Crain's Chicago Business, April 8, 2024

IN PILSEN, TIF EXPANSION HAS SOME FANS

As the largely Hispanic community gentri es, TIF funding is touted as a boost for small businesses and property owners | PAGE 13

Dillon’s Foot Locker turnaround has Wall Street waiting

The company’s share price tanked in early March after it pushed back a margin target by two years

By Ally Marotti

Foot Locker’s turnaround under former Ulta CEO Mary Dillon is taking longer than expected — and investors are not happy.

e New York-based retailer saw its share price drop 34% in a 10-day span in March to $22.48, after Dillon's team told investors it would take two years longer than expected to reach their op-

erating margin goal of 8.5% to 9%. ough the stock price has since started to recover, experts say the road to Foot Locker’s transformation from a mallbased retailer into one that can operate in a variety of formats — including online — is likely to remain bumpy, if recent trends are any clue. e athletic apparel sector is competitive and has faced headwinds as consumers pulled back spending amid an athletic wear glut. Plus, it’s hard to grow a company — which is what investors like to see — while reinventing a retail footprint.

GREG HINZ

Is Mayor Johnson making the right moves on Rahm Emanuel’s O’Hare deal? PAGE 2

Dillon, who earned Wall Street’s respect during her eightyear tenure at Bolingbrook-based Ulta, is con dent the path she laid out to turn Foot Locker around is the right one. Her “Lace Up Plan” involves refreshing ex-

isting stores with new technology, opening new store formats, rolling out an improved loyalty program and more. It’s a longterm plan that is starting to yield results.

In an interview with Crain’s, she called the latest stock downturn a “bump in the road.”

“At this stage of my life, I really

A CHICAGOAN TO KNOW

Melody Winston is a third-generation pilot and senior executive at Living Fresh Market in Forest Park. PAGE 6

Mary Dillon | CRAIN’S FILE PHOTO

Javier Yanez is a co-founder and board member of the Pilsen Chamber of Commerce.

BETH ROONEY

Johnson plans to cut red tape for real estate developers

The mayor’s report offers more than 100 recommendations for accelerating commercial and residential construction in the city

By Justin Laurence

Mayor Brandon Johnson unveiled a report on April 5 with more than 100 recommendations to speed up the city’s approval process for new real estate developments in an e ort to put a dent in the city’s a ordable housing shortage and get cranes in the sky.

e report, dubbed "Cut the Tape," is the result of an executive order Johnson signed in December giving city departments involved in the approval process 90 days to provide recommendations to streamline the bureaucratic hurdles developers face when seeking zoning changes, building permits and nancial assistance from the city. Much of the report is based on goals to be completed over months or years and will not be implemented immediately. Johnson will appoint a new director of process improvement in his o ce to oversee the work and coordinate the e ort across city departments. A task force will also be launched later this month to track progress of the recommendations and provide “accountability” to the city o cials charged with making the changes.

One immediate step is includ -

ed in the report and is likely to be welcomed by developers: cutting down the number of required meetings, from three to one, developers must have with the city’s design review panel, a creation of former Planning Commissioner Maurice Cox that developers griped slowed down their projects.

"Why do we need to say there needs to be six-pane windows and then require people to submit to us documentation that they're going to do a six-pane window and then give us more documentation to verify that they put in the six-pane window," said city Chief Operating O cer John Roberson. "We have to be smarter than that.”

But much of the recommendations in the report will take months to implement and some need the sign-o of the City Council, which has traditionally resisted administrative e orts that limit their control over developments in their wards.

‘Big Bets’

Roberson, speaking along with other city o cials to reporters today, said developers and Chicagoans should believe the city will follow through on the goals in the

report because Johnson has made it a priority.

"We are not just presenting a bunch of ideas in our wish list. ese are things that are grounded in best practices that are based upon things that we have seen in other cities,” Roberson said. “ is is not about years for me, this is about months.”

City officials also pointed to Johnson’s appointments as evidence the mayor is listening to those who criticize the city’s approval process, including Ciere Boatright, commissioner of the Department of Planning & Development, and Lissette Castañeda, commissioner of the Department of Housing, who were both among those outside critics before they joined government.

" ese developers are charged to go get very complex nancing tools and sources to make these deals actually pencil out, and I think it's something to be said about having departments that are committed to development and committed to moving these deals faster,” Boatright said. e report is the result of interviews with 100 city sta ers across 14 departments and six focus groups with outside developers,

architects, lenders, attorneys and community organizations.

While the report includes 100 recommendations that are given completion timelines between three months and over a year, it highlights 10 “Big Bets” that touch on the complaints of developers and ideas of city ocials.

ose ideas include new hires, overhauling the city’s zoning rules to eliminate parking minimums in projects, potentially combining the functions of two mayoral-appointed commissions that review projects, expediting reviews for a ordable housing projects and using technology to improve how the city processes payments and sends out nancial assistance.

Nixing parking requirements

e city has already removed the minimum parking spaces required for developments, sometimes to zero, in areas served by local transit, but Johnson will propose legislation eliminating the requirements citywide. e move could be met with resistance by members of the City Council who are repeatedly ooded with complaints about access to parking when developments are proposed in their wards.

"I am so excited about the elimination of parking mini-

mums," Boatright said. "It's going to be a game-changer. It's going to reduce the construction costs.” e task force will include 20 to 30 “experts and practitioners in housing and commercial development,” according to the report, and will be announced later in April.

e city o cials involved in the initiative said they were “chomping at the bit” to begin removing barriers to development approvals, but acknowledged mistakes have been made during Johnson’s rst 11 months.

There are currently two vacancies on the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals. In February a transitional shelter in Uptown was rejected by the then four-member board, but likely would have been approved if Johnson had appointed a like-minded commissioner since taking office. Similar projects are being held back because the developers believe they stand a better chance of approval after Johnson makes two additional appointments.

“We have to make sure . . . we have the resources, that we have the people in place to be able to e ectuate this change, and so I have been charged with making sure that we get those appointments done in very short order, so we will be moving forward expeditiously to get that done,” Roberson said.

Former church site pitched as redevelopment opportunity

Willow Creek Community megachurch put its one-acre campus in the South Loop up for sale, touting the property’s proximity to The 78

By Rachel Herzog

A Chicago-area megachurch has put its shuttered South Loop campus up for sale, teeing up the site for a redevelopment play that could include hundreds of residential units.

Willow Creek Community Church ceased operations in February at its downtown location and has hired real estate brokerage CBRE to sell the property at 13191347 S. State St. While the one-acre site holds a low-slung building that includes o ces, day care space and a 730-seat auditorium, prospective buyers are most likely eyeing the site for its proximity to a planned megaproject, e 78, and its potential for denser development.

e site's zoning allows up to 200 residential units, and CBRE’s marketing materials play up the opportunity for a buyer to take advantage of the city’s Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus program. Doing that would let the buyer pay into a city fund and build up to 503 residential units.

CBRE First Vice President Tom Svoboda said the property is being marketed both to developers and to buyers who would want to use the existing building on the site.

"It could be a substantial redevelopment site now or in the future, or I think there's a sector of buyers that may like the building," he said.

e 78, a nearby $7 billion neighborhood-in-the-making planned by developer Related Midwest that would include thousands of units of housing, a hotel and entertainment options on a large tract of land between the Loop and Chinatown, has garnered headlines recently as the potential site of a new White Sox stadium, something marketing materials for the former church site also note.

No asking price listed

A residential development on the site would add hundreds of units to downtown Chicago as construction of new apartments is expected to drop o in 2025 because of highnancing and construction costs. Appraisal and consulting rm Integra Realty Resources forecasts delivery of 900 units in 2025, leading to a spike in rents.

e listing for the Willow Creek property doesn’t include a price, and it isn’t clear what the church expects.

"

ere's a lot of di erent ways this can go, and a user's going to underwrite their value di erently than a

developer will," Svoboda said.

e church announced in February that it was closing the Chicago campus because of its struggle to pay the mortgage on the property, according to news re-

ports, and the listing brochure says the church would vacate the site by this month.

Willow Creek acquired the property in 2017; what the church paid isn't in Cook County proper-

ty records. e church, which has locations in Crystal Lake, South Barrington, Dundee, Glenview, Lincolnshire and Wheaton, did not respond to a request for comment.

In legal ght, Art Institute faces loss beyond artwork

What’s next for United Airlines

The carrier is subject to a rare level of scrutiny by the FAA after a string of eight safety mishaps in 11 days

By John Pletz

United Airlines is now subject to a rare level of scrutiny by the Federal Aviation Administration after a string of eight safety mishaps in 11 days.

“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and e ectively managing safety,” the agency says, adding that it “will also initiate an evaluation of United Airlines under the provisions of the Certi cate Holder Evaluation Process.”

Aviation experts say it’s an intensive review that used to be referred to as “heightened surveillance,” which occurred in rare circumstances, such as after a fatal accident or when an airline was under nancial strain, such as bankruptcy.

nance procedures.

In United's case, the review appears to involve both maintenance and operations.

“It’s very unusual,” Jacobsen adds.

United's mishaps made headlines and ranged from a tire coming o a plane after takeo to aircraft returning to airports after departures because of mechanical issues. ey didn’t involve injuries or fatalities.

“I don’t see anything in the number, frequency or type of problems that raises a red ag to me,” says Kit Darby, a retired United pilot and consultant who focuses on pilot hiring and pay.

“This is the most dramatic action against a carrier I can recall.”

T|

By Brandon Dupré

The museum is battling over ownership of a drawing that’s believed to have been stolen by Nazis during the Holocaust

he Art Institute of Chicago is ghting in court to retain ownership of a drawing believed to have been stolen during the Holocaust, but the museum stands to lose more than just an artwork.

e museum’s legal team is preparing to respond to a detailed 160page motion led by the Manhattan District Attorney’s O ce, which says the Art Institute applied “willful blindness” to clearly stolen property in “one of the most agrant Nazi-era lootings of a Holocaust victim’s cultural property yet uncovered.”

As part of the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation, 10 of 11 artworks by Egon Schiele were returned from di erent cultural institutions and collectors to the heirs of Fritz Grünbaum, a Jewish cabaret

“ is is the most dramatic action against a carrier I can recall,” says Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines pilot and spokesman for its union, the Allied Pilots Association.

Under federal regulations, a number of criteria can prompt such a review, such as an increase in incidents, rapid growth, nancial distress or a substantial increase in employee or customer complaints.

In practice, however, such reviews are rare, says Joe Jacobsen, an aerospace engineer who focused on aircraft certi cation during 25 years with the FAA. He says one of the few instances he could recall involved Alaska Airlines, following a fatal crash in 2000 that was traced to mainte-

Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines pilot and spokesman for its union, the Allied Pilots Association.

e FAA and United aren’t saying exactly what the review will involve, nor who called for it. Under the Certi cate Holder Evaluation Process, the review can be “focused” on particular issues for a speci c period of time or a more open-ended “comprehensive” evaluation.

Airlines can be part of the review or not. United and the FAA declined to comment on the type of evaluation or whether the airline will be a participant.

In a March 22 memo to employees, Sasha Johnson, United’s

The strength of Chicago’s Hispanic homebuying market

The region’s housing affordability and continuing in-bound migration are combining to make the metro area an opportune place

By Dennis Rodkin

Rosalina Ruiz was a renter for the rst eight years after she came to Chicago from Mexico, but all along “we wanted to have our own house and not pay rent,” she said a few weeks after achieving that goal.

In mid-March, Ruiz and her brother Omar bought a threebedroom house for themselves and their sister in Bolingbrook, where another brother and cousins also have bought houses.

To her family, homeownership is “absolutely important,” Ruiz said.

Her family is one example in a sizable wave of Hispanic homebuying in the Chicago area that, if a recent report and local agents’ forecasts are correct, will get much bigger in the next several years.

“We de nitely see a bigger wave of Hispanic homebuying coming,” said Salma Torres, the @properties Christie’s International Real Estate agent who rep-

resented the Ruizes. “ ey see it as a good investment to make for their family.”

e Chicago area, a popular destination for Hispanic immigrants for more than a century, has two factors that will increase their share of its for-sale housing market: Homeownership is more a ordable here than in almost any other big metro area, and there’s a growing number of Hispanic households thanks to

“Russian War Prisoner,” a drawing by Egon Schiele, is housed at the Art Institute of Chicago. ANN

Physicians group raises alarm over patient safety in Ascension outsourcing deal

The Chicago Medical Society’s involvement could intensify pressure on the health system to rethink portions of its plan to hand off workers to a private-equity rm

A local physicians group is expressing worry with nonpro t health system Ascension’s decision to outsource more than 100 clinicians at its Chicago hospitals to a sta ng rm owned by a private-equity rm, a move affected workers say has the potential to harm working conditions and patient safety.

As Crain’s previously reported, St. Louis-based Ascension is terminating more than 110 hospitalists — doctors and other providers who care for patients during a hospital stay — at all 10 of its Chicago-area hospitals and turning them over to Atlantabased SCP Health, which is majority owned by private-equity rm Onex Partners.

Since hospitalists were rst noti ed of the labor transition in January, they’ve overwhelmingly been concerned about SCP Health’s private-equity ownership, a fact they say is contributing to larger patient caseloads proposed under the sta ng rm’s contracts, as it seeks to grow revenues. Hospitalists who previously spoke to Crain's argued more patients per provider and other changes to sta ng models will worsen patient care quality.

Now the Chicago Medical Society, which represents more than 17,000 local physicians, including some at Ascension Illinois, is asking for a meeting with Ascension leadership to discuss the decision after hearing from hospitalists about their worries.

In a March 25 letter written by Chicago Medical Society President Dr. Tariq Butt to Ascension Illinois Ministry Market Executive Polly Davenport, Butt disclosed that a ected hospitalists contacted the society “for assistance regarding patient safety concerns” at the 10 hospitals un-

der the proposed SCP Health deal. Butt wrote he wants a meeting with Davenport and the affected hospitalists to “amicably resolve the issues.”

“Ascension Illinois and the Chicago Medical Society share the same missions when caring for the patients and communities we serve,” Butt wrote in the letter reviewed by Crain’s. “We have a mutual obligation to ensure patient safety and work with others in the health care ecosystem to create a safe, equitable, high quality and sustainable health care system.”

In an interview, Butt said Ascension has not yet responded to the inquiry, but that the intent of the letter is to ensure Ascension is apprised of the risks and possible disruptions of care if it moves forward with the SCP Health deal.

“Our purpose is to make sure, even if a third party gets involved, patient safety and high quality is never compromised,” he said.

e Chicago Medical Society’s involvement in the labor transition could intensify pressure on Ascension Illinois to rethink portions of its deal with SCP Health. It also signals that more observers may weigh in. Other industry groups, as well as lawmakers, have already been asked to speak out, Butt said.

