new trends and unpre- able. candy hit shelves earlier this year, 58 percent dictable demand. “ e manufacturers have to experts say. Ferrara got its Lay Retailers like Walgreens, CVS take control of every holiday be- Tay, Nerds and other candies of Americans plan to celebrate and Jewel-Osco are stocking fore it happens,” Mogelonsky says. out four weeks early, Goldman Halloween this year, down from their shelves dierently this year. “ ey have got to nd a way to get says, and started selling directly to 68 percent in 2019. Smaller bags—sized to feed a fam- straight to the consumer. ey’re consumers, through channels like ily instead of the whole neighbor- going to have to think beyond go- Amazon, three months earlier this hood—are in, and retailers have ing straight to retail.” year. bolstered seasonal aisles with Some have waded into those ere’s also the candy bowl to U.S. HALLOWEEN CANDY items besides candy, like decora- waters already. consider. As people have been SPENDING tions and masks. nding small ways to treat them- WRIGLEY MARS $3.0 billion “Usually, I can project and fore- THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT selves during the pandemic, Tim LeBel is president of sales at Mars Wrigley $2.4 billion cast the sales for Halloween the Mars Wrigley launched a vir- chocolate has become a go-to, U.S. entire month of October,” LeBel tual trick-or-treat app. Users can says Laura Gurski, North Ameri- 2.5 says. “We’re going into some very redeem virtual candy for the real can lead of consumer goods and wrapped candies were a must. uncharted ground this year.” deal at participating retailers. Ferr- services at consulting rm Accen- Competition for shelf space has 2.0 Americans spent $2.58 billion ara collaborated with Sony, which ture. increased since March, causing on Halloween candy last year, ac- owns the “Ghostbusters” franchise, ough 58 percent of U.S. adults companies to lean into their most 1.5 cording to the National Retail Fed- to make a virtual game in which us- say they plan to celebrate Hal- popular items, says Arun Sund- eration. is year, they are expect- ers hunt for ghosts and candy. loween, down from 68 percent aram, an equity analyst at CFRA 1.0 ed to spend $2.41 billion. Many candy makers remain op- last year, the average per-person Research. Analysts who cover the big timistic. Ferrara expects this year spend is up, according to National So for Halloween, Mars Wrig- 0.5 candy makers say that drop isn’t to be “one of our best Halloween Retail Federation data. ose cel- ley focused on the classics, such likely to break a company. For seasons yet,” says Peter Gold- ebrating plan to spend $92.12 on as Snickers, Twix and M&Ms. It 0 Chicago-based Candy Corn mak- man, vice president of seasonal average, a $5.85 increase over last switched up production to pri- ‘05 ‘07 ‘09 ‘11 ‘13 ‘15 ‘17 ‘19 confections. Chica- year. oritize bestsellers, at the expense go-based Mondelez But Halloween is still about a of lesser-performing items, LeBel “IT’S GOING TO COME DOWN TO HOW International, which month away, and it remains to says. CREATIVE THE CANDY MANUFACTURERS makes Sour Patch be seen how those last two can- “We shaped our portfolio and U.S. HALLOWEEN CANDY Kids and Swedish dy-crazed weeks of October will we made sure we produced more SPENDING PER PERSON Fish, expects its Hal- play out, Gurski says. of the top-selling products than CAN HELP THE CONSUMER BE.” $30 $27.55 loween business to “It’s going to come down to we normally do,” he says. Laura Gurski, Accenture grow this year, too. how creative the candy manufac- ere was a balance to strike Hershey also has turers can help the consumer be. with retailers. If October sales 25 er Ferrara Candy, Halloween rep- pointed out that trick-or-treating Creating the exciting virtual oc- exceed expectations, Mars Wrig- resents less than 10 percent of can become a socially distanced casions, creating dierent ways to ley wants to have enough candy 20 annual sales. It’s roughly the same celebration. Many communities put candy out that feel safer,” she to supply stores with more. But if at Hershey, another trick-or-treat are planning alternatives to face- says. “ at is really key to getting there’s too much, the Halloween 15 stalwart. People eat candy all year, to-face beggars’ nights. sales up beyond the individual in- aisle quickly turns over to the dis- and many of these global compa- e city of Chicago issued guid- creased consumption.” count aisle. 10 nies serve markets that don’t cele- ance for trick-or-treating safely Despite the uncertainties, LeBel brate the holiday. and encouraged people to get cre- EASTER LESSONS says Mars Wrigley is well prepared 5 But this is about more than just ative in how they celebrate. People Candy makers had one lifeline for October. Halloween, says Marcia Mogelon- passing out candy were asked to to learn from during an otherwise “Every part of the country is 0 sky, director of insight for food socially distance as well, possibly unprecedented pandemic: Easter. handling Halloween dierently, ‘05 ‘07 ‘09 ‘11 ‘13 ‘15 ‘17 ‘19 and drink at market research rm by using a tube or pipe to drop Online candy purchases in- so we have to be super nimble,” he Mintel. candy to trick-or-treaters. creased. People bought smaller says. “It’s denitely not one-size- Source: National Retail Federation People’s shopping habits have Indeed, Halloween chocolate bags of sweets, and individually ts-all in 2020.” Pandemic pushes real estate boom in southwest Michigan, northwest Indiana REAL ESTATE BOOM from Page 3 thing, and it’s crazy busy with away from it,” Conner says, “and bought a lot at White Pine New areas, Curry says. Among them: people who want to see it.” they found out it was possible 55 Bualo. eir house in St. Charles Delavan, Twin Lakes and Lau- houses and long commutes had In southwest Michigan, home miles from downtown Chicago.” sold fast, and the family is living derdale. been out of style until everybody sales were up about 85 percent Nicole and Rick Zalewski had in a rental home there for about Chicago buyers are also looking wanted more space for work and year over year in both July and been visiting southwest Michigan a year while their New Bualo at Indiana’s second tier, the inland school from home and commut- August, according to Liz Roch, an for more than a decade and day- house gets built. areas not on or near Lake Mich- ing became a nonissue. @properties agent there, citing dreaming of getting a place there e sales boost from the pan- igan, Fowler says. One of her list- ere’s a similar eect along data from the Southwest Michi- for breaks from their full-time life demic hasn’t been as strong in the ings, a 12,000-square-foot house the crescent of Lake Michigan gan Association of Realtors. in west suburban St. Charles. other cluster of second homes a in the Sand Creek golf course shoreline in southwest Michigan Data on where buyers come “We’re not in a position to buy short distance from Chicago. In community in Chesterton, had and northwest Indiana, where from isn’t available, but Roch a second home,” Nicole Zalewski Wisconsin’s Lake Geneva/Wal- been on and o the market since says it’s her impres- says. She’s a yoga instructor, and worth County, the number of sales October 2014. It sold in early Sep- “DURING LOCKDOWN, THEY STARTED sion that purchases her husband is a corporate exec- so far this year, 1,674, is up only a tember for a little under $1.85 mil- by Chicago-area peo- utive recruiter. ere was a sec- tad from 1,666 at the same time lion. Fowler says the buyers were WONDERING WHERE THEY COULD GET ple made up at least ond reason they didn’t move past last year, according to David Curry from Chicago, though she declines half the increase. e the daydream stage: ey have of Geneva Lakefront Realty. to identify them. AWAY FROM IT.” region also draws two school-age daughters “who One reason, Curry says, is that Farther aeld, in Culver, Ind., Mike Conner, @properties agent in Michigan City from cities in Michi- wouldn’t want to leave all their many people with second homes 101 miles southeast of Chicago, gan and Indiana. friends,” she says. in the area shifted to full-time liv- Fowler is representing a $2.5 mil- In northwest In- ing there early in the pandemic lion listing on the shore of Lake quiet, beachy towns lie less than diana, sales were up about 48 MAKING IT WORK and are holding onto them. Curry Maxinkuckee. Ordinarily the area two hours’ drive from the city. percent in May through Septem- Months of virtual schooling says the impact has been felt in appeals mostly to Indianans, from “Who would have thought that ber, compared with a year earli- isolated from their friends made other ways: For-sale homes are South Bend, Indianapolis and a pandemic would have pushed er, according to Mike Conner, an the girls “more willing,” Nicole attracting multiple oers and such. But this summer, Fowler us into a real estate boom?” says @properties agent in Michigan Zalewski says. On a visit to New selling fast, resulting in tight in- says, “people have been coming Ali Fowler, an agent with Seramur City, citing Greater Northwest In- Bualo late this summer, she ventory. down from Chicago to look at it.” Properties, based in Valparaiso, diana Association of Realtors data. and her husband “thought about at in turn has led to in- e house, 4,440 square feet on Ind., who focuses on Indiana’s “During lockdown, they started what we could do to make liv- creased buyer interest in Wal- eight-tenths of an acre, hasn’t yet lakefront towns. “We list some- wondering where they could get ing there work” and ultimately worth County’s “second-tier” sold. SPONSORED CONTENT

