Memo on the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund
Name: Andrea Zopp, President & CEO, World Business Chicago
Transition Committee: Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development
RE: Initiative for the Objective “Ensure all neighborhoods benefit from growth”
Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF)
The Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF) is an invaluable economic development initiative,
deploying revenue generated from downtown developments to commercial and cultural projects
in neighborhoods on the South, Southwest, and West Sides of Chicago, thus directly tying growth
in the Central Business District and Near West and North Sides to increase economic opportunity
in underinvested neighborhoods.
Value Alignment
At its core, NOF embodies the Lightfoot administration’s values of equity, transparency,
accountability, diversity and inclusion, and transformation. 75% of the awardees are from African
American or Latino backgrounds, and all awarded projects support development in underserved
neighborhoods, revitalizing corridors, and providing employment opportunities for local
residents. However, the program falls short in the areas of transparency and accountability.
Addressing the following challenges will strengthen and support all of the aforementioned values
and help to improve programmatic outcomes.

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Challenges
Lack of basic vetting prior to grant award
Lack of funding support for community based organizations (CBOs) to provide intense
consulting services to applicants
Lack of clarity on the scope and depth of the entire process
Lack of lenders who offer products for “blemished” borrowers
Lack of transparency regarding the deployment of funds and project status

Solutions for Long-term Success
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Establish baseline qualification criteria before awarding the grant
Provide funding to CBOs to properly vet applicants and guide awardees through the process;
include CBOs in the selection process
Establish clear explanation of scope and depth of the entire process from application and award
to finance and construction
Identify lenders who will tailor products to meet the needs of the borrowers, consider upfront
cash deployment, or establishment of loss reserve
Establish formalized reporting on fund deployment and project status, perhaps quarterly
(SomerCor)

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First 100 Days
Conduct a full review of NOF to include current pool of awardees, status of projects and
explanation/solution for stalled projects
Convene CBOs (and SomerCor) to hear directly from them what they have experienced over
the last two years
Convene lenders and challenge them to present products and workshops that align with the
needs of a typical awardee
Convene foundations and challenge them to think creatively about how they can participate
and leverage NOF funding
Establish a process to support current awardees and move their projects forward AND
identify technical assistance and support for those awardees/projects falling short
Designate a sub-committee charged with program re-design, including implementation
strategy and accountability rubric

 Mayor-Elect Transition Team Memorandum
Dr. Byron T. Brazier
Apostolic Church of God
The Network of Woodlawn
Arthur M. Brazier Foundation
The Purpose of this memo is to respond to the Mayor-elect’s request.
As we continue to review specific recommendations during the transition team meeting, two
factors must exist: 1) defined initiatives for ensuring that all neighborhoods participate in
regional groups and 2) all individuals receive real opportunity and participate in the region’s
economic vitality.
In reviewing the values of the Lightfoot Administration, the question this memorandum looks to
clarify is how do we address the systemic issues of culture and bias through progressive
development of an institutional support system? We recognize that such communities are a
totality of human relationships, distinguished by mutual interest, shared institutions, and culture,
that are engaged in a common activity of living. At the same time, we recognize the causes for
the dysfunction within under-served communities. In order to effectuate real change, there must
be transformation of both systemic thought and the capacities that sustain community
dysfunction. Over the years, our society has been inundated with excellent research. We are also
inundated with the implementation of program-after-program and at the end of the programs,
communities remain the same. In Woodlawn, the University of Chicago touts its community
awareness and programs, but Woodlawn and Washington Park are still the same, primarily
because their programming only impacts a few individuals and not the community at-large.
University of Chicago’s programming is more like trickle-down economics: it sounds good but
no real impact.
The question becomes: How does the City of Chicago best support under-served communities to
become self-determined and self-sustaining and less dependent on unsustainable programmatic
initiatives? For this to be achieved, communities must organize as a collective body to receive
the support offered by the City of Chicago or other philanthropic organizations. This type of
necessary organizational capacity is described in the “The Promise of Comprehensive
Community Development Report,” authored by David Greenberg and Sonya Williams of
MDRC. In summary, they explained, “that comprehensive community development may best be
achieved not by a single organization but by the mobilization and coordination of many
neighborhood actors. Program designers made a choice to rely on a single lead agency that is
charged with facilitating collective work and is responsible for catalyzing action that is not fully
in its control — a challenging task under the best of conditions. It is additionally challenging for
organizations to become effective neighborhood-wide conveners or “intermediaries” when they
do not already have these skills or where the local environment does not provide incentives to
collaborate”.
Concerning land development, we recognize that the current system of private development for
land acquisition and development is a multi-layered, profit oriented system that is known to

 enhance gentrification and regards involuntary displacement as a market consequence.
Additionally, there is minimal monitoring of the developer’s project delivery, project quality, and
community benefit. Unfortuantely, the developer-led process provides limited advantages when
we consider the consequences of displacement.
If we were to effectively address community development, I would recommend creating a
community-led development approach that acts in concert with private development. This
approach is in formulation between the City of Chicago, Cook County Land Bank, three banks,
LISC and the Public Building Commission.
The benefits of this process will include:
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•

Communities have the opportunity to participate in the capitalistic development process
and become more self-determined and self-sufficient.
It will support the inclusion of indigenous contractors and developers through the
underwriting process.
This process will intentionally address and minimize involuntary displacement through
accelerated redevelopment and aggregation of institutional resources.
It will balanced redevelopment across luxury, market rate, and workforce housing.
Increased and sustained employment through accelerated and balanced development.

The final recommendations are being finalized and available in May 2019.

 To: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
From: Bill Fienup – mHUB cofounder and director of innovation services
Committee: Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development
I propose we strengthen regional economic growth by supporting and growing existing Chicago incubators and tech
communities, and creating better connections to these centers throughout the city.
What’s happening today that we need to keep
There are several co-working spaces and incubators in the city of Chicago that promote regional economic growth
through service and product innovation and the creation of new business. Examples include 1871, Blue1647, Bunker
Labs, The Hatchery, MATTER, mHUB, MxD, Polsky Center, and TechNexus. Many of these facilities focus on specific
technologies or industry sectors, but all of them create concentrations of expertise and talent. In addition to the
powerful communities these incubators convene, they also provide access to education, mentorship, industry specific
tools and network connections. The impact and economic multipliers of Chicago’s innovation centers are impressive.
mHUB alone has grown in the past two years to serve 1,200 individuals and 260 companies which have raised more than
$100M in capital and generated $45.5M in revenue.
We need to continue to support these incubators because they reduce barriers to entry, help retain the graduates of
local universities that commercialize university research, help transform ideas and technologies into revenue and
employment-generating businesses, and continue support local established business by providing access to talent and
ideas. Evidence suggest that these supportive communities increase the success rate of small businesses and
entrepreneurs. According to the National Business Incubation Association: after five years, businesses that were
nurtured in a business incubator have a survival rate of 87 percent. By comparison, the survival rate for companies that
go it alone without the benefits of incubator support is 44 percent.
What we need to implement in the next 100 days
It requires several million dollars and an enormous amount of effort to standup and sustain each incubator in Chicago.
These innovation centers also need to have a critical mass with a substantial amount of resources to create value for
their members. Innovation is a collective process; it takes diversity of thought, expertise and resources. Building more
incubators in every neighborhood would dilute the value and diversity and exacerbate social economic disparity.
However, there is an opportunity to develop stronger connections to these innovation centers throughout the city
through a variety of ways:
Awareness
We need to drive awareness and promote Chicago’s current set of incubators and resources to a broader range of
Chicagoans. Marketing efforts would be targeted to specific neighborhoods and communities to further attract diversity
and create a culture of inclusion. Many individuals aren’t aware of the city’s existing resources or understand the value
that they provide. Continued support and publicity from the Mayor’s office are essential to the success of the Chicago
Tech community.
1

 Transportation infrastructure
We leverage Chicago leading transportation infrastructure to connect these innovation centers to the distant
neighborhoods. Divvy stations can be deployed at each incubator for sustainable accessibility and additional bus routes
can be created to connect these incubators to different regions of the city.
Cost
The membership dues at these innovation centers are still a barrier for some individuals, as well as the financial stability
needed to become a full-time entrepreneur. To create a truly diverse and inclusive environment, there needs to be
public support for grant programs and scholarships to target underrepresented individuals – not only to support
membership pricing, but to provide the safety net needed to enable individuals to take a risk and build a business.
Education
Many entrepreneurs don’t realize what knowledge they lack to launch a successful business. The education curriculum is
a critical piece to the success of a startup and is a large portion of the value creation of these incubators. It’s especially
important for individuals that are first-time entrepreneurs or are undergoing a career transition. Incubators need
additional public support to build and sustain these education, mentorship and programming efforts.
What we can plan for longer-term implementation
Strengthen ties
For a long-term strategy, it would be wise to develop an organizational or physical tie between incubators/innovation
centers. This can be done by co-locating Chicago’s tech resources or creating an organizing body between existing
centers. Pooling resources together, reducing duplicative initiatives, and consolidating educational programming would
create economic efficiencies. This transformational tech/innovation ecosystem, or physical location, would attract
entrepreneurs from around the world to build new businesses in Chicago.
Develop programs to connect entrepreneurs to capital
Capitalizing on the era of the gig economy, there is great opportunity to connect entrepreneurs as R&D teams for
businesses to both infuse innovation into the region’s corporations and increase runways for the city’s startups through
additional revenue opportunities. An example of this can be seen through mHUB’s contracting program, which curates
talent from mHUB membership to create product innovation teams for small and medium sized manufacturers in the
region. This should be expanded to include the entrepreneurs of other incubators and innovation centers.
What challenges we might encounter in executing on this initiative
Getting the required support to create a governing organization, or a finding a suitable physical location for a mega
incubator, would be challenging and ambitious. It would require significant funding and backing from both the private
and public sectors. Many tech leaders would need to be aligned together in the mission and see the value of raising all
tides for Chicago. It would require a team of dedicated individuals that are willing to not duplicate, but leverage and
combine Chicago’s existing resources under one organization or into one location. This vision is in line with some of the
current P33 thinking and could be a goal for the Chicago Tech community in 2033.

2

 04.10.19
To:
From:
Re:

Mayor-elect Lightfoot’s Transition Team
Brad McConnell, CEO, Accion Chicago
Create community plans, bring deal talent to complex local projects,
and invest in neighborhood entrepreneurs

Thank you for the opportunity to help prepare the Mayor-elect for her first 100 days in office. This
memo will suggest how the Mayor can ensure all neighborhoods benefit from growth. I suggest
the Mayor act in three ways to further this objective, none of which require City outlays before the 2020
budget is enacted:
• Partner with community leaders to create investment plans for every area of the city
• Attract deal-making talent to structure complex developments that the communities require
• Invest in small businesses by smartly leveraging the City’s budget.
I will structure these ideas based on what is happening today upon which we can build, what we should
implement immediately or within the first year, and what we can plan for longer-term implementation.
I will conclude with observations on how these ideas promote equity, transparency, accountability,
diversity and inclusion, and transformation.
What is happening today upon which we can build
Chicago is currently benefitting from one of the strongest development cycles in our history.
Simultaneously, over the last several years many areas of the city have created development plans
through LISC’s New Communities Program, the City’s Chicago Neighborhoods Now effort and land use
plans, CMAP planning, and many other initiatives. Yet significant developments often do not align with
community plans, and have instead been driven by private developer demands, aldermanic or Mayoral
priorities, existing land use entitlements, or other factors. This fissure has led to dynamic growth in
some parts of the City and the generation of significant private profits, alongside increasing frustration
from community residents that their neighborhoods have been poorly served by development or are
missing out on needed development altogether.
What we should implement immediately or within the first year
To increase equitable development in all of our neighborhoods, I recommend the Mayor-elect pursue
three actions in the first 100 days:
Partner with community leaders to create investment plans for every area of the city
While some areas of the city have well-produced plans, the city as a whole has not created a Plan for
Chicago for over fifty years. The Mayor-elect should instruct the Department of Planning and
Development to organize and participate in community-driven discussions through which community
leaders work together to create 16 investment plans that cover the entire city. DPD could start with the
work begun under the Chicago Neighborhoods Now initiative from 2016 through which the City
documented the current assets in our communities using similar geographies to those used in 1966,
ignoring gerrymandered ward boundaries in favor of the city’s physical infrastructure. Community
leaders could use that asset layer as the basis for articulating what public and private investments would
create the most value for their communities, answering what/where/why for each element of their plan.
A multi-meeting but efficient process would require communities to focus on what they are for rather
than what they oppose, and would create space for developers, financiers, landowners, residents, and
advocates to build relationships and ideas together.
To create urgency for these discussions, the Mayor-elect should impose a deadline of Labor Day for the
initial submissions of the 16 plans, so that the Mayor can then include a number of these ideas in her
135 N Kedzie, Chicago, IL 60612  www.accionchicago.org

 first budget request that is traditionally submitted in late September. Setting expectations properly
would be crucial: the Mayor should not commit to including all of these ideas in her first budget (or
ever). Instead, she should encourage these community-led neighborhood councils to continue to meet
each quarter after the initial plans are submitted to review progress against the objectives they’ve
articulated and add new ideas, so that the plans improve as successes accumulate and needs evolve over
time. The City would serve as a participant along the way to help find the private and public resources
required to implement the community ideas, but City Hall should not serve as the dictator of the process
nor as the apologist for any of the competing interests. They City’s process costs would be nominal,
consisting mostly of staff time.
Attract deal-making talent to structure complex developments that the communities require
Once communities have highlighted the investments they believe will be most impactful, the most
complex of those investment deals will require significant expertise. The Mayor-elect should call on the
real estate and financial talent of the city to contribute to deal structuring in communities that lack that
expertise. Using the Civic Consulting Alliance as a potential template and building upon JPMorgan
Chase Foundation’s recent work in this area, experienced pro bono deal teams could be assigned to
projects that need expertise to attract the necessary financing, structure the deals, and close. Those
teams could also partner with local community leaders, developers, and investors to build local capacity
for future deals. The Mayor-elect could announce this offering as soon as the first five firms have
committed to contribute and after she has established the number of deals that could be supported in
the first year.
Invest in small businesses by smartly leveraging the City’s budget.
At the same time that larger investments are being planned and implemented, the Mayor-elect should
also support the small businesses that create jobs and wealth in our communities. Through either the
Treasurer’s office or the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, the City should
create a 0% interest loan pool through which nonprofit partners could provide low-interest loans to
neighborhood entrepreneurs. Accion and our peers would repay the City over three years so that the
taxpayers are whole by the end of the first term, and then use those funds to prudently invest in job
creators throughout the city. At no cost, taxpayer dollars would generate wealth and jobs far in excess of
what any other City investment could create. While I recommend $1M for the pool, the size of the
program could be larger or smaller and the wealth it creates will grow or shrink accordingly. The
lenders should partner with the large number of organizations throughout the city who support small
business to pair that capital with the coaching that neighborhood entrepreneurs need, building upon
ecosystem work that is already underway and led by Accion. The Mayor-elect could announce this loan
pool at any time during first 100 days, fund it through her first budget, and issue the first loans to
microlending partners on January 1.
How these ideas promote equity, transparency, accountability, diversity and inclusion,
and transformation
All three of these ideas are grounded in the Mayor-elect’s core values, by:
• providing equity to every neighborhood regardless of the effectiveness of the local alderman by
grouping communities together into natural micro-economies for investment purposes,
• creating clarity on how investment decisions are made,
• holding developers and community leaders accountable for what they propose and why (while
challenging those who protest what they’re against to also explain what they’re for),
• including everyone who wishes to participate in the planning process, and
• transforming our two-tier investments into one planning framework that works for all.
Please let me know if I can provide further detail on these ideas or help the transition team in any way. I
would also be delighted to host discussions or events either before or after the inauguration at The
Hatchery, our new food and beverage incubator in Garfield Park that opened in January on the West
Side. Thank you for your work in helping the Mayor-elect prepare for a successful start to her tenure.
135 N Kedzie, Chicago, IL 60612  www.accionchicago.org

 Local Union No. 9
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

AFL-CIO

William W. Niesman
Business Manager

Brian M. Lewis
Financial Secretary

MEMO

TO: Mayor-Elect [,ori Lightfoot
FROM: Bill Niesman, Business Manager IBEW Local 9
PROMPI: Ensure all individuals have opportunities to participate in the region's
economic vitality
INITIATWE: Building pipelines to career paths through a partnership between
business and labor focusing on outreach and education.
Since assuming the position of Business Manager of IBEW Loca.l 9 a little over three
years ago, my team and I have taken a series of action items to help further the
progress ofour union. The majority ofour focus has revolved around the education of
our membership and the community we serve as weli as outreach and recruitment.
We have directed a large portion of our time and effort in working throughout the
greater Chicagoland area, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods to build a
pipeline into our local. We have done this by attending various outreach programs and
working with numerous high schools and churches. The Local 9 team is very proud of
their accomplishments in this field and feel it ca.rr be a solid model to build a larger
and more efficient progrzrm that can be expanded to encompass the entire city. If all
of labor and business work together toward this goal, all parties involved will benelit.
This partnership calr help ensure that individua,ls from all wa1ks of life have the
opportunity to not only participate but to beneflt in our city's economic vitality.

In today's reality, labor unions and businesses alike strive to hire ald maintain a
diverse workforce and to open the doors of opportunity. An opportunity to notjust
land ajob, but to secure a career. The unfortunate part is that a lot ofthe time,
although doing great things for the community, these two institutions are working
independent of each other and missing the full potential and opportunity that can be
created through a solid partnership. The groups you have on this committee can and
will strive to work together to share all our ideas in a progressive manner to build a
progr€rm that works for all of Chicago.
Together we can work to maintain accessibi-Iity and outreach to a1i neighborhoods by
hosting a minimum of four town hall meetings per year, scattered throughout the city.
We can work with the high schools to host more career days and strive to institute
vocational classes that can open up the student's eyes to opportunities in the business

18670 Graphics Drive, Suite 200, Tinley Park, Tllinois 60477
Phone: (708) 449-9000 Fax: (708) 449-9001 mail@iberg.org
www.ibew9.org

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 world and within organized labor. This can be something we can continue to grow in
the future and actually benefit a measurable achievement.
The challenges we will face moving forward is making sure our message is not only
heard, but that it is delivered equaJly throughout the city and communities. We a.1so
have to make sure there is adequate job opportunities as we host career days, town
hall meetings, work hardening programs and job fairs. The quickest way for the
community and residents to lose interest and trust in this initiative is when they step
up and dedicate their time and resources to these programs arrd then the program
falls short by not providing any type of employment opportunity. I have seen first
hand situations in which there are two to three times as many caldidates attending
classes and work hardening progr€rms as there are positions available. This creates a
negative attitude in the participants and an unwillingness to participate in other
prograrns.
If we all work together and are honest about the opportunities available, I believe we
can design the best prograrn for all of our city residents.

 MEMORANDUM
DATE:
TO:
FROM:

RE:

April 15, 2019
Mayor Elect Lori Lightfoot
Brenda Palms Barber, President and CEO, North Lawndale Employment Network and
Sweet Beginnings, LLC; Chair, Workforce Committee, North Lawndale Community
Coordinating Council
Transition Committee - Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development

POTENTIAL INITIATIVE: Reduce the racial wealth gap by eliminating barriers to employment
experienced primarily – but not exclusively – by African American men, especially those with criminal
backgrounds.
We propose to advance this initiative through three specific strategies identified through decades of
working to train and employ this population:
1) Eliminate a significant barrier to entering the workforce by offering a debt forgiveness, reduction, or
repayment slowdown program for city debt and child support payments for very low income
individuals, so high levels of debt are not a deterrent to legitimate work.
2) Make transportation to jobs across the city and into the suburbs affordable or free for those newly
entering the workforce.
3) Extend the duration of Transitional Jobs from 90 days to six months.
INFUSING VALUES: The new administration should develop a set of guidelines to steer all new policy
decisions that reflect these values and use these guidelines as a measuring stick when making important
decisions. It will be important to include listening to the voice of very low-income people, those facing
significant barriers to employment, and those living in communities with high rates of violence –
including victims and perpetrators, as often these are one and the same.
WHAT WE NEED TO KEEP: We need to keep, support, and expand the successes of community based
workforce development programs that offer Transitional Jobs and supports, such as the North Lawndale
Employment Network, Bright Endeavors, Jane Addams Resource Corporation, Safer Foundation,
Inspiration Corporation, CARA, and others, along with new programs that are showing signs of success
but still in pilot form such as Chicago CRED by the Emerson Collective, led by Arne Duncan, and the
Rapid Employment And Development Initiative (READI), led by the Heartland Alliance. Both of these
programs tackle violence through employment. The city needs to continue to provide these
organizations with funding – including for public transportation subsidies – and offer ticket amnesty
days, but also examine who these amnesties are helping the most and find ways to expand upon them.
THE NEXT 100 DAYS: Within the first 100 days we recommend the new administration immediately
freeze penalties on city debt for low income people who are engaged in workforce development
programs and/or in their first 90 days of employment. This will keep debt from accruing as a result of a
person’s low income – effectively another poor tax – and give the new administration time to develop a
policy on the issue.

 Page 2 of 3
LONGER-TERM IMPLEMENTATION:
1) Eliminate a significant barrier to entering the workforce by offering a debt forgiveness, reduction,
or repayment slowdown program for city debt and child support payments for very low income
individuals, so high levels of debt are not a deterrent to legitimate work.
Debt for child support, traffic or parking tickets, and other city fines can accrue exponentially for
someone who has been unemployed for years or has time spent incarcerated. While a working class or
middle income person may have to make a sacrifice to pay off a $100 ticket, this amount is
insurmountable for the unemployed and quickly balloons astronomically. Because government agencies
have the ability to garnish wages, this becomes a major disincentive for legitimate work.
We suggest a program to incentivize work for people in this situation by initially deferring repayment
during the first six months of work so the new worker can stabilize his finances. After that, a program
that matches a worker’s payments toward the debt 1-1 or even 1-4, prioritizing child support and any
payments enabling a worker to become a legal driver again – restoring a driver’s license and/or
retrieving a booted or confiscated vehicle needed for transportation to work. With a matching program,
the debt is paid, not waived, and provides an incentive to work and to pay down the debt.
2) Make transportation to jobs across the city and into the suburbs affordable or free for those newly
entering the workforce
A significant barrier to work for those attempting to enter the workforce after many years with very
little or no income is transportation. The time when this is the greatest problem is the first two to four
weeks of employment, when the new worker has work-related expenses (such as a uniform or tools,
child care costs) and has not yet received a first paycheck. This is exacerbated by the fact that many
good jobs are located well outside the service area of public transportation, and so are very expensive to
reach without a car.
We propose a transportation subsidy and/or program for new workers that would last at a minimum
until the first paycheck but ideally for two months, allowing the participant to stabilize his finances and
budget for transportation. A subsidy could be paid to employers for providing transportation or to
nonprofits serving workers entering the workforce. These entities, in turn, would offer transportation
programs to ensure new workers can get to work. To help fund this, we also propose a payback
program, where once stabilized in the job, the participating worker would pay into the fund – either
covering her or his own costs for continued participation or simply “donating” towards transportation
for others who need it once he has a car or some other means of transport.
One avenue could be a partnership with Uber or Lyft, which already employ a “pool” option to reduce
costs for riders. A city partnership or subsidy could ensure that even long distances are affordable for
riders and possibly develop set routes for specific workers to rideshare. Concerns about these
companies’ employer practices would be alleviated by applying specific rules for participating. Another
model that could be explored and expanded is the Taxi Access Program (TAP) that allows paratransit
customers to ride in taxis at reduced rates and the Emergency Medical Transportation Service, also
currently serving the elderly and those experiencing disabilities.
3) Extend the duration of Transitional Jobs from 90 days to six months
Transitional Jobs are time-limited, subsidized, paid jobs combined with job skills training and supportive
services to help individuals facing barriers to employment succeed in the workforce. They ensure a new

 Page 3 of 3
worker with multiple barriers to employment has the training and supports needed to transition into the
workforce. The benefits of transitional jobs are well-documented,1 including the opportunity to stabilize
with income, learn experientially, address barriers, build work history, access incentives, develop skills,
and transition to permanent employment.2 These programs positively contribute to the economic health
of employers by lowering the cost of hiring new employees, increasing business productivity, financial
well-being, and customer satisfaction.3
However, it is clear to those workforce agencies that have been providing Transitional Jobs – such as the
North Lawndale Employment Network and others listed above – that the prevalent model of 90 days of
subsidized work is insufficient to attach those with the most significant barriers to the workforce. More
time in a structured environment is needed for a new worker to fully acclimate to the workforce and the
rigors of daily work. New habits are just starting to stick and finances are barely stabilizing. These
individuals have been subjected to high levels of trauma, lack family support, oftentimes have been
incarcerated, and have never been a part of a community where most adults work.
CHALLENGES: As with any attempt to move people out of poverty, the biggest challenge will be funding
these strategies. However, the City of Chicago is wealthy. If racial economic equity were to be a priority,
funding could be identified. If the city can find $2.25 billion in incentives to offer to Amazon to add jobs
and strengthen the local economy, the city can also find funding for initiatives to return low-income
people to the local economy. There will be pushback from those who do not understand the root causes
of poverty, unemployment, and crime, and therefore do not believe those living in these conditions are
deserving of assistance. Together we must educate those willing to listen and move forward regardless
of the position of those who will not. Aligning budget to values is the only way to achieve economic
parity, transparency, accountability, diversity and inclusion, and transformation.

These recommendations are based on nearly 20 years of helping people attach to the labor market.
Chicago’s North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) is a workforce development nonprofit whose
mission is to improve the earnings potential of community residents through innovative employment
initiatives that lead to economic advancement and an improved quality of life. We have been serving jobseekers, with a special focus on individuals returning from incarceration, for 17 years. We launched the
Sweet Beginnings social enterprise in 2004 to provide our clients with Transitional Jobs. To date, we have
helped over 2,700 people enter the workforce and have directly employed nearly 500 through Sweet
Beginnings.