Ascension declined to comment on being contacted by the Chicago Medical Society or whether it would respond or take a meeting with the association. But the Catholic health system asserts the deal with SCP Health will not compromise patient care.

In a statement to Crain’s, Ascension spokesman Timothy Nelson said SCP is a physician-led group that Ascension has partnered with before in other markets. He added that Ascension spent many months evaluating potential sta ng rms before

choosing SCP Health.

“We have witnessed rst hand their ability to consistently deliver better than national average results in key metrics directly tied to an enhanced patient experience, including important measures like length of stay,” Nelson said.

Under the deal, SCP Health will take over Ascension Illinois’ hospitalist workers on June 1. Nelson said the rm has o ered positions to all hospitalists “in good standing.”

“We hope they will continue to serve in our ministry as we work with all involved to ensure a smooth transition for our providers and caregivers who put our patients rst each and every day,” he said.

Meanwhile, SCP Health and Onex Partners did not respond to requests for comment.

e letter to Ascension was sent on the same day as a separate memo that the Chicago Medical Society sent to Ascension hospitalists a ected by the labor transition. In that letter, also reviewed by Crain’s, Butt wrote the society supported hospitalists’ e orts to ensure safe and equitable patient care models, and disclosed that it is calling

on Ascension to meet with a ected workers about safety concerns.

“As many of you are aware the department of justice is currently investigating several private-equity deals and others are looking at the impact on patient safety,” Butt wrote. “ e (Chicago) Medical Society commends your sel ess e orts to protect your patients.”

'A national problem'

e labor dispute at Ascension Illinois adds to the ongoing debate about whether private equity hurts the American health care system. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies launched a probe to examine if privateequity interests are damaging health care workers, quality of care and a ordability.

Private-equity rms have deepened investments into the health care sector in recent years, particularly in sta ng rms, which many U.S. hospitals have come to rely on. From 2020 through 2023, private equity acquired 116 health care sta ng companies and were a party to more than 60% of all clinical

sta ng transactions, according to data from e Bra Group, a health care-focused mergers and acquisitions advisory rm.

“ is is really a national problem, even though it's being manifested here locally,” said Dr. Vishnu Chundi, a Chicago Medical Society board member. “It's happening all over.”

e primary concern with private equity’s foray into heath care, supported by a growing body of research, is that rms often cut sta and services while also driving up health care costs for patients and insurers by using aggressive billing practices.

Dr. Edward Linn, another Chicago Medical Society board member, pointed out that those methods could have particularly harsh e ects on the neighborhoods and towns that Ascension Illinois hospitals serve, which are largely considered to be lower-income areas with complicated, high-risk patients.

“I am very concerned that private equity now is involved in this whole dynamic,” Linn said. “ eir only goal is to make money. Patient safety, quality of care is — really in my mind — not high on the priority list.”

AbbVie to acquire immunology-focused startup Landos Biopharma

AbbVie is adding to its pipeline of drugs for in ammatory and autoimmune diseases with an agreement to buy Landos Biopharma, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that's developing a rst-in-class drug to treat ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

North Chicago-based AbbVie said in a March 25 press release that it will acquire the startup

for about $137.5 million plus as much as about $75 million in payments subject to clinical development milestones of the drug NX-13.

Virginia-based Landos has a Phase 2 clinical trial underway for NX-13, a drug for treating ulcerative colitis, the release said. e oral therapeutic could provide a novel approach to ghting in ammatory bowel disease, Gregory Oakes, president and chief executive o cer of Landos, said in the

release. He said AbbVie's leadership in the area and its global development disease make it the right company to further advance the drug.

e transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024, subject to approval by Landos' stockholders and other closing conditions, the release said.

e acquisition of the biopharma startup and the successful development of NX-13 could add a

new drug to AbbVie's list of drugs approved to treat ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. AbbVie's big sellers, Humira, Rinvoq and Skyrizi, all treat those diseases, and the company has numerous other immunology drugs under development.

e move comes amid a continuing slowdown in the previous blockbuster sales of Humira following the introduction of biosimilar competition.

The deal also follows other

recent acquisitions by AbbVie, in immunology and oncology.

At the end of 2023, AbbVie announced two deals within days of each other, saying it would buy cancer drugmaker ImmunoGen for $10.1 billion and biotech company Cerevel for $8.7 billion.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that AbbVie was looking to sell at least $13 billion in bonds to help fund those acquisitions.

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A CHICAGOAN TO KNOW

Melody Winston of Living Fresh Market

Winston, 54, is the senior executive of the 71,000-square-foot Living Fresh Market in Forest Park, one of only a handful of African American-owned supermarkets in the country. She also is director of commercial property assets for Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park, founded by her father. Winston lives in Westchester and has four grown children | By Laura Bianchi

What would surprise people about you?

I am a third-generation pilot and was a caretaker of the historical Moton Field, where the Tuskegee Airmen lived and trained. My great-uncle and grandfather were Tuskegee Airmen, and my father was a Top Gun pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

Where did you grow up?

I spent my rst ve years on the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. It was so exciting to watch jets y in and out of the airport and to see my father in full uniform, taking o for missions in Vietnam. I can still feel that rush in my bones.

What kind of kid were you?

I was a tomboy. I wanted to play softball with the boys, ride motorcycles and y planes. Nothing scared me.

When did you learn to y?

At 14, my grandfather started taking me up in his twin-engine Cessna at (Chicago's former) Meigs Field. We often ew short and long trips to places like the Grand Canyon. He was my best friend.

When did you get your rst motorcycle?

After I divorced at 36, I went to the Harley-Davidson store and picked out a shiny new lava-red Harley. I didn't even know how to turn it on! I still have that bike.

How did you get involved in the grocery retail industry?

I was the landlord for Forest Park Plaza when my father asked me during the pandemic to head up Living Fresh Market, which he had just acquired. I have been focused on rebranding the store and strategies to boost sales and community engagement.

What's new at the market?

We are supporting new producers by introducing and promoting their products at monthly store events. We are planning to o er monthly health and wellness events, and we are exploring new markets, including Maywood and Chicago, where there are food deserts.

Any white-knuckle ights?

When I signed up for pilot school, I told the instructor, "I've been ying for a long time with my grandfather."

So on the rst day of school, we are in the air, talking and laughing, when he turns the engine o and says, "You have four minutes to gure out how to turn it back on." My stomach dropped, but I pulled out the manual and within a couple of heart-pounding minutes, I gured it out. It took me two weeks to go back to class, humbled.

Cubs seek OK for rooftop signs across from Wrigley Field

It’s the latest prospective addition to the organization’s decadelong push to generate new revenue from the area around the ballpark

e Chicago Cubs want city approval to put two big corporate logo signs on rooftops of properties the team’s owners control across the street from Wrigley Field, the latest prospective additions to the Cubs’ decadelong push to generate new revenue from the area around the ballpark.

Ald. Bennett Lawson, 44th, introduced an ordinance to the City Council on March 20 that would allow the team to install a large Coca-Cola sign atop the building at 1040 W. Waveland Ave. and another LED sign for paint company Benjamin Moore on the roof of 3623 N. She eld Ave., a Cubs spokesman con rmed. e signs showcasing a pair of the team’s biggest sponsors would be highly visible from inside the ballpark, overlooking the stadium from just beyond the left- and right- eld foul poles.

If the City Council greenlights the proposal, the signs would not only add prominent new visual elements beyond the bleachers at the Friendly Con nes, they would also highlight the payo the Cubs-owning Ricketts family is now able to seize after years of gradually buying up property around the historic venue.

Lawson’s backing for the plan and a City Council signo could also signal a step forward in the team’s relationship with city ofcials when it comes to capitalizing on new revenue opportunities in and around the ballpark. e Cubs famously sparred with former 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney more than a decade ago over new developments and uses it pursued as part of the 1060 Project, a massive renovation of Wrigley Field and its environs.

If that relationship is dramatically improving under Lawson

and the current administration, it would be a promising sign for the team in its quest for other help from the city. Most notable is the team’s recent $30 million request for anti-terrorism bollards that would boost security and help the ballpark compete to host the Major League Baseball All-Star Game for the rst time since 1990.

“Since we embarked on the renovation and expansion of this historic ballpark, one of the challenges that we have faced has been with the assets that we could o er to partners within a landmarked ballpark,” said Cubs spokesman Julian Green. “ at pushed us to nd very creative ways to identify what we believe would be highvalue assets to our corporate partners. e use of signs on rooftops, we believe, provides us with a wonderful opportunity for our partners that are looking to expand their brand and image.”

Contentious history

Out eld signs have a long and contentious history at Wrigley Field. ey were at the heart of a battle about 10 years ago between the team and owners of several rooftop properties along She eld and Waveland, who argued that the team’s planned out eld video boards and signage would violate revenue-sharing contracts the rooftop owners signed with the club in 2004. ose agreements allowed the rooftop owners to sell tickets to people to watch games with unimpeded views from their rooftops in exchange for giving the Cubs 17% of their revenue.

e Ricketts family resolved the dispute with some owners, and a lawsuit led by two others was dismissed in 2015 by a federal judge who ruled that the team’s government-approved expansion of Wrigley Field meant the out eld signs would not violate terms of the agreements.

Since then, the Ricketts family has acquired more properties along She eld and Waveland to boost its control of the ballpark’s surroundings. Cook County property records show a Rickettsled venture paid $3.5 million in 2017 for the property at 3621-3625 N. She eld, which would serve as the base of the proposed Benjamin Moore sign. e Coca-Cola sign would stand atop a 1040 W. Waveland building that another Ricketts-controlled entity bought last summer for just under $4.2 million, according to property records.

Out of 19 properties that stand along She eld and Waveland across from the stadium, the Ricketts family controls 12, according to the team. Ten of those include ticketed bleacher seating atop the buildings.

“Over the last few years, as we have acquired the rooftops, we have taken our time to try to be very thoughtful in terms of how we could utilize these tremendous assets around the ballpark. For the purpose of signage, we believe it’s a great opportunity to help provide additional value to our partners.”

Ald. Lawson, who spent years working in Tunney’s o ce and took the 44th Ward reins last year upon Tunney’s retirement, did not respond to a request for comment.

Green said the team hopes to win approval from the city’s buildings department, the City Council zoning committee and the full City Council this spring to be able to install the signs as early as possible during this season.

It’s unclear how much CocaCola and Benjamin Moore would pay for the signage rights on the rooftop buildings. But a source close to the team said the investments would combine with sponsorship assets the team has inside the stadium to bring the brands in

line with the Cubs’ top-tier, longterm corporate partners.

Green said the new signs would not count toward the six out eld signs for which the Cubs won approval in 2014 from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. e team has erected three of those six signs, including two atop out eld video boards and a large corporate logo sign in left eld that went up in 2016. As of that last installation, the team still had rights to add large signs beyond the rightcenter eld bleachers and in foul territory beyond the left- and right- eld foul poles.

In-stadium approval

e approval from the city’s landmarks commission was required for the in-stadium signs because the venue’s “open air character and uninterrupted sweep of the bleachers” is protected by the city landmark ordinance that has governed the ballpark since 2004.

e panel concluded that that feature remained intact partly because there would be space between the bottom of each sign and the top of the bleachers.

Signage on the buildings outside 110-year-old Wrigley Field has a long history, too. Signs for Prager and Blatz beer adorned buildings across from the ballpark in its early days, according to Cubs team historian Ed Hartig. After the 1932 World Series, Curtiss Candy put an illuminated sign for Baby Ruth atop one of the She eld buildings meant to mark Babe Ruth’s legendary “called shot” home run.

Decades later the building at 3631 N. She eld became known for its Torco oil rooftop billboard, which debuted in the early 1970s and was displayed almost every year through the early 2000s, according to Hartig. e sign would go on after that to show ads for Sears and Miller Beer.

Big Fulton Market apartment tower goes up for sale

J.P. Morgan Asset Management is testing what investors will pay for a well-located asset in a challenged commercial real estate market

Rachel Herzog

The owner of a 29-story apartment tower in one of the city’s hottest neighborhoods has put it up for sale, setting up a test of what investors will pay for a well-located asset in a challenged commercial property market.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has hired real estate brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle to seek a buyer for the Parker Fulton Market, a 227-unit luxury apartment building at the cor-

ner of Lake and Halsted streets in the trendy West Loop neighborhood, according to marketing materials.

J.P. Morgan paid $111.4 million for the property at 730 W.

Couch Place in late 2017, according to Cook County property records, which represented a per-unit price of more than $490,000 and marked one of the priciest apartment deals of that year.

e listing doesn’t include a price, but sources familiar with the o ering expect bids to come

in at more than $100 million. A J.P. Morgan spokesperson declined to comment on the listing.

While the apartment building sector has been something of a bright spot compared with other real estate investment classes, it hasn’t been immune to a slowdown in deal flow and downward pressure on pricing brought on by high interest rates. Nationally, investment sales of apartment buildings were down 35% year over year as of February, and prices were down almost 9%, according to a

report from research firm MSCI Real Assets.

Some recent deals show investors’ con dence in the West Loop. Tishman Speyer paid $128 million for the 357-unit Union West building at 939 W. Washington Blvd. in late 2023, and Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega paid $232 million for the 45-story property at 727 W. Madison St. in August.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management recently sold another Chicago apartment building, the 19-story vintage tower at 850 N. Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville, for about $80 million, 43% less than the investment manager paid for it in 2016.

Parker Fulton Market was developed by a joint venture including Chicago rms Shapack Partners and Focus and opened in 2016. e building is 98% occupied, with average lease rents of $3.67 per square foot, according to the JLL listing brochure. A buyer could modernize some of the building’s features to raise rents and bridge the gap between rates at the Parker and more recently built apartment buildings, marketing materials note.

JLL’s Kevin Girard, Mark Stern and Zachary Kaufman are marketing the property for sale for J.P. Morgan, according to the listing.

Danny Ecker

A rendering of a Coca-Cola sign that would be built atop 1040 W. Waveland Ave.

A rendering of the planned Benjamin Moore sign atop 3623 N. Shef eld Ave.

CHICAGO CUBS PHOTOS

Wards held by Chicago’s political dynasties have one trait in common: lower crime

Some segments of the city seem to be getting more than their fair share of resources, according to a new study

Until the last decade, Chicago’s political dynasties reigned supreme. But they also had the power to exacerbate inequality throughout the city.

at’s according to a new study conducted by researchers at Harvard and the University of Chicago.

Researchers examined crime rates from 2011 to 2018 in wards held by aldermen who were part of political dynasties — those who had a family member involved in Chicago or Illinois politics. After the 2015 ward redistricting, serious crimes such as homicides, assaults, robberies and thefts decreased in blocks that were annexed into wards managed by Chicago’s political dynasties.

ose same types of crimes increased when blocks were redistricted out of dynastic wards.

e researchers analyzed 11 dynastic politicians who held ofce during that time.