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW WHAT EMPLOYERS NEED TO KNOW While COVID-19 has changed how Americans work—and for some, where they work from—employers are dealing with a myriad of laws that are evolving at a rapid pace. As the workplace environment continues to evolve, three Chicago labor and employment lawyers shared their insights on some current issues, pandemic-related and otherwise, that impact employers.

As the presidential election amendments to HELP Act), Connecticut approaches, is it lawful for and Maryland as well as cities like Los employers to prohibit or Angeles, Seattle and Washington, D.C. otherwise regulate political speech in the workplace? Rosenberg: With COVID-19 eclipsing so much of our attention, it’s easy to forget Brian K. Jackson: It all depends. In that 2020 has been a very eventful year the private work sector, employees don’t in terms of employment law changes in enjoy U.S. Constitution guarantees of Illinois! To highlight a few, the Cannabis “freedom of speech” at work. erefore, Regulation and Tax Act legalized a private sector employer may bar such recreational marijuana, raising questions conversations on a neutral basis. In about employers’ existing drug-free the public work sector, government policies and testing practices. e 2020 employers can maintain reasonable amendments to the Illinois Human Rights limits on political speech for purposes Act mandate that employers, regardless of BRIAN K. JACKSON SONYA ROSENBERG MARGO WOLF O’DONNELL of e cient operations. Political speech size, revisit their anti-harassment policies Partner Partner Partner and Co-Chair - Labor & can be limited in the workplace when and conduct compliant anti-harassment Laner Muchin, Ltd. Neal Gerber Eisenberg Employment Law Group it negatively impacts the employee’s training for all of their employees [email protected] [email protected] Benesch Law 312-467-9800 performance, or the political speech before year-end. And the Workplace 312-827-1076 [email protected] otherwise interferes with the operations Transparency Act requires Illinois 312 212 4982 of the agency. Two other considerations employers to revisit their employment are whether the speech contains and separation agreements to make clients and intellectual property. at’s impacts employees in a protected payroll roster and retain their access false information that undermines certain they do not improperly prohibit why it’s imperative for employers to work category—including sex, age or race— to bene ts. However, employers must public trust in the agency or it creates communications regarding harassment or with their trusted employment counsel to more severely than employees outside of inform employees that no work is to be disharmony in the workplace. discrimination in the workplace. plan and execute these decisions. these categories. In some circumstances, performed during the furlough period, larger-scale employment losses can including answering emails or work Sonya Rosenberg: is area is Jackson: e Workplace Wolf O’Donnell: Employers have trigger certain statutory noti cation calls. is is because under state and rife with issues, particularly in the Transparency Act, which became used furloughs and permanent layo s obligations to the impacted employees. federal law, hourly employees must highly polarized political climate we’re e ective Jan. 1, brought about a as a means to control costs. During Furloughs and terminations can also be paid for hours worked; employees living in as we approach the general number of signi cant changes. a furlough, the employer-employee severely compromise employers’ assets, who are exempt from wage and hour election. Employers in Illinois need to For example, employers can no relationship continues, and employees including their con dential information, laws typically must be paid on a “salary balance their legal obligations not to longer unilaterally select arbitration generally remain on the business take adverse actions against employees as the means for resolving work based on their lawful o -duty conduct disputes. e new law also provides or prevent individuals’ support of that employment and settlement political candidates against the need agreements cannot contain provisions to maintain a respectful, productive— that would preclude the employee and, importantly, a discrimination- from making truthful statements to free—workplace. is is the time for governmental agencies. One of the “THIS IS THE TIME FOR EMPLOYERS TO REVIEW AND, IF NECESSARY, UPDATE THEIR NON SOLICITATION POLICIES . . .” SONYA ROSENBERG, NEAL GERBER EISENBERG

employers to review and, if necessary, more challenging requirements is that update their non-solicitation policies settlement agreements must satisfy and to remind employees, if/as may be several requirements before they can necessary, that their communications contain con dentiality provisions while at work should be primarily for directed at alleged unlawful employment business-related purposes. practices. Employees may recover their reasonable attorneys’ fees for successfully What are some of the most challenging an agreement’s compliance important changes to state with the new requirements. employment laws this year? What are some of the pitfalls Margo Wolf O’Donnell: Various of furloughs and permanent states and localities have enacted layoffs, and how can a legislation allowing for additional sick company avoid them? leave in response to COVID-19. Many of these laws allow employees to use Rosenberg: In addition to loss of paid sick leave if their workplace is morale and productivity—which are closed by “order of a public o cial due o en coupled with a reputational loss— to a public health emergency,” or if they furloughs and group terminations tend are caretakers for a child whose school to increase companies’ legal exposure. or place of care has been closed by such For example, even when acting based on an order. Employers should be aware legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons, of these new laws if they operate in an employer may end up playing states such as Arizona, Colorado (note defense where the decision inadvertently