1

http://socialimpactresearchcenter.issuelab.org/resource/michigan-earn-and-learn-an-impact-outcome-and-implementationevaluation-of-a-transitional-job-and-training-program.html
2 http://nationalinitiatives.issuelab.org/resource/transitional-jobs-under-wioa-better-serving-chronically-unemployedjobseekers.html
3 https://www.heartlandalliance.org/nationalinitiatives/our-initiatives/faq/

 BETSY ZIEGLER
CEO, 1871
222 W MERCHANDISE
MART PLAZA SUITE 1212
CHICAGO, IL 60654

WWW.1871.COM/
BETSY@1871.COM

TO: MAYOR-ELECT LORI LIGHTFOOT
FROM: BETSY ZIEGLER, CEO, 1871

@1871CHICAGO
@BETSYZEO

PROMPT: Ensure all individuals have opportunities to participate in the
region’s economic vitality.
NEW INITIATIVE: Employ a partnership approach to equip, inspire, and
support entrepreneurs through all of the city’s 77 neighborhoods.
Over the last few years, both the nation and the city have experienced a
relatively unique phenomenon, where the number of companies
being born each day match those going out of business. 95%+ of new
job creation comes from small businesses. If, as a city, our small business
engine is broken, our platform for job creation is also broken. The
businesses that are dying at a faster rate are very local; hair salons, barber
shops, florists, restaurants, dry cleaners.
We believe that entrepreneurial talent and aspiration is everywhere – but
opportunity and access are not. 1871, as a leading non-profit supporting
the launch of new digital businesses is uniquely positioned to help drive
a trajectory change in launching successful new businesses in Chicago’s
neighborhoods. We know that many entrepreneurs will never enter the
Merchandise Mart for any number of reasons and that’s okay – through
local partnerships, we can come to them. We have been operational for
seven years and in that time, we have established a record of impact with
~700 startup alumni continuing to thrive (57% overall success rate), the
creation of over 11,500 jobs, and $1.4+ Billion in capital raised.
If you look across our neighborhoods (e.g., Woodlawn, Rogers Park,
Englewood, Austin), many have a localized version of 1871 serving the
needs of their aspiring entrepreneurs. These operations are being led by
phenomenal people who are helping dozens of residents launch
businesses of all types; food, tech, and services just to name a few. In
conversations with these leaders, the opportunity for 1871 to serve
as a partner has become a routine topic. We have several unique
capabilities that could be scaled to support any entrepreneur solving
any number of business issues (tech or not) and delivered through
community partnerships. These capabilities include digitizing our
curriculum (~400 workshops per year); creating live streaming access
into select events; virtualizing our mentor platform; supporting business
development; co-grant writing; doing pop-up workshops; and
co-branding local events, content creation, etc.

 WWW.1871.COM
BETSY@1871.COM
@1871CHICAGO
@BETSYZEO

By combining the local knowledge and relationships of the
neighborhood incubators and pairing it with 1871’s assets at scale, we
jointly believe we could 10x the impact that we would have working
in our silos. This will work best if on a “pull” system, where the local
organization pulls on 1871 to leverage our resources and capabilities
for the assets they need to thrive. Our partnerships may look
different from one ward to another depending on neighborhood
priorities. Over time, we could imagine this system extending to
partnerships with each local Chamber, the Chicago Public Library
system, the penitentiary system, and as appropriate, Chicago
Community Colleges.
This initiative reinforces most – if not all – of the values outlined in the
campaign including: equity, accountability, diversity and inclusion,
and the opportunity for significant transformation.
Moving forward, we will be forging relationships with a number of
partners; in fact, we are very close to launching a few pop-up
workshops focused on female entrepreneurs in 3-5 neighborhoods.
We will be leveraging all of the existing assets and proven
approaches in both the neighborhoods and at 1871.
We believe with Mayor-Elect Lightfoot’s leadership, commitment,
and vision, we can move faster and further to establish this as a
leading program to ignite and amplify new business creation – which
will serve to bolster job creation across the city. In the next 100 days,
encouragement and support from the Mayor’s office for local
chambers and incubators with whom we are not connected with, will
help us engage in the conversation about how 1871, and our
local partnerships, could catalyze greater business development
along with how the network among local incubators can drive
awareness, investment, and access to customers (corporate and
consumer).
From a challenge perspective, there are three that we are thinking
through: ongoing access to funding for the local initiatives and the
entrepreneurs (as noted in the original memo, this is an initiative on
its own), persistent focus and accountability as this will take time to
be successful, and clarity in the scope and inclusive approach to this
initiative vs. splintered efforts that dilute potential impact. All of these
can be mitigated with thoughtful planning and dialogue.
Thank you for your consideration, and both myself and the team at
1871 look forward to working together to support your economic
development agenda.

 April 15, 2019
Lightfoot Transition Team Memo_CEllens_Page 1 of 2
TO: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
FROM: Cherita Ellens, CEO – Women Employed
Proposed Initiative: Increase financial prosperity & security for low income earners.
Close to 50% of Chicago’s residents are either low income, at the poverty level or living in extreme
poverty. There isn’t just one program, initiative or policy that will change this. We need to enact a
suite of policies and laws that promote gender and racial equity and that enable more women and
people of color in Chicago, who are over-represented in the low-paid workforce, to achieve financial
prosperity/security.
•

Pass the Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance: Too many working people in Chicago—
especially in low-paid industries — face unstable and unpredictable work schedules. The
Chicago Fair Workweek ordinance would provide protections—fair notice of scheduling, as
well as compensation if hours are cut or added at the last minute—to all hourly workers, and to
salaried workers who earn less than $50,000 a year.

•

Increase Chicago’s minimum wage AND enact One Fair Wage: We need to get to a $15
minimum wage by 2021 (4 years sooner than 2025 mandated by the new state legislation). As
cited by the National Employment Law Project of Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget
Calculator, the living wage in Chicago for an adult with one child is just over $28/hour. The
current wage of $12/hour, which will max out at $13/hour on July 1, continues to cause severe
disparities among communities on the south and west sides. Increasing wages more quickly
will improve financial stability and strengthen communities. Additionally, we need One Fair
Wage to end the sub-minimum tipped wage in our city—something that the Illinois minimum
wage increase will not do. The sub-minimum tipped wage leaves the people of color and
women who are overrepresented in tipped jobs financially disadvantaged and less secure.

•

Close Chicago’s racial achievement gaps in higher education by providing better supports to
individuals seeking to attain certifications and degrees. City Colleges of Chicago need more
resources to expand support services to help accelerate progress in bridge programs, and in the
attainment of degrees and stackable credentials. Additionally, ensuring that the more than
24,500 residents (87% of whom are people of color) in adult education programs in City
Colleges and thousands more served by community organizations throughout Chicago are
adequately resourced and funded. These programs are a vital driver of economic growth and
economic development in our city’s neighborhoods, and they need access to the funding
necessary to meet the need.

 Lightfoot Transition Team Memo_CEllens_Page 2 of 2
What is happening today that we need to keep:
• City of Chicago should remain progressive in its “good jobs” policies, and workplace
protections. City of Chicago’s minimum tipped wages has increased the state’s $4.95/hour
tipped wage, and the minimum wage will go to $13/hour on July 1st. This will be the last
increase until the state catches up, and then the city will be required to increase at the same
rate as the state until 2025, when we’ll reach $15 as per the state law.
•

Continue to involve a broad coalition of working people, civic leaders, labor, and the business
community in conversations/negotiations around Fair Workweek Chicago ordinance to ensure
the ordinance takes their concerns into account and has the support of business.

•

City Colleges of Chicago has implemented bridge programs in several high-demand
industries. We need to continue to evaluate and evolve bridge programs to ensure they meet
the needs and deliver the intended outcomes of enrollment in and attainment of college-level
courses, stackable credentials, and degrees. Simultaneously, continue and expand the work a
dozen community-based organizations offer Career Foundations, a career & education
planning course, that allows adults to make an informed choice about their best-fit career
sector and plot an education plan to advance into a career.

What we need to implement in the next 100 days:
• Pass the Chicago Fair Workweek ordinance.
• Draft an ordinance to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15/hour by 2021 and eliminate
the sub-minimum tipped wage.
• Promote Career Foundations & bridge programs and provide resources to expand programs in
community organizations.
What we can plan for longer-term implementation:
• Increase the minimum wage to $14/hour in 2020 and $15 in 2021.
• Eliminate the subminimum tipped wage.
• Increase funding for support services for city residents in City Colleges, adult education and
bridge programming.
• Convene the leaders of all of Chicago’s colleges and universities to discuss strategies to close
the racial achievement gap.
What challenges we might encounter in executing on this initiative:
• While Chicago’s min wage ordinance increased Illinois’s tipped wage - to $6.25 currently eliminating the subminimum wage, like Seattle and San Francisco have done, will encounter
strong opposition from influential Illinois Restaurant Association – who are more likely to
support a minimum wage increase than they are to eliminate the subminimum tipped wage.
There is similar opposition from various industries for the Fair Work Week Ordinance as well.

 April 14, 2019
To: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
From: Chris Gladwin

As a part of the work of the Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development Transition
Committee here are some of my thoughts on realizing the objectives outlined in your campaign.

Promoting regional economic growth
The great growth opportunity for Chicago is to grow beyond just local markets to become
more competitive in national and global markets which not only adds net economic gain to our
region, but also creates more demand for local goods and services by adding earnings to the
region. The great opportunity that Chicago has to increase its national and global
competitiveness is to advance our economy in the coming decades into a information technology
and applied technology leader. I’m a part of P33, a team of hundreds of Chicago’s business,
civic, education, and government leaders who have come together to plan and ultimately realize
this opportunity. As a result, my and our detailed thoughts on how to best promote inclusive
economic growth are embodied in P33 and we would be happy to provide briefings and a review
of the materials we’ve created at P33.

Ensuring all neighborhoods benefit from growth
In order for each neighborhood to participate in growth, a large number of members from
each neighborhood need to participate in both the growth of both their local businesses as well as
to participate in national and global market opportunities. Chicago has one of the best platforms
in the world for creating businesses with national and global reach:
- Chicago is the most educated large city in the US and produces the second-most college
graduates of any US city
- Chicago has the most diverse large economy in the US which enables a broad range of
both new and established economic organizations.
- Chicago has a transportation infrastructure that not only supports global and national
commerce with the busiest airport and rail network in the US, but also a regional
transportation system that enable employers to draw on the full breadth of Chicagoland’s
labor pool.
However, for Chicago’s economic growth to be truly inclusive, more and more of the people
in all of Chicago’s neighborhoods need to participate in Chicago’s big economic opportunity to
reach national and global markets as a leading tech city. Just enabling Chicagoans to find
opportunities for businesses and careers in their own neighborhood is important but enabling
Chicagoans from all neighborhoods to utilize Chicago’s capabilities to create and realize

 economic opportunities that are national and global in their scope is needed for Chicago’s
economic growth to be truly inclusive.
Ensuring all individuals have opportunities to participate in the region’s economic vitality
Real opportunities in a competitive 21st century economy require real expertise - there’s
no solution to opportunity participation that doesn’t include an educational foundation. That
education can take many forms, including adaptive education, technology internships, and
apprenticeships, but education is the path that leads to expertise that leads to opportunity. The
recent improvements in CPS have been important, but my recommendation would be to go much
farther by expanding the school year and increasing the focus on learning computer science as
well as computing – the application of information technology across all fields. Computer
science is a language and is best learned at a young age. Plus, computing applies to every future
career and is the key driver of future economic opportunity in each field in the US economy in
the coming decades.

Regards,

Chris Gladwin
CEO, Ocient
Co-Chair, P33

 Date:

April 15, 2019

From:

Charmaine V. Rickette, President
Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken
Business, Neighborhood and Economic Development

Committee:

As a committed Chicagoan Business Owner, and Advocate, I am appreciative
of this opportunity to be apart of a transition team that represent and I hope
maintain Intentional change and growth for our underserved communities. I
have read Mayor-Elect attached plan. It’s ambitious and achievable if the
administration stay engaged with the community organizations and business
owners that have boots to ground daily advocating for better. Listed below
are a few of my many recommendations I have for the new administration to
achieve their goals toward a Better Chicago.
Execution:
The new administration can infuse the values of equity, transparency,
accountability, diversity and inclusion and transformation in this initiative by
recruiting the local neighborhood business associations to execute these meetings –
i.e. on the West Side the Austin African American Business Networking
Association and The Chatham Avalon Business Association. These groups can
identify the venues and help get the businesses invited to attend. Local resources
including caterers should be recruited for these meetings as well.
Additional Information:
•

Keep the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund
•

•

The Neighborhood Opportunity Fund has been a winner for the West
and South Side Communities. The program needs to be kept and
expanded. This will create the now diminished and Much needed
revitalization of Community Economic Drivers. I’m open to making
it a grant only program however, with limited restrictions.

Business Town Hall Meetings need to happen within the first 100 days of
the new administration.
• A minimum of 1000 business owners need to be heard with their

 •

•

•

recommendations on a tracked document.
A Council of Neighborhood Business Associations can be created longer
term.
• Similar to the Committee of Chambers, a unified group of
neighborhood business associations should be formed with quarterly
meetings established. City Departments and dedicated resources
should be provided to this group.
Neighborhood small businesses are challenged with lack of manpower and
resources to be away from their businesses.
• Incorporate meeting for business owners at time that is most
convenient for them – weekday after the business rush hour like 3-7
pm
Vast Improvements’ are needed throughout the Business and Consumer
Affairs Department as it relates to Small Business Compliance. I’ve seen
some positive changes but have also accumulated quite a bit of frustration
and horror stories during my over 30 years in business. Currently some
legislation is not small business friendly.

•

West and South Side Communities need Intentional Energy and
Resources directed toward Infrastructure to their Neighborhoods.

•

Opportunity Zones need special committee designation to navigate the
nuisances of this Program.

•

The City of Detroit is a great example of rebuilding. Appointing a Special
Committee to go and study their turnaround strategy would be great to
consider for our growth plan.

Lastly, it is my hope that there is at minimum a quarterly update,
accountability meeting and or report for each of these initiatives you have
outlined in you Plan.

 Transition Memo:
•

Create destination business districts that attract city residents and visitors outside of the
downtown central business area; ones that celebrate the diversity of the city. Support the
exploration and accessibility of the city with robust transportation and marketing plans,
understanding that doing so will drive and help sustain revenue.

•

Be upfront about deep-rooted, systemic issues facing the city, and focus on solutions
instead of problems. Utilize a scorecard that outlines metrics (unemployment, school
graduation rates, housing values, police encounters, crime statistics, average wages, etc.)
for each of the 77 neighborhoods or 50 wards and publish it. While the information is
already out there, making it easily available and digestible in one place by a broad base of
city residents is important. Keep it updated at regular intervals to show progress or lack
thereof. Plan to continuously communicate with community in person to discuss and
determine outcomes and solutions where necessary. This regular report should include a
return on human investment that recognizes increased job readiness and attainment, lower
incarceration rates, and the economic benefit from those kinds of improving statistics.

Create a new branding plan to lift up and communicate effectively the value in Chicago’s history
and diversity. This will also serve to help counter the crime and segregation statistics for which
the city is generally known. It is crucial to whole city economic development to rewrite the
narrative about communities beyond the central business district. The full narrative of the city’s
history or promise has never fully been conveyed. Chicago like many large cities, has a
“Chinatown” and a “Greektown” located within proximity to the loop, visitors and residents of
those areas are provided with insight in to the value of the city’s immigrant history. The south
and west sides of the city are, however, largely ignored, and the ethnic and historic treasures of
the vast diversity in the remainder of Chicago goes largely unnoticed and are untapped. As such
they are diminished.
•

Anchor institution investments in neighborhoods such as Englewood and Woodlawn
begin to recognize the needs of those communities. However, creating and growing
wealth in underserved communities requires that the dollars spent in those institutions
stay and recirculate in those communities. While there is some question about the validity
of circulation statistics, the idea that the long term viability of even anchor institutions
depends on the neighborhood’s ability to sustain them. So, the ability of a neighborhood
business district to attract dollars from the outside that were not there before is essential
for wealth accumulation, growth, and intergenerational wealth transfer.

In the first 100 days, a qualitative, quantitative, and participative baseline assessment of each
neighborhood would be important to see where investment is most needed and the wholistic
supports that would make wealth accumulation and small business development stable and
sustainable. Start to get the input from community residents on what they see as the greatest
barriers to employment and business startup. Bring together educational, police, housing, and
corporate citizens to determine how investments in a wider variety of communities can be made

 with the greatest impact.
The value of engaging all parts of the city in targeted community development will be critical.
The one thing that is different about Chicago than many other large cities is the diversity of
business sectors represented in our corporate community. Their ability to locate essential
business functions outside of traditional locations is central to a plan to recognizing the value of
all Chicago and returning to a more historic model for Chicago development. Additionally,
determining what would draw people to other parts of the city, how those areas could be branded
and developed would have to work hand in hand. For example, a technology hub doesn’t have to
be located in the loop or Fulton Market, it could just as easily be an “anchor” creating wealth and
traffic and surrounding services in any of a dozen underdeveloped neighborhoods. Getting the
corporate community to recognize the long-term value in this will take time to develop an
inclusive model and culture of good corporate citizenship. With a current plan for over $16
billion dollars of investment to be spent between O’Hare airport and Lincoln Yards, there seems
to be little or no plans for neighborhoods that currently struggle. Refocusing activity and
commensurate types of investment throughout the city will be important to long term growth and
sustainability.

Changing hearts and minds is a monumental process. Long-term practices have created a stigma
attached to many neighborhoods that allows people to think that their current condition is the
result of their unwillingness to “do better”. This is simply not true.
Often times, checking the box of a charitable donation to address a problem rather than truly
investing in the core issues makes people feel better, but the problem continues to develop and
deteriorate. Doing the hard work to get people to believe in transformational investment will be
critical to the success of a strategic investment plan. Additionally, addressing the wholistic needs
of long term underserved communities will require that we treat not only the current outcomes,
but stop the pipeline of problems at the same time.

 TO: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
FROM:
Member, Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development Transition Committee
Recommendation: Create the Chicago Equitable Development Program to incentivize contributions by
companies to Chicago’s under-resourced communities.
Detail: Currently companies requesting development concessions for development in downtown
Chicago are required to put dollars into the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, which are then reinvested
in small businesses. I recommend broadening that approach in following ways:
•
Condition the approvals of all tax abatements and development concessions across the city on
companies contributing to equitable development.
•
Create a menu of Equitable Development options, including but not limited to:
•
HIRE INCLUSIVELY or DEVELOP TALENT (e.g. Source interns/ apprentices and/or
hire from areas designated as an Opportunity Zone; Participate in One Summer Chicago;
Advise City Colleges on future of work in their industry; Invest in programs to expand
labor market access);
•
INVEST in an EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT FUND that would support small
businesses (removing match requirement) and larger scale developments in the areas
designated as an Opportunity Zones.
Rationale: In addition to the important moral reasons to address economic and racial segregation, there
are strong economic ones. It is now known that more inclusive economies lead toward more innovation
and faster growth. (See: Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren; CMAP’s Inclusive Growth Strategy Paper).
Background: A handful of other cities have adopted equitable development incentive approaches. One
example from Portland, OR:
The Portland Enterprise Zone incentivizes firms to invest major capital outlays and to create or
retain quality jobs by allowing for property tax exemptions designed to encourage existing and
new businesses. Managed by Prosper Portland, it defines a public benefit agreement as a legally
binding agreement between a governmental organization and a business with the goal of creating
shared value and partnership, where the competitiveness of a company and the health of the
public are interdependent. This is distinct from a community benefit agreement, which is
typically designed as a place-based agreement. The benefit agreement outlines the level of
incentive the firm will receive and the expected outcomes. Among other factors, these outcomes
include:
•
Threshold levels for wages ($15 per hour within one year) or total compensation ($20 per
hour within one year)
•
A business procurement plan that outlines good faith efforts to localize supply chain
purchases, specifically from business owned by people of color or business owners
located in designated neighborhoods
•
A contribution of 15 percent of tax savings to a Workforce Training and Business
Development Fund (WTBDF) and Employee Support Fund (ESF).
The WTBDF provides the economic development team with a flexible fund that supports
programming to build an equitable economy and that enhances economic and social opportunity
through partnerships with existing systems related to filling worker skills gaps, business
technical assistance (e.g. lean consulting, business planning, etc.), and other firm-specific needs.
The fund can be responsive to the needs of existing businesses in addition to providing
incentives for new entrants. The ESF is similar in its flexibility but it specifically allows Prosper
Portland to work with employers to address two of the most significant barriers to employment
for lower income workers: transit and child care support.
Alignment with Values:

 Equity: The Program is designed to redistribute resources and opportunities to benefit under-resourced
communities living in designated Opportunity Zones.
Transparency and Accountability: The Program could bring needed transparency and accountability to
the current system of tax abatements and other economic development incentives by setting up clear
rules and sharing the investments publicly.
Diversity and inclusion: The Program would support companies to diversify their talent pools and
dollars would support diverse-led companies to access capital to grow.
Transformation: The Program creates a vehicle for public-private co-investment, unlocking private
resources, incentivizes inclusive hiring, and seeks to reverse a long track record in the city of investment
downtown and North side to the exclusion of other parts of the city.
Stock Take:
What is happening today that we need to keep: This idea is adapted from current Neighborhood
Opportunity Fund.
What we need to implement in the next 100 days: Announce commitment to idea and kick off process to
determine details (process could include Task Force representing business and community).
What we can plan for longer-term implementation: To launch the program, you would need to determine
a) City capacity to manage; b) creation of menu; c) system for tracking and reporting; and d) approval
from City Council. Long-term you would hope to see strong economic activity in under-resourced
communities and market investment. If very successful, it may need to be paired with policies to
prevent gentrification.
What challenges we might encounter in executing on this initiative:
•
Tracking and reporting will be complicated.
•
Right sizing the requirements and incentives so as to a) not discourage companies from looking
to Chicago for location and expansion; and b) not encourage companies to only put dollars into a
Fund for ease instead of participating in other meaningful ways such as hiring.
•
Capacity of the nonprofits and institutions may be limited to develop investable deals in the
short-term. There are a few nascent efforts underway to build capacity (more info available
from: LISC, Community Reinvestment Fund, and BCG).
Other Considerations: Some cities are layering city-level efforts to take advantage of federal
Opportunity Zone (OZ) policy which may be worth exploring to determine if there are other tax
approaches to drive equitable development. See Accelerator for America and Nowak Metro Finance
Lab cohort of cities working on OZ "investment prospectuses." Also, Baltimore has a public
Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund to compliment OZ (and other) investments and CDFI capacity
with "a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy to support the growth of local, minority and womenowned businesses and to promote the hiring of Baltimore City residents."

 To: Mayor-elect Lightfoot
From: David Merriman, Professor UIC and member Business, Economic, and Neighborhood
Development Transition Committee
Re: Initiative memo Date: April 13, 2019
•

•

A potential initiative: Funding Infrastructure Together (FIT) would explicitly allocate
a share of property tax revenue generated from real estate appreciation in the city’s most
affluent areas to a fund that would be used to pay for infrastructure investment in the
city’s most economically disconnected regions.
Infusing new values into Chicago’s economic development initiatives
•
Equity: Much of Chicago’s current and past effort to fund infrastructure
investment was focused around TIF. TIF essentially privatizes revenue generated
by appreciation of real estate and funnels additional revenues back to the areas
that are generating them. This results in well-off areas becoming more well off.
This proposed initiative, to be called FIT (TIF spelled backward), would stand
TIF on its head. FIT would direct a portion of the public revenue generated by
real estate appreciation to a special fund that would be used to finance economic
development in Chicago’s most economically disconnected regions in order to
assist areas that have seen the least benefit from economic growth.
•
Accountability: Chicago’s current TIF program is largely ad hoc with TIF monies
focused on developer initiatives that are often removed from, and sometimes
inconsistent with, long-term goals and strategies. FIT would be accountable to a
well crafted long term plan. The Lightfoot administration should quickly
undertake a review of Chicago’s Capital Improvement Program and should
develop a capital budgeting process that is infused with the new administration’s
objectives. FIT should be a central part of the implementation of the capital
improvement plan. FIT should be regularly and independently evaluated to
determine whether it is contributing to the implementation of the City’s
articulated economic development vision.
•
Transparency: The process by which FIT revenues are spent should be well
articulated and communicated in written form. Spending priorities should be
highly consistent with the Administration’s overall goals and strategies and should
be explicitly articulated. The new administration should develop a publicly
assessible dashboard that shows where FIT money is generated and spent. The
data should include be mapable and should contain specific detail on highly
disaggregated expenditures. Data should be provided on a regular and timely
basis.
•
Diversity and Inclusion: Every aspect of the FIT program should be developed
and implemented with diverse and inclusive public input. This might build on
and expand the current hyper-democratic participatory budgeting process that has
been developed in several wards of the city. But diversity and inclusion should
also go beyond ward-based politics to bring together diverse groups from across
neighborhoods to develop a united vision of a City with a thriving downtown and
strong and growing neighborhoods. The implementation of the FIT program
should also be diverse and inclusive. Minority and women-owned firms should
be major service providers and should be particularly favored in the
neighborhoods they know best. Community groups should be involved in the

 •

design of neighborhood investment and should also play a role in choosing and
monitoring service providers.
•
Transformation: Chicago’s historic unbalanced development patterns will take
determination and persistence to transform. The FIT program embodies a vision
that encapsulates transformation by sharing the tremendous wealth generated by
Chicago’s productive and diverse labor force, natural amenities, and strong
cultural traditions in a new and more equitable manner. In order to successfully
transform the city the FIT initiative must be part of a broader program that
includes public safety, education, transportation, public health and many other
areas.
Advancing this initiative
•
What is happening today and what we need to keep: Progressive advocates have
pushed for concepts like those behind FIT for many years. The Neighborhood
Opportunity Fund shares some of the wealth created by downtown construction
projects with neighborhoods on the West, Southwest and South sides of Chicago
and embodies some of the same value capture philosophy as the proposed FIT
initiative. This Neighborhood Opportunity Fund should be evaluated and
restructured, expanded or reduced as appropriate. Similarly, programs that support
affordable housing and other community benefits from market rate development
should be considered holistically and should work in tandem with the FIT
initiative.
•
What we need to implement in the next 100 days: The administration should
survey other large cities for models like the FIT initiative. Legal teams should
identify potential legal barriers to the FIT initiative and the Department of
Development and Planning should work with the Office of the County Assessor
and County Clerk to determine how much revenue FIT might generate. The idea
should be widely discussed with downtown and neighborhood developers,
th
community groups and others. The goal should be a 100 day announcement of
specific proposals to begin a small-scale FIT program.
•
Plan for longer-term implementation: If the initial small-scale implementation of
the FIT program goes well the administration should expand the program and it
should become a major vehicle to fund development in the most economically
disconnected parts of the city. The administration should work closely with the
Cook County Assessor’s office to assure that property tax administration is done
in a fair, timely and transparent manner to increase the perceived legitimacy of the
FIT program.
•
Challenges: Economic development in the City of Chicago has long been centered
around TIF and perceived of as an ad hoc, neighborhood-based process with
strong aldermanic prerogatives. Changing this mindset to think holistically about
the city’s economic development could generate political opposition from both
downtown and neighborhood leaders. The administration must balance its
genuine desire for swift and fundamental transformation against the need to
demonstrate new concepts and build coalitions for change. Also, real estate
development is notoriously sensitive to economic cycles. Should the next
recession hit soon and be severe, deteriorating economic conditions could slow
development to a crawl and greatly diminish the pool of revenue that might be

 available through appreciation. By design Cook County’s property tax
assessment system lags current values and averages assessments over several
years and should dampen the near-term damage that might be done by a recession.
Nonetheless the administration should be cognizant of the potential for changing
economic conditions.