Ed Burke, the longtime 14th Ward alderman, loomed large in the study. So did other institutions, like Bernard Stone, who represented the 50th Ward for four decades. All but one of those dynastic City Council members, Marty Quinn of the 13th, have since been replaced, whether by the ballot, or by a pine or jury box. In many cases, the years- or even decades-long grip of dynastic aldermen ceded to Chicago’s burgeoning progressive movement, with storied families like Deb Mell’s in the 33rd Ward transferring to rebrand Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez.

In the course of redistricting, dynastic politicians displaced blocks that already had worse crime outcomes. ose areas also tended to be poorer and have more Black and Hispanic residents than the blocks the alders annexed during redistricting. By doing so, those

lawmakers improved city services on their new blocks and concentrated their advantage in relatively well-o areas while withholding those same bene ts from other residents, researchers wrote.

However, those declines in crime rates were not sustained, said Robert Vargas, a social science professor at the University of Chicago and one of the paper’s authors. Even as crime declined in a block absorbed by a dynastic ward, that e ect dissipated after a year. e same trend applied to the blocks that were redistricted out of a dynastic ward: e crime increase was a blip.

Power of committee chairs

Most of Chicago’s ward dynasties have died out, but the tradition of City Council members using powerful committee chairmanships to bene t their wards endures. Of the 11 council members analyzed in the study, six chaired committees. While the funds for those committees should have gone to committee work, the dynastic politicians often spent them on ward services.

“Dynastic aldermen were disproportionately in these committee positions that a orded extra sta ng, and it's extra sta ng that enables them to serve their constituents more,” Vargas said.

He cautions that the takeaway from his study is not that dynastic wards are better for the city as a whole.

“If we're serious about reducing crime, we really need to pay attention to where the resources for crime reduction are going,” he said. “What the study does point out is that some segments of the city, these political families are one example and there could be many others, seem to be getting more than their fair share of crime-reduction resources.”

If the city nds a solution to its persistent crime issues, it’s not clear that those resources will go to the areas that need it most, he added.

“ is paper o ers a cautionary tale that we can't assume that whatever this intervention is, it's going to be allocated equally,” Vargas said. “ ere's so much work being done to try and reduce crime but once you start getting into the business of actually taking this public and nding a way to allocate the funds, that's when it begins to integrate with the political structure. en things can get messy and you end up reproducing the same problem because the high-crime areas are the ones that tend to be less politically connected.”

Without more data on o cer allocation, it’s di cult for researchers like Vargas to determine whether resources tackling the underlying issues of crime are allocated to a ward because of a council member’s committee chairmanship or because that

person was able to persuade police district commanders to direct more o cers to their ward. A new ordinance sponsored by Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, requiring a sta ng analysis of the Chicago Police Department could help shed light on where o cers are deployed, Vargas said.

Public safety dashboard

e city’s o ce of inspector general already operates a public safety dashboard showing staing levels at police districts. e new analysis would take into account the frequency, location and types of calls for service as well as department-wide sta ng levels and 911 times, Martin said.

“ e idea being that you have these inputs: What are the most signi cant types of crime? Where and when are they committed? How would we use our existing sta ng resources to better respond and investigate those crimes in the hopes that we're holding individuals accountable,” he said. “In doing so, that would

help reduce the frequency with which violent crime is committed.”

Some Chicagoans frustrated with a post-COVID crime wave aren’t satis ed with the work their elected representatives are doing to combat violence. In lieu of government intervention, they’re turning to privatized solutions, such as hiring security rms to patrol their blocks. Other nonpro ts like Arne Duncan’s CRED have made strides reducing crime in the city, but relying on private organizations to handle public safety poses transparency issues, Vargas argues.

“ at gives them the bene t of being able to work outside of these political structures,” he said. “It comes at a cost as well, though. I can go in and look at crime data, at some of these policing and ward dynamics where resources are being allocated. When crimereduction e orts become privatized, it becomes even harder to get data to hold these organizations accountable . . . there's no silver-bullet solution here.”

Developer plans 72-unit apartment building north of Fulton Market

The proposal for a ve-story luxury residential complex signals that real estate investors’ enthusiasm for the West Loop hasn’t waned

Rachel Herzog

A local developer is planning a ve-story apartment building north of Chicago’s Fulton Market District, a sign that real estate investors’ enthusiasm for the West Loop hasn’t waned.

An a liate of the Chicago-based Range Group has led a zoning application with the city to build a 72unit luxury apartment complex at 455 N. Carpenter St., which would replace a vacant two-story industrial property on the site.

e project is among the latest proposals in a urry of new residential development in and

around Fulton Market, a onetime industrial enclave that’s now a trendy o ce and entertainment destination. e northern end of the district has become a popular target for apartment developers since May 2020, when city ocials lifted a prohibition on residential development north of Lake Street to encourage development during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Range Group’s project is just outside of the West Loop, where developers are set to deliver more than 1,800 apartments units in 2024, according to a fourth-quarter report from the Chicago o ce of

appraisal and consulting rm Integra Realty Resources. ose projects are poised to take advantage of a spike in rents in 2025, when few new apartment buildings are expected to be delivered downtown due to high nancing and construction costs, according to Integra’s forecast. e apartment complex at 455 N. Carpenter St. would include a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom units. Fourteen of the apartment units would be marketed as a ordable housing to comply with the city’s A ordable Requirements Ordinance. e plans also include 3,600

square feet of ground- oor commercial space and 32 parking spots. A Range Group spokesman declined to comment on the plans.

Range Group’s development

portfolio also includes a vestory, 40-unit apartment building at 3140 N. Clybourn Ave. in Roscoe Village that’s set to be delivered in 2024, according to the real estate rm’s website.

Leigh Giangreco

Clockwise from top right: Ald. Marty Quinn and former Alds. Deb Mell, Bernard Stone and Ed Burke | WTTW NEWS, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CRAIN’S

Ex-CPD of cer who was paralyzed in the line of duty nds purpose — and pro t — in applesauce

Jim Mullen’s product, based on his mother’s recipe, is sold in 15 states at big-name retailers like Walmart, Jewel-Osco and Meijer

By Jack Grieve

As an o cer with the Chicago Police Department, Jim Mullen always did his best to cut people a break. He knew some folks deserved to go to jail, but in his eyes, "assistance and reminding" often went further than handcu s ever could.

Mullen misses being a police o cer. e Far North Side native's career on the force was cut short after just six years, when he was shot in the line of duty in 1996. e bullet paralyzed him from the shoulders down, and he never walked again.

Driven and upbeat by nature, Mullen was determined not to let his injury be the end of his story. "I still wanted to be a productive member of society — you've got to have some kind of purpose," he said. "I wanted my daughter to be able to see that."

at's what led him to start Mullen's Applesauce in 2007. He was inspired by one of his nurses

at Northwestern Memorial Hospital who had her own barbecue sauce brand, and he knew he had a product worth pitching to the public with his mother's homemade applesauce recipe.

"I never grew up eating something processed like a Mott's or a Musselman's or anything like that," he said. "When I went into the refrigerator for snacks, our homemade applesauce would be in an old Hellmann's or Miracle Whip jar."

How it started

Selling his mother's recipe began as something of a joke. His family frequented their neighborhood Happy Foods grocery store, and Mullen thought his mother would get a crack out of seeing her own applesauce on the shelves. He designed a label, found a co-packer, ordered 40 cases and convinced the Happy Foods family to see if they could sell it.

"That was my very first store,"

Mullen said, letting out a laugh as he traced how much the company has scaled in the 17 years since. "I started this company in my bedroom in 2007 with an idea, a dream and a voice-activated computer."

Mullen's Applesauce is now sold in 15 states at nearly 2,000 stores — up from 400 just 10 years ago — and can be found at big-name retailers like Walmart, Jewel-Osco, Menards and Meijer. A 24-ounce jar typically retails for $4.99.

Mullen, who is a ventilatordependent quadriplegic, still uses a voice-recognition device to conduct most of his business, whether that be sending emails, building PowerPoints or even working with Excel spreadsheets. "You just gotta keep swinging the bat. You deal with the hand you're dealt and you just got to go with it."

All of Mullen's products are sourced in Michigan, and the brand enlists the help of Traverse City-based Cherry Central for

packaging. "We manufacture in very small batches, so it's a pretty labor-intensive product," Mullen said. "We want it to be just like homemade, that's really the charm of the product."

In an e ort to grow the brand, Mullen recently enlisted the help of Tony Bombacino, another Chicago native and former president of Real Food Blends, which he and his wife, Julie, founded with

inspiration from their son, who himself lives with disabilities. "You can't help but be inspired by him," Bombacino said of Mullen. "It's inspirational, a feed-thesoul type thing."

With the additional help, Mullen's says it is "well on its way" to reaching the $1 million mark for annual revenue — a threshold the company has long teetered just below.

Jim Mullen was shot while responding to a 911 call in 1996.

Take it from Durbin: Chicago shouldn’t settle for less on O’Hare revitalization project

Dick Durbin is no back-bench bomb-thrower. roughout his time in government — including nearly three decades in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois — he has cultivated a reputation as a moderate legislator and a diplomatic leader who measures his words carefully. He couldn't have risen to his present position as Senate majority whip and convener of Illinois' bipartisan congressional delegation otherwise.

And so it was striking to hear him, at Crain's April 2 Power Lunch event, speak in such frank terms about Chicago's most important economic development project: the long-delayed push to revitalize O'Hare International Airport.

In his interview with Crain's Publisher Jim Kirk, Durbin critiqued the recent backand-forth between the airport's two major carriers and Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration. He left the audience with little doubt as to what he wants to see happen.

First, the backstory:

As Crain's Greg Hinz and John Pletz have reported — and the Chicago Tribune has since con rmed — Team Johnson and the carriers, United and American airlines, appear to be nearing a deal to alter the $6.1 billion O'Hare terminal expansion accord that was rst crafted under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Speci cally at issue now is what will be built when, with United and American — which will pick up much of the tab — essentially pressing for less construction

PERSONAL VIEW

than Emanuel was promised. And according to the latest reporting, the airlines seem likely to get what they want: In a letter to the airlines, Team Johnson has proposed changing up the order of construction on a new global terminal and nearby satellite concourses.

Under the original Emanuel-era plan, two remote satellite terminals would be built o of United’s Terminal 1, with the outermost of the two connected to T1 via an underground tunnel. Only then would the existing Kennedy-era Terminal 2 be demolished and replaced by the huge global terminal designed by Chicago starchitect Jeanne Gang that would allow

United and American to better connect international and domestic ights.

A range of factors — not the least of which was the pandemic — put the O'Hare project way behind schedule and way over budget. Johnson's Department of Aviation, for its part, recently said it could complete the project for the original budget, but the airlines are understandably skeptical.

At the Crain's event, Durbin argued that without the second satellite, the airport would add just two more gates, rather than the 25% increase, or 30 to 35 gates, originally envisioned back in 2018.

“Is that enough for the future?” Durbin

said of the airlines’ proposal. “Been to LaGuardia lately? It used to be a dump and now it’s a premier airport. . . .What are we going to do here? Are we going to be stuck with a 20th-century airport that’s been modi ed?”

And in an apparent nod to the Johnson administration's recent e orts to lay out $1 billion in cuts to the modernization budget — gures the carriers have said "lack credibility" — Durbin told the audience: "We want some realistic cost estimates, not just some pie-in-the-sky, back-of-the envelope" projections.

e senator has been around the block more than a few times in his career, and he is right to worry that the "inde nite delay" the airlines are advocating for one of the key O'Hare satellites means that satellite may never get built. And by missing out on that satellite, an airport that was once one of the premier transportation hubs in the world may be relegated to coach class in the years ahead — and continue to lose ground to New York, Dallas, Atlanta and other cities that have invested in airport infrastructure while O'Hare increasingly shows its age.

Given the crucial economic bene ts O'Hare has generated for the city and the region since its founding in 1944, Chicago can't a ord to let that happen. Despite the overture his administration just sent to the airlines, Johnson would be wiser to take a cue from fellow Democrat Durbin and press for a deal that's as close to the Emanuel-era plan as possible.

Downsizing my life — or how not to age in place

Over Labor Day weekend, unexpectedly and shockingly quickly, we got an o er on our Chicago house from the rst couple who looked at it, before it was even o cially on the market.  at was just about the time the phrase “aging in place” began to seep into my 74-year-old head, referring to old people who stubbornly refuse their children’s entreaties to “downsize.”

For the last several years, our three adult children, all of whom live in New York, had been urging us to sell the house we’d moved to in 1992 when our youngest was 8 months old. I could see their point, sort of. e house was all stairs and stories, no elevator or practical way to install one, and my o ce was at the tippy top.

“Don’t let yourself be coaxed into moving because of stairs,” my internist advised. “ e

Carol Felsenthal is the author of several biographies, including “Power, Privilege, and the Post: e Katharine Graham Story,” and “Princess Alice: e Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth.”

climb is good for your heart.” I was up and down four ights of mostly hard-wood, slippery stairs many times a day to answer the door or go to the kitchen.

“What if you fall and break your hip?” my children would ask. “What if you need a hospital bed? You could be helped through the front door, but there’s no bathroom until you walk up a couple of terrazzo stairs or down a ight of limestone stairs to the basement.” ere was a full bath down there, and a room we euphemistically called “the guest room,” its lumpy twin beds piled high with stu that didn’t t anywhere else.

“What’s the motive here?” a friend asked me. She was hinting that they might fear getting stuck with the herculean task of clearing out the house, readying it to be sold — from 800 miles away.

Deciding our children were right, we started to look at apartments, with the agreement that we wouldn’t buy until we sold. We gured that day was somewhere o in the future. Our agent, after all, smart and energetic, had warned us that the house would

linger on the market: “ e kitchen and bathrooms scream 1990s,” she said. “Update them!” Two rooms were graced by oor-toceiling maple bookshelves, designed by our architect and expertly built by our contractor. “Too many books,” she admonished, pointing to stacks of over ow on the oor. “Lose the piles and arrange what’s left by size and color.”

“No, please put it on the market as is and let’s see what happens.” We did some cosmetic cleaning but didn’t address the kitchen, baths and clutter.

At dinner with friends over that holiday weekend, our agent called and said she had an o er from the couple who had looked at the house the day before. ere went my appetite. As we negotiated, I’d spend near-sleepless nights compiling a to-do list of downsizing tasks. e most nightmarish among them: the closets. Not one of those could be described as what you’d expect to see in a normal household. I’d recall conversations with a friend who told me regularly about “curating” her sons’ closets.

Talking with my son, now 32, about ying

to Chicago to clear out his room, he told me that he was in third grade the last time he could remember removing anything from his closet. Later, when, two nights running, my son and I worked on his closet until the early hours of the morning, I don’t remember nding his third-grade clothes, but we did nd his Bar Mitzvah suit, tie, shirt and shiny black dress shoes.