P021_023_CCB_20201005.indd 21 9/28/20 1:38 PM LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW WHAT EMPLOYERS NEED TO KNOW basis,” meaning that they must be paid through smart, consistent wage and on a myriad of issues; for example, who Wolf O’Donnell: Employers should Jackson: Employers must keep in mind a full salary for any week in which they hour policies and practices. e to continue sta ng on a remote basis have policies and procedures in place that the di erent purposes and obligations perform any work. If salaried employees harder issues tend to revolve around or who to keep or discharge if sta ng allow for sending employees home if they related to the ADA, traditional FMLA, decide to perform even one minute continuing to maintain employee reductions need to be made. display certain symptoms, such as fever, and the current federal COVID-19 leave of work during any work week, the wellness, engagement, productivity chills, cough, shortness of breath or a sore laws. For traditional FMLA and federal employer would be obligated to pay the and performance, as well as the related Wolf O’Donnell: Employers are also throat. Employers should ask employees COVID-19 leave laws set to expire at entire salary of that employee for that issues of retention and promotion in a hiring in a newly remote environment who report feeling ill at work, or who call the end of 2020, the best practices are week. A permanent layo is termination remote environment. Managing these and need to continue to be mindful of in sick, questions about their symptoms straight-forward—employees should of employment, without speci c right issues e ectively requires a great deal current laws governing the enforceability to determine if they have or may have be permitted to take protected leave as to be recalled by the employer. In this of purposeful, thoughtful planning and of their employment agreements and COVID-19. Employers may take an long as they qualify for the leave and a scenario, employee bene ts end, and coordination among the HR, legal and restrictive covenants. Employers also employee’s temperature to determine triggering event has taken place. With the termination usually triggers payout business stakeholders while maintaining need to be aware of the requirements of whether he or she has a fever but must respect to the ADA, employers need to requirements under state wage laws. the agility needed to pivot and change the Illinois Arti cial Intelligence Video keep con dential any collected medical take individual assessments as to whether course quickly in an uncertain and still Interview Act, which took e ect Jan. 1 information about fevers or other accommodations that in the past would What are some considerations rapidly evolving environment. and prohibits employers from sharing symptoms. Employers should make any have been deemed unreasonable or for employers in managing a video interviews except with persons necessary changes to attendance policies unduly burdensome now make sense in newly remote workforce? Jackson: Employers should necessary to evaluate an applicant’s to re ect the reality of the particular today’s setting. For example, a diabetic document “the good, the bad and the quali cations for a position. Employers workplace and to ensure that any policies employee’s request to work remotely Rosenberg: Beyond engagement ugly” performers for current and future must delete the videos within 30 days are enforced in a consistent manner. without supervision should be reviewed and productivity-related concerns, purposes. For example, an employer may a er they receive an employee’s request. more carefully today than in the past. remote working arrangements raise a desire to continue employing certain high e Act also requires employers to obtain Jackson: When preparing for 2021, Likewise, an at-risk employee’s request host of issues, not the least of which is performers on a remote basis to lessen consent from applicants before using if COVID-19 is not under control, for leave because of COVID-19 concerns the accurate tracking of and payment the number of workers returning to the AI to evaluate their video interview employers should reinforce the should be carefully vetted. If several for all time worked. However, most of physical worksite. To reduce company and quali cations for the position. e importance of their performance review employees have con rmed COVID-19 us—myself included—have observed exposure to discrimination claims, consent must notify each applicant before policies to re ect the actual state of the diagnoses, an at-risk employee’s request and tend to agree that such purely supervisors must document subordinates’ the interview that AI may be used to employees’ performances. Continued for a short leave of absence should be legal issues generally can be resolved performance to justify sta ng decisions analyze the applicants’ video interview remote workplaces, layo s and position viewed in the context of the company’s and tness for the position—and explain modi cations may be applicable in operations; for example, will operations the AI usage and the general types of 2021 and if so, employers may increase continue smoothly without the employee “DURING THE PANDEMIC, EMPLOYERS characteristics considered in evaluating the changes for protracted litigation if for a short period of time? applicants. Having a lawyer dra this their business records are inconsistent SHOULD HAVE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES consent can insulate you from possible with their stated reasons for making How should employers handle litigation. employment decisions. employee travel to COVID hot IN PLACE THAT ALLOW FOR SENDING spots? EMPLOYEES HOME IF THEY DISPLAY CERTAIN What modi cations to What are some best practices employers’ policies and for handling employee leave Rosenberg: Employers should SYMPTOMS . . . “ procedures are required in light and accommodation requests implement a policy discouraging of COVID-19? related to COVID concerns? employees from traveling to COVID-19 MARGO WOLF O’DONNELL, BENESCH LAW high-risk areas, require them to notify Wolf O’Donnell: Employers and management of such travel in advance, employees should use interim solutions and then quarantine following such to enable employees to keep working travel. At the same time, employers as much as possible, realizing that the should take care to avoid prohibiting Navigate Change with a challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic personal travel. ose employers who are may result in delay in discussing requests subject to the Families First Coronavirus Trusted Partner. and in providing accommodation where Response Act (FFCRA) also need to be it may be warranted. An employer is mindful of paid time o requirements The events of the past few months always entitled to know why an employee stemming from government-ordered profoundly transformed the employment failed to report to work. Asking why an post-travel quarantines, such as, for landscape. Our nationally recognized employee didn’t report to work is not a example, those imposed by Chicago’s labor and employment team counsels disability-related inquiry. CDC guidance Emergency Travel Order. ese discourages employers from requiring complexities should be accounted for in business leaders on new government a doctor’s note or a positive test result the employer’s COVID-19 travel policy. guidelines and the resulting policy and for employees to validate their illness or procedure changes needed to safely qualify for sick leave. is was designed Wolf O’Donnell: Employers may return their employees to work and to to avoid overburdening health care ask employees about their exposure to protect them going forward. providers. COVID-19 during travel. According to the EEOC guidelines, employers may Rosenberg: Employers should be follow the advice of the CDC and state/ We collaborate with our clients to ensure exible and, when in doubt, err on local public health authorities regarding compliance with current mandates while the side of granting reasonable time an employee’s return to the workplace maintaining the flexibility to address future o and accommodation requests. It’s a er visiting a speci c location, changes. Together, we strive for fair and imperative for employers to designate whether for business or personal effective management of their most an experienced and thoughtful go-to reasons. New EEOC guidance explains person who employees feel comfortable that mandatory COVID-19 testing valuable asset – their employees. reaching out to immediately when also can be administered periodically they’re concerned about COVID-related to determine whether an employee exposure or symptoms. Employees with poses a direct threat to others in the such concerns shouldn’t feel like they’re workplace. As a reminder, the burden being forced to choose between keeping remains on employer administrators to their jobs and protecting their health ensure accurate and reliable tests, and and safety, and that of their coworkers. employers must consider the impact of And employees who are considered at false positives or false negatives in testing. high risk—for example, due to age or an Employers are encouraged to check the underlying health condition—should be U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s provided reasonable accommodations to (FDA) guidance on safe and accurate the greatest extent possible. On this last testing. Visit NGE.com to find the latest point, however, employers should avoid updates in our COVID-19 unsolicited accommodations on the How should employers handle Resource and Information Center. basis of protected categories because this communication of a con rmed could create a foundation for actionable COVID case among its discrimination arguments. employees?