 Memo

To: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
Name: Dawveed Scully – Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM)
Transition Committee: Business, Neighborhood, Economic Development
Prompt: What we need to implement immediately; or
within the next year
Creating a shared platform for an equitable growth in Chicago that informs,
organizes, and aligns community, developers, and potential resources.
There are two key things we need to do immediately to make a more
transparent, accountable, equitable, and diverse city.
First, we need to empower people by building a shared understanding and
knowledge of the development process and how we can work together to
achieve an outcome that benefits all. There’s a need to create a knowledge
base and more transparency about the investment and development process in
the city.
 History of planning in Chicago – We need to talk about how racist
planning and policy have shaped the condition of our city, to
understand the issues we are working to address.
 Information gathering and tools – Residents need to understand
where we they can learn about what’s going on with development in
the city, and we should develop a central repository for this.
 Principles and best practices in urban planning and design
 Planning for growth – What are some basic real estate and
development concepts that folks need to know and basics of TIF,
Neighborhood Opportunity fund, Retail Thrive etc.
 Urban strategies and tactics – Incremental growth, low cost/high
impact projects, micro-retail and popup, adaptive reuse, and
opportunities for creative
 Sustainable and resilient neighborhoods – Water, energy, and food
and sustainable principles.

 These sessions can be held at a key place over the city and recorded and put
online for future viewing. This is based off a series we did with 1Woodlawn
which was helpful for residents to provide a knowledge base and empower
residents to collective action in their communities.
Secondly, there is a need for an overall city vision and implementation plan
so that everyone knows what’s going on, what the opportunities are, and what
the plan is for the future.
Start by organizing the city into logical planning areas based on key
elements such as rivers, transit, interstates, nodes, corridors and major
centers that may overlap wards and contain multiple neighborhoods.
Build an online tool that identifies key assets and opportunities all over
the city.
 City of Chicago and Cook County data
o Vacant lots - ownership
o Vacant buildings
o Current developments
o Building Permits
o Funding sources for each area
 Neighborhood assets (various sources) ,retail, transit, parks, anchor
institutions
 Institute for Housing studies, MPC, CMAP, LISC and many others can
be combined into one space. It should be where all current project
information as well as current and past community plans and ideas.
Leveraging this to understand at a city scale:
 Key nodes/areas of focus (Equitable-TOD, recent investments, anchor
institutions, major job centers)
 Key sectors for investment for city and region
 Neighborhood interests
 Timelines and key dates for decision making
This will take some effort but is necessary to create an environment that is
built on transparent, equitable and accountable environment. We have the
public sector, non-profit, institutional, private sector and philanthropic
resources to accomplish this in the city, if we work in a coordinated and
collaborative manner.

  
To:

Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot

From: Darnell Shields, Executive Director of Austin Coming Together
RE:

Ensure all neighborhoods benefit from regional economic growth

Reform and Expand the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF): Leveraging proven
neighborhood organizations leading community-wide economic development efforts to
inform how the NOF is structured and invested across the city.
Successful neighborhood investment is typically driven from the ground up, with a focus on
leveraging existing assets, meaningful community engagement and system-wide guidelines to
prevent discrimination and inequity. Currently, there are no citywide efforts to map and share
information about assets in each neighborhood, or create guiding priorities at the neighborhood
level for development or land use decision-making.
The Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF), launched in 2016 by the City provides grants in the
form of a rebate for cost incurred to develop real estate; rehabilitate real estate; and support
new or expanding businesses or cultural projects within designated underserved commercial
corridors. It is funded through provisions in the zoning code that allow developers to increase
the density of their buildings via voluntary payments to the NOF. From its launch up until the
end of 2018, the NOF had almost 100 million dollars in collected or projected funds.
The intended benefit of NOF to neighborhoods is increased access to capital to support
commercial corridor investments involving grocery stores, restaurants, service providers,
cultural facilities and uses that address other neighborhood needs. The idea of downtown
development sourcing neighborhood development is novel. However, without an equitable and
transparent process for local stakeholders to inform how NOF can develop their neighborhoods,
I fear the effectiveness of the program to ensure neighborhoods benefit from the investments
intended to further drive Chicago’s regional economic growth is limited and unjust.
While NOF has great potential to drive investment in neighborhoods and has already amassed
millions in funding, it is actually performing in a very weak and inefficient way. In its current
state, the NOF is actually not inclusive of small business owners and the diversity of other
neighborhood development drivers like entrepreneurs and the local workforce because it
doesn’t take into account the challenges each have in garnering the resources needed to impact
their local neighborhood economy. These stakeholders would benefit greatly from city led and/or
supported capacity building efforts to ensure access, creation of and retention of capital locally
is attainable.

  
If existing neighborhood organizations leading community economic development efforts are
informing how the NOF is structured and invested across the city, the NOF would become a
catalyst for inclusive and equitable regional growth.
Through community led planning processes, these organizations would be able to provide
relevant information based on priorities that were developed by a collection of stakeholders.
Currently, both LISC Quality of Life Plans and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago
Neighborhood Network Initiatives support a lead agency to take on the role of backbone
organization at the neighborhood level within a community area. Backbone organizations bring
relationships and convening power to identify interests between stakeholders and facilitate the
process to understand where everyone’s interest intersects. This creates an opportunity to
develop community plans led by the community that can inform the city’s strategies and actions
to invest in individuals and neighborhoods to drive regional economic growth.
Agencies like Austin Coming Together (ACT), North Lawndale Community Council (NLCCC),
and Teamwork Englewood have all recently developed community wide plans to improve the
quality of life on Chicago’s south and west sides. Providing these organizations and others like
them with a seat at the table to represent their neighborhoods and community area when
decision-making for NOF investment is needed can further leverage these efforts.
In addition to this, the City can provide funding for these plans to be created through community
development intermediaries like LISC and United Way allocating them the requisite budget for
community engagement expertise as appropriate to scale them up so that they cover the full city
partnership with community backbone organizations.
By supporting the development and actualization of community plans the City can ensure NOF
investments within neighborhoods are of the highest impact and the investors leveraging them
are poised for success.
The next 100 days of the Lightfoot Administration should focus on convening developers,
financial lending institutions, foundations, small businesses and neighborhood organizations to
discuss what is working and not working with NOF. Once it has been established what the
challenge is with NOF than all parties involved can discuss what needs to be changed to
address the identified gaps and how NOF can be use to support existing plan strategies and
projects. The purpose should be to identify 1-3 top priorities from the existing community plans
and develop a citywide strategy to leverage NOF to support them. This will allow the City to take
an active role as a liaison between neighborhood investment and regional economic growth.
In the longer term, the City can explore ways to garner additional revenue sources that can help
further develop the NOF. 

 1140 N. Lamon Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60651

WEST
SIDE HEL Erasers-r70

NEW LIFE

FORMED 



April 15, 2019
Dear Mayor Lightfoot,

I am honored to be selected to participate on your Business, Economic, and Neighborhood
Development Transition Committee. This memo is intended to offer my perspectives on your
issues of concern.

Many of the economic challenges for Chicago?s West and South Side communities boil down to
a perceived lack of opportunity. Many residents do not believe that opportunities exist to
improve their livelihoods? The City government must play a major role in the provisioning of
those opportunities, and in inspiring residents to seek them.

1) What?s happening today that we need to keep:

a)

b)

The Neighborhood Opportunity Fund. This fund does a reasonable job of generating
commercial development by redistributing grant money into communities of economic
need from sources that will continue to ?ourish. The money is put to good use, as small
businesses are able to access complementary ?nancial resources to house new businesses,
or enhance existing ones.

The Chicago Development Fund. This fund is based on a federally sponsored program
that provides New Markets Tax Credits to private investors to provide low-interest
commercial loans in under?invested ?communities. Such entities as the Method plant in
the Pullman community or the Jewel Osco on Woodlawn have been bene?ciaries of this
fund. 

A continued mindset for public investments on Chicago?s West and South Sides.
Public investment in key communities will likely have a carry?over effect into private
industry. Examples of this type of public investment include the planned police training
facility on the West Side, and the Obama Center on the South Side. If private industry
leaders recognize that these areas are able to support commercial activity (motivated
workforce, safety, commuting, parking, etc.), they are likely to consider them for
expansion or establishing a signi?cant operation.

2) What we need to implement immediately; or within the next year:

a)

The City must promote to community residents the fact that there are inexpensive
and free programs throughout the area geared toward improving the economic
prospects of community residents. Training for high-demand industrial career skills, as
well as entrepreneurship development, is being offered by nonpro?t organizations across
Chicago, as well as the City Colleges of Chicago. In a number of cases, such entities 
collaborate to optimize the impact of the offerings. After what amounts to three to ?ve
months of training, industry-recognized certi?cations are earned by program participants,
which demonstrates that they are more than capable of closing any perceived skills gap
for that sector. It is a bit disheartening that many residents are not aware of these
offerings, or the fact such offerings are intended to bene?t them. The City government
carries signi?cant credibility, and an ability to promote opportunities in a much more
effective way than any other organization.

b)

d)

The City government must incent community industrial development investment on
Chicago?s West and South Sides. Retail alone cannot be the basis for commercial
sustainability in these communities. Certain industries will be the source of high demand
careers, as well as a catalyst for supply chain small business opportunities. Use as an
example such recent developments as those in the Pullman community, including the
commutes production facility, the afore mentioned Method plant, and a number of other
developments. These areas each carry attractions for certain industries that require hi gh?
demand skills, including: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Cyber-security;
Digital and Advanced Manufacturing; and others that will emerge over time. Such
organizations as Bethel?s West Side Forward operation have been offering career
elevation programs in such industries, thus resulting in a continuously building skilled
workforce. It is unfortunate that many of career opportunities that require these skills are
situated in outlying areas versus the West and South Sides. If people see that the
opportunities are realistically accessible, many more are likely to make the investment in
time to obtainthe door opening skills. Also, when such opportunities emerge such as the
recent Amazon second headquarters, there should be strategies and discussions regarding
how such entities can benefit from community facilities that would project reasonable
returns on investment, as well as the offer of mainstream opportunities for local residents.

General operating funding for community economic development activity. Most
nonpro?t funding from foundations, corporations, and even government are focused on
program delivery. In order to operate, West Side Forward/Bethel and similar nonprofits
have expenses that are not program specific, such as administration, board management,
personnel development, etc.

Encourage engagement with typically forgotten communities as a key objective of
high-profile City organizations that are focused on increasing the numbers and
capabilities of STEM-based or industrial business enterprises. As a member of the
Board of Directors, I have been in the middle of establishing initiative geared
toward community engagement. Other entities such as 1871 and P33 have mentioned
diversity and engagementthe iceberg in terms of tangible action.

3) What we can plan for longer-term implementation:

a)

b)

Promote the pursuit of engineering and related career opportunities to community
residents, accessible through City Colleges of Chicago, and its agreements with such
four-year educational institutions as the University of Illinois. Leverage such
organizations as NSBE to assist in such promotional activities.

Invest in a state-of?the?art Internet infrastructure to community residents
throughout the City. A lack of ability to fully utilize these tools is a disadvantage that
minimizes the ability for individuals and businesses to compete in the 21St Century,
resulting in a continued legacy of under-privilege. If anything approaching a technology
based ecosystem is going to occur, residents must have access to the basic tools to foster
the evolution of such an environment.

More than anything else, there must be a collective mindset of why the ?ourishing of these
communities is important for everyone. Things like new the federally administered Opportunity
Fund should not be discounted as an effective toll, if applied correctly

Community residents should not be afraid of gentrification. They should be prepared for it, by
inserting themselves into the local economy. Of course, appropriate provisions should be made
for affordable housing, an education system that supports these communities, cultural and
entertainment venues, and the requisite health care infrastructure.

Sincerely,

Ed oleman
President and CEO

 

7
ac:

Eileen Mitchell
President-Illinois

AT&T Services, Inc.
225 West Randolph Street
27A300
Chicago, IL 60606

T: 312-727-2621
eileen.m.mitchell@att.com

MEMORANDUM
TO:

Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot

FROM:

Eileen Mitchell
Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development Transition Committee

DATE:

April 19, 2019

OBJECTIVE:

Ensure all neighborhoods benefit from growth

“Together, we can and will make Chicago a place where your zip code
doesn’t determine your destiny.”
– Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot, April 2, 2019

OVERALL INITIATIVE: The City of Chicago should encourage the business community to
collectively organize into a leadership group that will lead efforts to expand investment to help
residents and businesses in neighborhoods on the south and west sides of Chicago.
The philanthropic community successfully organized to lead through the Partnership for Safe
and Peaceful Communities. Our suggestion is that the Lightfoot Administration convene the
business community to encourage a similar path to progress.
Expanded investment includes hiring, supply chain and supplier diversity opportunities,
business education and mentorship programs, as well as internships for residents of the south
and west sides.
The AT&T Believe Chicago℠ initiative is one model of how a corporation can utilize a broad
array of assets to provide support for residents and businesses in underserved neighborhoods.
Believe Chicago℠ is an AT&T employee initiative designed to improve lives and lift 19 Chicago
neighborhoods most affected by gun violence and high unemployment. Through Believe
Chicago℠, AT&T is working to help residents of these neighborhoods find the opportunity they
deserve to succeed in education, careers, and life.

 As additional corporations expand their support into the neighborhoods, the Believe Chicago℠
model can become a force multiplier. The residents and businesses of these neighborhoods
will benefit from multiple companies focusing diverse assets to help improve lives and
opportunities – from hiring to supplier spending to philanthropy and volunteerism.
The early Believe Chicago℠ results are encouraging.
AT&T is working on dozens of Believe Chicago℠ initiatives to support the 19 neighborhoods,
but the most quantifiable results since early 2018 are as follows:
•

Hired 500 new AT&T employees from the 19 neighborhoods

•
•

Opened a new AT&T retail store in the Englewood neighborhood
Developed the online job skills learning platform, called “AT&T Learn,” available at

•

•
•

BelieveChicago.com.
Contributed $4 million to more than 100 organizations working in the 19 neighborhoods
to help residents with workforce training, support for workforce re-entry, mental
health, after school programs, anti-violence training and more.
Volunteered at more than 60 events with more than 800 AT&T volunteers to support
efforts in the neighborhoods.
Worked to change the narrative about Chicago by telling the good news of people
helping others through advertising and the “Beacons of Hope: Stories of Strength from
Chicago” documentary by AUDIENCE Network.

To support the work of the Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development Committee,
the Believe Chicago℠ model could support key goals identified in Mayor-Elect Lightfoot’s, “A
Plan to Invest in Our Neighborhoods and Small Businesses.”
Localize Supply Chains through Community Partnerships
The AT&T Prime Supplier Program connects dedicated AT&T supplier diversity managers with
our Prime Suppliers to help proliferate diverse businesses into our supply chain. They work
together to set meaningful goals for utilization of diverse suppliers as subcontractors, and to
encourage development of innovative solutions for improving and tracking diversity results.
AT&T is working in the neighborhoods to identify potential supply chain opportunities for
diverse suppliers through our Prime Supplier Program.
•

Lightfoot Administration Opportunity: The City of Chicago should convene meetings
where large companies in Chicago can identify potential supply chain vendors,
subcontractors and other opportunities.
2

 Expand Opportunities for Minority, Disabled, Veteran, and Women-owned Businesses,
Small Businesses and Returning Citizens
DIVERSE SUPPLIERS:

AT&T recently expanded our diversity supplier program with a

commitment to increase our spend with black suppliers to $3 billion across the U.S. by 2020.
The commitment is inspired by community-driven initiatives, such as Believe Chicago℠, to help
push economic growth and innovation. AT&T is planning to hold a supplier diversity event to
support businesses in the neighborhoods with the goal of increasing our spend with local
diverse suppliers from the 19 neighborhoods.
•

Lightfoot Administration Opportunity: The City of Chicago should encourage supplier
diversity opportunities by hosting matchmaker events for vendors in south and west
side Chicago neighborhoods. In addition, the City should host its own supplier diversity
event for businesses in the neighborhoods.

HIRING: AT&T is working to hire qualified residents of the 19 neighborhoods. Since 2018, AT&T
hired more than 500 residents of these neighborhoods into good-paying, organized labor jobs
at AT&T. We continue to hold hiring events in the neighborhoods and we are working with
organizations that help residents of the neighborhoods find gainful employment. The next
AT&T hiring event in the neighborhoods is scheduled for Summer 2019.
•

Lightfoot Administration Opportunity: The City of Chicago should encourage
companies to hold hiring events in the south and west side neighborhoods, and to work
with organizations helping residents find jobs. In addition, the City should host a hiring
fair for residents of the neighborhoods on the south and west sides.

Offer Small Businesses Planning Advice and Technical Support
AT&T established an education and mentoring program in 2011 to help diverse businesses. The
program uses three pillars for success: education, mentoring and presentation. Since its
inception, 87 diverse students have graduated from the program.
•

Lightfoot Administration Opportunity: The City of Chicago should identify diverse small
businesses from the Believe Chicago℠ neighborhoods to consider for education and
mentorship support opportunities.

3

 Grow Professional Programs
AT&T supports internship programs to further opportunities for young people from south and
west side neighborhoods. Our company currently achieves this through Year Up Chicago,
Christ the King Corporate Work Study Program, and One Summer Chicago.
•

Lightfoot Administration Opportunity: The City of Chicago should convene Chicago
companies to events and discussions providing visibility to internship programs that
provide empowering opportunity to students from the south and west side
neighborhoods.

In “A Plan to Invest in Our Neighborhoods and Small Businesses,” you outlined a commitment
to “bring meaningful, sustained investments to long-neglected neighborhoods and
populations.” We stand ready to work with the Lightfoot Administration and other businesses
in Chicago to help achieve that goal.
Thank you for the invitation to offer this submission.

4

 Name: Rev. Ira Acree
Transition Team: Business, Economics, & Neighborhood Development
Prompt:
According to a recent Rush University study, West Garfield Park has the lowest life expectancy
in the city of Chicago. Due to decades of neglect, high unemployment, failing schools and
persistent gun violence, the community tragically ranks first in “potential life loss,” a metric for
premature death. In 2017, New Mount Pilgrim church, the largest congregation and community
stakeholder in West Garfield, partnered with Chicago CRED to create the MAAFA Redemption
Project—a faith-based residential institute for high-risk young men ages 18-30. The Project
invests in these young men with employment, housing, industrial training in the construction
trades, mental healthcare and other wrap-around social services. Even more, the Project
participants work as apprentices under experienced local general contractors to rehab abandoned
homes on the Westside.
Apart from being recognized by NBC’s Leftfield, The Today Show, and Chicago Magazine, the
MAAFA Redemption Project will be featured in a 2020 documentary film highlighting the plight
of West Garfield and the promise of New Mount Pilgrim’s neighborhood redevelopment plan.
This memo advocates for the scaling of the aforementioned Project to accommodate more
high risk young men in East Garfield Park and the Austin neighborhood. Currently, New
Mount Pilgrim serves twenty young men in West Garfield. Scaling the MAAFA Redemption
Project would entail New Mount Pilgrim partnering with New Landmark church in East

1

 Garfield, and Greater St. John in Austin—adding at least forty young men (twenty for each site
per annual program cycle).
As well-respected African American churches on the Westside, these three faith organizations
have already begun pooling public and private dollars and support for this effort. Arne Duncan of
Chicago CRED, and Laurene Powell Jobs of the Emerson Collective are current partners, and we
are asking Mayor-elect Lightfoot to lend her support as well. We ask that Mayor Lightfoot
convene other public and private networks and resources to aid our proposal. Other partners
include Rush University Medical center and West Side United, the Cook County Land bank, and
Chicago Bulls Charities. Ultimately, our goal is to demonstrate what could happen when the
faith-based community comes together to advance a comprehensive business and neighborhood
development plan. As many are aware, historically African American churches have always been
multi-purposed institutions; meeting the social, political, economic and spiritual needs of its
parishioners. This memo, and the plan it entails, seeks to do just that. With the support of Mayor
Lightfoot’s administration, the Westside of Chicago will undergo organic economic
redevelopment while ensuring the public safety of all Chicagoans. 


Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Ira J. Acree
Senior Pastor Greater St. John Bible Church
1256 N Waller Ave.
Chicago, IL 60651

2

 TO: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
FROM: Jack J. Crowe, Executive Director, Year Up Chicago
DATE: April 15, 2019
RE: Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development Transition Memo
Introduction
There is a talent crisis in Chicago. Across the city, 50,000 young adults 18 to 24 years old - who
are out of school and out of livable wage work - are unable to find a path to self-sufficiency or a
family-sustaining wage. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of jobs will go unfilled over
the next decade because employers cannot find the skilled talent they need for the 21st century
economy. This paradox is the result of a market failure: our city’s education and training
systems are out of touch with employers’ needs and out of reach for young adults. Correcting
this failure is a moral imperative and economic necessity.
Meanwhile, Chicago has one strong and growing asset: the dramatically increasing number of
new tech jobs, whether in programming, cybersecurity, med-tech, fin-tech, or data analytics.
Google, Facebook and Salesforce have all announced that they are adding 1000 new tech jobs
each in Chicago, and companies in every industry have trouble filling tech roles. Now, imagine
that we train at scale young adults from our neighborhoods to meet that growing demand,
provide the transitional social services supports and mentoring they need, place them in
professional internships and jobs. In the process, we will make Chicago the diversity-tech
capital of the United States, all while injecting hundreds of millions of dollars of earned income
from these young adults into Chicago’s most challenged neighborhoods.
Investing in Opportunity Youth is critical to Chicago’s economic success and for ensuring
Chicago meets future workforce demands. With government initiatives and private sector
innovation, Mayor Lightfoot’s administration can change the laws, policies, and economic
drivers that prop up our city’s education and workforce systems.
Initiative
With Mayor Lightfoot’s leadership, Chicago has an opportunity to change the perceptions,
practices, and policies that perpetuate inequality of opportunity. We must engage citizens,
businesses, academic institutions, non-profits, and city and state government to transform
pathways to post-secondary schooling and careers. Success will be marked by changing the way
talent is viewed, changing outdated hiring and training practices, and advancing policies that
create on-ramps for Opportunity Youth to enter the labor market with skills that have currency.
The best approach is through a new Diversity Tech Initiative in Chicago. By working with the
Lightfoot administration, tech companies that have made hiring commitments to the city would
be connected at scale to proven and effective training providers that help train a diverse talent
pipeline for entry-level middle skill jobs. Doing this will not be easy and will require change
work at the City Colleges of Chicago, other local colleges and universities, workforce
organizations, for profit boot camps and placement firms, and supporting social service agencies.