His room was a cinch compared to my o ce. So many letters, typed interview transcripts, cassette tapes, edited pages, all stu ed into jumbo metal ling cabinets. I had a paper le on seemingly everyone; friends joked that I was J. Edgar Hoover reincarnated. When the le drawers were so stu ed they wouldn’t close, I lined up les on my o ce oor. I walked over them to get to the copy machine. Our architect warned me that I risked causing cracks in the foundation. I moved the paper o the oor, but found other places in the house to store it.

As our buyers’ September o er became an October nearly done deal — with a

See DOWNSIZING on Page 11

DON HARDER/F L ICKR

DOWNSIZING

From Page 10

clause requiring us to move out of our house by Nov. 30 — we looked at condos most days.

I had two non-negotiables: a clear view of Lake Michigan and lots of built-in bookshelves.

Almost all the apartments had one thing in common: extra-large at-screen TVs in too many rooms and no bookshelves.

We settled on an apartment roughly half the size of our house. My husband loved it; I didn’t.

“No bookshelves, zero,” I complained.

“Don’t focus on that,” he urged. “We can build bookshelves.”

I remained so obsessed with bookshelves that I almost wanted him to sign in blood that there’d be no second-guessing or delay in building shelves.

e apartment did have a lovely lake view, which, even I had to admit, was unlikely to be marred by the construction of still another hideous high-rise.

I had to move on — to the looming prospect of clearing out the house. Some days I wanted to run away from home. Others I nursed a waking daydream that the house would burn down when nobody was home, and I could start fresh with no belongings. I’d rebuild my book collection. I had a closet full of clothes I never wore. Since college, I’ve worn a uniform — jeans, T-shirts, work shirts, sneakers; I could just buy a few more of each.

My husband, also 74, was remarkably calm, which upped my anxiety. While many of his peers were retiring, he was practicing law fuller-time than ever. He gured, I realized, that I’d take care of things. When I’d disabuse him of that notion, he’d protest, “I’m starting to sort through stu .” I’d nd him sitting on the edge of our bed. He’d ll a small trash basket with obvious garbage. An hour later, he’d be in the same place, reading a diary his uncle kept during a trip to Europe in the 1930s. Later that day, I pointed to a disintegrating banker’s box in our library: “Do you realize that when we moved from our condo to this house in 1992 you moved that box here and never put its contents away?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “We’ll move it to the condo.”

My husband was still recovering from the trauma of his mother, as soon as he left for college, tossing his collection of baseball cards and comic books. e more he nursed his grudge, the more valuable they became. Touching, moving, much less discarding any paper or object of his could lead to a daylong argument. It wasn’t worth the angst, so I stopped trying.

Finally, I listened to the advice of a friend and called the organizer she had hired to clear out the belongings of her mother, a woman who died at an old age in the house she loved.  e organizer and her team steered me through the morass. ey spent days at our house forcing me to make piles of stu to recycle, donate, give to organizations that would, for example, put my husband’s business suits and road bikes

to good use. She would isolate items that she could sell — my son’s drum set, clothes, furniture, vinyl records, electronics, books, our aunt’s mink coat that, after her death, had ended up in our guest room closet. When I unzipped the Marshall Field plastic suit bag where I’d stu ed it 22 years earlier, I half expected rodents to jump out.

When we last moved 32 years ago, somehow or other, I had been able to continue writing. I had two young daughters and a baby son, and deadlines galore for the biography of Katharine Graham that would be published the next year. On moving day, I was reading editor’s notes, sitting at our kitch-

en table when the movers told me if I didn’t get up they’d lift me, the chair, table into the truck.    is time, I wrote barely a sentence from Labor Day weekend 2023 until I sat down to write this essay in late February 2024.

Here I am. Aging in place? Hell yes. I’m in this apartment to stay. My next move will be to the morgue or the nursing home.

Our buyer told her agent who told ours that the overstu ed bookshelves were one of the things that sold them on the house. We were “avid readers” and so were they. Good, those bookshelves that I miss so much will not be replaced by at screens.

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CONSTRUCTION

Pepper Construction, Chicago

CONSULTING

HealthScape Advisors, Chicago

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Wintrust Financial Corporation, Rosemont

Laner Muchin, Chicago

Pepper Construction Group is pleased to welcome Shelley Knebl as Vice President of Human Resources, overseeing recruiting, training, employee relations and human resources systems for Pepper Illinois. Knebl brings more than 20 years of experience to the position across multiple industries, where she helped drive business results through talent management and engagement. Shelley will partner with leadership to provide strategic and operational human resources guidance for the growing rm.

HealthScape Advisors, A Chartis Company, is thrilled to announce the promotion of Elissa Glavash to Managing Director. Elissa is a trusted advisor for health plans, government contractors, ancillary health organizations, and healthcare technology companies. Her expertise empowers them to navigate the complexities of the healthcare market, particularly within government programs. A soughtafter industry speaker, Elissa brings transformative insights that drive material improvements in healthcare.

CONSULTING

Resultant, Chicago

Wintrust Financial Corp.,

a nancial services holding company based in Rosemont, Illinois, with more than 170 locations across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, is pleased to announce two appointments.

Guy Eisenhuth will assume the role of Regional Market Head.

Eisenhuth

Guy will be responsible for the Western and Northwestern markets, which include six of Wintrust’s 15 charters. Guy celebrated 14 years at Wintrust in January. As Executive Vice President, Market Head of the Western region, Michele Petrie will oversee three of Wintrust’s 15 charters. Michele celebrated seven years at Wintrust in January.

Laner Muchin proudly welcomes Samantha Damewood as an associate. Sam’s practice focuses on private and public sector employment litigation. She has experience working with employers on a broad range of issues, including defending employers with respect to claims brought under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the FMLA and the FLSA.

Sam also represents employers in matters before the EEOC and state and local agencies.

Resultant is proud to announce Nathan A. Ulery as the new Executive Vice President of Managed Services. With 25 years of experience in technology consulting and managed IT practices, Ulery will scale Resultant’s maturing managed service business across sectors. His previous achievements include doubling the practice size at West Monroe and earning accolades such as MSPmentor’s Top 25 MSPs. Ulery is a recognized community leader and serves as Chairman of the Board for Chicago Scholars.

LAW FIRM

Laner Muchin, Chicago

Damewood Dybas

Laner Muchin also proudly welcomes Emily Dybas as an associate. Emily concentrates her practice in private and public sector employment litigation. She also has experience pursuing commercial claims in federal and state court. During law school, she received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Employment Discrimination. LAW

Laner Muchin proudly welcomes Patrick Morris as an associate. Patrick’s practice focuses on public and private sector litigation in state and federal courts, and before administrative agencies. He has litigation experience on a wide range of legal issues, including defending employers with respect to claims brought under Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, Section 1981 and 1982, the Illinois Whistleblower Act and the Illinois Ethics Act. He is a seasoned trial attorney with vast appellate experience.

Waterton, Chicago

Waterton is pleased to announce the promotion of Scott Ferguson to EVP, Operations. Mr. Ferguson, who joined the rm in 2016, will now oversee onsite operations for Waterton’s entire national portfolio, uniting the leadership of the Eastern and Western regions. His more than 20 years of industry and strategic leadership experience align with Waterton’s commitment to operational excellence and portfolio growth.

Petrie

IN PILSEN, TIF EXPANSION HAS SOME FANS

As the largely Hispanic community gentri es, TIF funding is touted as a boost for small businesses and property owners | By Judith Crown

At rst blush, Pilsen is trendy. So trendy that Time Out last month dubbed 18th Street in the neighborhood one of the 30 coolest around the globe. Pilsen has a handful of restaurants on Eater Chicago's list of the 38 “essential” eateries. New and renovated homes are on the market for well over $600,000, with a few in the $900,000 range. Median income has jumped 44% over the past decade.

But gentrification is roiling this historic Hispanic community. Rising property taxes and rents are displacing longtime residents and threatening small businesses. As a result, community leaders are seeking expansion of the more than 25-year-old Pilsen Industrial Corridor TIF district to build affordable housing and provide resources to small businesses and property owners.

The expansion would provide nearly

$1 billion for community investment over 10 years, with criteria being developed by the Chicago Department of Planning & Development, or DPD. A proposal to expand the TIF boundary to the north is scheduled to be introduced on April 9 to the Community Development Commission, which reviews and recommends action on tax increment

See PILSEN on Page 14

Community leaders are seeking expansion of the more than 25-year-old Pilsen Industrial Corridor TIF to build affordable housing and provide resources to small businesses and property owners.

Javier Yanez is a co-founder and board member of the Pilsen Chamber of Commerce.

LATINO-OWNED BUSINESS

PILSEN

From Page 13

financing districts. Funds could be used for a ordable housing and other uses that weren’t provided for under the industrial TIF. A series of meetings will follow, culminating in a review by the Chicago City Council this summer.

“If we’re able to expand this district, there will be money at the disposal of the full community,” says Javier Yanez, a co-founder and board member of the Pilsen Chamber of Commerce. “ is will give property owners and business owners a chance to stay here, a chance to compete.”

Tax increment financing districts, or TIFs, are tools that use taxes on future gains in real estate values to fund infrastructure improvements. They were traditionally targeted at blighted areas but have been used all over the city to promote development, including the Loop, The 78 and Lincoln Yards.

The DPD says Pilsen qualifies under the Illinois TIF Act because half the buildings are at least 35 years old and there are inadequate utilities, deterioration, excessive vacancies and structures below minimum code standards.

“We have mom-and-pop businesses that need and deserve support,” says DPD Commissioner Ciere Boatright. “We want to make sure that there’s an opportunity for our long-term homeowners to stay in place. We also need to create and preserve affordable rental housing.”

The proposed expansion has been controversial in Pilsen because longtime residents hit by property tax hikes of more than 40% fear the TIF program will lead to even higher increases. At a community meeting last year to present details of the TIF expansion, local residents, including members of the group El Pueblo Manda (The People Rule), protested the plan. They held signs saying “TIF equals gentrification” and “Mi Casa No Es Tu Casa.”

Since that unruly session, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, has met with stakeholders and says he’s ready to move forward with the TIF expansion. “Through one-on-one conversations, community roundtables and various meetings with partners we were able to ensure that the community voice will be present throughout this process,” he said in an emailed statement. The TIF amendment presents an opportunity for community-led development and has the potential to expand programs that assist businesses as well as homeowners, he said.

Complicating the push for TIF expansion: Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to borrow $1.25 billion to fund a ordable housing through bond issues and phase out dependence on TIFs. Dozens of TIF districts are set to expire over the next decade, potentially returning hun-

Changing demographics are remaking Pilsen

Gentri cation in the neighborhood, also known as the Lower West Side, has pushed out longtime Hispanic residents.

dreds of millions of dollars to the city’s tax base each year.

“This is at cross-purposes,” says David Merriman, interim director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois System.

“What confidence do we have that he’s (Johnson) not going to undercut his ability to finance bonds by using the tax base to do TIFs?”

Boatright acknowledges that the city in the past has relied too much on TIFs and that it’s not the most equitable tool. But since the Pilsen TIF in 2022 was extended for 12 years, funds can be spent more equitably in the community, she says.

Gentri cation underscores wealth disparities

The Pilsen TIF was adopted by the Chicago City Council in 1998

and covers an industrial area that includes transportation and distribution companies, as well as recycling, concrete and metals firms. It covers about two-thirds of the neighborhood but doesn’t extend far enough north to cover residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors including 18th Street.

Gentrification over the past decade has underscored the disparities in the neighborhood, with longtime residents furious over the whopping property tax increases and accompanying rent hikes that could compel them to move away.

Just last month, Bittersweet, a bakery that has its roots on the North Side, was vandalized by graffiti with messages that said “gentrifiers” and “get out of Pilsen.”

Hispanic representation in Pilsen has fallen to 69% from

development, Casa Yucatan, located at Ashland Avenue north of Cermak Road. While the developer obtained tax credits through the state of Illinois, more funding is needed, Reyes says. She adds that TIF funds could be available to help strapped homeowners make repairs.

Business organizations say they support TIF expansion because it will enable restaurants, shops and other small enterprises to expand and attract new enterprises. “There are a lot of vacancies on 18th Street and on the commercial corridors,” says Alex Esparza, president of the Economic Strategies Development Corp. in Pilsen, which helps businesses with grants and loans, training and financial literacy.

Yanez of the Pilsen Chamber of Commerce says he hopes funds could be available not just for physical improvements, but also to help firms with their marketing and websites and enable them to hire more workers.

Beautifying the neighborhood with plazas and better lighting will draw more tourists, he says, adding that he would like to see funds allocated to a community and performing arts center.

Pilsen restaurant owner Sergio Reyes says he hopes to tap TIF funds for the remodeling of his restaurant at 16th Street and Halsted, which closed during the pandemic. “I’ve often questioned why our neighborhood was overlooked for inclusion in the industrial corridor,” he says. His restaurant, DeColores, opened in 2009 and had won Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition with its menu of margaritas and Mexican specialties.

Reyes is investing about $400,000 in remodeling, with an eye for a spring reopening. Improvements include a new patio and updated kitchen. A new roof and windows also are needed, he says. TIF funds could help defray his considerable expenses considering the nearly 40% increase in property taxes on the restaurant building and his Pilsen home.

82% a decade ago and 89% in 2000, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Meanwhile, the white non-Hispanic population has jumped to nearly 22% from 13% a decade ago and only 8% at the turn of the century.

Median income has jumped to $61,925 from $42,910 more than 10 years ago. The median sale price of a home is $500,000, according to Redfin.

The demand for affordable housing is a driver of the proposed TIF expansion, says Guacolda Reyes, vice president of real estate development at The Resurrection Project. When the nonprofit completed the Casa Durango project at two locations in Pilsen, there was interest from 1,000 families for only 53 apartments, she says.

The Resurrection Project is planning a 98-unit affordable

Another business owner, Maria Miranda, says she could use TIF funds to expand her beauty products business. She operates a nail salon on 18th Street and would like to add a school for nail technicians and a beauty products store. Ideally, she would have them share space in a single building that she owns, rather than pay rent to a landlord. Miranda also operates a sushi restaurant and bar on 18th Street.

“It’s about time,” she says of the possibility of TIF expansion. “There are a lot of women business owners, and we want to continue growing. We want to bring good things to the neighborhood. We’re paying quite enough in taxes and it’s time for us to see some of that back in our community.”

Anger over tax increases

Will anti-gentrification sentiment muster community oppo -

Source: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, American Community Survey ve-year estimates

sition to TIF expansion? Residents who fear the TIF expansion will lead to even higher property taxes could still mobilize opposition. It was members of El Pueblo Manda who loudly protested the plan outlined by DPD officials at last year’s community meeting. But Diana Sandoval, a representative of El Pueblo Manda, says TIF expansion is “not our fight.” She says the group is focused on the more than 40% property tax increases that have stung residents. Sandoval, a quality manager at an industrial equipment company, says her taxes increased 75% on her three-flat and that she’ll have to raise rents for her tenants.