P021_023_CCB_20201005.indd 22 9/28/20 1:38 PM SPONSORED CONTENT

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

“EMPLOYERS MUST KEEP IN MIND THE BRIAN K. JACKSON is a partner at Laner Muchin, Ltd., a law rm that concentrates exclusively on representing employers DIFFERENT PURPOSES AND OBLIGATIONS nationwide in labor relations, employment litigation, employee RELATED TO THE ADA, TRADITIONAL FMLA, bene ts and business immigration matters. He represents employers in a broad range of labor and employment issues, AND THE CURRENT FEDERAL COVID 19 including traditional labor law. He defends cases before arbitrators and federal/state courts, and represents employers in LEAVE LAWS.” administrative agency proceedings, including state and federal departments of labor, the EEOC and BRIAN K. JACKSON, LANER MUCHIN, LTD. analogous state agencies. On a daily basis, he counsels employers on important employment issues that arise in the workplace, provides management and non-management training, and solutions that help employers get back to business.

Rosenberg: Employers should have challenges are likely to continue well composed and vetted communication into 2021. COVID time off protections and contract tracing protocols ready to are likely to be further defined or, at SONYA ROSENBERG is a partner at Neal Gerber deploy immediately upon learning of a minimum, extended in the coming Eisenberg, one of the largest single-of ce law a positive COVID case. In particular, months, and related anti-retaliation rms in the nation, where she counsels companies employers should let all employees protections are likely to be further and organizations on employee-related legal who work in the same building know, tested and enforced by the courts. issues that arise through the many stages of the in writing, that an employee tested With these expectations in mind, employment relationship. She also represents employers in litigation, her experience positive, and where and when that employers, regardless of size, should including the successful defense of numerous administrative charges, lawsuits and employee was last at the physical review their existing sick leave policies appellate proceedings at the state and federal levels. She is a frequent presenter and author of workplace. When communicating now to determine what changes, if any, numerous articles on current employment law topics, including effective employment audit and risk these facts, employers should protect a should be implemented with an eye management practices; #MeToo and other harassment and discrimination in the workplace; and diagnosed employee’s privacy, and take toward encouraging employees who technology-related issues concerning social media. appropriate care to not reveal his or may have COVID to stay home and her identity—even when the employee reasonably accommodating high-risk says that it’s OK to do so. Employers employees, while preventing leave- also should include information about related abuse. MARGO WOLF O’DONNELL is a partner and co- a timely implemented o ce closure and chairs the Labor and Employment Law group at deep cleaning procedures. What challenges and strategies Benesch, an AmLaw 200 business law rm. She are employers facing/ has more than 25 years of experience litigating Jackson: Without revealing the implementing to comply with restrictive covenant disputes and defending federal, state and administrative agency impacted employee’s name, employers Illinois’ Dec. 31 deadline for litigation involving discrimination and breach of contract claims. She also counsels on should rst contact co-workers who Sexual Harassment Prevention best practices for layoffs and internal investigations. She has been recognized as one have been in direct contact with him Training? of the top employment lawyers in the country by Leading Lawyers, Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers and or her. ese co-workers should be Martindale-Hubbell, which awarded her their highest possible peer rating. She also leads B-Sharp, a quarantined for a period of time Wolf O’Donnell: Any employer with group at Benesch that provides leadership training to women in-house counsel. consistent with the CDC’s most recent employees working in Illinois should guidance. e remaining workforce take steps now to provide this training should be informed that there’s been a by the end of the year. e training con rmed case of COVID-19 and that may be done virtually and should co-workers who’d been in contact with cover issues relating to civility, anti- the impacted employee have already harassment and anti-discrimination As an attorney, Meredith Ritchie been contacted. e employer should policies, and complaint-reporting understands the importance of check with the local health department procedures. Even if the training is maintaining a compliant, risk-aware regarding any reporting obligations. virtual, it’s important that there be e key is to provide employees some interactive component, which workplace. As a leader, she knows information that’s relevant to their requires knowledge of the platform on the value of a high-performing team particular situation while protecting the part of the individual conducting in serving customers and meeting the health information of impacted the training. is requirement can be organizational goals. employees. ful lled by using the virtual platform to conduct a customized question Meredith says working with Benesch With the current COVID and answer session. It’s essential that employment leave laws set to the training explain that employers has given her both an on-call resource expire at the end of 2020, what protect themselves best by ensuring for labor and employment matters and should employers be doing that all complaints of discrimination, a supportive advocate to help Alliant now to prepare for 2021 if the whether written or oral, and even pandemic hasn’t yet come those that are anonymous—via blogs maintain a positive and productive under control? or tweets or through a hotline—are environment for its people. investigated. Jackson: Schools may continue to To learn more about Benesch’s be impacted next spring. As a result, Jackson: Employees are still relationship with Alliant, visit employers should expect to see large allowed to have interactive training beneschlaw.com/myteam numbers of requests to work remotely while also practicing social distancing. “ Benesch is innovative and comes up with solutions that from working parents of grade school For employers who have large work for us—quickly and cost-effectively.” students. For this, employers should be production or eld sta , video documenting “the good, the bad, and formatted training produces its own MEREDITH RITCHIE the ugly” performance of employees for set of challenges because employees VP, General Counsel & Chief Ethics Officer future purposes. For those employees likely don’t have access to computers Alliant Credit Union www.beneschlaw.com who have remained productive, the while working. For these settings, employer should consider remote we recommend that live video worksites as an option. To reduce training sessions (for employees company exposure to discrimination with access to computers at work) be claims from non-productive taped and employees scheduled to MY BENESCH MY TEAM employees desiring to continue to review the recording on computers work on a remote basis, supervisors designated for the training. For the must document their subordinates’ taped sessions, employees should be performance to justify sta ng decisions. provided an email address to submit their questions about the training Rosenberg : Employers would be so that a limited quasi-interactive © 2018 Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP wise to expect that COVID-related training can take place.