1

 Lightfoot Administration Values
Chicago’s Diversity Tech Initiative will seek to address those values by ensuring that this work
is equitable, transparent, accountable, inclusive, diverse, and transformative, consistent with the
Lightfoot administration’s core values.
Equitable. A Diversity Tech Initiative will be tailored to meet citizens where they are by creating
a support infrastructure for Opportunity Youth as they rise to entry-level tech jobs.
Transparent. A Diversity Tech Initiative will operate openly to ensure that the public understands
how resources are being used to improve our city’s economy.
Accountable. A Diversity Tech Initiative will be overseen by a newly-formed Commission on
Talent and Opportunity made up of corporate leaders and workforce organizations to ensure that
work is done with accountability and to strengthen the public trust in the initiative.
Diverse and Inclusive. A Diversity Tech Initiative will seek to engage populations of color that
are often excluded from the economic mainstream and mobilize talent in tech to mentor new
workers through a scalable Chicagoland-wide mentoring platform.
Transformative. A Diversity Tech Initiative has the potential to transform how Chicago’s young
citizens, particularly those without a bachelor’s degree, acquire relevant skills and how
employers approach talent recruitment and hiring.
Advancing the Initiative
In order for a Chicago Diversity Tech Initiative to be successful, it should adhere to a set of
policy principles that align systems with employer demand, facilitate cross-sector collaboration,
focus on outcomes and results, and secure opportunity for all youth. These principles can be
measured by determining what changes should happen in the first 100 days of your
administration, and what should be planned for longer-term implementation.
Align Systems to Employer Demand. Chicago must work to ensure that the city’s education and
workforce systems are aligned with employer demand. Seamless alignment with skills demanded
in the labor market will ensure that the city’s education and workforce systems are preparing
Opportunity Youth for gainful employment. To more effectively align systems, consider:
First 100 Days: Advancing a tuition-free community college initiative.
Longer-Term: Integrating more innovative and effective professional skills platforms into the
city’s colleges to provide the 80,000 young adults it enrolls with the professional skills
employers need. For example, all Year Up interns, regardless of job title, work with data
analytics, and yet training in tools such as Excel is not ubiquitous in high school or college.
Address Challenges: Limited connection between training programs and employer demand.
Facilitate Cross-Sector Collaboration. Traditional siloed approaches to workforce development
limit the ability of Opportunity Youth to have successful labor market and life outcomes. When
actors in the public, private, and non-profit spaces work together and collaborate, Opportunity
Youth are more likely to attain a W2 that grows over time. To ensure this alignment, consider:
First 100 Days: Creating a citywide task force responsible for understanding Chicago’s talent
marketplace and providing recommendations to the Mayor on how to more effectively connect
employers with Opportunity Youth.
Longer-Term: Launching a citywide campaign aimed at shifting employer perceptions of
Opportunity Youth and changing hiring practices. We will leverage online training and
2

 assessment tools used by industry. We will work with City Colleges to create market-relevant
cyber, data analytics and programming academies including professional skill training and
internships.
Address Challenges: Diverse young adults are not seen as a source of talent by Chicago’s
employers.
Focus on Outcomes and Results. We do not often view compliance as a measure of success in
our education and workforce systems. Workforce development systems must share
responsibility for labor market outcomes by adopting goals and adapting the use of public
resources to improve outcomes that matter for Opportunity Youth. To facilitate, consider:
First 100 Days: Improving procurement processes to ensure that training providers are only
awarded public funding for producing positive labor market outcomes for Opportunity Youth.
Longer-Term: Providing new talent acquisition incentives and technical assistance for
employers to rethink how to source and recruit diverse talent.
Address Challenges: Education and workforce systems are compliance-driven.
Secure Opportunity for All Youth. Our city is richly diverse, and all communities need access to
meaningful employment opportunities. We must remove barriers to employment to ensure that
employers are not missing out on talented applicants and that we are not marginalizing young
adults who are assets to our workforce and communities. To achieve this, consider:
First 100 Days: Removing as many barriers to employment for system-involved youth as
possible, including expediting criminal expungement proceedings administratively and limiting
the use of credit checks as employee screens.
Longer-Term: Creating an eco-system of social support organizations focused on serving rising
Opportunity Youth who are accessing new jobs; creating a Cabinet-level position tasked with
expanding economic opportunities, including internships, for Opportunity Youth across the city.
Address Challenges: Too many labor market barriers lead to skill stagnation.
Conclusion
The City of Chicago has an opportunity to work with some of our country’s leading companies
and catapult more Opportunity Youth from minimum wage jobs into meaningful careers. A
Diversity Tech Initiative that convenes tech companies to advance a set of diverse training and
hiring practices would provide economic dignity to Opportunity Youth, correct the mismatches
that exist in the youth labor market, and remake the broken talent marketplace in our city.

3

 TO: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
FROM: Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
The Chicagoland Chamber represents the depth and breadth of the business community in Chicago. From Fortune
100 to small businesses and entrepreneurs, the Chamber provides invaluable resources and services to our
members to ensure they continue to grow and thrive. Our members, big and small, make substantial
contributions to the City and its residents to ensure Chicago remains a vibrant place to live and work.
This document is non-comprehensive.
Small Business Support Initiatives:
•
•

•

Supplier Diversity (MBE/WBE/BEPD1): create a task force to focus on expanding certification of and
contracting opportunities for MBE/WBE/BEPD’s. Conduct pro-active outreach to potential qualifying
businesses and then guide them through the qualification and application process.
Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF):
o review how to responsibly provide the grants upfront to the small business, or at least a larger
percentage of the funds. Often, the small business may not have the capital to front the money
required by the current reimbursement model being used;
o utilize funds for helping small businesses leverage access to capital with CDFI’s and banks;
o support local infrastructure for transit and broadband to connect neighborhoods virtually and
physically;
o Support attraction of neighborhood anchors like healthcare institutions, non-profits, and small
businesses.
Permits/Licenses: create a task force to thoughtfully review and recommend specific permits/licenses
that could be streamlined for more efficient application that does not involve passing an ordinance, and
ultimately an auto-renewal process involving a “one-page” application provided to all appropriate
departments for review, while balancing the need for some aldermanic review.

Talent Initiatives:
There is significant interest from middle market companies to engage the apprenticeship model, but a lack of
resources to manage their own program led the Chamber to launch a Middle Market Apprenticeship Program to
meet this need and encourage the hiring of such apprentices. Recommendations include:
• Continue to invest in expanding work-based learning opportunities for City Colleges students2, both for
internships and apprenticeships. Revamp and modernize curriculum and awarding of course credit,
prioritize alignment with industry needs in key sectors (healthcare, IT/engineering/tech,
financial/professional services, and hospitality);
• Find resources for more incumbent worker training and on-the-job training. Evaluate, prioritize and find
opportunities through federal job training resources;
1
2

Business Enterprise own by People with Disabilities.
Support the Star Scholarship program.

 •

We recommend leveraging skills matching tools and technology, like the Chicago Opportunity Exchange,
to increase access to job opportunities for students and job seekers in the Chicago area through building
better connections and reducing hiring bias, especially for women, people of color, and people with
disabilities3.

Neighborhood Revitalization:
Challenge companies to support neighborhoods and provide resources both in funding and volunteering, through
work with local community organizations to revitalize neighborhoods and schools. Some companies are likely
already doing this type of work, so it would be valuable to “audit” where investments are being made and where
community gaps may be. For example, programs like AT&T’s Believe Chicago and Comcast’s to Careers Program
are the types of investment companies should be making in Chicago and its neighborhoods.
Mass Transit & Mobility:
Continue to leverage transit TIFs to leverage any potential federal dollars and build new mass transit
infrastructure to support communities especially on the South and West sides, ultimately working toward transitoriented development and support and growth of local businesses.
Fight for a capital bill in Springfield that prioritizes sustainable mass transit funding and calls for 30% of all new
transportation funding to be for mass transit infrastructure. This will help revitalize and connect our
neighborhoods and attract new anchor institutions to our communities. Mobility means opportunity.
Tourism:
Do a review of the tourism funding – both city and state- to increase marketing the cultural assets and increase
neighborhood visits. Meet with the State Tourism Office to get a tutorial on how the tax works and explore other
grant programs the City can leverage to extend their funding (grants are back). There is information on each
neighborhood and at one time the city provided weekend tours to those assets – review of DCASEs research
would unearth valuable information.
Conclusion: The Chicagoland Chamber looks forward to working with the Mayor-Elect on supporting her efforts
and continuing to build on our own efforts to expand economic growth and opportunity beyond the commercial
business district and into the neighborhoods, as it has for years through its SBDC and Small Business Chicago
initiative. In addition, the importance of equity, inclusion, and transparency for every Chicagoan in every
neighborhoods are values the Chamber has shared as an organization through our own member supported
diversity and inclusion initiatives, as well as providing greater economic opportunity through our incumbent
worker training efforts. We look forward to supporting your efforts and working in a substantive and thoughtful
way to support a Chicago that works for everyone.

3

Support and review the Mayoral Task Force on Employment & Economic Opportunity for People with Disabilities report filed
in February of 2019.

 DATE: April 15, 2019
TO: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
FROM: Julian Posada, COO of TRP and President of LiftUp Enterprises
SUBJECT: Recommendation to create the Office of Neighborhood Development (OND)
I am honored to be part of the Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development Transition
Committee. I applaud the new Administration’s commitment to the Core Values of equity, transparency,
accountability, diversity and inclusion as a means to ensure that all neighborhoods benefit from economic
growth. Rather than offering an initiative that supports one of the Administration’s economic growth
objectives; in this memo I offer instead an initiative to promote the infusion of the Core Values into all of
the Administration’s activities.
Proposed Initiative
I propose that the Administration take the bold step of creating a new Office of Neighborhood
Development (OND) to serve as a centralized source of information, guidance and support for small
business and neighborhood development activities.
The Administration’s commitment to Core Values will be difficult to translate into real progress in the
absence of structural change in City government. Many residents do not believe that City government
acts in their favor. They view large-scale projects and programs as primarily benefitting big business and
the wealthy rather than the city at large. The City currently lacks a process by which such projects and
programs can be properly vetted in a timely manner for their adherence to the Core Values. A core
function of the OND would be to ensure that the Core Values are infused into all such activities in a
disciplined and coherent way.
The OND would serve developers, change agents, community-based organizations and small businesses
which need City Hall to move their ideas into reality. Its purpose would be to provide the guidance,
counsel and oversight needed to move projects and initiatives forward in a fair and equitable manner. It
would need to be linked to the highest level of local government, such as reporting to a Deputy Mayor,
and utilize both incentives and disincentives in order to move forward meaningful initiatives.
A primary role of the OND would be to bring together, in each neighborhood, a diverse group of
organizations and residents to identify priorities such as better education, housing, job choices, safer
streets and new economic opportunities. Existing models such as LISC Chicago’s Quality-of-Life
Planning can be leveraged, as well as the work of CCA. Proposed projects and initiatives can then be
evaluated by the OND on the basis of their alignment with the identified priorities of one or more
neighborhoods.
The OND would also establish and manage a digital platform featuring in one location all initiatives and
opportunities which are available to small businesses and neighborhood organizations. The platform
would serve as a clearinghouse for opportunities and a training resource.
OND sign-off would also be required for certain large-scale projects (to be defined by reference to
economic support sought, zoning requirements and/or other measures to be determined). OND’s role
would be to evaluate such projects for adherence to the Core Values. In connection with its evaluation,
OND would apply a framework/assessment tool that is transparent and promotes understanding of the
benefits of Core Values.
The OND staff would employ project management processes in order to drive projects and initiatives to
completion in a way that is efficient, addresses neighborhood priorities, and promotes transparency and
the other Core Values. Staff would be assisted by volunteers from the business and philanthropic

 community.
Many other cities are ahead of Chicago in placing racial and other equity frameworks into city
government. They can be used as reference models when developing the OND’s mission, structure and
activities. Ultimately the OND could take the lead in developing policy recommendations to present to
the Mayor and City Hall.
The Next 100 Days and Longer-Term
In the next 100 days the Administration should develop and prove out the OND structure by championing
a few projects which have the potential of benefiting from a racial equity assessment tool. Focusing on a
few projects provides an opportunity to learn and to socialize the concept of using structure and process to
infuse Core Values into all of the City’s investments, wherever they are located. The goal in the first 100
days would be to develop processes for the OND to provide the necessary project support and to ensure
alignment of the projects with neighborhood priorities and the Core Values. After proving out the concept
with a few small wins, the OND model could be more fully fleshed out and implemented over the longterm.
Challenges
There are a number of challenges which might stand in the way of the establishment and/or success of the
OND. Some may view the OND as just one more layer of bureaucracy. To combat this criticism the
Administration should stand firm on the need for a bold, and stable structural change in order to promote
Core Values, while at the same time staffing the OND leanly and leveraging volunteer resources from the
business and philanthropic community to the greatest extent possible.
Some within and outside the Administration may ignore or fail to respect the mission of the OND. By
requiring the OND’s sign-off for certain large-scale projects (to be defined), the Administration will
ensure that the OND is in a position to fulfill its mandate.
I believe that a structural change of this nature could dramatically further the City’s progress with issues
of diversity, inclusion and equity and lead to greater accountability and transparency. The OND can play
a significant role in building City-wide financial strength, uniting neighborhoods, and restoring
confidence in City government.

 April 15, 2019
Name:

Joel Simon, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)

Transition Committee: Business, Economic and Neighborhood Development
Objective:

Ensure that all individuals have opportunities to participate ion the region’s
economic vitality

Potential Initiative:
Utilize the economic development process to prioritize and incentivize hiring from low income and
minority communities; directing resources to support community engagement, workforce recruitment,
skills development, and support for local hiring.


What’s happening today that we need to keep

A number of firms in Chicago have made a deep commitment to addressing diversity priorities and
attracting and developing local talent. Several large companies are sourcing talent via education and
community organizations that access diverse participants and serve participants from Chicago’s diverse
neighborhoods. Employers within key industry sectors have also organized in order to create shared
mechanisms for more consistent and inclusive messaging to communities, and more coherent practices
among the employers.
Chicago has a network of organizations who can recruit individuals for job opportunities and who can
provide or enable the services needed – job readiness, job training, etc. Those organizations often lack
access to the hiring agents and lack information about anticipated skills needs and the realities of
employment in those sectors and at those firms. Too often, they are called upon to deliver candidates
in too short a time, so all are disappointed when the applicants are not ready and are not as competitive
for those opportunities that the development creates.


Values. Such an initiative will:

Increase the flow of diverse candidates into emerging opportunities and better position them for
employment and career paths.
Hold the development process accountable to the broader community by including a wider range of
people in development and its benefits.
Transform how marginalized communities are positioned to engage in economic activity.


To Advance this initiative in the next 100 days, the new administration can:

Inventory impending development activity and assess/determine expected hiring activity. Identify a
small number (2-3) of development projects and aligned community and workforce development
organizations with which to pilot such an initiative.
Create language to include in development agreements that (1) memorializes the objective of
maximizing local hiring, (2) requires information exchange and collaboration between developers,
employers, and community/workforce development agencies that enables (3) creation of a sourcing,
preparation and hiring plan as a part of the broader development plan.

 Amplify the work of the Chicago Regional Apprenticeship Network and actively engage new business
partners – with an emphasis on small and medium sized firms and convene a task force to design an
apprenticeship initiative for smaller firms, while providing intermediary supports for human resource
functions that smaller firms may not have the capacity to provide themselves.
Map training and engagement resources available (CBOs, City Colleges, others) that can be activated to
support key sectors (IT, manufacturing, business services, hospitality, etc) and associated development
activity.
Align with the work of the Education Committee, to ensure that education institutions (particularly
career and technical high school programs and appropriate City College of Chicago programs) are part of
the recruitment and training apparatus.


Longer term, the administration can:

Enhance the engagement and training network so we can respond to employer needs more quickly and
in a way that increases program quality and confidence among employers.
Build infrastructure for the Chicago Apprenticeship Network, including third-party intermediary
assistance to small and medium-sized businesses who do not have HR infrastructure that can adequately
support their own apprenticeship program.
Continue to utilize business networks to encourage leaders to adopt local hiring initiatives and utilize
partners that can best access and engage individuals in Chicago’s low income and minority
neighborhoods.
Apply this concept to specific development types such as Opportunity Zones, TIFs.
Continue to invest in and amplify Anchor Institutions’ local hiring efforts.
Continue to refine policy to properly balance incentives and requirements.
Align as appropriate with other transition committees, including Education (to align to
technical/industry programming at CPS and CCC), Arts and Culture (to tap into the economic/jobs
generation of the Arts and Culture community).

Key Challenges







Employers and developers may resist anything that appears to be a new regulation.
Local residents may not have the requisite skills or credentials needed to be competitive for the
jobs. Development schedules and budgets may not allow proper time or resources needed to
fill skills gaps.
The City does not directly control the training agencies. Coordination among multiple interests
and natural competition between recruitment and training entities will need to be managed.
Some of the information necessary to design successful initiatives may not be available in a
timeframe that allows for strong programming.
Development projects’ timeframes and overall plans can and do change. Managing community
expectations and sourcing/training initiatives amidst these kinds of changes will be a challenge.

 TO:

Business, Economic and Neighborhood Development Transition Committee

FROM: Lyneir Richardson
DATE:

April 15, 2019

RE:

Next Economy Neighborhood Entrepreneurship and Economic
Development Commission

I am honored to join the BEND Transition Committee and look forward to working with its members to
inform the Mayor-elect’s strategy for inclusive economic growth.
The Mayor-elect has rightly recognized the importance of creating an agenda to ensure that all Chicago
neighborhoods and residents, particularly those that have been historically overlooked and undervalued,
participate in and benefit from the city’s economic growth. This memo outlines several elements that I
believe should be included as part of an integrated approach to driving inclusive economic growth, and
it recommends the formation of a commission that will focus on Next Economy Neighborhood
Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (NEED).
What is happening today that we need to keep?
On a macro-level, existing cluster-based strategies that align the city’s economic growth initiatives,
programs, policies and incentives should be continued. There have been a wide range of city activities from small business development procurement and certification services, entrepreneurial capacity
building, financial support and workforce development assistance to planning, zoning, permitting and
licensing improvements - that have resulted in visible and measurable economic development. It is my
hope that the Mayor-elect will be a champion of these activities which, when strategically aligned and
mutually-reinforcing, will generate much greater impact than a fragmented array of siloed activities or
one-off program announcements.
On a micro-level, the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund program should be kept (and improved) because
it has demonstrated the potential to be a potent “cluster based” inclusive economic growth tool. With
some revision to the existing rules, this program could be substantially improved and leveraged to
strengthen existing neighborhood-based small businesses, catalyze new development projects and create
more jobs – particularly benefiting African American and Latino residents of the city.
What needs to be implemented immediately?
I am recommending the formation of the Next Economy Neighborhood Entrepreneurship and Economic
Development (NEED) Commission. Its mission would be to create business attraction and retention
initiatives, growth strategies and incentive programs, specifically to assist African American and Latino
entrepreneurs and neighborhoods that have higher unemployment, poverty rates and crime levels. The
NEED Commission could be charged to (a) study and launch cutting-edge inclusive
1

 growth projects to enable African American and Latino entrepreneurs to lead and drive neighborhood
commercial development projects (rather than just participate in them), (b) refine existing and create
new cluster-based strategy tools (i.e. fix the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, get philanthropy to
support the hiring of a Chicago Opportunity Zone Chief, etc.), (c) advocate for the strategic relocation
of more corporate and government office jobs to commercial corridors in targeted neighborhoods, (d)
create neighborhood hubs for tech and tech-enabled start-ups, and (e) support efforts to get needed retail
services and amenities to neighborhoods. In my work as CEO of Chicago TREND, Assistant Professor
at Rutgers Business School, and board member of the International Economic Development Council and
the New Growth Innovation Network, I have participated in crafting various versions of the following
ideas that could be more fully explored by the NEED Commission:
Expanding Inclusive Ownership of High-Growth Companies. Most minority business development
programs focus on helping new entrepreneurs and small start-ups, and often place people of color in
low-growth businesses or legacy industries. The NEED Commission could aim to help high-capacity
business professionals of color to own, lead and scale up high-growth companies. The success of more
fast-growing, African American and Latino-led companies will generate greater business and
employment opportunities for other people of color and neighborhoods, as well as increase innovation
and success in the Chicago economy overall. Components of the work could include: (a) procurement
commitments from public and private sources for large dollar contracting with African American and
Latino-owned professional service firms, (b) sophisticated targeting of potential high-growth firms in
growth industries for acquisition by African American or Latino entrepreneurs, and (c) engagement of
experienced African American and Latino business owners (i.e. the Business Leadership Council
member firms) to mentor and invest in smaller neighborhood entrepreneurs of color (directly tying
NEED Commission support of African American and Latino contracting success and new business
opportunity to community development responsibility).
Inclusive Land Development. A combination of emerging market dynamics, residential preferences and
the federal Opportunity Zone law is making vacant and underutilized urban commercial and industrial
land increasingly attractive for development. The NEED Commission could seek to create strategies to
foster investment in projects that will generate wealth for disconnected African American and Latino
residents and firms in the neighborhoods surrounding these “newly” valuable sites. The NEED
Commission could: (a) identify, assess and prioritize vacant and underutilized commercial and industrial
land assets in targeted neighborhoods, (b) establish business development, workforce development and
other programming to build capacity in African American and Latino workers, entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations, and (c) develop financial tools that facilitate African American and Latino
leadership ownership of real estate in appreciating areas.
Inclusive Neighborhood Economic Development. Neighborhoods succeed or fail in the context of how
their people, firms, real estate and other assets connect to regional markets. The NEED Commission
could oversee neighborhood growth planning that is (a) future-focused, rigorous and market-based, and
(b) grounded in the surrounding regional economic context. The NEED Commission could help to create
more neighborhoods of opportunity (connecting their assets to larger markets, driving regional growth)
as well as neighborhoods of choice (developing packages of amenities attractive to different segments
of the regional population).
I look forward to the next BEND Transition Committee meeting.
2

 MEMORANDUM
TO:

Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development Committee

FROM:

Leon I. Walker, Esq., Managing Partner, DL3 Realty L.P.

DATE:

April 15, 2019

RE:

City of Chicago Opportunity Zone Challenge

Firm Background
DL3 Realty is a commercial real estate development company that approaches projects through the lens
of Venture Development – a modern, sustainable economic development strategy that creates positive,
holistic change in urban neighborhoods while earning competitive risk-adjusted financial returns. We invest
in real estate projects that help improve and sustain neighborhood life in Chicago’s urban communities, and
we continually seek to engage like-minded partners who recognize that investing in urban neighborhoods
can be financially rewarding in the long run, while providing attractive social impact returns in the short run.
Our projects are more than just bricks and mortar. We pursue impact investments that provide an economic
stimulus and improve quality of life for local residents.
Chicago Opportunity Zone Challenge
This memo introduces the concept of a City of Chicago Opportunity Zone Challenge—a new
initiative from Mayor Elect Lori Lightfoot that encourages private equity investors to participate in
projects that will revitalize the south and west sides of Chicago.
Opportunity Zone Legislation
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 introduced a new incentive—centered around the deferral,
reduction and elimination of capital gains taxes—to spur long-term private equity investments in
predominately low-income and underserved areas designated as “Opportunity Zones.” The legislation
allows investors with capital gains tax liabilities to receive favorable tax treatment for making long-term
investments in Opportunity Zones. The Opportunity Zone program has the potential to attract billions of
dollars in unrealized capital gains, and could serve as one of the largest economic development initiatives
in U.S. history. Of the approximately 8,700 census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones in the U.S.,
135 are located in Chicago, which is a majority of Cook County’s 181 designated Opportunity Zones.
According to the Urban Institute’s How Chicago and Cook County Can Leverage Opportunity Zones for
Community Benefit, only a small subset of Cook County’s designated tracts have fueled skepticism and
concerns over gentrification and displacement risk, while more than 95 percent of the designated zones
do not show signs of gentrification (Meixell & Theodos, 2019).
Initiative
Federal legislation was intentional in encouraging investment within the next three years, which will
coincide nicely with Mayor Elect Lightfoot’s first term—provided there is an urgent call to action matched
by a comprehensive set of local incentives designed to supercharge the potential returns for pursuing
projects in communities starved for investment. The vast majority of Chicago’s Opportunity Zones are
located in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods that are in need of transformative investments. By
focusing a full range of services and resources on projects in Chicago’s Opportunity Zones, we can lift
communities out of economic stagnation and put them on track to become an emerging, expanding and
eventually mature community. However, it is also important to ensure these efforts result in revitalization
and not gentrification, which to be successful, requires engagement of existing residents and legacy
businesses in revitalization efforts. While investors and communities are still navigating what the new
Opportunity Zone program means for them, now is the time for local government to engage their incentive
and risk mitigation toolkits to further encourage investment in our city’s underserved communities.

77 West Washington Street, Suite 405 ● Chicago, IL 60602 ● T: (773) 721-3400
www.dl3realty.com/venturedevelopment
Page 1 of 2

 Existing City of Chicago Initiatives
1. Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF) is a promising grant program designed to promote
investment and business creation on the south and west sides of Chicago.
2. Retail Thrive Zones provide economic development incentives for small businesses/entrepreneurs.
3. Adopt-a-Landmark provides funding for the restoration of Chicago’s Landmarks.
4. Tax Increment Financing (TIF), while often derided when used to support projects in affluent
neighborhoods, is an important policy tool for stimulating growth in areas lacking investment.
5. Property tax incentives such as Classes 6 & 7 encourage investments in underserved communities.
Short-Term Implementation Plan (100 days)
1. Establish a new grant competition where finalist receive cash awards for third-party predevelopment support (e.g., Phase I work, architectural design, market studies, and appraisals) up
to $250,000 per Opportunity Zone project, similar to the Industrial Growth Zones initiative.
2. Streamline building permit process and eliminate permit fees for Opportunity Zone projects, similar
to Green Permit Program.
3. Direct majority of NOF awards (e.g., 80%) to support businesses/projects located in Opportunity
Zones.
4. Offset on-site mandates in the Affordable Requirements Ordinance by encouraging developers to
build quality, affordable workforce housing (e.g., 80% to 120% of AMI) in Opportunity Zones.
5. Prioritize Chicago Development Fund new market tax credit allocations to Opportunity Zone
investments.
6. Coordinate philanthropic grants to cover costs of compliance with sustainability initiatives and
provide free technical support, similar to Net Zero program. If necessary, exempt high-impact
Opportunity Zone projects from compliance with the sustainability matrix.
Long-Term Implementation Plan
1. Create an Opportunity Zone and Neighborhood Revitalization Council made up of local leaders and
headed by a new Commissioner of Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development. The
main focus of this Council will be to:
a. Provide guidance and rule-making authority over Opportunity Zone programs;
b. Assist Opportunity Zone businesses in accessing resources and financial incentives; and
c. Establish metrics and annual reporting to track Opportunity Zone activity.
2. Modify TIF program to re-allocate and “port” TIF funds to Chicago’s Opportunity Zones.
3. Organize philanthropy to support a “first-loss” pool of capital that can provide credit enhancement
on leases, and/or a project reserve to improve lender underwriting of Opportunity Zone projects.
4. Assemble tracts of City owned land parcels in Opportunity Zones into bid packages, such that
master land developers can propose large scale developments designed to create new
communities of choice and revitalize historic neighborhoods.
5. Create a new real estate tax incentive class for Opportunity Zone investments, similar to Class 7
and Class 6 incentives.
6. Create a City of Chicago supported online marketplace to connect investors with Opportunity Zone
projects in Chicago, and widely publicize successful matches/projects.
Potential Challenges
1. Resistance to new Commissioner of Business, Neighborhood and Economic Development.
2. Lack of funding available to support and sustain incentives needed to attract investors.
3. Public perception that private investment only leads to gentrification instead of engaged
revitalization.
Conclusion
We believe that success builds on success. As economic development activity picks up in Chicago’s
Opportunity Zones, private equity investors will take notice and begin directing resources into historically
disinvested neighborhoods. We look to the new administration to prioritize both existing and new
economic incentives in Chicago’s Opportunity Zones in order to create a ripple effect throughout the
surrounding neighborhoods. The positive development of these areas is necessary to grow the tax base,
and meaningfully address our long-term structural financial deficit.