El Pueblo Manda backed an advisory referendum in last month’s election, in the 25th Ward’s 9th Precinct, asking whether the government should provide assistance to property owners who saw increases of more than 40% by using TIF funds. That passed by 89%, but state law doesn’t allow for TIF funds to be used for property taxes, officials say.

Still, Boatright says she wants to “lean in,” to see how TIF expansion might relieve frustrated homeowners.

The city of Chicago has tried to slow the gentrification process.

In 2021, the City Council adopted an anti-deconversion ordinance designed to reduce displacement of low- to moderateincome residents and maintain

the two- to eight-unit buildings that provide naturally occurring affordable housing units. A permit surcharge enacted that year placed a $5,000 fee on each new

residential unit created through the demolition of an existing building. This surcharge recently was extended through the end of this year.

La

-o wned busine sses in the Chicago re gion ar e more likely to be as ke d by lenders to provide collateral than whit e-o wned busine sses , despite having similar credit .

Business organizations say they support TIF expansion because it will enable restaurants, shops and other small enterprises to expand and attract new enterprises.

The TIF expansion draws support from a cross-section of the community, a committee of 25 residents, small businesses, nonprofits and religious organizations that calls itself the TIF Independent Review Committee. It includes the Pilsen Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Strategies Development Corp., Alvio Medical Center, Pilsen Wellness Center, La Vaca Margarita Bar and the Don Churro bakery.

“People see gentrification and question why Pilsen needs money for investments,” says Yanez of the Pilsen Chamber. “The fact of the matter is we’re in limbo. Businesses are in limbo.”

Rising property taxes and rents are displacing longtime residents and threatening small businesses. | ALAMY PHOTO

A need to transition from consumers to wealth creators

Latino businesses in Chicago are facing both challenges and opportunities in their efforts to compete and thrive in the city's economic landscape. Despite the signicant growth of the Latino market, disparities persist in ownership and economic empowerment.

While Latinos contribute substantially to the consumer base and overall economic vitality, there is a pressing need to transition from being primarily consumers to becoming owners and wealth creators. is transition is crucial for achieving longterm stability and upward mobility within the Latino community.

Ownership is a fundamental aspect of wealth creation and intergenerational prosperity. However, current statistics reveal disparities in Latino business ownership in Chicago. Despite constituting 28% of the city's population, Latinos own just 7% of the companies with more than one employee. Additionally, a signicant portion of Latino-owned businesses are small-scale opera-

tions, with a majority generating annual revenues below $250,000.

ese challenges are not unique to Chicago but are observed nationwide, indicating systemic barriers to Latino entrepreneurship and ownership.

Participating in the supply chain and securing government contracts, particularly amid the influx of federal spending on infrastructure and other projects, presents promising avenues for Latino businesses to strengthen their position in the market and contribute to wealth creation. However, the government procurement processes are complex and fragmented, favoring larger firms with greater resources and experience. Federal government contracts are 31 times smaller for Latino-owned businesses compared to white-owned businesses. Latino and minority-owned businesses in Chicago face additional obstacles, including language barriers and discrimination, which further limit their

access to procurement opportunities despite the potential for contracting with public agencies.

Furthermore, access to capital is a pressing issue for many Latino entrepreneurs in Chicago.

Limited access to nancing options, including loans and investment capital, impedes business

E orts to address these challenges are underway, including the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's programs including arti cial intelligence, procurement technical assistance, nancing and variety of tools for small business, to strengthen the Latino business ecosystem. By connect-

Despite constituting 28% of the city’s population, Latinos own just 7% of the companies with more than one employee.

expansion and innovation. According to the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, Latino businesses are 60% less likely to be approved for a back loan. Traditional lenders may impose stringent requirements that disproportionately a ect minorityowned businesses, exacerbating existing disparities in wealth and ownership. Without adequate capital, Latino businesses struggle to invest in infrastructure, technology and workforce development, hindering their ability to compete e ectively in the market.

ing businesses with experts and resources, initiatives like this aim to level the playing eld and empower small minority-owned rms to empower our communities through entrepreneurship, access to capital and access to contracts.

Closing the wealth gap between Latinos and white Americans requires accelerating Latino economic growth and ownership. Ultimately, the goal is to realize the American dream of upward mobility and prosperity for future generations of Latinos. By fostering a supportive ecosystem

Local marketing agency drives change by embracing diversity

With the onset of the 2020s, marketers grappled with unprecedented challenges brought upon by the global COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the swift virtual alteration or abandonment of month-long campaigns. e pandemic not only reshaped the professional landscape but also deeply in uenced us on a personal and consumer level.

larly affected by these events. Navigating this turbulent period required us to reassess our expertise in connecting brands authentically with diverse audiences.

Now, almost four years later, the initial surge of corporate DEI commitments has subsided to a gentle ripple, with minimal observable impact.

Across the country, brands found themselves at a crossroads in an entirely different way after the murder of George Floyd. The wave of civil unrest prompted corporations to make swift and resolute commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and pledge to diversify junior management to C-suite executives.

As an inclusive agency, PACO Collective since its inception upheld a “people-first” philosophy. Consequently, we were particu -

According to the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, just 7% of corporate board members identify as Latino or Hispanic. In addition, only 5% of executive positions are held by Hispanics, with a mere 2% of these held by Latinas. PACO Collective is uniquely positioned to address these disparities and drive meaningful change in corporate diversity initiatives. With our expertise in multicultural marketing and deep understanding of diverse communities, we

are poised to lead the charge toward a more inclusive and equitable future.

When my business partner, Pablo Acosta, and I founded PACO

business, we faced extra obstacles, from securing credit to dealing with bureaucratic hurdles. But our determination fueled our early years, teaching us to navigate en-

With the Hispanic population in the U.S. experiencing exponential growth, businesses increasingly recognized the necessity of fostering authentic connections with this burgeoning consumer base.

Collective in 2006, we wanted to create the kind of agency where we always wanted to work. Create an environment where people are seen, heard and respected. And we wanted that agency to be different from the others we saw at the time. More diverse. More inclusive. More representative of today’s America.

With no funds, no clients and remote work before it was commonplace, Pablo and I resorted to cold-calling and emails to drum up business. As a minority-owned

for Latino businesses, facilitating access to opportunities in the supply chain and government procurement, and addressing systemic de ciencies, Chicago can reach the full economic potential of its Latino population and promote inclusive growth for the city. For Latino businesses in Chicago, achieving success in an inclusive economy means breaking down obstacles that have

trepreneurship's complexities and turn challenges into opportunities for growth.

Pablo and I encountered countless setbacks, but our determination eventually paid o when a handful of clients decided to take a chance on us. And who could blame them? With the Hispanic population in the U.S. experiencing exponential growth, businesses increasingly recognized the necessity of fostering authentic connections with this burgeoning consumer base. As PACO Collec-

tive blossomed and transformed, we rede ned ourselves as an inclusive marketing agency, embracing the diversity of cultures and viewpoints. In today's landscape, where culturally diverse communities play integral roles in

Jaime di Paulo is president and CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Ozzie Godinez is CEO and co-founder of PACO Collective, a marketing and advertising agency.

historically excluded minorityowned enterprises from fully participating in the economic mainstream.

Change will not happen by accident. We need to be vocal and assertive when speaking on behalf of our communities. By every metric, Latinos are the future of this country. Whether we invest or not in our growing Latino communities will deter-

Around Chicago, the Latino entrepreneurial ecosystem is on the rise

Fmine the economic stability of this beautiful country. Look at the years to come not only from the mainstream Latino pop culture, but also from the needs of the vibrant U.S. Latino communities that represent one of the largest economies in the world. Latinos are not only a market, but the best investment opportunity of this generation.

both the American economy and cultural landscape, we found ourselves leading the way.     PACO’s come a long way, but our journey is far from over. By embracing diversity, fostering inclusivity and staying true to

our values, PACO will continue to drive positive change in the advertising industry and society at large — pushing boundaries, challenging stereotypes, one authentic connection at a time.

rom Waukegan to Hammond, Ind., and as far west as Elgin and Aurora, the entrepre neurial spirit of greater Chicagoland’s Latino com munity is fueling innova tive ventures and econom ic growth. is is what Sunshine Enterprises, a Woodlawn-based nonpro t organization committed to empowering high-potential entrepreneurs living in underresourced neighborhoods to impact their communities, has witnessed since the launching of La Academia Comunitaria de Negocios ( e Community Business Academy) Spanish program in fall 2020.

The CBA is a hands-on, experiential, 12-week business planning and management course that has helped hundreds of Latino entrepreneurs transform their business ideas into actionable plans, propelling Latino businesses in Chicago and the suburbs. In other cases, it has allowed business owners to regain focus to reassess their value proposition and how it is being communicated to their customers, which has led to the development of new marketing campaigns and opportunities for growth.

Furthermore, Latino entrepreneurs continue to make improvements and expand their knowledge through two additional program strategies offered by Sunshine: Business Acceleration Services (BAS), a year-round schedule of advanced seminars, networking events, microgrant applications and individual coaching sessions with industry experts; and Credit to Capital (C2C), which equips and prepares entrepreneurs to acquire the funding needed to improve sustainability and scale by focusing on credit improvement and access to capital.

According to the 2023 "State of Latino Entrepreneurship" report from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, 19% of the country’s population is Latino and “serves as a prominent consumer base and a growing force in economic development, with a collective economic contribution of $3.2 trillion and ownership of nearly 5 million businesses generating more than $800 billion in annual revenue.” This figure reflects the entrepreneurial spirit and resilience of the Latino community in the United States.

As widely recognized, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need for policy reforms to ensure equal access to business opportunities and resources for the Latino community. Has anything changed since? I can con rm that it has.

In 2019, while working for the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago, I started to understand the power of community organizing and advocacy for Brown and Black communities, and the impact that business support organizations have in the creation and scalability of Latino businesses, not only in Chicago but also nationwide. I’ve also come to understand the synergies between organizations from di erent communities that are trying to provide the same resources — entrepreneurial programming, networking, opportunities for growth, and access to capital. e ecosystem exists and is constantly growing and evolving. Even nancial institutions that had to pivot during the pandemic to address the needs of the Latino

According to the 2023 “State of Latino Entrepreneurship” report from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, 19% of the country’s population is Latino.

community have expanded their services beyond nancial literacy and credit-building products to include business plan training cohorts. So what continues to be the challenge Latino businesses face? Despite the surge in the availability of resources for Hispanic entrepreneurs, other barriers obstruct their path, and those have to do with the intrinsic characteristics of the individual or their circumstances.

At Sunshine Enterprises, we assess our customers' entrepreneurial skills so we can tailor our services to their needs because we understand the impact our programming has on generational wealth building.

Nadya Henriquez is an entrepreneur and the Community Business Academy director at Sunshine Enterprises.

Sunshine Enterprises, a Woodlawn-based nonpro t organization is committed to empowering high-potential entrepreneurs living in under-resourced neighborhoods to impact their communities. | SUNSHINE ENTERPRISES

GETTY IMAGES

GETTY IMAGES

Hispanic contractors struggle with cement ceiling barrier

The size and share of projects awarded to Latino developers and builders pale in comparison to those going to white-owned rms

Judith Crown

e city of Chicago’s focus on community development and affordable housing has opened doors for Latino developers and builders such as Blackwood Group, led by Jose Duarte and Rafael Hernandez.

Blackwood is a partner in a $70 million Invest South/West project in the Back of the Yards neighborhood that includes a ordable apartments, a community space and a health clinic. e same partnership is plans to convert a LaSalle Street o ce tower to apartments, a $170 million project.

“Everything is hitting on all cylinders this year,” says Duarte, an engineer who launched Blackwood in 2007 and later teamed with Hernandez, an architect who once headed the Chicago-based Hispanic American Construction Industry Association.

Blackwood is one of the few Hispanic developer-contractors nding a higher pro le. Hispanics are well represented — actually, overrepresented — in construction related elds, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2020, 30% of construction workers were Hispanic, a share considerably higher than their 17.6% share of the employed workforce. But owning and growing a business is a considerable challenge, because it’s so di cult to access the capital needed to establish a credit line at a competitive interest rate and post performance bonds.

You could count on one hand the number of Hispanic general contractors that could execute more than $15 million worth of work, Duarte says. While the U.S. Small Business Administration denes a small business as 500 employees or fewer, small Latino businesses in Illinois are more likely to have 10 employees or less, according to the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“A Hispanic business with 100 employees is like a Walmart to us,” says Jaime di Paulo, CEO of the state's Hispanic Chamber. e nonpro t organization o ers a variety of programs to support small Latino businesses, including building contractors. A new chamber program uses arti cial intelligence to match company capabilities to opportunities for government contracts.

Many Hispanic entrepreneurs are the sons and daughters of immigrants and can’t raise money from friends and family. ey have to raise all of their capital from other sources, and it’s di cult to obtain a large credit line. When they are o ered credit, high interest rates are often untenable. ere’s also a lack of access to

institutional knowledge, says Rodrigo d’Escoto, founder and CEO of Chicago-based Re ection Window and Wall, which manufactures and installs glass and metal panels for building facades. D’Escoto’s father was an engineer and contractor, and “what we pass down must be discovered rsthand by immigrants,” he says.

While Hispanic companies in all elds win government and private contracts, they receive substantially smaller engagements, according to the Stanford Graduate School of Business Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative.

Stanford’s 2022 research, part of an ongoing study in collaboration with the Latino Business Action Network, found that corporate contracts secured by Latinoowned rms are 3.3 times smaller on average than white-owned businesses; state and federal government contracts are more than 30 times smaller than whiteowned enterprises; the procurement period for government contracts takes more than a year for 37% of Latino businesses; and more than one-third of whiteowned businesses obtain government contacts in less than six months.

Stanford’s research also reported that when applying for national bank loans, Latino businesses have lower approval rates, even though their gross revenues, personal credit scores and outstanding debt stack up well against white-owned companies.

Real transformation

On the bright side, Chicago programs such as Invest South/West and LaSalle Street Reimagined are providing opportunities for Latino and Black contractors.

In the past, white-owned developers and architects ran neighborhood projects, says Juan Gabriel Moreno, president and founder of architecture rm JGMA. Moreno worked as a design director at large architectural rms and recalls seeing projects presented in Latino neighborhoods where there was no Latino- or Spanish-speaking leader. “ at inspired me to start my rm,” Moreno says. He began the practice in 2010.

JGMA is a partner with Park Row Development in the $54 million project to renovate the vacant landmark Pioneer Bank building in Humboldt Park. e Invest South/West initiative also calls for an adjacent nine-story residential tower with 75 a ordable apartments. JGMA plans to relocate its o ces to the bank building from River North.