P021_023_CCB_20201005.indd 23 9/28/20 1:38 PM 24 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

æ`ÛiÀÌÃ}-iVÌ CLASSIFIEDS To place your listing, contact Claudia Hippel at 312-659-0076 or email [email protected] .www.chicagobusiness.com/classieds

CAREER OPPORTUNITY CAREER OPPORTUNITY PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TRADER AMAZON WEB SERVICES, INC. seeks (Citadel Securities Americas LLC Chicago,IL) candidates for the following (multiple Mntr & analyze incom’g mkt info, econ news positions available) in Chicago, Illinois: & trad’g activity to mng portfolio risk, idntfy PROFESSIONAL SERVICES II BIG DATA invest opprtnts & make trad’g decisns. F/T. CONSULTANT JOB CODE 150.5767.4. Reqs Master’s deg (or frgn eqv) in Fin, Econ, Collaborate with external customers and Mat, Engin, CS, Physics or a rel quant fld. Edu, partners on key engagements to develop and train or exp must incl: wrk’g in a data-driven deliver proof-of-concept projects, technical quant trad’g envrnmnt; financl & statstcl workshops, and support implementation mdl’g incl time-series analysis; wrk’g in projects that focus on customer solutions financl mkts w/ derivative pric’g; program’g such as HPC, batch data processing, Big Data & scrpt’g languages incl Python, R, C++ or and Business intelligence that supports and smlr; Statistical tools incl R, Matlab or smlr; &, enhances data processing capabilities to analyz’g lrg data sets & other infrmtnl input to allow customers and partners leverage data inform invstmnt or trad’g decisns. Resumes: to develop business insights. Approx. 50-60% Citadel Securities Americas LLC, Attn: ER/LE, domestic travel. Mail CV to: Amazon, PO 131 S Dearborn St, 32nd Fl, Chicago, IL 60603. Box 81226, Seattle, Washington 98108, JOB ID: 4686100. REFERENCING JOB CODE. GETTY IMAGES Exelon CEO Chris Crane says the company regularly reviews the bene ts of keeping its power plants tied to its regulated utilities. CAREER OPPORTUNITY CAREER OPPORTUNITY GRUBHUB HOLDINGS, INC. seeks RSRCH PROC & ANALY ASSOC ANALYSTS, ANALYTICS in Chicago, IL Wall Street wonders: Will Exelon cut ComEd ties? (Citadel Americas LLC – Chicago, IL) Wrk to create and manage implementation of challenging. A capital-intensive w/ Invest. Analysts, Portfolio Mngrs & analytics tracking requirements. Apply at EXELON from Page 1 w YEAR TO FORGET internal tech specialists to design & implmnt www.jobpostingtoday.com REF #70389. business, power generation would innovative tools that enhance the invstmnt that haven’t yet moved to simplify Exelon investors have seen require an investment-grade debt proc, portfolio constrn & risk mgmt activities their operations are doing so this rating. It also might need equi- substantially greater losses than for sctr invest teams. F/T. Reqs Bach’s deg (or year. Newark, N.J.-based Public ty investment from an outside frgn eqv) in Fin, Stat, Engnr’g, Comp Sci or CAREER OPPORTUNITY investors in other major utilities. rel fld & 5 yrs exp in job oered or conduct’g Service Enterprise Group is split- source. But it’s not impossible, fundamental invstmnt analy. Must have 3 GRUBHUB HOLDINGS, INC. seeks ting its non-nuclear power plants particularly once the future of yrs exp in each of fllw’g: prfrm’g fin acctg, fin DATA ENGINEERS II in Chicago, IL to write from the company. CEO Ralph UTILITY STOCK PERFORMANCE each nuclear plant is determined, mdl’ing & equity valuatn; data visualatn in complex and e cient code to transform raw Izzo explained the move bluntly IN 2020* analysts say. MS Excel or Tableau incl dvlp’g built-in func, data into easy-to-approach data marts. Apply at www.jobpostingtoday.com REF #96206. in a July conference call, citing “a If a split-up occurs, it could car- data aggregations, lookups & dashboards; sustained discounted valuation, -21.4% Exelon ry implications for Exelon’s Chi- & access’g fin data frm xtrnl sources incl Bloomberg, FactSet or smlr. Exp may be which to us (is) a demonstration cago headquarters. e majority that investors were not satis ed -1.3% Duke Energy of Exelon’s utility customers now gained concrrntly. Resumes: Citadel Americas CAREER OPPORTUNITY - 21.4% LLC, Attn: ER/LE, 131 S Dearborn St, 32nd Fl, with an integrated model.” are in the East. Its power genera- -14.3% Southern Chicago, IL 60603. JOB ID: 5074046 GRUBHUB HOLDINGS, INC. seeks Richmond, Va.-based Domin- tion business has been headquar- SOFTWARE ENGINEERS in Chicago, ion Energy is selling its natural tered in Pennsylvania for years. IL to design, implement, and deliver NextEra Energy 16.8% CAREER OPPORTUNITY technical platforms and products. is is a gas pipeline and storage business On headquarters, Rowe says, “I telecommuting position that can be performed to Berkshire Hathaway to focus on -5.1% Dominion Energy simply do not know. . . .Exelon Interested candidates send resume to: from anywhere in the United States. Apply at its regulated utilities. has one corporate headquarters GOOGLE LLC, PO Box 26184 San Francisco, Standard & Poor’s www.jobpostingtoday.com REF #86990. -7.1% but a number of functional head- CA 94126 Attn: V. Cheng. Please REFERENCE REGULAR REVIEW Utilities Index quarters.” JOB # below: Ensure that the technical Exelon CEO Chris Crane in his *Through Oct. 1 While all this time passes, Ex- aspects of Google programs satisfy the Source: Bloomberg business needs of Google’s clients & users. OFFICE/SCHOOL PROTECTION Aug. 4 conference call with ana- elon’s share price continues to TECHNICAL PROGRAM SPECIALIST; lysts acknowledged the issue. “It lag. at matters because there Chicago, IL; 1615.52924; Pro-E & Solidworks; is something that we look at on providing more revenues. Crane are signs another round of large- six sigma; design & mfg in consumer hardware a regular basis, and we do a deep has said the other two plants that scale utility consolidation is heat- engineering; program mgmt in consumer prod aren’t subsidized could be closed ing up. Juno Beach, Fla.