77 West Washington Street, Suite 405 ● Chicago, IL 60602 ● T: (773) 721-3400
www.dl3realty.com/venturedevelopment
Page 2 of 2

 To:

Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot

From:

Markell Bridges
Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development Transition Committee

Prompt:

Ensure all neighborhoods benefit from growth –
Build a sustainable progression model of economic growth and stability for distressed
and disadvantaged neighborhoods; providing equitable investments that address
immediate needs of today while strategically building for longer-term stabilized
communities.

Equitable investment does not mean equal investment. Distressed or disadvantaged communities require
heightened and focused investment and attention to reach parity across neighborhoods – including schools,
labor infrastructure and opportunities, and safety.
Our city’s issues related to distressed and disadvantaged neighborhoods are multi-prong and have been
decades in the making. The solution needs to be a balanced mix of some immediate investments, shortterm actions, and long-term strategies with a focus on growth and sustainability.
It also will be beneficial to have reliable metrics and clearly defined measures that assess success. These
metrics and measures will serve as a scorecard to show our progression and impact, while holding
stakeholders accountable. The immediate actions could define and implement pilots that enable course
corrections along the way; taken successes and best practices to immediately replicate, expand and adapt to
broader areas for capturing greater more significant wins and impacts.
Here are recommended ways we can address key components of the solution and their explanation:
•
•
•
•
•

Drive new business development and neighborhood revitalization
Develop break-through job training and education programs
Significantly increase focus on Technology, Innovation, and Data Analytics
Invest in programs that drive violence reduction and elimination of gun violence
Grow neighborhood economics without displacing its current residents

Drive new business development and neighborhood revitalization: Continue investing and enhance
programs that enable business development in distressed neighborhoods, such as the Neighborhood
Opportunity Fund. These programs should provide support beyond the financials. They should include
proven start-up strategies that nurture new and small businesses to ensure their greater success.
Within the first 100 days, thoroughly review existing programs and ensure collectively there is a holistic
model for providing full services for new and small businesses in the distressed and disadvantaged
neighborhoods. Identify where gaps exist and provide long-term solutions to close these gaps. Some gaps
include lack of access to capital for investing within these communities; or lack of skills and capabilities
within startups and small business owners to effectively manage across typical business functions.
A possible solution could be to develop an organization that supports the back-office needs of new and
small businesses. This support could be extended to small non-profit organizations that also struggle with
back-office processes and operations.

 It could be structured like a shared services center or business hub that delivers various operational needs,
and/or business functional-area training and guidance to new and small businesses at a practical cost.
Develop break-through job training and education programs: Invest in skills-training programs that
prepare citizens for a broad range of career opportunities including not only traditional jobs, but also focus
on new and emerging job skills.
Identify opportunities in the emerging and growth industries –- establish a non-traditional set of jobs,
positions and services within the communities where jobs are non-existent. Consider labor and labor
opportunities in multiple, new and dynamic ways. Allow participation in various job-types and create
employment that spans multiple industries – manufacturing, construction, analytics, call centers, shared
service centers, technology, etc. Establish non-traditional employment opportunities within the distressed
and disadvantaged communities by skilling up the residents in these communities and partnering with
businesses to invest in establishing work centers and creative employment within these communities.
Address the barriers to success in job training and employment such as the lack of access in mental health
and counseling services – supporting youth and families in navigating through mental health issues, such as
anxiety, depression, and substance abuses. There is a high rate of depression among the un-andunderemployed due to natural stresses with personal, family and community survival.
Include skill training beyond the technical to enhance communication and other soft skills that enable twoway interaction. There is opportunity and accountability for both the employee and employer to
understand cultural and economic differences that lead to sustainable employment.
Significantly increase focus on Technology, Innovation, and Data Analytics as tools to propel efficiencies
and effectiveness and to drive cutting-edge transformational advancements for the city. Successes in
today’s economy is largely driven on significant leveraging of technology and use of data to drive decisions.
Institute a technology, data and innovation center for the city with a purpose to identify how technology
and data can enhance the management of the city, support the residents in new ways and manage and drive
down costs. I believe there exist untapped potential in the leveraging of technology, innovation and data
analytics to transform how we continue to grow the city; and, how we can think differently about the
revitalization of our distressed and disadvantage neighborhoods.
Invest in programs that drive violence reduction and elimination of gun violence: Threats to safety thwart
new business development; and residents who can escape such areas will continue to leave.
This is one of the most significant challenges facing the success of neighborhood revitalization and equity
towards sustainability.
Invest in sustainable mentoring programs that include mentees across age and developmental statuses.
Ensure through effective measures that programs are having a positive impact and are results oriented.
Exponential versus linear scaling – leverage process design, data and technology to identify transformational
methods to scaling successful programs and initiatives without the one-to-one relational increase to cost.
Exponential scaling – moving from a one-to-one model to a one-to-many model of scaling – where
appropriate, enables better coverage for the investment. An example of an exponential model versus linear
model can be identifying how we move from one-on-one mentoring; to one-to-many mentoring, when it is
appropriate.

 Grow neighborhood economics without displacing its current residents. Economic and social development
with gentrification without displacement of residence. There is a need to have a viable mix of racial and
ethnic neighborhoods, including an African American community. Provide incentives to retain, and reclaim,
a multi-class of residents within the African American neighborhoods.
Engage and involve residents who have ownership and are empowered to revitalize their community and
have a strong source of neighborhood pride. This could look-like a focused effort in rebuilding block clubs
but also emerging place-focused interventions using technology and social media. It includes investing in
community centers and supporting neighborhood organizations.

These recommended components of focusing, building and investing in the revitalization of distressed and
disadvantage neighborhoods can drive us to achieve success where all neighborhoods benefits from growth.

 Maria Kim, Committee Co-chair
Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development
P R OP O SE D I NIT IAT IV E

Activate a standard for inclusive employment that certifies and celebrates (a) companies that practice inclusive behaviors
for sourcing, hiring, and advancing talent from our most disinvested communities, and (b) practitioners that provide the
readiness, training and support to present this same talent for consideration.
INT EG R AT I O N OF V AL U ES
E Q U IT Y

Intentional inclusive employment brings equity to Chicago's disinvested
neighborhoods by increasing job opportunities for people of all backgrounds. A
quality job offers pride, purpose, and growth, which for too long, has not been
available to all Chicagoans.

TRANSPARENCY

Companies are interested in diversifying their workforces and improving our
communities, but often do not know how. For employers, this initiative will provide
greater transparency into what inclusive employment looks like along with a
roadmap to achieve it. For Chicagoans, it will provide greater clarity around the true
skills and credentials needed to fill jobs.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Visible certification for employers via a badge will lift up those who embrace
inclusive employment practices, while badging for practitioners gives employers
greater confidence in the standard of care provided to ready talent for inclusion.

DIVERSITY AND
IN C L U S IO N

With intentional hiring from our communities, our workforce will become
increasingly more diverse; and with greater hope through increased employment,
residents who have left the city for lack of opportunity will come back home.

TRANSFORMATION

If the City of Chicago commits to investing in companies that are or want to be
inclusive employers, this administration can set a path-breaking tone for inclusive
employment in Chicago and around the country.

W HAT IS H AP PE N IN G T O D AY T HAT W E SH O U L D K EE P

At present, there is growing momentum among companies to hire diverse, locally sourced talent. Companies like Rush
University Medical Center, Aon, Accenture, and AT&T have developed mechanisms to increase their diversity through West
Side United, The Apprenticeship Network, and Believe Chicago, and Google and Facebook have relaxed their education
requirements for technology-related jobs to reduce employment barriers for those without college degrees.
While these companies have made great strides to revamp their hiring guidelines and publicly support more inclusive
employment practices, these initiatives are a “work in progress” as it relates to reaching our community residents who face
the toughest barriers to employment, at scale. In addition, there are dozens of others who are interested in tapping into the
talents of our communities, but do not have the tools, support, or nudge to get there. Other employers do not see inclusive
employment as a top priority despite proven performance benefits and the social return on investment ($6 created in social
cash value for every $1 invested). For the former, this badging system would provide them with the roadmap and support
to be inclusive, while for the latter, this badge could be a mechanism to elevate their brand.

 W HAT T O I M P LE ME NT IN F I RST 1 0 0 DA Y S

1.

2.

3.

Create the counsel to vet the proposed badging standard for employers. A group of providers under LISC-Chicago’s
One Chicago For All initiative (organizations that represent 1M Chicago residents in our most disinvested
communities) has developed a rubric and roadmap for consideration.
Secure commitment from a trusted third party to drive the evaluation of employers. A trusted entity (e.g. Great Place
to Work, Crain’s Chicago Business, World Business Chicago or Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce) should be enrolled
to proctor the badging process. [No need to do anything yet, just say yes to being the eventual champion of the effort.]
Secure commitment from a trusted third party to drive the evaluation of practitioners. A research institution (e.g.
Poverty Lab) can be employed to interview the practitioners most used by employers who currently exercise
inclusivity. From this assessment, the institution can create a standard of services commonly used by successful
workforce practitioners and apply this standard to badge those practitioners in compliance. If a practitioner carries this
badge, we create immediate scale through which employers may source new talent. [As above, no need to do anything
yet, just say yes to being the eventual champion of the effort.]

Prioritizing this early in the Mayor’s tenure would: (a) demonstrate the administration’s proactive commitment to this issue,
and (b) serve as the basis for subsequent roadmaps and tools to increase inclusive employment. During this time, we also
recommend developing a plan for funding the sourcing and wraparound support community organizations will provide
employers to make this a reality – an incentive for both employers (who benefit) and the providers who could expand their
services to directly serve inclusive employers.
W HAT T O I M P LE ME NT LO N GE R- T ER M

1.
2.

3.

4.
5.

Gain consensus on the tiers of inclusivity and finalize the standard for employers.
Identify early adopters in a few key verticals and apply the standard in a quiet phase. Ascertain the level at which
they’re performing and the toolkits (e.g. how to demystify the various components of a criminal background, how to
identify what besides traditional education can constitute a solid – and sometimes stronger – proxy for a candidate’s
capacity for a job) required to help these employers incrementally advance over time.
Publish toolkits that help show how employers can easily advance in their inclusivity. Activate peer-to-peer
mentorship to help interested employers become inclusive employers. Integrate new insights into next generation
versions of the toolkit for ongoing viability and include case studies on successes and best practices.
Publicly award and affirm companies for their advancement on inclusivity.
Lather, rinse repeat for the standard for practitioners.

CHA LL EN GE S W E MI G HT EN C OU NT E R

This initiative will not be without its challenges. The first will be identifying and coalescing the field around what is
working. Many employers and community organizations are fragmented, so creating a useful body of knowledge on best
practices will require diligence and investigative research. Secondly, it is common for policymakers to come out with a
standard, and not provide implementers with the tools and resources necessary. As a result, it isn’t implemented properly
and the initiative is deemed a failure. Making this initiative a success will not just be about talking the talk, but ensuring
the companies and community organizations have the connections and tools to make it work.
Overall, there is growing momentum to improve inclusive employment across our city. It is desired by individuals who want
to work, companies who want to be more connected to their communities, and the City who wants to see greater economic
inclusion. While there is a will, we currently don’t have a way. A badging system will provide just that, and ensure that
people from all Chicago neighborhoods participate in and benefit from Chicago’s prosperity.

 To:

Co-Chairs Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development Transition Committee
For Mayor-elect Lightfoot

From: Marie Trzupek Lynch, CEO, Skills for Chicagoland’s Future
Re:

Idea Generation: Jobs 77

Date:

4/15/2019

Idea: Launch “Jobs 77” – a new initiative that integrates and leverages the power and impact of
economic and workforce development to simultaneously attract businesses to Chicago and address
the existing employment gap in all 77 neighborhoods while rapidly scaling nonprofit workforce
programs to support the demands of companies to find local talent.
As 2019 began, Chicago’s unemployment rate was 3.6%. Unfortunately, the statistic masks a harsh
reality. While some neighborhoods are experiencing a prosperous economy, many are not. 74% of
Chicago neighborhoods have greater than 3.6% unemployment and 35% have double-digit
unemployment. Chicago’s tale of two cities is stark with two segments of the population especially
vulnerable to economic disparity: individuals with only a high school degree and African Americans.
Lower levels of education attainment correlate with higher unemployment. Additionally, African
Americans in Chicago are unemployed at a rate five times higher than the citywide average.
The Mayor’s Office has the unique ability to attract the business community to locate some or all of their
operations in Chicago and its neighborhoods, and to introduce effective ways to partner with workforce
programs to access untapped local talent to meet current and anticipated hiring needs. There are four
critical components of Jobs 77 that lead to both economic and workforce growth.


It will integrate and leverage the economic and workforce development sectors to create a force
of change to reduce the existing employment gap and level unemployment rates across our
neighborhoods.



It will involve leadership from the Mayor’s Office to recruit businesses to Chicago and our
neighborhoods. Attracting 5-10 new businesses to Chicago, along with localized hiring, can bring
thousands of new jobs and opportunities for residents.



It will scale and expand innovative nonprofit solutions and initiatives that have a proven track
record of impact in placing adult and youth job seekers from across Chicago’s neighborhoods into
direct entry, career pathway, pre-apprenticeship, and apprenticeship jobs.



The long-term success and sustainability of this initiative will require the creation of a new or
substantial expansion of an existing funding mechanism to meaningfully support the growth,
scaling and expansion of workforce-focused nonprofits as well as programs that provide
supportive services and case management to job seekers and those placed in jobs.

Infusing the Values of Equity, Transparency, Accountability, Diversity, Inclusion and
Transformation into the Initiative:
 Publicly share the Mayor’s Office commitment to the initiative across social media platforms, on
City and business focused websites, and at the local level in Chicago’s neighborhoods - full
transparency.
191 N. WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 1150, CHICAGO, IL 60606 ◆312-906-7200 ◆
SKILLSFORCHICAGOLANDSFUTURE.COM

 




Include and invite a full and diverse range of nonprofits, initiatives and community organizations
to contribute to sharing best practices and participating in the inventory of workforce resources.
Model the values at the City of Chicago by considering locating more City operated functions in
Chicago’s neighborhoods, especially those with high unemployment and poverty rates.
Utilize a Deputy Mayor in the Mayor’s Office to monitor and report on progress related to the
initiative. Continue to monitor and report out on neighborhood unemployment and poverty rates.
Celebrate and promote businesses that model equity, diversity and inclusion in their hiring
practices in Chicago.

Strategies to Continue Supporting Include:
 Positioning workforce organizations as the drivers of impact as well as incubators of new
workforce development approaches to grow and scale. Continue to champion this work at the
Mayoral level.
 Facilitating corporate and business engagement across the city and in historically disinvested
neighborhoods.

Continuing to recruit and retain businesses to take root in Chicago neighborhoods and hire local
residents.
Within the Next 100 Days We Should:
 Meet with a roundtable of CEOs to seek their input and perspective on what is currently effective
for them and what is missing in the workforce ecosystem.
 Create an inventory of existing programs and categorize the workforce space. Consider grouping
programs with both a business access view as well as job seeker view by demand-driven
(business facing), supply-driven (job seeker facing), and/or supportive services/case management
organizations. Invite organizations to self-categorize and share their impact across Chicago’s
neighborhoods.
 Conduct an expansive learning and site visit tour to view promising nonprofit programs and
initiatives-in-action in order to allow for championing.
 Establish a Deputy Mayor of Economic and Workforce Development in the Mayor’s Office,
create a job description, and begin the hiring process for this position.
The Plan for Longer-Term Implementation will Include:
 Effective promotion, scaling and evaluation of scaled workforce programs.
 Continual reinvestment in a fund to annually scale and support effective workforce development
and supportive services programs.
 Seek public and private funding at the national level via the Mayor’s Office/City of Chicago for
broad and larger scale, multi-organizational initiatives which harness collaboration.
 Monitoring the effectiveness of programs across neighborhoods to ensure unemployment
disparity declines.
What Challenges We Might Encounter in Executing on this Initiative:
 Merging longer-term business hiring outlooks with immediately available community based
training and placement strategies.
 Identifying sustainable funding for the proposed workforce development fund.
191 N. WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 1150, CHICAGO, IL 60606 ◆312-906-7200 ◆
SKILLSFORCHICAGOLANDSFUTURE.COM

 To:
From:
RE:
Date:

Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
Matthew Muench
Business, Economic and Neighborhood Development Committee
April 15, 2019

Potential Initiative: Equity in Tech: Launch a large-scale collaborative to make the city the national leader in diversity,
equity and inclusion in tech careers, while helping grow Chicago’s tech economy.
Challenge and Opportunity
Chicago has attracted major corporate office relocations and expansions by large and small technology firms, and it
boasts an exciting start-up scene getting increasing national attention and investment. At the same time, most other
companies in the city that we wouldn’t consider “tech” companies depend on technology and tech-capable staff to
remain competitive, such as with manufacturers using robotics and programmed machines, banks or airlines interacting
with customers via apps, etc. For Chicago to continue attracting new firms and growing our own, we need to up our tech
talent game and proactively serve businesses’ talent needs.
These technology jobs—in tech firms or with other firms requiring tech skills—are among our highest paying. And in the
near future, almost any good job will require facility with technology and data. This underscores the importance of
preparing young adults with the right skills, and to ensure our city continues to attract and grow companies. In doing this,
it is imperative that the city ensure equitable access to these jobs. Right now, the best tech jobs tend to go to individuals
of white or Asian descent, men, and those from more affluent backgrounds. Chicago should be proactive in expanding
access to these careers for communities of color, low-income communities, and women. This could change the economic
trajectory of individuals, families and communities left out of the city’s growth.
The Initiative
You can harness this moment of opportunity by launching a large-scale collaborative to grow Chicago’s tech economy
while making the city the national leader in tech-sector diversity, equity and inclusion. This initiative would involve:
 Program coordination. The city has many good programs related to tech skills, but they are too rarely connected to
each other in a way that enables somebody to build learning and experience along a pathway;
 Aligning economic and workforce development strategy and operations within the Mayor’s Office to better serve
business needs while maximizing access to the best career opportunities for those historically left out;
 A movement—joining with P33—to engage more businesses, and to engage them more richly, in ways they can
support equitable talent pipelines and then support their own diverse staffs to thrive in tech careers;
 Equity at the center. Joint leadership with those organizations best able to represent communities of color, lowincome communities, and women; and
 Holding ourselves collectively accountable for our performance as a city, and as a collaborative of public and
private partners, through agreed metrics and transparent sharing of data.
The good news is that Chicago already has momentum and several building blocks to make this ambitious initiative
successful and transformative. Examples of what is happening today that we should keep and build upon:
 City Colleges’ Office of Apprenticeship and Workforce Solutions, and their new tech bootcamp offerings;
 CPS Early College STEM Schools, and new efforts to embed more work-based learning in Career Tech Ed;
 One Summer Chicago’s Everyone Can Code partnership with Apple;
 Partnerships between our education systems (CPS, CCC) and nonprofits (e.g., YearUp, GenesysWorks);
 Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership new “Chicago Codes” program on the South Side; and
 Director of Workforce Innovation position recently created within the Mayor’s Office to help coordinate these
various pieces and engage with business and economic development activities.
And we have many great partners to work with:
 Business: P33, World Business Chicago, Chamber of Commerce, Microsoft, Apple, etc.
 Voices for Equity: Black Tech Mecca, Latinas in Tech, AnitaB, SheLeadsTech, Noirefy, Chicago United for Equity, etc.
 Education and Training Systems: UIUC, UIC, DePaul, Northwestern, Illinois Tech, City Colleges of Chicago, CPS
(including CS4All, CTE), Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, etc.
 Other Partners: 1871, Digital Youth Network, Chicago Learning Exchange, ISTI/ISTC, Skills for Chicagoland’s Future,
Thrive, i.c.stars, Catalyte, DodingDojo, National Able, Chicago Urban League, Austin Coming Together, etc.

 First 100 Days
 Produce a market study of both tech industry verticals and cross-cutting tech occupations in Chicago, including
pathways, credentials, current education and training providers, wages, diversity, etc.;
 Map the existing programs, resources, funding streams, etc. that could be arrayed to support this initiative;
 Create a tailor-able “menu” of tech training and education options for companies considering moving to Chicago or
needing assistance with growth in the city;
 Agree internal City policies and processes for embedding equity-in-tech goals in economic development strategy
and business negotiations; and
 Convene a table to shape this initiative, identifying shared vision, defining partnerships with existing entities doing
good work on this issue, etc. Potential partners are noted above.
First Year
 Conduct assessment for creating up to three new incubators in South and West Side neighborhoods, and make
go/no-go decisions on their launch;
 Evaluate potential for targeting IT infrastructure and tech-support contracts to organizations that provide career
pathway opportunities to communities underrepresented in tech;
 Redesign some “One Summer Chicago” programs starting in 2020 to support this initiative by connecting summer
experiences to pathways in partnership with CPS, City Colleges and the Workforce Partnership; and
 Identify a “quarterback” entity to take over the day-to-day coordination of the effort from the Mayor’s Office.
Longer Term Reality
 Social sector and business stakeholders have a common understanding of equity-in-tech goals and needs;
 The city provides concierge service to help start-ups, large firms, and relocating companies meet talent needs;
 Young Chicagoans of color and women see clear paths to good tech jobs; and
 People are moving to Chicago to be part of its thriving and diverse technology scene.
Alignment with Values
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are the targeted outcomes of this work. But it should also embed equity in the structure
and process of the initiative through collaborative decision-making led by organizations representing communities of
color and women. This can be reinforced with collective accountability built around transparent use of data. For example,
the city should consider adapting/adopting the Black Tech Ecosystem City Assessment Framework put out by Black Tech
Mecca. If the city does this successfully, and accelerates economic growth while making Chicago the national leader in
tech-career DEI, it will be transformative for our region, and a model for the country.
Alignment with Objectives
This initiative would most directly advance the objective you have set to ensure all individuals have opportunities to
participate in the region’s economic vitality. Indeed, its immediate goals are:
 Ensuring Chicagoans of all races, ethnicities and gender-identities have the foundational skills, exposure, and
social capital to access and thrive in the high-wage tech jobs; and
 Helping Chicago businesses be intentional about expanding exposure and access to their tech jobs, and provide
the environment and supports to create diverse, inclusive and equitable work environments and career
pathways.
This will also advance the two other objectives for this committee:
 It will promote regional economic growth by: addressing the tech talent needs of local businesses, helping them
adapt, compete and grow; making the city more attractive for tech and tech-reliant companies considering locating
operations in Chicago; and attracting more young adults to the city who will see Chicago as a place where tech
talent of color can thrive in corporate or start-up businesses.
 It will ensure all neighborhoods benefit from growth, directly by building incubators that will generate foot traffic
and economic activity in disinvested neighborhoods; and indirectly through increased purchasing power of
individuals from the neighborhoods who will be getting these jobs.
Finally, note that this initiative supports two of your goals for improving the schools: Expanding Career Pathways for high
school students; and creating “learning pathways” in After-School Programs “that make it easier for youth to connect
opportunities that develop from interest to passion to internship/work experience.”

 

TO: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
FROM: MarySue Barrett, President, Metropolitan Planning Council

Ensure all neighborhoods benefit from growth.

Re-structure team to coordinate decision-making and maximize impact:
Chicago has seen tremendous economic development during the past mayoral administration. Yet this
development often proceeds in haphazard, piecemeal fashion with limited input from relevant city
agencies and civic/community partners. Better planning and coordination across city departments, sister
agencies and other financial and community development experts and would maximize the effectiveness
of investments in businesses, community assets, and vital infrastructure. While there is no one perfect
structure, below are some ideas to foster coordination for greater impact:
Immediate
Utilize all transition team committee recommendations to begin to institutionalize coordination
across departments, agencies, and other relevant public and private entities.
First 100 days
. Create a subcabinet within the mayor?s administration tasked with cross?consulting on
investments before they are made, applying a racial equity impact assessment and broad
performance metrics. Require members of this subcabinet to coordinate execution of
development projects, and measure the impact of cross?department and cross?agency
collaboration. analysis of Chicago Neighborhoods Initiative work over a decade in
Pullman points to the value of this approach)
First year
Revive Chicago Neighborhoods Now framework, which created 16 districts to gather information
and now has the potential to execute on comprehensive neighborhood development goals.
Refresh data and create action plans with community input.

Think and act like a regional partner
Chicago has withdrawn from meaningful, collaborative engagement with neighboring suburbs, and with
likeminded cities throughout the Great Lakes. Despite being a founding member of the Metropolitan
Mayors Caucus and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, Chicago has disengaged in recent
years, with harmful results in Springfield, Washington DC, and at home.
Immediate:
The City of Chicago, and the Mayor personally, should reengage with the Metropolitan Mayors
Caucus and work toward collaborative solutions on workforce, housing, traditional and reverse
commuting, regional economic development, the Greenest Region Compact, and more.
The city and Mayor should reengage with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative to
advocate for and implement solutions on lead in drinking water systems, climate change,
invasive species and protection of the planet?s greatest reserve of available fresh drinking water.