“I love the idea for us to be owners, tenants in a landmark building,” Moreno says. “We’ll have 50

employees patronizing cafes in the neighborhood. is is real transformation.” Moreno says he accepts that the margins are less in work for nonpro ts, but that strong work leads to jobs elsewhere, such as the O’Hare International Airport expansion.

JGMA is part of the architectural team led by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, or SOM, designing 21 new satellite concourses at O'Hare. e rm also is the lead architect on an improvement project at Terminal 5 that includes providing a new pedestrian bridge connecting the terminal to the six-story parking garage under construction.

And while the rm has grown to nearly $10 million in revenue, Moreno says access to capital remains a challenge. “I don’t have banks knocking at my door, saying they want to be involved in my developments.”

After years of working for engineering and construction rms, Duarte launched Blackwood in 2007, just before the Great Recession. He treaded water by renovating kitchens and bathrooms. When the market started improving around 2013, he landed projects with nonpro t organizations including e Resurrection Project and the National Museum of Mexican Art. Hernandez joined Blackwood in 2018.

When former Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduced the Invest South/ West initiative, Blackwood teamed with a ordable housing specialist Celadon Partners to compete for the Back of the Yards project. Renovation of 25,000 square feet of commercial space is underway at the site, and a six-story building with 51 a ordable apartments is planned.

Blackwood also teamed with Celadon in a proposal to convert 300,000 square feet at the Clark Adams Building on LaSalle Street to apartments. LaSalle Street Reimagined aims to rejuvenate the stretch that’s been decimated by corporate relocations and remote work. While the Lightfoot administration speci ed in the initiative that 30% of the apartments must be a ordable, Blackwood is boosting that number to 75% of the 247 units. “To put diversity in the central district, that’s a spectacular project for us to be involved in,” says Hernandez, who points out that there are only a handful of a ordable units in the Loop.

With revenue of close to $40 million, Blackwood is close to hitting government revenue caps that determine whether rms qualify for certi cation as a minority-owned business. at certi cation helps rms gain work in government or private projects that mandate participation of minority- and

Blackwood Group is a partner in a $170 million Invest South/West project poised to convert a LaSalle Street of ce tower to apartments. | BLACKWOOD GROUP

Who wins construction contracts?

Average size of government and corporate contracts for Latino- and white-owned businesses in 2022

Corporate contracts Federal government contracts

Local government contracts State government contracts

White-owned businesses

$4.8 million

$0.2 million

Latin-owned businesses

$1.4 million

$0.5 million

$0.5 million

$0.6 million

$14.8 million

$20.5 million

$0 $2$4$6$6$10$12$14$16$18$20

Source: Stanford Graduate School of Business 2022 State of Latino Entrepreneurship Report

women-owned contractors.

When the companies prosper and their sales exceed designated caps, they graduate from the program. at distinction cuts two ways, because the rms must now compete directly with the much larger contractors that once hired them. For that reason, some rms prefer to limit their own revenues. Critics say caps on revenue and net worth defeat the goal of nurturing long-term growth. Duarte says Blackwood aims to sustain itself without certi cation and concentrate on development, where certication isn’t a factor.

“Certi cation got me where I am today, no question,” says d’Escoto of Re ection Window & Wall, with $232 million in revenue. “Putting revenue limits on companies establishes a glass ceiling.”

Re ection Window ranks No. 12 on Crain’s list of the largest businesses owned by people of color and counts itself one of the top ve glazing contractors in the U.S.

D’Escoto started the company in 2001 beginning with work on schools and senior housing. e rm grew by “punching up,” he says.

“At one point, you take a job bigger than anything you’ve done before,” he says. “You go from $1 million to a $2 million job. Can you do it? Yeah, I think I can. en you go to $10 million and $20 million.”

e company’s current focus is improving energy e ciency in the manufacturing of the facade components of aluminum and glass, as well as how they function in a

building’s operations.

Starting a construction-related business today is di cult because interest rates are so high for entrepreneurs without a lot of assets. In addition, client companies don’t pay for 90 or 120 days, even though the contractor is required to pay employees every one or two weeks, says Arthur Zayas Miller, CEO of MZI Group, a diversi ed contractor with annual revenue of $75 million.  Miller also is board chair of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “When I started (in 1999), I had customers that paid in 15 or 30 days. When they went to 60 days, I thought it was crazy,” he says. “You’re oating a lot of work, you become a bank.”

Programs are available for young companies from a number of nonpro ts, which include the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

One chamber program helps companies become certi ed as a minority- or woman-owned business, which can help them win government contracts.

e Illinois Chamber developed a software tool that helps small rms nd the government contracts, or requests for proposals, that best t their capabilities.

e technology won recognition last year in a competition at the World Chambers Congress in Geneva.

“In the city, there are 45 places you need to go to nd requests for proposals,” di Paulo says. “We can match opportunities for companies in seconds.”

Crain’s Chicago Business celebrated the 13 extraordinary women recognized as Chicago’s 2024 Women of Note at a luncheon at the Hyatt Regency on Wednesday, March 6. The honorees, who are leaders in health care, tech, architecture, nonprofits and more, shared their own personal stories and professional visions at the event.

PRESENTING SPONSOR: CORPORATE SPONSOR: NONPROFIT SPONSOR: MEDIA SPONSOR:

Developer wants to sell apartment portfolio in Mount Prospect that totals 327 units

Wingspan Development Group is looking to capitalize on a market for suburban rental properties that’s appealing to investors

A Mount Prospect-based developer is looking to cash out on a more than 300-unit portfolio of luxury apartment buildings in the northwest suburb.

Wingspan Development Group has hired real estate services rm Berkadia to sell the 192-unit Maple Street Lofts at 207 S. Maple St., the 71-unit 20West at 20 W. Northwest Highway and the 64unit Dawson at 235 E. Prospect Ave., all located in downtown Mount Prospect, according to marketing materials.

Wingspan is the latest building owner looking to capitalize on the strength of suburban Chicago’s apartment market. e metro area holds appeal for investors in apartment buildings because of its strong, sustainable rent growth, compared to markets on the coasts and in the Sun Belt that saw declining rent growth after an in ux of new development led to oversupply.

“We have the most durable income stream in the country, and people are looking for more stable cash ow today. Other areas of the country are experiencing declining fundamentals while we’re not,” said Berkadia Senior Managing Director Pete Evans, who is marketing the property for sale along with Managing Direc-

tor Ralph DePasquale and Senior Director Richard Evans. “When you have national data providers that are continuing to report robust rent growth, it’s going to gain the attention of investors.”

Rents at Class A, or top-tier, apartment buildings in suburban Chicago were up 5.4% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Chicago o ce of

appraisal and consulting rm Integra Realty Resources.

e properties are being offered for acquisition of one, two or all three complexes, according to marketing materials. e listing doesn’t include an asking price. Evans declined to estimate what the apartments might sell for.

Wingspan Development Group

President Nick Papanicholas Jr. said in a statement that the rm was proud of its work in Mount Prospect, whatever the outcome of a potential sale.

"We're extremely proud of all our developments in Mount Prospect but especially what we've been able to bring to the village's downtown. Everyone who has seen 20West, Maple Street Lofts

and the Dawson has been really impressed and loves what's going on in the downtown," Papanicholas said. "We'd be happy to hold these properties for the next generation of our family. If someone else purchases them, which isn't a guarantee, they will be buying some of the best developments in suburban Chicago."

One of the apartment complexes for sale, the Dawson, is still under construction and set to be completed in June, according to Berkadia’s listing brochure.

Maple Street lofts, a twobuilding complex that was completed in May 2021, is 97.4% occupied, with monthly rents ranging from $1,782 per month for a studio apartment to $3,189 for a two-bedroom unit, according to real estate information company CoStar Group. A Wingpsan affiliate received a $49.2 million mortgage secured by the property in 2021 from Prime Finance, Cook County property records show.

20West was completed in October 2019 and is 95.8% occupied, with monthly rents ranging from $1,733 for a studio apartment to $7,286 for a threebedroom unit. A Wingspan venture got a $13.5 million mortgage on the property in 2021 from Bank Leumi USA, according to Cook County property records.

Patients aren’t ocking to Walgreens’ retail clinics

Even after signi cant investment, clinics like VillageMD remain minor players in market share as traditional settings prevail

setting, so a claim can include multiple procedures.

More patients are choosing alternative care sites such as retail clinics and outpatient surgery centers, but those sites have a long way to go in terms of gaining market share,  according to a report published March 26.

e report by healthcare data company FAIR Health analyzed more than 45 billion claim records in 2022 from payers and administrators that process the paperwork for private insurance plans, analyzing trends on where patients are going for care.

Most patients are still drawn to traditional settings like doctors' o ces or the emergency department. In recent years, though, hospitals and health systems have funneled patients to outpatient sites to meet rising demand while keeping costs in check, especially amid sta ng constraints and high supply costs.

Here's a look at how di erent care sites performed in 2022. For its study, FAIR looked at the number of individual procedures listed on a claim in a care

1. Retail clinics have low market share despite investments

Retail clinics located within or adjacent to retail stores, accounted for 0.2% of procedures in 2022, a roughly 200% increase from the prior year but still trailing far behind other care sites.

e greatest share of procedures, or 18%, were for patients aged 31 to 40 years old. Nearly a quarter of procedures were related to immunizations.

Mega-retailers such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart have aggressively sought market share in healthcare services in recent years, with a current emphasis on primary care. ese ventures have brought mixed results, despite billions of dollars in investment.

2. Many patients go to the emergency room

Emergency care accounted for 4.2% of procedures in 2022, compared with 1.8% in 2021.

Patients aged 51 to 60 years had the greatest share, or 17%, of procedures at emergency de-

partments, followed closely by patients aged 31 to 50 years. Patients most often sought emergency care for chest pain, bodily injuries and abdominal or pelvic pain.

3. Urgent care is an alternative to doctor's of ce

More than 2% of procedures in 2022 were associated with urgent care, up from 1.5% in 2021.

e largest share of procedures, or 17%, were for patients aged 31 to 40 years.

e most common procedures were related to acute respiratory diseases and infections.

4. Telehealth use remains above pre-pandemic levels

Telehealth accounted for 3.9% of procedures in 2022, down from 13.4% in 2020, a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, usage remains well above pre-pandemic levels.

Telehealth accounted for 0.2% of procedures or less in the years leading up to the pandemic.

From 2021 to 2022, telehealth use increased from 3.8% to 4.2% in urban areas and from 1.9% to 2.1% in rural areas.

Children had fewer telehealth procedures in 2022, while older patients aged 61 to 80 years had more.

Just over 60% of telehealth procedures were related to mental health conditions.

5. Ambulatory surgery centers are in demand

Ambulatory surgery centers accounted for 1.1% of procedures in 2022, up from 0.6% a year ago.

Usage declined in 2020 and

2021 due to fewer elective surgeries and sta ng and supply constraints. However, the downward trend reversed in 2022, partially the result of growing demand for higher-acuity procedures.

Many providers, including Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health and Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, are making sizable investments into outpatient care.

Caroline Hudson writes for Crain's sister publication Modern Healthcare.

Rachel Herzog

By Caroline Hudson, Modern Healthcare

207 S. Maple St. | COSTAR GROUP

CHICAGOCIO ORBIE AWARDS

The annual ChicagoCIO ORBIE® Awards honors chief information of cers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. Winners in the Super Global, Global, Large Enterprise, Enterprise, Large Corporate & Corporate categories will be announced April 11 at Marriot Marquis Chicago.

DR. TOM LEIGHTON Co-Founder & CEO, Akamai Keynote

TRACY HARRINGTON 2024 ChicagoCIO Chair

DEB HALL LEFEVRE EVP & CTO, Starbucks Leadership Award Recipient

Credit: Getty images-Maremagnun

CONGRATULATIONS 2024 CHICAGOCIO ORBIE NOMINEES

NIYI ADEDOYIN GATX

PAUL ANDERSON Ryan Speciality Group Inc.

MURALI BALAKUMAR Oak Street Health

WILL BEERY Mars

WILLIAM BERRY Empire Today

JONATHAN BEYER Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

JASON BIRNBAUM United Airlines

MARK BLOOM

Arthur J Gallagher & Co

MICHAEL BROOKS LKQ Corporation

ALWIN BRUNNER Heidrick & Struggles

CARLOS BUSS SC Johnson

TONY BUTTRICK Wintrust Financial

MARYANN BYRDAK Feeding America

DOUG CADDELL Mayer Brown

MIKE CARR Clune Construction

ANIL CHOUDHARY Alliant Credit Union

TOM CLEWETT Reyes Holdings

JEFF COLE WorkForce Software

ANDREW COLLYER Fitch

RICK COOK Portillo’s

MICA CROSBY Rush

SUNIL CUTINHO CME Group

MARK DAHLBERG Sysmex America Inc.

BHAVANA DEVULAPALLY Ventas

PRANAVA DOCTOR Allstate

SUSAN DONIZ Boeing

JEFF DOUGLAS Potbelly Sandwich Works

ED EARL Federal Signal

RITA FISHER Reynolds Consumer Products

GARRET FITZGERALD LSC Communications

NORMAN FLEMING Chicago Public Schools

ERIC FOSTER Donnelley Financial Solutions

JULIE FREIGANG CF Industries

ANUJ GAUR Marmon Group

MIKE GIRESI Molex

GREG GOFF Alight Solutions

NEIL GOODRICH Envista Forensics

DEAN HAACKER Metropolitan Capital

PAUL HAISMAN Rotary International

MIKE HALEY Lettuce Entertain You

DAVE HAMBOURGER Chapman and Cutler LLP

ROBIN HAMERLINCK LANE Shure

STUART HANNAY Department of Energy - Argonne National Laboratory

CHRIS HEIM Mesirow Financial

EBEN HEWITT Hyatt Hotels Corporation

DAN HOLOHAN ZS Associates

DAVID HOUCK RR Donnelley

ZACH JECKLIN Echo Global Logistics

SCOTT JESSEE Delta Dental Plans Association

PRAVEEN JONNALA CommScope Inc.

LAWSON KELLY Hyatt Hotels

MICHAEL KENNAUGH Reyes Holdings

RASOUL KHADIVAR PTS Consulting Services

RAJEEV KHANNA Aon

SCOTT KINSELLA Pace

TOM KIRKHAM Primary Products Ingredients (Primient)

ANDY KONCHAN Calamos Investments

DAVID KRAMER Viskase

DAVID KUEFFNER Sunstar Americas

MARSHALL LANCASTER Medline

PATRICIA LAWICKI Allstate

CHRIS LEBEAU (ATS) Advanced Technology Services

JONNY LEROY W.W. Grainger

GEORGE LESKO Ferrara

MATTHEW LINCE United States Army

SUSAN LUCAS Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants

PAUL MAUSCHBAUGH Caterpillar

BOB MCCORMICK DePaul University

WHITNEY MCGINNIS McDonald’s Corporation

BUD MCQUADE Duracell

DR. ALOK MEHTA Kemper Corporation

RAM MULLAPUDI Rust-Oleum

ERIC NELSON Kraft Heinz

ANGELA O’BANION

Cook County Health

BO OSACKY Chicago Blackhawks

AKSHAY PATEL College Of American Pathologist

DR. AUDRIUS POLIKAITIS University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System (UI Health)

JAVIER POLIT Mondelez International

MANOJ POONIA Somatus, Inc.