-based dev; & consumer electronics. Travel Req’d. dive strategic review of the ben- e ts of keeping the two compa- in a few years as well. NextEra Energy, by far the hottest nies bolted—or two lines bolted To that end, ComEd’s disgrace utility stock in the U.S., recently REAL ESTATE together versus what are the al- is a complication. Gov. J.B. Pritz- made merger overtures to Char- Cubicle & Desktop Sneeze Guards ternatives,” he said. (A company ker, who wants a comprehensive lotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy, NEW CONS TRUCTION spokesman pointed to Crane’s clean-power bill, hasn’t shut the which were rebued, according WATERFRONT HOMES • Any size • No drilling or damage to cubicle • Easy removal • Portable, lightweight Desk shields for Child or adult use remarks in response to Crain’s re- door on helping preserve the to reports by both the Wall Street NEW LUXURY SUB ON LAKE MICHIGAN Made in Chicago quest for comment.) nukes, which employ thousands Journal and Bloomberg. NextEra Located in Traverse City, MI Reopen your Offi ces Alpina Manufacturing But Crane made clear that no and are important sources of car- hasn’t given up, although CEO Includes a Boat Slip in Lake Michigan 6460 W. Cortland St., Chicago, IL 60707 Starting at $1.3M • Call Kyle 231.499.9999 [email protected] decision is imminent, as Exelon bon-free energy. But the percep- James Robo said he wouldn’t pur- Visit www.PeninsulaShores.com 1-800-915-2828 773-202-8887 attempts for the second time in tion of aiding a company that’s sue a hostile deal, both reported. ® four years to convince Illinois confessed to rank inuence ped- Such a combination would cre- lawmakers to subsidize nucle- dling transforms what already is ate by far the largest utility in the REAL ESTATE ar plants that are nancially politically challenging (subsidiz- U.S., with an industry-leading stressed. In addition to the uncer- ing a highly pro table rm over- portfolio of clean-energy assets. REAL ESTATE OPPORTUNITIES tainty over the future of speci c all) into something extraordinari- Today, Exelon can boast that its 10 MIKE MCCATTY plants, Exelon sees value in the ly delicate. million regulated-utility custom- GROUP free cash ow its power arm gen- ers are tops in the industry (actu- • 9 acre logistics site erates, which the company uses POLITICAL ISSUES ally tied with PG&E in Northern • 1.6 acre fast food pad CENTURY 21 for capital investment in its reg- Former Exelon CEO John Rowe, California). AFFILIATED ulated utilities. at has enabled an enthusiastic advocate of com- Exelon itself is the product of • 80 developed Exelon, despite billions in capital bining the unregulated with the multiple acquisitions, starting 708-945-2121 needs each year, to avoid raising regulated until his retirement in with Philadelphia’s Peco Energy residential lots equity, which would likely hit the 2012, says in an email, “I am not in 2000, then Baltimore’s Constel- • 300 acres with all stock price harder. at all sure that separating it from lation Energy Group in 2012 and Even proponents of a split-up Exelon would add share value. I nally Washington, D.C.’s Pepco sports private lake say the bailout bid needs to play suspect that the political prob- Holdings in 2016. Given that util- out rst. “We think Exelon can’t lems associated with treating nu- ity deals are nearly always done • 30 acre Industrial Park make a decision on separating its clear energy like other low-car- with stock, Exelon’s cheap market power business until they know bon power would remain even if value means it can’t even dream • 150 acre vacant land mobile home zoning what they have,” Fleishman says. there is corporate separation.” of the sort of deal NextEra is trying • 50 unit townhome site e company has announced ere are other impediments to to put together. plans to shutter two of its six nu- splitting up Exelon. Financing a NextEra’s valuation? irty-one • 250 acre golf course clear stations in autumn 2021 if spino of the nukes and other Ex- times estimated 2020 earnings. Its the state doesn’t pass legislation elon Generation assets would be stock is up 17 percent this year. CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • OCTOBER 5, 2020 25 Increasing scrutiny of political money game hasn’t slowed roll of lobbying cash LOBBYISTS from Page 1 to Madigan and was chief of sta to former Illinois Senate President have dropped to the $22 million Emil Jones Jr. Dring previously was range, likely due to turnover in a press spokesman for former Illi- administrations and a slowdown nois House Republican Leader Tom in government business during Cross and the House Republican Or- COVID-19. Still, recent spending is ganization. well above the $17 million record- “e appearance of names like ed in 2012. Mike Kasper—a top Madigan ally— “It is a lot of money, and most on the top-paid list is yet another Chicagoans would probably be example of the cross-in uence be- surprised to see who is spending tween the state, the Madigan ma- millions to in uence their city gov- chine and Chicago government,” ernment,” says Alisa Kaplan, execu- says Reform for Illinois’ Kaplan. tive director of Reform for Illinois, a “One has to imagine that a name nonpartisan research organization with that much clout in Springeld advocating more disclosure of mon- would have quite an advantage as ey in politics. She says the electorate a lobbyist in a city government that would benet from having the same can be helped or hurt by state poli- kind of data about how lobbying cies.” works at the state level. Kasper & Nottage’s recent client e numbers reveal a thriving list includes Airbnb and Uber— market in lobbying services as com- companies in new industries that panies seek to shape government have both been subject to new reg- policies aecting not only their own ulations and taxation under Eman- interests but the public at large. Lob- uel’s and Lightfoot’s administra-