 

Invest in transit to grow our regional economv

Businesses throughout the region rely on and benefit from metropolitan Chicago?s transit system. Talent
needs transit. A growing and thriving transit system means a growing and thriving economy. Research
shows that businesses locate near transit to access larger labor pools, businesses located near transit are
more resilient, and transit-accessible locations outperform the regional average on job growth, especially
near rail.

Immediate:

Advocate for a State sustainable funding bill that delivers at least $4 billion annually. Ensure that
it includes provisions for a quantifiable, data?driven project selection process. Advocate for
funding of multimodal projects, with at least 30 percent allocated to transit (which currently has
no ongoing state capital funding).

First Year Actions and Goals
Assess recommendations of Mayor?s Transportation and Mobility Task Force report.
Establish a Chief Mobility Officer who can oversee interagency coordination, innovation and pilot
projects.
Invest in infrastructure to increase speed and reliability of CTA's highest-ridership bus routes,
particularly along transit corridors in need of increased economic development such as the newly
designated bus TOD corridors.

140 South Dearborn
Suite 1400
Chicago, Illinois 60603

312 922 5616
metroplanningorg
@metroplanners

Board of Governors
Chair
Ellen Carnahanc

Vice Chair
Ann M. Drake 0

Vice Chair General Counsel

Vice Chair Development
James P. Stirling 0

Vice Chair Development
Secretary
Paul C. Carlisle 0

Vice Chair Government
Relations
Robert V. Fitzsimmons -

Treasurer
Bruce W. Taylor .

Immediate Past Chair
Todd Browno

Ramiro I. Atristain?Carri?n
Kyle Barnett

Carol Ross Barney
Matthew Brewer 0
Christopher B. Burke
Jack Catlin

Pedro J. Cevallos-Candau
Chris Conley

Lester Crown
Francesca DeBiase
James C. Franczek, Jr. -
Linda Goodman
Jacques N. Gordon 0
M. Hill Hammock
Andy Hesselbach
Charles R. Kaiser
Christopher J. King
Juan Carlos Linares
Laritza Lopez.

Bernard Loyd

Mary K. Ludgin

Peter C. Malecek
James E. Mann

Lee M. Mitchell
Matthew Moog

David Mook

Juan G. Moreno -

J. Scot Pepper .

Julian G. Posada
George A. Ranney, Jr.
Matthew R. Reilein
Bob Reiter

Shawn Riegsecker
Alana Ward Robinson
Smita Shah

Martin Stern

Tyronne Stoudemire
Michael A. Thomas
Mary White Vasys
Melissa Y. Washington 0
Paula Wolff 

Jessica Droste Yagan 

President
MarySue Barrett -

Executive Committee 

Executive Advisors
Nicholas W. Alexos
Dentsp/y Sirona, Inc.

Carol L. Bernick
Polished Nickel Capital
Management

John Buck 
The John Buck Company

John Bucksbaum
Bucksbaum Retail
Properties, LLC

Marion A. Cameron
Sipi Metals Corp.
David Casper

BMO Harris Bank
Robert M. Chapman
CenterPoint Properties

Marsha Cruzan
US. Bank

Craig J. Duchossois
The Duchossois Group, Inc

Bob Flannery
CA Residential

John S. Gates, Jr.
PortaeCo LLC

Nancy S. Gerrie
Winston Strawn LLP

Ari F. Glass
Zelier Realty Corporation

Andy Gloor
Sterling Bay

Michael L. Keiser

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort
Mark Kowlzan

PCA

Karen Layng

C0.

Steven N. Miller
Origin Ventures

Charles J. Moore
The Banc Funds Co, LLC

J. Marshall Peck
lnterPar/c Holdings LLC

Larry D. Richman
CIBC Bank USA

Shawn Riegsecker
Centro

Joan Rockey
CastleArk Management LLC

Michael Scudder

First Midwest Bancorp
Mark Skender
Skender

Robert A. Sullivan
Fifth Third Bank

Scott Swanson

PNC Bank, Illinois
Stephan B. Tanda
AptarGroup, Inc.

Jim Ten Broek

Growth Catalyst Partners
Thomas Weeks
Lend/ease

Edward J. Wehmer
Wintrust Financial Corp.

Serena Wolfe
Ernst 84 Young LLP

Andrea L. Zopp
World Business Chicago



Invest in infrastructure to increase speed and reliability of highest?ridership bus routes,
particularly along transit corridors in need of increased economic development such as the newly
designated bus TOD corridors.

First Term Goals
Create employer?based mobility incentives that support public transit use. For example, subsidize
30?Day transit passes, incentivize cycling, and discourage parking subsidies in transit?rich locations.
Improve bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure to support overall safe walkability and transit access.

Support equitable development near transit
The Transit Oriented Development Ordinance (updated in 2015 and 2019) yielded dense, more pedestrian-
oriented development in some corridors. However, the distribution of development reveals disparities in
growth and investment. An equity focused framework is needed to enhance the TOD ordinance with
additional tools to share benefits across all Chicago neighborhoods.
100 Day Actions
Appoint a TOD Coordinator within the Mayor?s Office to serve as the primary point of contact
regarding TOD and to coordinate work across all relevant city departments and agencies.
Commit to a minimum of two pilot projects where recommendations can be evaluated.
Complete the implementation plan by July 2020, allocating city resources as necessary.
First Year Actions and Goals
Finalize Implementation Plan
Launch demonstration pilots in different markets. Create incentives for employers that locate or
expand near transit
First Term Goals
Complete pilots, document the process and evaluate immediate and long?term outcomes within an
equity framework.
Determine need for additional changes to the TOD Ordinance based on lessons learned from
assessment and pilot projects.

 

Enhance how we share the benefits of development

The City of Chicago has been a leader redistributing the benefits of development in rising real estate markets
across the city. These initiatives should be improved and expanded.

Neighborhood Opportunity Fund:

 

Turn the Fund into an upfront grant rather than reimbursements which today creates a barrier for
small business

Industrial Corridor Fund:
Create an overall and individual zoning and land use strategy for all 26 of the City?s Industrial
Corridors, in consultation with local, regional, and national experts.
Define parameters around how industrial corridor funds will be prioritized and distributed (and in
what forms), with information publicly available.

100 Day Actions
Meet with CDFIs and other impact investors to identify leverage opportunities.
Scope out process for creating a comprehensive plan for the industrial corridor system.
Clarify eligible expenses for reimbursable funding.

First Year Actions and Goals
Convene construction project managers, project lending coaches, and CDFIs to ensure all are
flourishing.
Complete comprehensive plans for industrial corridors with individual corridor plans underway and
prioritized projects receiving funding.

First Term Goals
Evaluate financial tools within a racial equity framework to ensure that they are achieving their
goals.

MarySue Barrett
President
Metropolitan Planning Council

140 South Dearborn
Suite 1400
Chicago, Illinois 60603

312 922 5616
metroplanningorg
@metroplanners

Board of Governors
Chair
Ellen Carnahanc

Vice Chair
Ann M. Drake 0

Vice Chair General Counsel

Vice Chair Development
James P. Stirling .

Vice Chair Development
Secretary
Paul C. Carlisle 0

Vice Chair Government
Relations
Robert V. Fitzsimmons -

Treasurer
Bruce W. Taylor .

Immediate Past Chair
Todd Browno

Ramiro J. Atristain?Carri?n
Kyle Barnett

Carol Ross Barney
Matthew Brewer 0
Christopher B. Burke
Jack Catlin

Pedro J. Cevallos-Candau
Chris Conley

Lester Crown
Francesca DeBiase
James C. Franczek, Jr. -
Linda Goodman
Jacques N. Gordon 0
M. Hill Hammock
Andy Hesselbach
Charles R. Kaiser
Christopher J. King
Juan Carlos Linares
Laritza Lopez.

Bernard Loyd

Mary K. Ludgin

Peter C. Malecek
James E. Mann

Lee M. Mitchell
Matthew Moog

David Mook

Juan G. Moreno -

J. Scot Pepper .

Julian G. Posada
George A. Ranney, Jr.
Matthew R. Reilein
Bob Reiter

Shawn Riegsecker
Alana Ward Robinson
Smita Shah

Martin Stern

Tyronne Stoudemire
Michael A. Thomas
Mary White Vasys
Melissa Y. Washington 0
Paula Wolff 

Jessica Droste Yagan 

President
MarySue Barrett -

Executive Committee 

Executive Advisors
Nicholas W. Alexos
Dentsp/y Sirona, Inc.

Carol L. Bernick
Polished Nickel Capital
Management

John Buck II
The John Buck Company

John Bucksbaum
Bucksbaum Retail
Properties, LLC

Marion A. Cameron
Sipr' Metals Corp.
David Casper

BMO Harris Bank
Robert M. Chapman
CenterPoint Properties

Marsha Cruzan
US. Bank

Craig J. Duchossois
The Duchossois Group, inc

Bob Flannery
CA Residential

John S. Gates, Jr.
PortaeCo LLC

Nancy S. Gerrie
Winston Strawn LLP

Ari F. Glass
Zelier Realty Corporation

Andy Gloor
Sterling Bay

Michael L. Keiser

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort
Mark Kowlzan

PCA

Karen Layng

C0.

Steven N. Miller
Origin Ventures

Charles J. Moore
The Banc Funds Co., LLC

J. Marshall Peck
InterPar/c Holdings LLC

Larry D. Richman
Bank USA

Shawn Riegsecker
Centro

Joan Rockey
CastleArk Management LLC

Michael Scudder

First Midwest Bancorp
Mark Skender
Skender

Robert A. Sullivan
Fifth Third Bank

Scott Swanson

PNC Bank, Illinois
Stephan B. Tanda
AptarGroup, Inc.

Jim Ten Broek

Growth Catalyst Partners
Thomas Weeks
Lend/ease

Edward J. Wehmer
Wintrust Financial Corp.

Serena Wolfe
Ernst Young LLP

Andrea L. Zopp
World Business Chicago

MEMORANDUM
TO:

Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot

FROM:
Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development Committee
Member
PROMPT: Establish a professional service contracting initiative designed to
increase contracting opportunities with local minority and women-owned
businesses within the legal (including minority and women partners within
majority law firms), money management, marketing, advertising/
communications, financial services, human resources and information
technology industries.
There is great potential to increase economic opportunities for minority and
women-owned businesses within the professional services industries. Professional
service industries constitute the fastest growing portion of our economy and are a
significant contributor to high-wage employment. However, minority and womenowned professional service firms in Chicago remain substantially underutilized.
Historically, opportunities deemed appropriate for minorities have been heavily
concentrated within construction, landscaping and other low hanging fruit areas.
While the wealth generating industries and industries where our youth are
essentially being educated have been reserved for majority-owned businesses and
minorities and women remain left out of the equation.
Infusing the values of equity, transparency, accountability, diversity and
inclusion, and transformation in this initiative:
This administration has an opportunity to transform how government, non-profits,
foundations, educational institutions and corporations in Chicago approach
contracting and business diversity. Equity and inclusion would mean that diverse
businesses not only get a seat at the table but also obtain opportunities within these
professional industries that have historically been difficult for them to penetrate.
Establishing goals and reporting diverse spend would be necessary for
accountability and transparency.
What is happening today that we need to keep:
There are certain entities leading the charge for professional services. For
example, Exelon and the University of Chicago both have successful professional
service contracting initiatives.
Within the next 100 days:
• Form a committee to research current initiatives, and create the business

 case for professional services.
• Develop a strategy to incorporate goals around professional services.
• Start small; obtain a commitment from a small number of City agencies,
non-profits, foundations, corporations and anchor institutions to hire local
MWBE professional service firms.
A City-wide professional service contracting program would be something that
will require longer-term implementation.
Challenges/Barriers:
•
•
•

These opportunities are highly relationship driven and don’t always go
through normal procurement/RFP channels.
Because of long-standing relationships, it is difficult for MWBE’s to obtain
opportunities.
There is a perception that MWBE’s are novices and do not have sufficient
experience within their industries.

 Neal Sáles-Griffin >> Gainful Employment

Attract big companies, but not at the
expense of residents
“While we must work to attract large businesses to
our city, we cannot provide tax breaks without
stipulated investments and jobs for our
neighborhoods. We must ensure they pay their fair
share to participate in our city.” - Neal Sáles-Griffin

What does success look like?
1. Corporation's consider Chicago as a competitive advantage.
2. Housing rates don’t spike as a result of new corporate
developments.
3. Large corporations are not given unfair tax breaks.
4. Local Communities feel their voice is considered in new
developments.

Action Steps

Performance Metrics

1. Focus on Chicago's pool of talented
labor, public transportation, and local
colleges instead of tax incentives to
attract corporations.

•
•

2. Expand and enforce the Affordable
Requirements Ordinance.

•

3. Require contract for new business to
hire from the community.

•

4. Hold community forums when large
business contracts are in negotiation.

References

•
•

City of Chicago Affordable Requirements Ordinance
Chicago Sun-TImes, Emmanuel to unveil preservation
strategy for Pilsen and Little Village Times

•

# of big companies considering
or expanding in Chicago
# of residents displaced by new
developments
% of jobs hired from
community (as opposed to
transplants)
# Community forums hosted in
the bid / zoning process

2-45-115  2015 affordable requirements.

 Neal Sáles-Griffin >> Gainful Employment

Fight for a $15 minimum wage
“A $15 dollar minimum wage is necessary for
Chicagoans to cover their basic needs. While Chicago’s
progress on the minimum wage fight exemplifies a
sorely needed win for workers’ rights, we still have a
long road ahead of us.” - Neal Sáles-Griffin

What does success look like?
1. Employment levels among minimum wage cohort remain flat or increase
(indicating no damaging effects to industry).
2. Non-tipped workers are paid the mimium wage of $15/hour by or before
7/1/21.
3. Chicago's public is readily informed about the wage increase.
4. City officials work with private business to ensure seamless wage
increases and feel supported in this transition.

Action Steps

Performance Metrics

1. Extend the city’s minimum wage law
with 50 cents increases every six
months until the wage reaches $15 an
hour.

•

% of Chicago workers being paid
the minimum wage

•

2. Require an annual review of the city's
minimum wages by the Office of Labor
Standards at the City of Chicago.

# incremental wage adjustments
per year

•

3. Promote wage increases through
Business Affairs and Consumer
Protection Office.

% of workforce earning min.
wage remains constant or
growing

•

# of hours min wage employed
does NOT reduce as a result of
wage increase

References
•
•
•

Chicago Tribune, "Chicago Minimum Wage Hike Not A Killer"
Raising the Min Wage; What $10, $13, or $15 per hr would mean for IL
Economic Policy Institute: Why America Needs a $15 Minimum Wage

•
•
•

Amendment of Municipal Code Sections 2-25-050, 2-92320, 2-92-610, 4-4-320
The Chicago Minimum Wage Ordinance

 Neal Sáles-Griffin >> Gainful Employment

Create an office of Vocational
Training and Employment

“I helped launch and was an original tenant of 1871 alongside
JB Pritzker. We’ve helped thousands get their start in wellpaying tech jobs in Chicago. I'll be relentless in providing
every Chicagoan with the resources and education they
need to thrive in this city with meaningful job opportunities.”
- Neal Sáles-Griffin

What does success look like?
1. The business community has partners in City hall to develop relevant
workforces for their industry.
2. Students have enriching apprentice opportunities to enter the workforce
no matter their interests.
3. Students of all ages are enlisting and staying in vocational programs
because of the value it provides for them.
4. Chicago has a clear plan for emerging market needs and is building a
pipeline to service these new jobs.

Action Steps

Performance Metrics

•

1. Create the Office of Vocational Traning
and Employment which in its first year
will focus on setting goals and budgets
required for future success.
2. Create a council of community business
leaders who direct future job needs.
3. Identify key pathways for vocational and
tech training from partner agencies
across the city.
4. Launch longitudinal study tracking the
Office of Vocational Training and
Employment.

References

•
•
•

New York CIty Tech Talent Pipeline
North Carolina Workforce Development and Training
City Journal: Vocational Education and America’s Highschools

•
•
•

•
•

% matriculation from
vocational programs
% of high school students
enrolled in vocational training
# of skilled laborers on the
job market per year
Average salary and working
conditions of vocational
students

Crains Chicago: City Colleges inspector slams troubled program
Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership

 Neal Sáles-Griffin >> Gainful Employment

Invest in businesses owned by Chicagoans
"I've personally experienced the frustrations of doing
business in Chicago. I'll simplify permit requirements,
eliminate unfair fees and fines, and streamline what
the city mandates to start a business. It should be a
boon to your business to be built in Chicago, not a
burden.” - Neal Sáles-Griffin

What does success look like?
1. New businesses are forming at an increasing rate annually.
2. Women and minority-run businesses are supported by Chicago and contracts are
equitably awarded to these businesses.
3. Filing for a business license and MWVBE certification isn’t overwhelming; the process
is clearly communicated.
4. Grants and investments are readily available to small business owners.
5. Business owners don't feel blind sided by tickets or city taxes.
6. Turnaround time for acquiring a business license and MWVBE certification is reduced.

Action Steps

Performance Metrics

1. Conduct interviews with Chicagoans at
various stages of owning a business to get
insight into hurdles they face.

•
•

# of small businesses year over year

2. Conduct an audit of Office of Business
Affairs and Consumer Protections Small
Business Centers to improve services

•

% of city contracts awarded to Chicagobased small businesses

3. Provide businesses with access to low
interest rate loans insured by the city.
4. Assist small businesses in competitively
bidding for city government contracts.

•
•
•
•
•

References

•
•

City of Chicago Small Business Development Centers
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce "State of Small Business"

# of jobs added by small business per
year

Amount of $ invested in small businesses
# of business licenses obtained annually
% of vacant store fronts
Occupancy and graduation rates of
Chicago's business incubators
Avg time it takes to return a business
license

  
MEMORANDUM 
 
TO: Mayor­Elect Lori Lightfoot 
FROM: Paola Aguirre Serrano, Founder, Borderless Studio. Chicago United for Equity Fellow 2018­19. 
RE: Business. Neighborhood, and Economic Development Transition Committee 
DATE: April 15, 2019 
 
 
The following initial recommendations have been developed using Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA) as 
a guiding framework developed by  Chicago United for Equity1. Although the REIA tool has not been 
comprehensively applied to the initiative and content below, it has been (and will continue to be) a strong 
reference for advancing and refining these narratives and descriptions. 
 
Objective: 
Ensure all neighborhoods participate in, and contribute to, regional economic growth. 
 
Potential Initiative:  
Create a community­driven investment framework that focuses in building competencies (leadership) 
and capacities (infrastructure) at the community scale.   
 
This is initiative encompases two main components for equitable governance, deployment, assessment and 
accountability: 
 
▪ Creation of a  Neighborhood Impact Investment Council  consisting of community development 
corporations, finance institutions and neighborhood services organizations to inform local investment 
policies, needs and priorities. This council will perform as a platform for community representatives to 
advance their leadership capacity at the local and city­wide scale while connecting to resources and 
assets in the region. 
▪ Build and strengthen  local investment infrastructure  that creatively uses public, civic and private 
forms of capital while catalyzing new investment and partnership opportunities in the South and West 
sides of Chicago. 
▪ Integrate  Racial Equity Impact Assessment  framework and process to both of these components.  
 
Core concepts for this initiative: 
▪ Active role of the City as partner in community development by creating connections between 
neighborhood and regional scale organizations. 
▪ Increase “capital absorption” in neighborhoods through investment in building competency (leadership) 
and capacity (infrastructure) at neighborhood scale. 
▪ Assembly of larger neighborhood areas to identify broader areas of impact enabling collective 
consensus related to investment prioritization instead of a competitive allocation of resources. 

1

 Adapted from the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE)'s "Racial Equity Toolkit: An Opportunity to Operationalize Equity." 
Find resources at our website www.chicagounitedforequity.org. 

 

  
▪

Integration of participatory budgeting conceptual framework into decision­making process for 
investment prioritization.  

 
Connecting Initiative to Values 
 
▪ Equity:  Chicago needs frameworks and tools to counter systemic disinvestment impacting 
communities of color. An inclusive and equitable framework for community­investment will intentionally 
consider the perspectives and priorities of residents from underserved black and brown communities. 
▪ Transparency:  An equitable and transparent framework will counter discretionary, single­sided and 
narrow processes and practices for prioritization of investment.  
▪ Accountability:  Equitable community investment requires principles for impact assessment and 
inclusive governance structure – stakeholders participating in investment decision making processes 
will be accountable to both.  
▪ Diversity and inclusion:  The Neighborhood Impact Investment Council will bring a diversity of 
perspectives, experiences and expertise for a highly informed decision­making and consensus process.  
▪ Transformation:  Decision­making processes for  i nvestment in neighborhoods cannot be isolated 
decisions. Both “soft” (people) and “hard” (resources) infrastructures are needed to impact positively 
quality of life, generation of wealth for families and opportunities for economic mobility. 
 
And as it pertains to this initiative 
 
▪ What is happening today that we need to keep 
Capital access programs  led by the City of Chicago such as the Neighborhood Opportunity 
Fund (NOF) should be more than a granting program; NOF should be the opportunity to build 
entrepreneurial leadership in neighborhoods if equipped with stronger support, training and 
assessment resources for small business owners. 
▪ What we need to implement in the next 100 days 
Integrate a task force to design a  community­driven investment framework  and its two main 
components.  
Assess and recalibrate Neighborhood Opportunity Fund program to  advance neighborhood 
economic leadership capacity . 
▪ What we can plan for longer­term implementation 
Define a new kind of  local investment infrastructure  – Chicago has ample resources and 
tremendous creative capacity to become a national model for equitable neighborhood 
investment. The City needs to claim and leverage its capacity to build new and productive 
partnerships among public, private and civic sectors that create new opportunities for economic 
growth in communities of color.   
▪ What challenges we might encounter in executing on this initiative 
Chicago has a strong tribal culture. Decades of disinvestment and aggressive competition for 
resources have resulted in a culture of divided communities looking for boundaries instead of 
areas of connection. It will take a strong effort to counter the practices of exclusion and rebuild 
trust among different stakeholders. 

╴
╴
╴
╴

╴

 

 

 4/15/2019

To: Neighborhood Development Transition Committee
From: Philip Fuentes

Memo:
Economic growth in all neighborhoods
I propose working with the Chicago Housing Authority ( CHA ), the Regional
Transit Authority ( RTA ) service boards, and the Chicago Transit Authority
( CTA ) Metro, Pace and ADA Transit to achieve economic growth in all
neighborhoods.

The CHA geographical area encompasses the entire metro area and the
Transit agencies have stations and stops throughout the city and already
participate in economic development. Exploring opportunities utilizing their
resources and data should be considered. Such as:
• Applying for the various agencies partnership programs;
• Partnering whenever possible for Federal and State programs and
grants ;
• Identifying specific geographical areas for growth during the planning
process;
• Sharing feasibility studies data with both community organizations and
private sector developers; and,
• Insuring open lines of communications to avoid duplications of efforts
to save costs.
These agencies already utilize community involvement working with
neighborhood organizations and public hearings. Minority and neighborhood
small business goals already are incorporated in all of their projects.

 However, we need to work with community organizations both neighborhood
and citywide to develop attractive opportunities for businesses to grow in all
neighborhoods in conjunction with these agencies. Accessing information from
feasibility , demographic and transportation studies is one of the keys.
Offering business planning and financial assistance whenever possible.
Providing small businesses to have this data from CHA and Transit agencies
will reduce planning costs and help in their ability to receive financing. Also,
businesses know CHA and the Transit agencies are committed to insuring
diversity and inclusion . Especially in regards to always improving access for
people with disabilities.
Therefore, knowing businesses invest in communities with residential growth
and access to affordable transportation for both residents and more
importantly employees. I propose expanding our relationship with CHA and
RTA service Board’s CTA, Metra and Pace.

 To:
Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot
From: Perry Gunn
Date: April 15, 2019
Re:
Boosting Employment Opportunities through TIF and Opportunity Zone Projects
Chicago can boost employment opportunities in underserved communities by requiring all
publically funded projects such as Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and Opportunity Zone Fund
projects add a direct employment stipulation. By doing this, the City can create jobs in
neighborhoods that need them the most, while working closely with businesses and corporations
to provide jobs, recruitment and training.
Moving forward, your administration can use this initiative to build a stronger workforce and
transform neighborhoods as permanent jobs are created and positive impacts are made on the
local economy.
As it pertains to this proposed plan, the City should continue to:
•
Require that all TIF funded projects continue reporting to the Department of Planning the
number of jobs created and retained
WHAT WE NEED TO IMPLEMENT IMMEDIATELY
Develop City requirements for TIF projects that include:
•
Using TIF works to accompany TIF tax credits to support job training in construction
jobs in the beginning and permanent jobs down the road
•
If there are no TIF works funds available the project should work directly with local
unions, City departments and local community organizations
•
Small business development should be complimented with TIF and Opportunity Zone
Funds
•
Small businesses should be supported alongside public opportunities such as these by
either having them be a part of the City and local organizations supporting them to be
scaled up to support these efforts.
•
Increase funding to support more TIF works projects for businesses that are located in
TIF districts.
•
The City must move away from the Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF) and
Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF) rebates only, and consider instead distributing
through grants that can have broken down payments. This is to make sure businesses that
may not have a lot of capital can still apply and maximize the opportunities.

PAGE TWO

Many of the ideas listed above were inspired by the work we did with the new Englewood
Square Development in the Englewood coomunity. With that particular TIF project, we trained
over 1,000 people, supported 40 small businesses and secured a permanent job training site at the
local Starbucks. We learned several best practices that should be included in new updated TIF
policies. Some of the lessons learned included: creating a customized workforce development
plan to meet the needs of several companies in Englewood Square Development, engaging
community stakeholders in pre-and post-conversations around community benefits, and
establishing local representatives to serve as the group that holds all stakeholders accountable.