JORGE POPULO United Healthcare

JANE POSSELL CNA Insurance

MIKE POWELL SEKO Logistics

PAUL PRIEUR Climate Pros

ALLISON RADECKI HAVI

STEVEN RADECKI Metra

JULIE RAGLAND Navistar

SCOTT RAMSBOTTOM Wesco

STEVEN RANDICH FINRA

KRIS RAO

HNI Corporation

SEAN REYNOLDS Northwestern University

RICH RICHARDSON Duravant

BILL ROCHOLL CCC

RAJ SAMPOORNAM Byline Bank

MATT SCHABES Warner Bros Discovery

BRUCE SCHINELLI TTX

PATRICIA SCHMEDA

Wahl Clipper

PAUL SCHORR Optimas

DIANE SCHWARZ Johnson Controls

JASON SEGREBRECHT First Hospitality

SAMIR SHAH Fortune Brands Innovations

SWATI SHAH TransUnion

ALLAH SHEIKH

Madison Mutual Insurance Company

PEEYUSH SHUKLA Heitman

DAN SIMPSON Grant Thornton International Ltd.

STEVEN SMITH NorthShore University Health System

MYRON SOJKA Epsilon

SANJAY SOOD CDW

THOMAS SOUTH Northern Trust

RAMKI SRINIVASAN Great Wolf Resorts

JUSTIN STAHL Chicago Bears

LACHLAN TIDMARSH Blue Cross Blue Shield

KHAN TRAN Avante Health Solutions

OPHIR TRIGALO

Illinois Institute of Technology

ATUL VERMA Bank of Montreal

CHRIS WALTER Central Garden & Pet Company

TIM WALTER

Edward Don & Company

DAVID WRAGG

Sara Lee

JOHN YIN

Berlin Packaging

congratulates our winners, finalists and nominees

PARIVEDA PROUDLY SPONSORS THE ORBIE AWARDS

2024 ChicagoCIO Chair

Tracy Harrington

Connected Leaders Move Faster

TRACY HARRINGTON

Chair, ChicagoCIO Executive Vice President & CIO, Federal Reserve Financial Services

Great CIOs know technology moves fast, and connected leaders move faster.

ChicagoCIO brings together the preeminent CIOs from Chicago's largest organizations to enhance leadership e ectiveness, create value, mitigate risks, and share successes.

Members understand the "superpower" of trusted relationships. In any gathering of CIOs, the answer is in the room. rough regular member-led events and interactions, the collective power of executives working together generates immense value. Everyone wins when ideas, experiences, and best practices are

as the Inspire Leadership Network expands, with six chapters exclusively for CISOs launching in 2024.

e leadership of CIOs transforming organizations in Chicago is recognized through the ORBIE® Awards. On behalf of ChicagoCIO, I congratulate all the nominees

"Everyone wins when ideas, experiences, and best practices are shared in a collaborative and secure group."

Member-led, non-commercial programs foster meaningful professional relationships, enabling collaboration on shared challenges to gain leadership advantage.

ere is no textbook for how to be a great CIO. Leaders sharpen professional acumen through peer collaboration with others facing similar challenges. While industries and organizations vary in ChicagoCIO, successful leadership approaches are universal.

shared in a collaborative and secure group.

ChicagoCIO connects CIOs to 1,400 lifelong learners across 30 chapters in the Inspire Leadership Network. From public and private companies to government, education, healthcare, and nonpro ts, we exist to help members succeed in one of the most demanding C-suite executive roles.

e principles serving CIOs for over 25 years are now available to CISOs

and nalists for their remarkable achievements. A special thank you to the sponsors, underwriters, and sta for making the Chicago ORBIE® Awards possible.

Sincerely,

Tracy Harrington

2024

Dr. Tom Leighton Co-Founder & CEO Akamai Technologies

“Akamai” is Hawaiian for smart. e word also describes the strategy shaped by Tom Leighton as CEO at Akamai Technologies. Under his leadership, Akamai has evolved from a content delivery network into the world’s most distributed cloud platform, with solutions for content delivery, cybersecurity and cloud computing.

Leighton is the keynote speaker for the 2024 Chicago CISO of the Year ORBIE Awards. What follows are his thoughts on how to thwart cybersecurity threats in a quickly changing risk landscape.

What would you say is the highlight of your distinguished career?

Leighton: It’s the chance to make life better for billions of people. Akamai interacts with billions of people trillions of times a day to make their internet experience faster and more secure.

What do you consider the biggest technological breakthrough?

Leighton: e internet. It’s on a par with television, radio and the printing press—remarkable advances in communication. e internet has transformed our lives mostly for the good. Arti cial Intelligence (AI) could be just as big as it becomes more human-like in its abilities.

How would you characterize the cybersecurity environment?

Leighton: It’s very challenging. ere are very powerful, bad actors and major nation-states with big budgets and very smart, motivated people. is

to be physically connected to systems. ey can get in virtually. ey can nd any hole in the system because they have access to zillions of bots to launch attacks. It makes the job of CISO very di cult.

"Today, enterprises are not anywhere near where they need to be with their defenses. Generative AI is going to make it a lot worse."

leads to more sophisticated and more frequent penetrations of computer systems. Today, enterprises are not anywhere near where they need to be with their defenses. Generative AI is going to make it a lot worse.

What is the biggest cyber risk to business?

Leighton: So ware is full of vulnerabilities. Everything is connected. e bad guys do not have

What can businesses do?

Leighton: e burden is on the business to identify when its systems have been penetrated and proactively block the spread, so the damage is not catastrophic. Segmentation is really important. It divides the network into multiple segments to increase security and control.

We also work a lot on API (Application Programming Interface) security. CSOs

and CISOs o en don’t even know all the APIs their company has exposed. A lot of the headlines today involve the exploitation of API vulnerabilities, along with social engineering, phishing and spear phishing.

Can you tell us about your work to promote STEM education?

Leighton: STEM education is incredibly important. ere’s a shortage of cybersecurity talent and we need more. It starts in grades K-12 by inspiring and encouraging kids interested in math, science, engineering and computer science. At the Akamai Foundation, my primary interest is to encourage and support students of all backgrounds to develop strong technical talent.

What’s your best advice to CSOs/CISOs or aspiring CSOs/ CISOs?

Leighton: Stay as up-to-date as you can. Talk with your colleagues. Invest in the latest defenses. Work with reputable companies.

Tata Consultancy Services is proud to sponsor the InspireCIO Leadership Network Orbie Award in cities across the US.

Congratulations to each nominee, finalist, and winner!

CIO Leadership Award Recipient Deb Hall Lefevre

Deb Hall Lefevre, Starbucks Chief Technology Of cer wins 2024 CIO ORBIE Leadership Award

Insights on tech innovation, mentorship and leading Starbucks' digital transformation

Deb Hall Lefevre EVP, Chief Technology Of cer Starbucks

Deb Hall Lefevre joined Starbucks as executive vice president, chief technology o cer in May 2022. In her role, she leads the tech function with the mission of ensuring stores run smoothly each and every day while delivering winning digital partner and customer experiences.

As the 2024 ORBIE CIO Leadership Award winner, Hall Lefevre recently shared invaluable advice for aspiring tech professionals and insights on navigating the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Can you tell us about your background?

Hall Lefevre: I grew up in Sleepy Hollow, Illinois. I’ve been happily married to my husband, Mike, for 33 years. Our daughter, Courtney, is pursuing her MBA at Kellogg, and we were thrilled to welcome her husband, Matt, into the family last summer. I chose a career in technology a er a summer job at Motorola gave me the opportunity to see rst-hand how tech drives business performance.

A er two internships and 12 years at Motorola, I joined McDonald’s, where my teams helped build and deliver the company’s enterprise tech and digital agendas. While at McDonald’s, we standardized and modernized tech in over 100 countries so we could scale innovation more quickly across the globe. Our digital footprint grew to

include digital menu boards, kiosks and a mobile app.

I le McDonald’s a er 15 years to join Circle K/Couche Tard as their rst global CTO and begin an inspiring journey of reinventing the convenience store and fueling experience. I never expected to leave Couche Tard, but when Starbucks reached out, I couldn’t say no to a company I’ve always admired for doing the right thing, for amazing technology and for a special culture focused on bringing people together around co ee. I’m about to

summer job at Motorola opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities. I loved the energy in the department, the focus on problem-solving, the teamwork and the excitement about improving the business through technology.

I have the same advice for women as I do for men: First, follow your passion … do what you love. I once saw a statistic that said 80% of people dislike their jobs. We spend a great deal of our lives working, and I think it’s so important to choose a career and work that you enjoy. Second, technology is in every aspect of how we live, play and work … so it is relatively easy to take a hobby, an interest or a passion and nd a connection to a career in tech. I also love that it's incredibly fast-paced, always changing and provides many new opportunities for learning.

How important were your mentors?

Hall Lefevre: I believe that having mentors throughout your career is critical, and I’ve had the opportunity to learn from some of the best! One piece of advice I share with all the people I mentor is to create your own “Board of Directors,” a diverse set of mentors and coaches who are there to give you constructive feedback. I believe feedback is the greatest gi , and your board gives you a variety of perspectives. Mentors and coaches are people you can ask for feedback and use as a sounding board for addressing development areas; a sponsor is someone who can advocate for you during crucial talent conversations. I was fortunate to have

days of the dot-com boom when e-commerce was just emerging and we were reimagining how we might sell and activate mobile phones online, something we take for granted today. e second one was utilizing cloud computing to disrupt traditional IT models, allowing us to build or buy and deploy new tech capabilities more quickly than ever before. Finally — and perhaps the biggest breakthrough of our lifetime — is what is happening today with the incredible advancement of arti cial intelligence (AI) and the transformational potential it has for business and our personal lives.

How will arti cial intelligence change the role of the CIO?

Hall Lefevre: AI changes the role of the CIO in many ways. On one end, it increases visibility to data, empowers data-driven decisionmaking, streamlines business processes and helps us deliver personalized and targeted experiences to employees and customers. On the other, if not utilized carefully, it can lead to biased and harmful decisions and opens companies up to security risks and privacy violations. And, if con dential information is put into generative AI tools, companies risk forfeiting patent or trade secret protection.

At Starbucks, AI is — and will continue to be — at the heart of creating the best possible digital experiences for our customers and our partners. With the recent advances in AI, we see an exciting convergence of emerging technologies that will set the stage for shorter innovation cycles and faster time to market. AI will be powering

"I am grounded in the belief that leadership is a privilege, and my role is to ensure that the teams I am fortunate enough to lead have clarity of purpose and what they need to drive results — while having some fun along the way."

celebrate my second anniversary as a Starbucks partner and feel honored to lead the team that empowers and inspires our partners (Starbucks employees) to deliver a consistent and uniquely Starbucks experience anywhere across the globe.

How did you get interested in technology? Any advice for women?

Hall Lefevre: I had never considered a career in technology, but that

a diverse set of mentors who helped me see my blind spots and to have sponsors who believed in me, invested in my development and gave me opportunities to grow and succeed.

What would you say is the biggest technology breakthrough that you’ve been a part of?

Hall Lefevre: I’ve been part of three signi cant tech breakthroughs. e rst one was during the heady

experiences across Starbucks from bean to cup. Imagine how generative AI can help us discover a new beverage, customized just for you! ink about how it could empower baristas with custom recipes and free them up from manual tasks so they can connect with customers and deliver that special Starbucks experience while cra ing amazing beverages.

A big part of the CIO’s role is to deploy AI responsibly, playing defense and o ense at the same time. We

explore emerging technologies with our mission, partners and customers as our North Stars. We focus on the problems to solve and resist the allure of new technology for its own sake.

What is your leadership style?

Hall Lefevre: First and foremost, I am grounded in the belief that leadership is a privilege, and my role is to ensure that the teams I am fortunate enough to lead have clarity of purpose and what they need to drive results — while having some fun along the way. For me, building great teams starts with connecting people with a diverse set of experiences, strengths, expertise and values — curiosity, humility and a can-do attitude. From there, it is about fostering a culture of trust within the team that enables authentic, healthy debate where everyone is heard, and the best ideas and solutions can emerge. is creates an excellent foundation for commitment across a team so that team members can hold each other accountable and deliver results.

What advice would you give to CIOs or aspiring CIOs?

Hall Lefevre: In the ever-evolving landscape of IT, the days of merely being a back-o ce function are behind us. While technical expertise remains crucial, today’s successful CIOs must also possess well-rounded skills, including strong business acumen and emotional intelligence (EQ). Transformative results are achieved through collaboration — a village e ort — where highperforming teams thrive and relationships across functions are nurtured.

What does this ORBIE award mean to you?

Hall Lefevre: Accepting this recognition on behalf of the exceptional Starbucks Tech team is truly an honor. eir unwavering dedication empowers our Starbucks partners worldwide, ensuring a consistent and uniquely Starbucks experience. I extend heartfelt thanks to the mentors, colleagues and teams at Motorola, McDonald’s, Couche Tard/Circle K and Starbucks. And my deepest gratitude goes to my family — Mom, Dad, Mike, Courtney and Matt — for their unwavering support throughout my journey.

Favorite Starbucks drink?

Hall Lefevre: I love starting each day with a workout and a great cup of co ee. My favorite is an Americano with a splash of non-fat milk.

Super Global Finalists

JASON BIRNBAUM

SVP & CIO

United Airlines

Jason Birnbaum is a seasoned technology executive with a wealth of experience in the aviation industry. As the chief information of cer (CIO) at United Airlines, he plays a pivotal role in shaping the airline's technological landscape and driving innovation. He focuses on using technology and data to enable the company’s 86,000+ employees to create a seamless travel experience for customers and to uphold United’s mission of connecting people and uniting the world.

SUCCESS STORY

As the chief information of cer (CIO) at one of the world’s leading airlines, Jason Birnbaum has rede ned the technological landscape of the aviation industry. Under his leadership, United Airlines has undergone incredible growth and transformation. From prioritizing our shift to the cloud which has driven the speed of innovation within digital technology to expanding our work in data and analytics, Jason leads with a customer- rst mindset. Jason is also committed to fostering a culture of inclusivity within the organization. With the recent launch of our early-career development program, Innovate, Jason already has plans to expand and scale the program.