bying clients are paying for insight, ALAMY tions—as well as Citibank, Tesla, access to ocials and a chance to UPS, Presence Health, Pzer, Mc- in uence legislation. Donald’s, Hilton, Dell and Domin- Demand appears unaected by a POLITICAL TOTAL LOBBYING COMPENSATION ANNUALLY ion Voting Systems, which provides broad crackdown on political cor- $25 million touch screens for Chicago and Cook ruption in Illinois by federal prose- MONEYBALL $24.6 County election authorities. $22.9 cutors. Utility giant Commonwealth Corporations shell out millions 20 million $22.7 Kasper helped negotiate Domin- $19.3 $19.4 million million Edison recently agreed to pay a $200 for lobbying, despite a federal $17.9 ion’s contract with the City Council million ne and eectively admitted 15 $17.1 million $16.8 million and the mayor’s oce, and he rep- corruption crackdown over money million million million to bribery in connection with its ef- 10 resented McDonald’s and UPS as al- forts to win favorable state energy in politics. Data reflects earnings $10.7 dermen debated the Fair Workweek million legislation. e feds also have lev- Chicago lobbyists logged with the 5 ordinance. He also helped secure a eled charges against Chicago Ald. $5.5 million TIF subsidy for Pres- city’s Board of Ethics.* 0 Ed Burke, former state Sens. Terry 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020* ence Health in 2017 (later scrapped) Link and Martin Sandoval, and for- *Quarters 1 and 2 only and spent roughly the last six years mer state Rep. Luis Arroyo. Link and ushering Uber through various regu- Sandoval pleaded guilty; Burke and TOP PAYING CLIENTS Cumulative total 2012 to 2020 TOP COMPENSATED LOBBYISTS Cumulative total 2012 to 2020 latory hoops, including a losing ght Arroyo pleaded not guilty. JCDecaux (and affiliates) $4.0 million John Kelly Jr. $12.4 million to stave o Lightfoot’s downtown Two lobbyists caught up in the congestion tax in her last budget. American Beverage Association $2.9 million Mike Kasper $10.3 million federal probe have taken a hit. Vic- 25000000 tor Reyes and Jay Doherty were ‘EXPERIENCE COUNTS’ Uber $2.8 million Courtney Nottage $8.4 million 20000000 both identied as lobbyists ComEd Next on the list are John Dunn tapped to curry favor with Illinois Lyft $2.7 million David Dring $8.1 million and Patrick Carey,15000000 who each report House Speaker Mike Madigan. the full amount their rm, Cozen Presence Health $2.4 million John Dunn $7.5 million 10000000 Reyes saw his quarterly compensa- O’Connor, received for all clients tion drop by $100,000 between June United Parcel Service $1.6 million Pat Carey $4.8 million they are individually5000000 registered to 2019 and 2020. Doherty has not re- $8 lobby for. eir city0 reporting, like Noresco $1.5 million Donna Pugh $4.1 million ported any compensation this year. 7 Kelly’s, also includes work at the $4.8 million Delaware North $1.5 million Thomas Moore6 $2.8 million county and state. BIGGEST PLAYERS eir recent clients include Ama- At the top of the lobbying pyra- Walmart $1.5 million Thomas Murphy5 $2.6 million zon, Apple, Delta Air Lines, Diageo, 4 mid, according to city data, is John Hudson Group $1.5 million Langdon Neal $2.3 million Hertz, Lyft, Salesforce and Zillow.

Kelly Jr., who started his political In millions 3 Dunn, who served as former Mayor SSP America Rich Klawiter career working for Illinois Attorney $1.4 million 2 $2.3 million Richard M. Daley’s director of inter- General Jim Ryan and managed governmental aairs and point man Dominion Voting Systems Victor Reyes Cook County Assessor Jim Houli- $1.3 million 1 $2.2 million in Washington and Springeld, also Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 han’s campaign in 1998. He then Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce $1.3 million John Borovicka0 $2.1 million worked as AT&T’s Midwest legisla- joined Houlihan’s lobbying rm, 2012 2013 2014 2015tive attorney. 2016 Carey is Preckwinkle’s 2017 2018 2019 2020 All-Circo, and acquired the compa- Academy For Urban School Leadership $1.3 million Paul Shadle $2.1 million former special assistant for govern- ny in 2007. He’s Cook County Board Dell $1.2 million Mary Kay Minaghan $2.0 million mental and legislative aairs and a President Toni Preckwinkle’s lobby- onetime Daley aide. He began lob- ist in Springeld. Family Guidance Centers $1.2 million John Doerrer $1.8 million bying in 2016. “Clients appreciate my back- On Delta’s behalf, the two lobbied CVS Michael Alvarez ground in local politics,” Kelly says. $1.1 million $1.8 million the City Council, the mayor’s oce “I started out in this business as a Hilton Worldwide $1.0 million Gyata Kimmons $1.8 million and the Aviation Department on volunteer and have cultivated a lot the company’s lease agreement at of good relationships on both sides Commonwealth Edison $1.0 million Michael Alexander $1.7 million 8000000 O’Hare International Airport and 7000000 *Totals are somewhat inflated by overreporting Source: Chicago Board of Ethics of the aisle at all levels of govern- 6000000 the Fair Workweek ordinance that ment over the past 25 years. Success 5000000 died out at the end of Emanuel’s in politics depends on three things: 4000000 administration before passing un- personal relationships, good fol- ers, but 11 of his 92 reports included state lobbying. e city lings con- not know that,” says3000000 Steve Berlin, ex- der Lightfoot. ey buttonholed the low-up and quickly returning every meetings, calls and emails to Burke. tain other ambiguities. For exam- ecutive director 2000000of the Board of Eth- same group on Hertz and Hudson phone call you receive.” He introduced the alderman to for- ple, partners Mike Kasper, Courtney ics. Overreporting1000000 would also in ate Group’s behalf to discuss COVID His client list in the city includes mer ADM CEO Patricia Woertz and Nottage and David Dring of govern- client spending numbers.0 concessions relief at the city’s air- heavy hitters like Bank of America, her successor, Juan Luciano, in 2015. ment relations rm Kasper & Not- Even if Kasper split his rm’s cu- ports. ey helped Lyft clear the the Chicago White Sox, energy ser- Kelly also updated Burke on CVS is- tage reported several quarters with mulative earnings three ways, he’d same regulatory hurdles as rival vices company Noresco, CVS, Mer- sues in 2013 and on voting machine equal compensation, indicating still be a top earner. Kasper is widely Uber and ran interference for the ex- chandise Mart Properties, Midwest company Election Systems in 2015, they might have each reported their acknowledged as a major player: As pansion of Lyft’s Divvy bike sharing Gaming & Entertainment and Ar- and discussed the city’s Infrastruc- rm’s total earnings. an attorney, he has represented the program locally. cher Daniels Midland. ture Trust with the alderman on No- “It is possible that some lobbyists speaker’s oce and Madigan on po- “It’s like any other job where expe- Lobbyists oer some insight into resco’s behalf. may report what their company or litical matters. He also successfully rience counts,” Dunn says. “I think their regular work via activity reports Kelly says the $12.3 million he rm was paid for lobbying by par- defended Emanuel against a ballot it’s helpful (to clients) that you’ve got led with the Board of Ethics. Kelly reported for the last eight years in- ticular clients rather than what they challenge in 2011. experience, but I don’t think that’s led fewer than his fellow top earn- cludes all his pay for city, county and were paid personally, but we would Nottage worked as sta counsel unique to lobbying.” 26 OCTOBER 5, 2020 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS How the pandemic is disrupting the business of high-end dorms