 WHAT WE CAN PLAN FOR LONGER TERM IMPLEMENTATION
Create a Community Benefit position in the Department of Planning that will follow up with TIF
and Opportunity Zone reporting. This will help increase accountability as well as allow the City
to share the actual results in a transparent manner.
WHAT CHALLENGES WE MIGHT ENCOUNTER IN EXECUTING THIS
INITITATIVE
It might be difficult to effectively monitor the success of this initiative unless a strong evaluation
system is put into place. We must work closely with entities that possess the knowledge and
skills to help the City track overall progress of TIF and similar projects.

 April 15, 2019
Memorandum
Name: Ricardo Estrada, President and CEO, Metropolitan Family Services
Transition Committee: Business, Economic and Neighborhood Development
The objective is to maintain and enhance Chicago’s standing as a global business center and
leading city in which to raise a family.
However, business cannot thrive nor fully meet this objective without its most marginalized
having opportunities to live empowered lives that contribute to the city’s success.
What we must keep or continue:
We need to 1) keep and enhance municipal investments in cultural infrastructure, 2) promote
active partnerships with corporate leaders and their companies, and 3) prepare our workforce to
compete globally through talent development (human infrastructure) from pre-K to postsecondary education.
Business cannot succeed in the long run without these foundational investments, and for them to
have real impact, they must happen with more purpose and in partnership with community.
Cultural investments in the museum campus and central business district are important, but
equitable investments, ones that also are strategic and integrated, also must be made in our city’s
77 community areas. Our city’s richness as a cultural hub – spanning the visual, literary,
theatrical and musical – comes largely from our diverse ethnic identities and experiences.
Partnership with corporate leaders and the companies they represent need to focus on mutual
self-interest with a vision to impact all of the city for the greater good. We need leaders who will
seek win-wins for their companies and Chicago, those who will work with us to sell products and
services while developing local talent and communities so we all benefit collectively.
A global vision is necessary as foreign direct investment brings not only needed capital
investments but offers broader perspective for the residents of our city, region and visitors to our
civic amenities. Global vision expands and informs many aspects of how we govern, work and
live. To remain viable and “in the race,” human infrastructure investment must continue. We
need to eliminate the brain drain our state experiences as more and more students chose to study
in other states, and many who come to our state’s universities leave for the coasts after
graduation. We need to disrupt this limiting paradigm, instead of recruiting, we must invest in
native talent from all parts of the city. Those raised and anchored here are less likely to leave
upon completion of studies.
Goal:
Build/Rehab 1,000 affordable homes on Chicago’s West Side and South Side. 500 in each
community in the first 18 months of the Mayor-Elect’s first term.
We can use community residents to demolish, rehab and/or build in partnership with the trade
union’s apprenticeship programs as well as the many job development programs in the city. The
builders will eventually become the owners. They will help build their own homes!
How do we finance it?
This is in the category of “what is going on now that we need to keep.”
In addition to negotiating affordable housing in the Lincoln Yards development, Sterling Bay
should offer $5 million to $15 million to rehab/build homes that will be sold to people for
$75,000 per home. Similar commitments should be sought from developers of the future “The
78” development as well as any other major new developments.
In addition, funds from existing Infrastructure Trust, Land Trust, Neighborhood Opportunity
Fund, TIFs and all other potential investment vehicles should be inventoried and leveraged
together to form a coordinated and powerful investment platform!
The land will be transferred by the city to nonprofit community development organizations to do
the planning and development work – they know how to do this. Labor will largely be free/

 subsidized. It will be paid for by the dozens of community groups that have public grant dollars
to subsidize work. The more skilled labor will be donated by firms, especially those that do more
than $2 million dollars a year in business with the city, partner labor unions and by philanthropic
partners. If you are a construction, development or architecture company, etc. and do more than
$2 million in business with the city, you will be expected to offer skilled consultation and labor
to this initiative.
Material will be purchased at discounts from companies that say “they care” about
neighborhoods but do not know how to help.
At a purchase price of $75,000, a 30-year mortgage will be affordable for residents. First-time
home ownership grants and subsidies will be leveraged at this stage as well.
It sounds like a pipe dream, doesn’t it? But think about it. We need affordable housing – check.
We need jobs that offer training – check. We need agencies to support the workers, check. And,
we need to offer renewed hope in the American dream of owning a home, check. Ultimately it
offers a greater chance at a dignified life. If we have the will to do this, we can find a way to
make it happen.
The ultimate goal is to inspire people to come back to Chicago and to encourage young families
to stay. I am not only speaking about the stable middle- and upper middle-class, Lincoln Yards
and the many other developments that will attract them. I am primarily talking about the working
class, lower-middle class and working poor. They too need to find opportunity in this city. We
need the tax base that greater density on the South and West Sides offers. In building a broad
foundation for home ownership throughout the city, we help level a lopsided equation, where
prosperity only resonates in certain pockets of Chicago. We help make it so all of the city can
advance and contribute. This bring stability and investment.
There will be, of course, many challenges to this idea. But have we ever offered the opportunity
for people to build their own homes? How exciting would that be? It would be a start to future
investment and the building of more homes in the communities with historic underinvestment.
With real commitment, it could reshape and substantively strengthen our city for the better, not
just for us, but for our children and future generations. Local opportunity would generate local
sourcing. We as a city would become a stronger magnet for business opportunities seeking our
native talent pool. And, with greater access to capital, we could help encourage and seed budding
and existing entrepreneurs, further expanding business and economic development opportunities
for individuals, communities and our city.
People might say, “Why them?” “Why those people?” We should say, “Why the hell not!” It’s
time to make real change. Building homes with and for our city’s residents has the potential to
truly change the game. It is in our own and everyone’s mutual best interest.

  

W. ROCKWELL WIHTZ

Chairman

April 15, 2019

Honorable Lori Lightfoot
Mayor-elect, City of Chicago
VIA email: 

Dear Mayor-elect Lightfoot,

Thank you for the opportunity to serve on your transition team. It?s an honor to work alongside
such a distinguished group of talented professionals who, collectively, are working to make
Chicago a better place. There is no doubt that Chicago, and you, face many challenges and serious
issues involving finance, education, infrastructure, and transportation. The transition committee
has requested a memo on what, through my lens, I see as critical issues. I?d like to begin with
something I deal with on a daily basis, given our portfolio of businesses here in Chicago,
throughout North America, and Canada: Chicago's standing among our peers and competitors.

Closing the Divide Illinois

It is fully incumbent upon the next Mayor of Chicago to close the gap between the city and
downstate. When you consider that the Mayor, the state's constitutional officers and
legislative leadership all reside in Chicago, that effort will be more daunting, but still
necessary. Chicago is the engine that drives Illinois. If it stops functioning, or falters, the rest
of Illinois will feel the impact. However, Chicago cannot fix its problems without Springfield,
and Springfield will not solve the state's problems without Chicago. I would encourage our
new Mayor to establish a structure and a cadence to create a solid narrative with suburban
and downstate influencers, including Mayors and regional employers. One step might
include creating an office and naming a liaison, an individual who will travel the state on
behalf of the Mayor, to discuss city initiatives and the benefits these efforts have to all of
Illinois. The ?us versus them" must end if Chicago and Illinois are going to move in a new
direction. Inclusion is key.

CHIEAGII TEAM, INE.

680 North Lake Shore Drive, 19th Floor, Chicago, IL 6061 1-4548 Phone (312) 943-7000 Fax (312) 751-1 100

2. Debt Integrity Illinois

Whatever support the Mayor provides Springfield for added revenues, such as a progressive
income tax, must come with a demand that those added revenues address debt - and
ultimately retire it. If one happens without the other, businesses will flee Illinois. If, however,
the case can be made that the sacrifices high-incomed people will have to make, are part of
a plan to stabilize and diminish the debt, there is a much stronger chance businesses and
individuals might support and rally around it. Winning this kind of support will require trust,
transparency and thoughtful financial planning. If people don't believe efforts to address the
debt are real and workable, they will continue to leave Illinois for states that offer more
favorable tax structures something that?s become a lot easier as more and more people
work remotely. Building trust will not be easy, given our state's reputation. A first and I
believe, essential step in the right direction would be opening up the state's constitution
not just to a progressive tax, but to changes in the pension structure.

3. Transparency Chicago

There are serious problems with the relations between Chicago?s business community and
government. They are frequently strained, often contentious, and disappointingly counter-
productive. This does not appear to be the case in many other cities, both big and small,
where progressive Mayors have open and respectful dialogues with their city's employer
base. Mayors need businesses to remain viable and support business growth; while
businesses, which are willing to invest more, must have the confidence and respect of their
city leadership - beginning with the Mayor. The business community should not fear its
Mayor, and no Mayor should be intimidated by any one business. A balance needs to exist
and Chicago, over the past two administrations, has been out of balance. Confidence, trust
and transparency need to be restored. Given the financial and social issues facing Chicago
today, failing to restore this sense of balance will make overcoming these challenges even
more difficult.

A Path

I would respectfully recommend that our new Mayor commit to one breakfast meeting per
month with no more than 10 business leaders at a time ?to engage in structured discussions
around the concerns and objectives of employers, and to allow the Mayor to discuss her
challenges and needs. We need candid, open dialogue about both short and long?term goals
for our city. We need to be on the same page - and moving in the same direction.

A Path Continued

Critical to the success of this program will be the diversity of the participants. Meetings should
be scheduled well in advance, similar to corporate board meetings; no meeting will include
an attendee of a prior board meeting, other than perhaps the host. 12 meetings, 120
employer/decision makers, from companies large and small, from across the city, reflecting
the diversity in ownership that characterizes. Chicago.

Purposeful Taxation Chicago

While no industry likes paying higher taxes, they would be a lot easier to swallow if there was
a clear, positive purpose behind them. Take for example, the city amusement tax. It is, in my
view, punitive, regressive, and runs the risk of killing business. If an event becomes too
expensive for a family to go to, then that same family will n_o_t come to Chicago, stay in a
hotel, n_ot eat in a restaurant, n_ottake a cab to the venue, and n_ot buy food and merchandise.
The city, supporting businesses, and venue owners and their employees all suffer. There is
reason why Chicago's peer cities work to keep these taxes low, or if possible, to avoid them.

If, on the other hand, the tax has a clear and defined purpose it would make everyone?s
sacrifice more palatable. For example, designating a portion of taxes on sporting events to
the construction of athletic facilities in underserved neighborhoods. Or a percentage of the
tax on concert tickets to fund music programs in underserved and underfunded Chicago Public
Schools. Clear purposes that create positive synergy.

Sadly, as the attached report concludes, Chicago has already pushed these taxes to the
highest in the country. Therefore, under the current structure, there is little room to work.
But in a restructure, there would be willingness to perhaps establish growth funds,
partnerships, or seek other creative and mutually beneficial solutions.

End the Grandstanding Chicagg

Stop the rhetoric on national and international issues, and focus on Chicago. For the last few
years, the Mayor?s office has, apparently in search of political benefit, openly provoked the
President of the United States, and always with great fanfare, in front of the Chicago media.
The President, has, in turn, fired back each time before a global media audience, reminding
the world that Chicago is rife with murders and out-of?control crime. The world is watching,

and seeing a constant stream of negative stories about our city, which we do not have the
ability to counter. We need to protect and promote our brand, with pride and discipline.

6. Neighborhood Development Chicago

Chicago will benefit, but not truly grow, if development continues to occur in only a handful
of wards. For every one that prospers, at least five more suffer and languish; making Chicago
even more segregated, socially and economically. There are too many underserved areas in
Chicago to fix them all at once. But the place to start, in each neighborhood, is may; by
creating economic incubators, by encouraging businesses to commit to create foundations
within neighborhoods, for growth. By changing our mindset, to ?building out,? not building
The new Mayor will have the ability to attract talent to help create these new enterprise
infrastructures, and, as trust grows between government and the business community, to
encourage and support real results in bricks, mortar and job creation. Walking before running
measurable results. Real commitments. Not driven by press conferences and empty
promises.

Sincerely,



W. Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz
Chairman, Chicago Blackhawks

 
 
Rebecca Yemin Shi, Executive Director, Illinois Business Immigration Coalition 1 
Transition Committee Member: Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot 
Contact: rshi@illinoisbic.biz 
 

Memo for Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot’s Transition Committee 
Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Dev. Committee 
 
Memo Menu 
● Background: New Americans as an Engine for Economic 
Competitiveness 
● Question 1: What is happening today that we need to keep?  
● Question 2&3: What we need to implement immediately; or within the 
next year; and what we can plan for longer-term implementation?  
 

BACKGROUND: New Americans as an Engine for Economic Competitiveness 
 
As Chicago works to be a thriving, vibrant economy, immigrants and immigration are a key asset to 
build upon in three ways: 1. As a workforce that strengthens our role as a global city; 2. As an 
important source of business and job creation, and 3. As an important group of consumers. There 
are several strategies that will enhance these assets.  
 
1. New Americans as a Workforce for a Global Economy: 
 
Chicago’s immigrants and their children are an important part of a workforce strategy for the 
coming decades. Immigrants are 13% of the population of Illinois, but compose 27% of the “lowskill” labor and 28% of the PhD’s in the state. Chicago cannot thrive without both a robust supply of 
workers in both categories. The “low skill” immigrants (a misnomer for immigrants with less 
English and less education) play an essential role in our restaurant, hospitality and tourism, 
convention,  and manufacturing sectors. The “high skill” new Americans play important roles in the 
medical, engineering, academic, and technology sectors of the economy. The linguistic abilities of 
1

The Illinois Business Immigration Coalition promotes commonsense immigration reform that advances Illinois
economic competitiveness, provides Illinois companies with both the high-skilled and low-skilled talent they need,
and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs and citizens. For
more information please visit www.illinoisbic.biz

 the parents, and the potential linguistic abilities of their children are also an asset for global 
commerce. 
 
The US economy added 196,000 jobs in March 2019 — once again surpassing expectations —while 
the Illinois unemployment rate ticked up to 4.0% from 3.9%. With the highest labor force 
participation rate in 6 years, the job market continues to defy expectations with the economy 
approaching full employment. March marked a record 103rd straight month of job gains. That’s 
certainly good news, but the news could be much better if employers could find more job seekers 
for thousands of good paying jobs open.  The 2019 IBIC Survey of 147 high and low skilled 
employers and business associations showed sixty-three percent hiring or trying to hire (up 5 
points from 2018), but 55 percent (87 percent of those hiring or trying to hire) reported few or no 
qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. This applies to all businesses in need of 
new workers—both skilled and unskilled. And the hiring needs are in industries that pay well. 
Along with hospitality and construction, this category includes manufacturing, healthcare, and 
financial services. 
 
 
2. New Americans as Business and Job Creators: 
 
The outsized role of immigrants in starting businesses and creating jobs is well-known. A drive 
through Chinatown, Devon Avenue, or 26th Street is enough to drive this point home. Nationally 
immigrants are twice as likely to start new businesses as the native born.Chicago’s immigrantowned businesses generated $659 million in income in 2016. Immigrants may only have made up 
20.7 percent of Chicago’s population, but they represented 36.4 percent of the city’s entrepreneurs 
in 2016, according to a report from the New American Economy, Illinois Business Immigration 
Coalition and Chicago Mayor’s Office of New Americans released in December 2018. In fact, 
immigrants owned over 39,000 businesses and were 67.4 percent more likely to become 
entrepreneurs than people born in the U.S. 
 
 
3. New Americans as Consumers: 
 
Chicago has struggled to maintain its population. Population loss was stabilized by an influx of 
immigrants from 1990 to 2010. In recent years Chicago has begun to lose population again, and is 
in danger of no longer being a port of entry for immigrants. This not only affects workforce, but also 
our consumer base. 
 
Chicago’s immigrant population earned $16.9 billion in 2016, the report said. With that income, 
immigrants paid $4.4 billion in federal taxes and $1.6 billion in state and local taxes that year. 
 
To build on our assets, and to continue to attract new Americans there are several strategies that 
cost relatively little that can yield a lot, below  
 

  

Question 1: What is happening today that we need to keep?  
 
“Chicago as a Welcoming City”  
Chicago and Cook County have taken important steps to communicate that it is a “Welcoming” city. 
These include a “Welcoming” ordinance that prohibits cooperation with Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement. (This ordinance has several carve outs that can be eliminated.) Chicago has a 
Municipal I.D. program, administered by City Clerk Valencia. Chicago provides Community College 
scholarships to all youth with a “B” average, regardless of immigration status. Each of these 
initiatives is valuable, and should be continued and improved.  
 
 “Chicago Legal Protection Fund and Community Justice Initiative”: A community-based legal 
services program funded by the City of Chicago to address mass incarceration and mass 
deportation facing our vulnerable and resilient communities of color  
 
After the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, Chicago City Council and Mayor Rahm Emanuel 
approved funding to support "Chicago Legal Protection Fund and Community Justice Initiative" to 
protect Chicago's vulnerable communities of color from the twin scourges of mass incarceration 
and mass deportation. Over the last 3 years, this program has trained over 200 navigators "super 
volunteers" from our neighborhoods to conduct mass "know your rights" presentations at faith 
institutions, schools, community organizations, block clubs etc and reached over 50,000 residents 
across all 50 wards. The program has connected vulnerable individuals to legal defense and 
representation. The "Chicago Model": a hybrid of community navigators and attorneys is now 
nationally recognized, and replicated throughout the country. Chicago model has outperformed 
New York City and Los Angeles year after year with far less funds (Per year Chicago 2M per year; 
NYC 5M; LA10M) because of our deep investment in and engagement by our communities and 
neighborhoods directly impacted. Chicago model has partnered with business associations and 
employers to reduce barriers to employment, provide certified training, and address labor shortage 
for Chicago employers. Because President Trump continues to execute policies that split apart 
families and threaten our communities of color, “Chicago Legal Protection Fund and Community 
Justice Initiative”  is an impactful, costly-effective, community-based, grassroots-led empowerment 
program that needs to continue and even expand upon. “Cities for Citizenship”: The Mayor of 
Chicago is a founding co-chair of this national network of cities that promote naturalization for New 
Americans. In the past 5 years this has grown to 74 Mayors, County Executives, and Cities, with 
Chicago providing naturalization support locally and with the Mayor providing leadership 
nationally.  

 
Question 2: Moving Forward: What we need to implement immediately; or within the 
next year; and what we can plan for longer-term implementation 
  
CHICAGO GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS TASKFORCE to Create Jobs, Grow the Economy and Expand 
Access to Family-Sustaining Employment for Residents Living in Our Neighborhooods.  

  
  
CHICAGO CAN BE A NATIONAL MODEL with 1) smart, innovative, collaborative apprenticeship 
and pre-apprenticeship programs that strengthen the existing workforce infrastructure, employer, 
business association, government and community partnerships 2) create an “access to justice” 
pipeline for immigrants and returning citizens to fill available positions by strengthening 
community based legal services to reduce barriers to employment, prosperity and housing 
including but not limited to expungement, know your rights, legal defense, certified training, and 
apprenticeship/pre-apprenticeship programs; all in order to keep Chicago businesses globally 
competitive and provide good paying, family sustaining jobs to our vulnerable and resilient 
communities of color.  
 
POTENTIAL High and Low skilled workforce SOLUTIONS 
●

 Apprenticeships and workforce pipelines: Increase access to /  investment in workforce 
development for Chicagoans by supporting pre-apprenticeship pipelines and 
apprenticeship programs into in-demand industries: 
○

Create short job training programs for low-skill workers in order to meet the 
demand for new and growing industries, with opportunities for paid on-the-job 
training 

○

Establish a position within local Area Planning Councils that functions as  liaison 
between Workforce Centers, CBOs, Apprenticeship Providers and Employers 

○

 Establish a “access to justice” pipeline for immigrants and returning citizens to fill 
available positions by strengthening community based legal services to reduce 
barriers to employment, prosperity and housing including but not limited to 
expungement, know your rights, legal defense, certified training, and 
apprenticeship/pre-apprenticeship programs; 

●

Credential Transfer: Build credential transferring infrastructure and increase licensing 
accessibility including international transcript evaluations 

●

Language as an Asset:  Invest in contextualized adult education and upskilling, beginning 
with industry-focused pilots at CBOs, to ensure job training completion and employer 
retention for low-skilled workers 

●

Employer education: Establish an employer compliance and worker protection  program to 
prepare for I-9 audits and workplace raids.  
 

The Illinois Business Immigration Coalition promotes commonsense immigration reform that advances Illinois
economic competitiveness, provides Illinois companies with both the high-skilled and low-skilled talent they need,
and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs and citizens. For
more information please visit www.illinoisbic.biz 

 Transition Memo:
•

Create destination business districts that attract city residents and visitors outside of the
downtown central business area; ones that celebrate the diversity of the city. Support the
exploration and accessibility of the city with robust transportation and marketing plans,
understanding that doing so will drive and help sustain revenue.

•

Be upfront about deep-rooted, systemic issues facing the city, and focus on solutions
instead of problems. Utilize a scorecard that outlines metrics (unemployment, school
graduation rates, housing values, police encounters, crime statistics, average wages, etc.)
for each of the 77 neighborhoods or 50 wards and publish it. While the information is
already out there, making it easily available and digestible in one place by a broad base of
city residents is important. Keep it updated at regular intervals to show progress or lack
thereof. Plan to continuously communicate with community in person to discuss and
determine outcomes and solutions where necessary. This regular report should include a
return on human investment that recognizes increased job readiness and attainment, lower
incarceration rates, and the economic benefit from those kinds of improving statistics.

Create a new branding plan to lift up and communicate effectively the value in Chicago’s history
and diversity. This will also serve to help counter the crime and segregation statistics for which
the city is generally known. It is crucial to whole city economic development to rewrite the
narrative about communities beyond the central business district. The full narrative of the city’s
history or promise has never fully been conveyed. Chicago like many large cities, has a
“Chinatown” and a “Greektown” located within proximity to the loop, visitors and residents of
those areas are provided with insight in to the value of the city’s immigrant history. The south
and west sides of the city are, however, largely ignored, and the ethnic and historic treasures of
the vast diversity in the remainder of Chicago goes largely unnoticed and are untapped. As such
they are diminished.
•

Anchor institution investments in neighborhoods such as Englewood and Woodlawn
begin to recognize the needs of those communities. However, creating and growing
wealth in underserved communities requires that the dollars spent in those institutions
stay and recirculate in those communities. While there is some question about the validity
of circulation statistics, the idea that the long term viability of even anchor institutions
depends on the neighborhood’s ability to sustain them. So, the ability of a neighborhood
business district to attract dollars from the outside that were not there before is essential
for wealth accumulation, growth, and intergenerational wealth transfer.

In the first 100 days, a qualitative, quantitative, and participative baseline assessment of each
neighborhood would be important to see where investment is most needed and the wholistic
supports that would make wealth accumulation and small business development stable and
sustainable. Start to get the input from community residents on what they see as the greatest
barriers to employment and business startup. Bring together educational, police, housing, and
corporate citizens to determine how investments in a wider variety of communities can be made

 with the greatest impact.
The value of engaging all parts of the city in targeted community development will be critical.
The one thing that is different about Chicago than many other large cities is the diversity of
business sectors represented in our corporate community. Their ability to locate essential
business functions outside of traditional locations is central to a plan to recognizing the value of
all Chicago and returning to a more historic model for Chicago development. Additionally,
determining what would draw people to other parts of the city, how those areas could be branded
and developed would have to work hand in hand. For example, a technology hub doesn’t have to
be located in the loop or Fulton Market, it could just as easily be an “anchor” creating wealth and
traffic and surrounding services in any of a dozen underdeveloped neighborhoods. Getting the
corporate community to recognize the long-term value in this will take time to develop an
inclusive model and culture of good corporate citizenship. With a current plan for over $16
billion dollars of investment to be spent between O’Hare airport and Lincoln Yards, there seems
to be little or no plans for neighborhoods that currently struggle. Refocusing activity and
commensurate types of investment throughout the city will be important to long term growth and
sustainability.

Changing hearts and minds is a monumental process. Long-term practices have created a stigma
attached to many neighborhoods that allows people to think that their current condition is the
result of their unwillingness to “do better”. This is simply not true.
Often times, checking the box of a charitable donation to address a problem rather than truly
investing in the core issues makes people feel better, but the problem continues to develop and
deteriorate. Doing the hard work to get people to believe in transformational investment will be
critical to the success of a strategic investment plan. Additionally, addressing the wholistic needs
of long term underserved communities will require that we treat not only the current outcomes,
but stop the pipeline of problems at the same time.

 April 11, 2019
Name: Sam Toia
Committee: Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development
Initiative
Chicago Direct Connect
•
Hiring initiative that pairs pre-screened job-seekers with employers ready to hire
immediately for their most pressing job openings
•
Not just a “job fair”, but a series of hiring events where applicants can earn conditional
offers of employment on the spot.
Description
•
•

•

This would be a series of events for employers and job seekers to meet and interview.
Working with premiere workforce agencies, the events would provide employers with
opportunities to take a strategic approach to finding their next best hires and for job
seekers to find their next best employment opportunity.
In advance of events, workforce agencies would help job seekers with practicing
interview skills, assistance creating resumes, dressing appropriately, etc.

Value of Initiative
•
•
•
•
•

Puts job-seekers back to work at an accelerated pace
Helps employers quickly fill varied positions within their organization
Incentivizes companies to invest in Chicago with this additional hiring resource
Streamlines the process of hiring for employers, which will help keep unemployment
down and put Chicagoans most in need of opportunity back to work.
For job seekers in disadvantaged neighborhoods, these hiring initiatives would provide
them with employment opportunities in industries where they may not have realized there
are jobs available

Implementation/Current Practices
•

•
•

For more than two years, the Illinois Restaurant Association, along with business
association partners, has worked with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership on an
initiative called Hospitality Hires Chicago. More than 600 people have been hired in the
restaurant, retail, hospitality, and tourism industries as the result of three Hospitality
Hires Chicago events.
This would act as a model for the Chicago Direct Connect initiative, which would expand
the concept to other industries beyond hospitality.
The City could collaborate directly with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership
or an alternative workforce development agency to develop an expanded program
applied to broader industries.