DORMS from Page 3 3L is still having an o year. Its oc- “We’re just staying competitive to ment rm that owns the property. cupancy rate in Hyde Park, home of get the occupancy up,” Zhang says. Because the schools are locked great year, but good is good enough the University of Chicago, where it “It’s a uid situation.” into long-term master leases for the for Bronstein and many of his peers. owns 375 apartments, is “denitely e Buckingham, a 454-bed stu- beds, they are obligated to pay rent Chicago-based Scion, which owns down, but not drastically,” Slezak dent housing tower in the East Loop, to Blue Vista whether they can ll 84 student-housing properties says, declining to elaborate. is struggling, too. NB Private Capital, them or not. In a typical year, the around the country, has leased 91.9 e coronavirus has had an over- the Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based owner schools might lease 1,200 to 1,500 percent of its 56,000-bed portfolio, whelmingly negative impact on one of the building at 59 E. Van Buren beds combined, and Blue Vista versus 93.5 percent for the 2019-20 key segment of the market: inter- St., stopped making monthly pay- would rent out the rest directly to academic year, he says. national students. Many have left ments on the property’s $45.3 mil- students, Flaherty says. COVID-19 has disrupted the in- the country and aren’t coming back lion mortgage in June, according to dustry in ways both bad and good. anytime soon, leaving a lot of empty a Bloomberg report on the loan. NB SPREADING OUT

With a lot of universities, including beds at properties like the Letter- has asked a loan servicer to allow it is year, however, the schools de- BOEHM R. JOHN DePaul, limiting or abandoning man, a 482-bed student housing to defer payments, the report says. cided to lease the entire building so Scion Group President Robert Bronstein in-person classes, some students de- complex at 410 S. Morgan St. in the e Buckingham su ered this they could spread out the students cided to stay home with their parents West Loop, near the University of Il- summer, when a corporate intern- who live there, an e ort to reduce Still, managing student housing and take classes online, depressing linois at Chicago. ship program was supposed to rent contact between students and limit is a lot more complicated in the demand for o -campus housing. ree educational programs for out the building for college students the risk of a COVID outbreak. e coronavirus era. Landlords have to Why pay thousands of dollars in rent international students, including working in the city, says NB founder schools have turned double-occu- enforce more rules, like limits on to be near campus when you don’t one run by the university, UIC Glob- and President Brian Nelson. But the pancy rooms into singles, Flaherty guests, and spend more on clean- need to be, especially in a recession? al, had leased about 45 percent of program canceled due to COVID. says. As a result, only about 1,000 ing and disinfecting, costs that can But many schools have shut down the Letterman’s beds in the past, but “at’s what really hurt us,” he students live at University Center, add up. their dorms, forcing the students not this year, says Steve Zhang, chief says. down from 1,700 or so in a typical But Bronstein is optimistic about who do want to live nearby into the investment ocer of OC Ventures, a e building’s current occupancy year. But Blue Vista receives rent as the future. He’s noticing a pickup in market for privately owned o -cam- local investment rm that acquired is only about 70 percent, down from if the building were full. leasing for occupancy in January at pus housing. Others have pushed the building last year. at’s one rea- 90 percent last year, Nelson says. But Blue Vista’s U.S. student housing Ion, and expects strong demand the students o campus by “de-densi- son the Letterman is only 40 percent he says he can live with that in the portfolio encompasses 75 proper- 2021-22 academic year. As long as fying” their dorms—turning dou- occupied right now. It also hasn’t current market. ties and about 36,000 beds, making families can a ord the rent, strong ble-occupancy bedrooms into sin- helped that many domestic UIC stu- e biggest student housing com- it one of the largest student housing demand for the college lifestyle gles, for instance. dents are taking online classes from plex in the neighborhood—and the landlords in the country. e rm’s bodes well for student housing. “In the short term for landlords, their parents’ homes. city—is faring well. University Cen- overall occupancy is in the 90 per- “People want to be here for myri- the e ect in a best case is a net ter, a 1,729-bed behemoth at 525 S. cent range, down about 2 percent- ad reasons other than being in class,” zero,” says Joe Slezak, CEO of Chi- EFFORTS TO BOOST OCCUPANCY State St., is fully leased to Columbia, age points from last year, but Robert Bronstein says. cago-based 3L Real Estate, which Chicago-based Varsity Campus, Roosevelt and DePaul, which then Byron, its chairman and co-CEO, Byron puts it more bluntly. owns apartment buildings in the which manages the Letterman, is rent beds in the building to their stu- isn’t complaining. “Eighteen- to 22-year-olds in South Loop and Hyde Park that rely trying to boost its occupancy by mar- dents, says Patrick Flaherty, senior “Despite all the headwinds that America do not want to live in their heavily on the student market. “You keting the building to non-students. vice president of asset management student housing has fought since parents’ house,” he says. “And par- get a person you didn’t expect, and e building’s website currently of- at Blue Vista Capital Management, schools shut down in March, I’m still ents of 18- to 22-year-olds do not you lose a person you did expect.” fers a 40 percent discount on rent. the Chicago-based real estate invest- bullish,” he says. want their kids in their homes.”