Implementation Needs – First 100 Days
•

Mayor’s team collaborate with Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership team to determine

 •
•

feasibility for immediate expansion of Hospitality Hires Chicago
Additional resources to workforce development agency to implement broader hiring
initiative
City would need buy-in from industries/associations to promote initiative and engage
businesses

Implementation Needs – Long-Term
•

For greater efficacy, City should collaborate with organizations that provide industryspecific training at the high school level to prepare students for various career paths
•
Example – ProStart® training for high school students that are pursuing careers in
culinary and hospitality industries
•
ProStart® is a national, two-year program for high school students that develops
the best and brightest talent into tomorrow’s industry leaders.

Challenges
•
•
•
•
•
•

Managing Chicago Direct Connect while not duplicating/undermining current initiatives
around the city/county
Need buy in and commitment from employers to be prepared to make job offers on the
spot during hiring events
Adequate funding for the program
Prescreening time necessary for candidates
Education and outreach to labor pool is key
During hiring events, space constraints can be an issue

 To: Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot
From: Simone Weil
Transition Committee: Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development
Focus: Promote regional and inclusive economic growth
Robust growth strategy that reduces inequality. Launch an economic strategy that builds on
metropolitan Chicago’s global competitiveness and grows family-sustaining jobs in every neighborhood.
Context. Chicago’s economy and residents are inextricably linked with our suburban neighbors. Thirtysix percent of Chicagoans commute to suburban Cook or the collar counties,1 and businesses rely on
supply chains and customers that crisscross the region’s invisible borders. Collectively our regional
assets – which help drive business development – are derived from countless local decisions. Now
more than ever, it is time for the region and the City of Chicago to implement joint strategies that reflect
this interconnectedness and address existing inequity.
Evolving technologies, global commerce, and consumer demand are transforming economies around
the world. Metropolitan Chicago is well-positioned to seize new opportunities due to our industrial
strengths, diverse and skilled workforce, preeminent North American freight hub, dedicated civic
leaders, and world-class institutions of education and research. Yet the region has experienced
prolonged slow growth that lags behind our peers and national averages. During 2001-17, overall
economic output increased on average just 0.9 percent annually, coupled with just 0.2 percent annual
employment growth.2 While many residents are able to thrive, economic outcomes vary starkly by race
and ethnicity. Only one in five Hispanic adults has achieved an associate degree or higher, and 17.2
percent of black workers are unemployed – more than four times the overall U.S. unemployment rate.3
Research-based. A large body of empirical research shows that equitable economic opportunity drives
growth; indeed, more equitable regions tend to experience longer, stronger periods of expansion and
less severe downturns.4 The City of Chicago’s strategy should pursue two parallel tracks – growing the
economy and catalyzing prosperity in all neighborhoods.
Grow economic opportunity. The City should strengthen its commitment to a regional
economic strategy like the one currently led by the Chicago Regional Growth Corporation
(CRGC). The region’s recently adopted long-range comprehensive plan, ON TO 2050, calls for
coordination at the regional level and recommends support for CRGC to develop and implement
a growth strategy.5 In taking shared ownership of CRGC with the chairs of the seven county
boards, the City would inform smart, targeted strategies to grow the region’s diverse and
specialized economy – for example, increasing exports and foreign investment, rather than
shuffling existing business activity from one regional locality to another. Businesses that
compete in national and global markets make up one-third of the region’s jobs but more than
half of resident income.6 These industries have an outsized ability to create new jobs and better
support upward economic mobility. The City’s commitment should also advance CRGC’s focus
on inclusive growth. Despite having stated its strong commitment, the organization has not yet
articulated meaningful strategies to address inequity in our workforce or among business
owners. For instance, CRGC’s industry strategies should inform and align with the efforts of
strategic workforce partners to shape career pathways and apprenticeships in jobs of regional
significance.
1

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) analysis of U.S. Census Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics
data, “Travel trends,” ON TO 2050 snapshot report, 2016.
2
CMAP analysis of Bureau of Economic Analysis and Economic Modeling Specialists International data (Emsi), 2017.
3
CMAP analysis of American Community Survey data, five-year estimates, 2010 and 2017.
4
CMAP, “Inclusive Growth,” ON TO 2050 strategy paper, 2017.
5
CMAP, “Pursue regional economic development,” ON TO 2050, 2018.
6
CMAP, “Support the region’s traded clusters,” ON TO 2050, 2018.

 Expand neighborhood prosperity. The City should expand and scale up partnerships with
communities to create and update neighborhood plans so residents and businesses can define
a shared vision. These plans should consider the need for amenities that improve quality of life,
such as local retail and food access, as well as better position communities to leverage their
assets to attract and retain export-oriented businesses that bring well-paying jobs. The plans
should consider investments in core assets, like people, local institutions, and the built
environment, over incentives and align local objectives with the economic benefits realized
regionally. For example, the City can support neighborhoods by growing employment around
equitable transit-oriented development7 and preserving appropriate industrial land uses. Since
2012, the CMAP Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program has undertaken dozens of such
plans across the region. In the City, CMAP partnered with community organizations, elected
officials, and the City’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to lead transparent and
inclusive planning processes from Pullman to the North River Communities. Transformative
local planning informs and empowers residents, prioritizes public investments in development,
and enables residents to revitalize communities.
Values-driven. Chicago has the opportunity to pursue an economic strategy that promotes inclusive
growth at both the regional and neighborhood levels. Public debates on racial and economic inequality
often focus solely on improving education and skills, and their value cannot be overstated. Yet, the
structure of our regional economy – the kinds of occupations and industries present here – also shapes
the opportunities that workers find in the labor market. Equity must be at the core of making decisions
and developing strategies to bolster the region’s industries. This will mean changing old practices.
Incentives, for instance, do little to address our long-term needs and competitiveness, and they
frequently run counter to good or inclusive governance. Because they require coordinated action across
communities, strong economic strategies and local plans only work if they are imbued with
transparency, inclusion, and accountability.
Action-oriented. These measures will require reorienting activities among World Business Chicago
(WBC) and DPD, as well as engaging the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, Department of
Transportation, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Housing Authority, and other entities in new ways.
CMAP’s research and analysis, and the ON TO 2050 plan, could also inform the City’s strategies to
address transportation, housing, economic development, open space, the environment, and other
quality-of-life issues.
From day one. The administration can engage with CRGC and its elected leaders – committing
leadership and some resources to the effort. At the community level, the administration can
evaluate existing CMAP LTA plans and DPD’s approach, such as Chicago Neighborhood Now’s
planning efforts8 – addressing gaps and leveraging strengths.
In the first 100 days. The City can work with CRGC to establish a strategic direction for
growing globally-competitive industries in an inclusive manner. The administration can launch
an effort workforce development partners, and business leaders to develop more career
pathways and apprenticeship programs that reach diverse populations. On the community level,
the new administration can launch neighborhood planning efforts across the City.
Challenges. This work will require building trust with communities that have not enjoyed recent
economic prosperity and regional stakeholders. The challenge of building trust cannot be understated.
In a similar vein, reorienting the approach for WBC or DPD will require resolute leadership.

7
8

Elevated Chicago, “What’s eTOD?” https://www.elevatedchicago.org/whats-etod/.
City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Chicago Neighborhoods Now.

 PRIM LAWRENCE GROUP
Community economic development and real estate consulting firm
332 South Michigan Suite 1032 P609
Chicago, Illinois 60604
773-785-9605 phone 773-785-6302 fax
primlaw@aol.com email

Memo

Submitted to: Business Economic Neighborhood Development Transition Committee
Submitted:

Teresa Rufaro Prim, Prim Lawrence Group

Date:

April 15, 2019
Re:

Request for Initiative Recommendations.

Proposed Initiative
Formation a City of Chicago led Opportunity Zone (OZ) and Neighborhood Investment
Collaboration (or Consortium) that will prepare an investment prospectus to facilitate private
capital investment including but not limited to: Opportunity Zone Investments (OZ), foundations
and/or individuals in targeted neighborhoods on the south and west side of Chicago.
To date in Chicago numerous meetings have been convened and attended by local stakeholders
including but not limited to philanthropy, non-profits, public and private sector, and potential
investors. However, these meeting have merely informed participants of the new tax incentive
investment opportunity and/or led to small discussions. Nothing, however, has yet materialized
as a way forward that insures economic and social impact within targeted neighborhoods that
have historically been left behind.
Recommendation
The City of Chicago should convene within the first 100 days a City of Chicago OZ and
Neighborhood Investment Collaboration (or consortium) to prepare an “Investment
Prospectus.” This body would be ongoing and long term. Building upon a tool for OZ investment
by the New Localism Advisor and Accelerator for America, which is designed to help cities and
neighborhoods identify and communicate its distinctive assets, accelerate employment density,
business demand and smart place-making, align city investments and advantages of selected OZs
as well as viable projects for investment. Cities, like Louisville and St. Louis and many others,
have already published OZ prospectus. See link here https://louisvilleky.gov/sites/default/files/
louisville_forward/louisville_prospectus_2.2019.pdf
and
https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/
government/departments/sldc/real-estate/opportunity-one/documents/upload/
STL_OZ_Prospectus_web.pdf. Given the interest expressed to date by relevant stakeholders,
executing this initiative should not bear many challenges. The City of Chicago Department of
Planning and Development provides an infrastructure to convene the proposed body.

 As cited by Bruce Katz and Ken Gross in “A Opportunity Zone Investment Prospectus Guide,” an
Investment Prospectus will help concretize a unified vision for equitable and inclusive growth, leverage
public and private sector capital and catalyze better investments and decisions. The Investment Prospectus
is a hybrid of three more common documents or approaches: a community marketing strategy, an
economic development policy brief   and a private investment memorandum see link http://
www.acceleratorforamerica.com/OZGuide.

Often in the past, the City of Chicago has been “developer centric,” resulting in it being
responsive to the self-interests and financial benefit of developers versus ensuring that the
leveraging of public resources maximizes benefits to the City and its residents. Through a City
led collaboration of all stakeholders the creation of a city-wide Investment Prospectus will
provide a shared platform for government (state, county and city), financial institutions,
individual donors, foundations and local community development institutions to collect and
analyze data, mutually set investment criteria and evaluate impact.
The Investment Prospectus should highlight those OZs that are not near or within gentrifying
census tracts like Fulton Market and the old Michael Reese Hospital site on the lakefront where
market-rate financing resources can support the redevelopment of these sites, while at the same
time generate a financial return to their investors. Census tracts in community areas on the south
and west side should be clustered where feasible, e.g. sub-regions. The Urban Institute developed
a score of investment flows based on capital access to tracts based on the four components of
commercial lending, multifamily lending, single-family lending and small business lending but
noted that other flows of capital such as local, state, federal and philanthropic funding were not
included and would require local knowledge to help contextualize, clarify and even correct the
understanding conveyed via the score, a next steps which the City and collaboration could
facilitate (https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/metropolitan-housing-and-communities-policycenter/projects/opportunity-zones-maximizing-return-public-investment). To further inform the
City and the collaborative, the Urban Institute released a report that divides OZ tracts into two
categories: 1) those that need to jump start and accelerate growth, and 2) those that require
guardrails so investments do not simply benefit land speculation and fuel gentrification.
OZ rules require that most of the business tangible property be new to both the business and the
OZ unless the business substantially improves the property. In addition to identifying companies
seeking to expand and relocate, this provision incentivizes investments in start-up or new
companies within the OZ. To ensure the desired impacts are scalable, as well as address the
racial wealth gap through job creation, shared ownership models such as worker-owned
cooperatives, and conversion of existing companies for sale to worker-owned should also be
considered along with real property, e.g. revitalizing vacant land and/or buildings for affordable
housing.
Infusion of Values
In order to insure transparency, equity, accountability, diversity, inclusion and transformation the
City of Chicago led collaboration should: 1) Be comprised of regional and local community
development organizations and developers who reflect the racial and gender diversity within the
targeted neighborhoods as well as philanthropy, potential donors and citywide developers and
corporate leaders; 2) Make the Investment Prospectus public before being final to provide for
broader feedback and 3) Establish a set of criteria for public sector investment, i.e. number and
quality of jobs, companies within innovative and growth industries, minority and women owned
business participation, values as well as ensure sustainable or net zero development.

 Better Together Chicago

Monday April 15, 2019

Tim Tuten
President & Co-Owner
The Hideout
Business, Economics, and Neighborhood Development Transition Committee
Come Back to Chicago! We’re starting over!
Pulaski at Night
by
Andrew Bird
Half empty, half full
Cup runneth over
Horns of plenty, coffers full
We're starting over
…
I paint you a picture
Of Pulaski at night
Come back to Chicago
City of, city of light
Come back to Chicago
…
We're starting over!

Andrew Bird, In Paris, “the City of Light”
Andrew Bird in Paris 2016
Andrew Bird, comes back to Chicago
Andrew Bird at the Hideout 2017
This is just an example of how Andrew Bird, a “small business” person from Chicago, can
promote Chicago to the rest of the world.

Memo to Business, Economics, and Neighborhood Development Transition Committee
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A potential initiative (one sentence)

Chicago’s Clean & Green New Deal will promote Chicago’s safe and clean neighborhoods, to the
small business, “creative economy” to every neighborhood, school, block and lot in Chicago.
•

How the new administration can infuse the values of equity, transparency, accountability,
diversity and inclusion, and transformation in this initiative:

 How do we teach our children the words “equity, transparency, accountability, diversity and inclusion,
and transformation”? As parents and teachers, we know that before a child can read, they can see us,
and model our behavior. Actions speaker louder than words. And as Jane Addams, Chicago’s first
Nobel Prize winner said: “Action indeed is the sole medium of expression for ethics.”
Action In Deed! On the first day The NEW Mayor should act! May 20 should be seen as a break from
the past; in a way that any child can see and understand. This is a NEW day in Chicago! Inauguration
Day on May 20 should be seen like the first day of Summer. Chicago is starting over!
Remember Everything I needed to know, I learned in Kindergarten? Well let’s get back to that! Like
when the Black Panthers initiated the first breakfast programs . Let’s focus on our children, especially
our teen agers, to make Chicago a New Clean, Green and TEEN City!
Every school, all 600+ must be connected to a city agency, and local businesses. Many are already.
This should be mandatory that every business in the city must have a contact with the neighborhood
grade and high schools. These schools in turn must have a contact with local businesses.
•

And as it pertains to this initiative:

o What is happening today that we need to keep
There are many, many organizations in the intersection between students and business; Mikva
Challenge , Embarc , Arne Duncan’s and the Emerson Collective’s Chicago CRED immediately come to
mind. There are many more. The mayor needs to really prioritize a “school to career pipeline”. This
concept is nothing new. There have been numerous studies linking crime to inadequate economic
development. We don’t need another study. We need to act! There needs to be a blunt message, that
economic development is about “life and death”. And Chicago is alive now. The corruption is dead now.
It is “Springtime in Chicago”, and we have fertile soil for small business that wants to grow.
o What we need to implement in the next 100 days
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ACT! All Chicagoans Together!
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Teen agers often dread the ACT for college. Let’s “flip” it, and use ACT as an acronym
for all of us. All Chicagoans Together!
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The actual, physical first thing we do is “start with a clean slate”. Like the first day of
school, a child feels like it’s a fresh start!
•
We often tell our teens that they can not go out until they have finished their homework
and cleaned their room.

Let’s call it a Clean, Green, Teen New Deal. Let’s clean up our House!
•

Small Business!
The key to Chicago neighborhood development is small business. In every neighborhood.
Starting a small business is like when a person is buying or selling a house. You want to clean it
up first to sell it. You clean it up when you move in.

Let’s literally clean up Chicago!
The First “100 Days perfectly coincides with Summer “Vacation”. May 20 (when young people start to
get out of school for Summer break), through Labor Day September 1, (when the CPS kids go back to
school).

 The Mayor should call for a clean city, and a City clean government.
While corruption is being swept out of City Hall, the people of Chicago will be actually sweeping up our
streets, alleys, parks.
•
The slogan can be: “Everybody grab a broom”.
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All 50 Wards will be expected to organize “Clean Teams” (at least every weekend through the
summer).
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To pick up garbage, clean out vacant lots, parks etc.
•
All local businesses will be asked to contribute what they can.
•
Large corporations like Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, Target, will be asked to
contribute garbage bags, brooms, gloves etc.
•
Small restaurants can donate pizzas, sandwiches, whatever.
•
Every adult and child can help. North, South, West-side wards, neighborhood groups,
churches, Boy and Girl Scout groups will be encouraged to help in each other’s
neighborhoods.
•
Every parade will have the Mayor, aldermen, activists carrying brooms, mops, etc. in
“Bucket Brigades”
o What we can plan for longer-term implementation
Chicago should become the National model for the Green New Deal
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We should Manufacture Green Prosperity!
The BACP should be enhanced, with a more pro-active, pro-small, local business mission and
responsibility.
“Lori’s List”, City creates Lori’s List, based on the concept of “Angie’s List”.
•
Any business in Chicago will be reviewed from Yelp Reviews, and other sites, such as
Angie’s List.
•
Lori’s List will also connect businesses to area schools.
Chicago must create an Office of New Urban Mechanics like Philadelphia and Boston.
We need to work with the amazing University of Chicago's Urban Labs and folks like Theaster
Gates.
Vacant Land and Building Audit: The City needs to account for every single empty lot and
building.
•
Owners need to be identified and accounted for.
•
The City should confiscate derelict properties.
•
Vacant property will be seen as a “crime”; a “code violation” and/or a “safety issue”.
•
The City will pro-actively go after delinquent property tax holders.
•
The City will work with Community groups, and activists to identify questionable
properties.
•
The City will redistribute land and property to local community activists and
organizations with a plan.
•
Community members will recommend better uses for the properties, working with City
representatives from a menu of ideas.
•
These properties will create a stockpile of properties for small businesses and
entrepreneurs.
•
They can be used for “Victory Gardens”, Fruit trees, Urban Farming
Small, locally based businesses will be encouraged to expand, or add another franchise
in properties in underserved communities.
Eligible small businesses will be able to access “Lori’s List” of small companies and
contractors who can provide tangible services such as roof repair, masonry, plumbing, windows,
electrical.
These same small, local companies MUST have contact and employ Chicago teenagers
through the City/CPS programs.
The unions can provide training and support for these students.

o What challenges we might encounter in executing on this initiative
•

Many suburban, down-state, and national businesses will feel that this Chicago-Centric

 •
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campaign and approach will prevent them from doing business in the city. Currently the
Suburbs are losing retail stores, and malls are closing. This is due to multiple demographic,
socio-economic and cultural trends. Large corporations are leaving their “suburban Campuses”
for the city.
The City will encourage, and work with suburban, and outside companies to set up a local
office, in an underserved community and Opportunity Zones.
To hire more Chicagoans, teens, women, people of color, residents of Opportunity Zones,
veterans, ex-offenders.

In order to to stimulate and generate business and economic development in the most underserved
areas of Chicago, we need to immediately work with every city agency, public schools, and existing
businesses to literally focus, repair, maintain, and clean up our neighborhoods. Simultaneously, the City
will work with the business community and other organizations to promote neighborhoods to local
Chicagoans, interested in starting small companies, and in outside businesses to move in, or come back
to Chicago. Forget about Amazon HQ2. Let’s focus on small, owner-operated shops and venues. Let’s
start by sweeping the streets and cleaning up the vacant lots. Reminding our children that our city’s
motto is Urbs in Horto!
Now, “everybody, grab a broom!”
Let’s get to work!
Tim Tuten
The Hideout
April 2019

 Mayor-Elect Transition Team Memorandum
Dr. Byron T. Brazier
Apostolic Church of God
The Network of Woodlawn
Arthur M. Brazier Foundation
The Purpose of this memo is to respond to the Mayor-elect’s request.
As we continue to review specific recommendations during the transition team meeting, two
factors must exist: 1) defined initiatives for ensuring that all neighborhoods participate in
regional groups and 2) all individuals receive real opportunity and participate in the region’s
economic vitality.
In reviewing the values of the Lightfoot Administration, the question this memorandum looks to
clarify is how do we address the systemic issues of culture and bias through progressive
development of an institutional support system? We recognize that such communities are a
totality of human relationships, distinguished by mutual interest, shared institutions, and culture,
that are engaged in a common activity of living. At the same time, we recognize the causes for
the dysfunction within under-served communities. In order to effectuate real change, there must
be transformation of both systemic thought and the capacities that sustain community
dysfunction. Over the years, our society has been inundated with excellent research. We are also
inundated with the implementation of program-after-program and at the end of the programs,
communities remain the same. In Woodlawn, the University of Chicago touts its community
awareness and programs, but Woodlawn and Washington Park are still the same, primarily
because their programming only impacts a few individuals and not the community at-large.
University of Chicago’s programming is more like trickle-down economics: it sounds good but
no real impact.
The question becomes: How does the City of Chicago best support under-served communities to
become self-determined and self-sustaining and less dependent on unsustainable programmatic
initiatives? For this to be achieved, communities must organize as a collective body to receive
the support offered by the City of Chicago or other philanthropic organizations. This type of
necessary organizational capacity is described in the “The Promise of Comprehensive
Community Development Report,” authored by David Greenberg and Sonya Williams of
MDRC. In summary, they explained, “that comprehensive community development may best be
achieved not by a single organization but by the mobilization and coordination of many
neighborhood actors. Program designers made a choice to rely on a single lead agency that is
charged with facilitating collective work and is responsible for catalyzing action that is not fully
in its control — a challenging task under the best of conditions. It is additionally challenging for
organizations to become effective neighborhood-wide conveners or “intermediaries” when they
do not already have these skills or where the local environment does not provide incentives to
collaborate”.
Concerning land development, we recognize that the current system of private development for
land acquisition and development is a multi-layered, profit oriented system that is known to

 enhance gentrification and regards involuntary displacement as a market consequence.
Additionally, there is minimal monitoring of the developer’s project delivery, project quality, and
community benefit. Unfortuantely, the developer-led process provides limited advantages when
we consider the consequences of displacement.
If we were to effectively address community development, I would recommend creating a
community-led development approach that acts in concert with private development. This
approach is in formulation between the City of Chicago, Cook County Land Bank, three banks,
LISC and the Public Building Commission.
The benefits of this process will include:
•
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Communities have the opportunity to participate in the capitalistic development process
and become more self-determined and self-sufficient.
It will support the inclusion of indigenous contractors and developers through the
underwriting process.
This process will intentionally address and minimize involuntary displacement through
accelerated redevelopment and aggregation of institutional resources.
It will balanced redevelopment across luxury, market rate, and workforce housing.
Increased and sustained employment through accelerated and balanced development.

The final recommendations are being finalized and available in May 2019.

 April 15, 2019
Dear Mayor Elect Lightfoot and Business, Neighborhood, and Economic Development
Committee Members, Co-Chairs, and Facilitators,
The following recommendations are from Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT), a nonprofit
organization committed to improving women’s economic equity by increasing their participation
in well-paid, skilled trades jobs traditional held by men. Originally established by tradeswomen
in 1981 as a support network, CWIT now offers a range of direct service programming and
technical assistance that addresses the barriers that prohibit women and girls from entering and
succeeding in male-dominated jobs by creating opportunities and promoting equitable training
and workplaces. These recommendations are designed to redress a significant barrier that
continues to impede women’s progress in the skilled trades – the lack of consistent employment
opportunities.
The potential initiative we propose is the expansion of the We Can Build It construction hiring
model – an initiative that links pre-apprenticeship training programs with hiring goals for women
and people of color on targeted construction projects such as the Obama Presidential Center - to
upcoming city projects including Lincoln Yards, the 78, new terminal at O’Hare Airport, and
expansion of the public transit system.
To infuse the values of equity, transparency, accountability, diversity and inclusion, and
transformation in that initiative, and similar workforce initiatives we recommend that the City of
Chicago:
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Promote inclusion by establishing goals on publically funded construction /transit/public
safety projects for workforce participation (by hours worked) by gender and race.
•
Promote equity by requiring contractors and public agencies to commit to training their
workforce on topics that address Respectful Workplaces and Sexual Harassment
Prevention, Being an Ally, Mentoring, and Equitable On-the-Job Training and Workplace
Practices.
•
Support diversity by institutionalizing funding for preparatory training programs for
women, high-school students and underrepresented populations to become competitive
candidates for high-wage, high-skill construction/transit/manufacturing/public
infrastructure and safety jobs. Ensure programs are funded to provide wraparound
services and resources that address barriers such as childcare, transportation and housing.
Foster direct pipelines from these programs to employers, apprenticeship programs, and
public agencies to ensure employment opportunities.
•
Promote accountability and transparency by establishing a public Construction Equity
Oversight committee, consistent pro-active monitoring practices and public reporting on
workforce participation achievements.
To advance this initiative:
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Keep and invest in the growth and success of We Can Build It. Support its visibility and
promote contractor support and buy-in.
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Implement in the next 100 days workforce equity goals for upcoming city projectsLincoln Yards, the 78, etc.
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For longer-term implementation, create school based programs that introduce girls to
nontraditional careers – specifically those in STEM and that don’t require college
degree.
•
To address challenges and assure long term sustainability and transformation, develop

 a plan for technical assistance to build the capacity of contractors, public agencies,
unions, apprenticeship programs and the workforce development system to build a
diverse, inclusive and equitable workforce.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit our recommendations. We look forward to the
implementation of these ideas serving as a pathway to economic opportunity and security for
many Chicago residents who are unemployed or underemployed, and certainly underrepresented
in significant and vibrant economic sectors. At the same time, these recommendations reflect an
important investment for the business community and the city to build a local, reliable, and
skilled workforce.
Respectfully submitted,
Lauren Sugerman
Lauren Sugerman
National Policy Director
Chicago Women in Trades
For more information contact: lsugerman@cwit.org or at Office/312-942-1444 or Cell/
773-964-6428