ATUL

VERMA

CIO - US Personal & Business Banking Bank of Montreal

Atul Verma joined BMO Financial Group in 2020 and currently serves as CIO, U.S. Personal and Business Banking and North American Operations Technology. In this role, Atul leads a high-performing team responsible for delivering technology solutions for market-leading products and services for BMO’s customers. With over 25 years of technology leadership experience, Atul brings a proven track record of driving transformations and leading global technology teams at top-tier nancial services rms in the country.

SUCCESS STORY

Atul Verma believes that success is truly a collective achievement. Together, his team’s greatest accomplishments helped achieve their business objectives with a world-class Bank of the West integration, innovative BMO Alto savings platform and numerous digital banking wins. They have had a lot to celebrate. But the greatest accomplishment to Atul is that they developed and inspired the amazing people who helped achieve these successes. He is extremely proud of his team and honored to be a nalist for a ChicagoCIO ORBIE® award.

Over $10 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations

ANUJ GAUR

Global CIO

Marmon Holding Inc

As Marmon Holdings' VP of Global IT, Anuj Gaur leads IT initiatives for this global manufacturing organization, with eleven diverse business groups, generating annual revenues exceeding $12 billion. Previously, he served as CIO for PE-backed companies, and held leadership roles at GE. Anuj’s career also includes roles at KPMG and Sabre, where he managed diverse IT initiatives. With a proven track record, he has consistently driven transformative IT strategies for organizations of varying scales and industries.

SUCCESS STORY

As Marmon's VP of Global IT, Anuj Gaur has led transformative initiatives, rede ning communication, cybersecurity, ERP simpli cation and establishing a decentralized IT organization. Our comprehensive communication strategy involves an intranet and robust external digital presence. Successfully reducing our ERP footprint enhances ef ciency and contributes to cost savings. In cybersecurity, we've set universal standards, ensuring system integrity and reinforcing Marmon's trustworthiness. Establishing a decentralized IT organization fosters citizen development and innovation. These initiatives collectively position our global industrial company as an industry leader, showcasing strategic leadership and organizational acumen.

JANE POSSELL

EVP & CIO - Operations, Analytics and Security

CNA Insurance

Jane Possell is executive vice president and chief information of cer for CNA, responsible for all Technology as well as Analytics, U.S. Underwriting Operations, and Global Enterprise Security. Possell joined CNA in 2019 from Liberty Mutual where she served as vice president in technology and business roles. Before that, she was managing director at Accenture, where she spent more than 20 years working with 20 of the top 25 U.S. property and casualty insurers.

SUCCESS STORY

Since joining CNA, Jane Possell has focused on enhancing culture, expanding a diverse and skilled team, and implementing strategic investments for business agility. Partnering with leadership, CNA Tech has transformed into an industry-leading organization: we are a talent magnet whose team has doubled in size with exceptional diverse talent and industry-leading engagement and retention; an award-winning innovator that leads the way on Cloud and AI; a delivery machine that has earned the con dence of business leadership to increase our tech investments 70% in the last three years; and a newly transformed agile organization helping key business partners drive success for the business.

2024 CHICAGOCIO ORBIE AWARD FINALIST

Congratulations on your peer recognition for IT leadership at Optimas. We appreciate how your team’s approach and execution have elevated customer and Optimas e ciency and our position in the marketplace.

Global Finalists

MARK BLOOM

Global CIO

Arthur J Gallagher & Co

Mark Bloom is the Global CIO at AJ Gallagher, one of the world's largest insurance brokerages with over 50,000 employees. Mark currently serves on the Board of Directors of Freddie Mac. Before Gallagher, Mark was Global CIO for Aegon, the global life insurance multinational. Before entering insurance, he was the digital and operations technology CIO for Citi's Consumer Bank. He has a BS in computer engineering from Bucknell, MS in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, and an MBA from Georgetown.

SUCCESS STORY

Mark Bloom was appointed by Gallagher's CEO to lead Generative AI efforts across the company globally. Mark leads the digital technology transformation of all customer and employee experiences and the automation of hundreds of ice processes. He has implemented a globally consistent data strategy yielding double-digit CAGR in new clients, revenue, and carrier compensation. He also has identi ed signi cant cost ef ciencies that allowed self-funding investments in cloud, data/AI, digital, cybersecurity, and IT operations.

Over $2.5 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations

PRAVEEN JONNALA

SVP & CIO CommScope Inc

Praveen Jonnala serves as the SVP, CIO, where he spearheads the information technology organization. In this role, he is tasked with implementing a digital strategy aimed at propelling the company's transformation and attaining key business objectives. With over two decades of experience, Praveen has demonstrated leadership in guiding global teams across various domains, including product engineering, software development, manufacturing, supply chain and IT. Before CommScope, following notable leadership roles at Ford Motor and Sun Microsystems.

SUCCESS STORY

Praveen Jonnala spearheaded a profound IT culture shift, seamlessly aligning it with the broader business ethos. Rooted in empathy and humility, these principles underpinned a global IT team that wholeheartedly embraced them, fostering enhanced collaboration with the business. This collective effort elevated IT beyond its traditional back-of ce role, establishing it as a crucial strategic partner. Central to Praveen's approach was the ACE (Adaptability, Curiosity, and Experimentation) framework. Designed to cultivate a culture marked by proactive readiness for change, adaptability and an experimental mindset, the framework aimed to collaboratively generate business value through a steadfast commitment to innovation.

MIKE POWELL CTO SEKO Logistics

As a member of SEKO's Global Executive team, Mike Powell has oversight and leadership of all matters relating to technology strategy, products, solutions and operations. Mike was the co-founder and CEO of a cloud-based logistics software company, Supply Vision (acquired by Descartes Systems Group (TSX:DSG). Mike also was vice president of technology solutions for RIM Logistics: responsible for crafting and executing the company’s corporate technology strategy and streamlining operations to increase productivity.

SUCCESS STORY

One of the team's most signi cant accomplishments over the past few years was launching our global cross-border eCommerce platform for our fastest-growing business segments. From initial concept to successful deployment, including a complex integration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, we launched in under six months with a small team of technologists. This new platform allowed our business unit to migrate away from a costly compilation of off-the-shelf solutions while offering enhanced capabilities and a simpli ed user experience for internal and external clients. Our ROI was approximately 18 business days, saving the enterprise millions of dollars since inception.

KRIS RAO

Chief Information & Digital Of cer HNI Corporation

As a technology and business transformation executive, Kris Rao brings over 25 years of repeated success in de ning enterprise technology vision, strategy and roadmaps to bolster top- and bottom-line growth at global high-tech, and manufacturing companies including HNI, RICOH, Hospira, Motorola, and Oracle. Recognized for his collaborative leadership style, Kris leverages business and technical expertise to transform IT as a value-driver, and trusted advisor to executive leadership teams in propelling business performance to the next level and beyond.

SUCCESS STORY

Moving business from traditional manufacturing to digital business. What that means is, transforming business using digital technologies to scale and address market, without adding resources. Leap frogging competition and morphing to digital workplace services, IT and digital organization is driving innovation from ‘Art of possible’ workshops, to disrupting the industry, all driven by digital solutions, and in partnership with business stakeholders. Our IT and digital organization have morphed into a collaborative, results-driven, experimenting and innovative organization. We have moved from 'knowledge is power' to 'collaboration is power' and have sunset all siloed behavior.

JOHN YIN

Global CIO Berlin Packaging

John Yin serves as CIO at Berlin, which is an exciting opportunity to consult from within, especially at a rapidly expanding and dynamic company. He states it’s a privilege to contribute his knowledge and experience to a talented and hard-driving team. The success of the modern organization is heavily dependent on the creative use and application of technology. Beyond the technology itself, equally crucial are organizational effectiveness, ef cient business processes, effective project management and embedded change management. It is

SUCCESS STORY

As the Global CIO for Berlin Packaging, a worldwide leader in packaging solutions, John Yin drives an integrated IT strategy and roadmap to achieve the company’s vision and competitive differentiation. John specializes in enterprise applications and enabling technologies, leveraging his more than 30 years of transformational consulting across diverse industries. Before joining Berlin, he served as a partner and technology practice leader at two top advisory and accounting rms, Grant Thornton and CohnReznick.

The ORBIE Awards is a premier technology executive recognition program in the United States. Since inception in 1998, over 500 ORBIE winners have received the prestigious ORBIE Award. Congratulations, Chicago CIO

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Large Enterprise Finalists

BHAVANA DEVULAPALLY SVP & CIO Ventas, Inc.

With 25 years of professional IT experience, Bhavana Devulapally oversees information systems, infrastructure, cyber-security and data analytics for Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company and leading Real Estate Investment Trust. She is a member of the senior leadership team and the Enterprise Risk Management Committee. Bhavana earned a dual bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of Business and systems engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

SUCCESS STORY

Bhavana Devulapally has signi cantly enhanced Ventas’s IT function since joining in 2019. She led the migration of IT applications to the cloud, modernization of the company’s network infrastructure and rationalization of its application portfolio, improving ef ciency, ef cacy and reliability. She reorganized her team, aligning it with the right mix of skills and experience to deliver for the business every day. Under Bhavana, the IT team embraces transparency, accountability and continuous improvement, publishing a monthly performance report that enables managers to quickly identify areas for improvement and launching a quarterly governance process to ensure focus on the top business priorities.

Over

$3 billion annual revenue

NORMAN FLEMING Chief Information Technology Of cer

Chicago

Public Schools

As the Chief Information Of cer, Norman Fleming provides strategic leadership and coordination in the use of technology, including support services to educational and citywide operations at Chicago Public Schools. He has over twenty- ve years of digital transformation, information technology and business leadership experience for Global Fortune 500 companies. He holds an Executive Certi cate from Kellogg School of Management, an MBA from Keller Graduate School, and a BS in Management from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

SUCCESS STORY

In 2023, as a CIO in Norman Fleming’s rst year at Chicago Public Schools, he has accomplished approval from the CEO and COO on the CIO’s 5-Year Strategic Plan and Vision for CPS, implemented NextGEN ITS Operating Model and Organizational Structure to improve IT services to students, parents, educators and administrators, and improved NextGEN ITS recruitment, retention and promotional opportunities for employees by increasing employee headcount by 26%. The Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) awarded CPS ITS $41.4M in federal funds for our 1:1 Student Device strategy deploying Google Chromebooks, Apple iPads and Windows devices.

DR. ALOK MEHTA

CIO - Business Systems Kemper Insurance

Dr. Alok Mehta is an experienced global information technologist with a proven global track record in all aspects of information technology. Skilled in all phases of product and project life cycles. Effective at building global and culturally diverse teams. He is an expert in transforming business and IT via redesigned business processes, strategy and innovation. Alok has strong communication skills and is customer-centric, with the ability to initiate pro table alliances with global partners, vendors and suppliers. He is a businessman with technical skills; an entrepreneur and visionary.

SUCCESS STORY

A CIOs success depends on understanding the corporate mission, relentlessly supporting business objectives, effectively communicating at all levels, managing relationships, building high-performing teams and delivering innovative solutions with awless execution that provide tangible business value. At Kemper, Dr. Alok Mehta and his team strive to meet these success criteria by being trusted and reliable advisors to their business partners and having fun along the way. Alok is excited and grateful to be part of the ORBIE award journey and is thankful to have met some very impressive leaders through this process that has allowed him to re ect on his leadership style.

SAMIR SHAH SVP & CIO Fortune Brands Innovations

Samir Shah is senior vice president and global chief information of cer at Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. (NYSE: FBIN). Samir has 25+ years of experience developing and executing business-aligned digital, analytics, and cybersecurity strategies and solutions. Samir is focused on creating and leveraging business partnerships to drive value-added digital commercial and supply chain transformation. He has delivered multiple large-scale transformations using agile methodologies, and modern cloud systems and has built resilient and adaptive NISTaligned cybersecurity programs.

SUCCESS STORY

The FBIN team achieved remarkable milestones driving its growth strategy. They successfully developed a Directto-Consumer (DTC) platform to accelerate growth and business expansion. Additionally, they implemented transformations with modern Cloud ERP systems, resulting in improved operational ef ciency and increased capacity. The team consolidated multiple platforms (Finance, HR, DTC, PLM, and O365) into uni ed platforms of the future. Leveraging AI-driven solutions across commerce, HR and technology operations, they achieved increased productivity. FBIN’s efforts were recognized with the 2023 Boomi Innovation and North America ISG Paragon Award, celebrating outstanding transformation.

CHRIS WALTER CIO

Central Garden & Pet Company

As Senior Vice President and CIO at Central Garden & Pet, Chris oversees the company’s digital and technical operations. Over his 18-year tenure, he has succeeded in developing talent, driving innovation, implementing transformative change and unlocking revenue potential. Before Central, Chris spent nine years in PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting practice. Chris holds a BS degree in Business Administration / Logistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a graduate of the University of Chicago Advanced Management Program.

SUCCESS STORY

Central Garden & Pet has grown through 80+ acquisitions of all sizes. In 2005, Chris Walter was hired to consolidate the back-end systems across the company. Over his 18 years at Central, they have deployed SAP 20 times and Central has never missed an order. This has positioned Central to standardize its supply chain footprint, reduce risk and consolidate technology support instead of managing 46 different ERP systems. Chris attributes their success to the single-team atmosphere they have created and their philosophy to use work to get people done instead of using people to get work done.

Enterprise Finalists

MIKE CARR

VP IT

Clune Construction Company

Mike Carr is a versatile vice president of IT with a 30+ year career over a large variety of organizations including food manufacturing, software companies, toy manufacturing, steel wool/ ber manufacturing and three separate rms in the AEC space including Clune where he is at today. Ensuring the operation has all of the tools it needs and security to ensure the daily operations is a key part of Mike’s role and one he takes seriously.

SUCCESS STORY

Mike Carr started with Clune in May 2016 as the director of IT. Mike was brought in to implement a systematic change in the direction of the IT department gearing up for a major deployment of CMiC. The team consisted only of two systems technicians, and he soon added a Systems administrator to help start the transformation of our infrastructure. Before Clune, he had 10 years in the AEC space. He has another 20+ years in his career in IT including two software companies, a food inclusion plant, a toy company and a steel wool manufacturer.

MANOJ POONIA CTO Somatus, Inc.

Manoj Poonia has 23 years of experience building products and businesses. Recently, Manoj led the IT and analytics teams at Somatus and launched RenalIQ. Manoj graduated from the leadership program at Abbott, cofounded Healthtech startups and led engineering teams at Cognizant, GE, and IBM. He earned his MBA from INSEAD and his BTech from NIT, India. Manoj likes to run and play chess. He has nished eight marathons and was a chess champion at his alma mater.

SUCCESS STORY

Under Manoj Poonia’s leadership, they have successfully launched Somatus’ proprietary RenalIQ® technology platform, which provides actionable insights and community-based care team interventions. RenalIQ® predicts the disease progression, gauges utilization and forecasts the likelihood of hospital admissions and unplanned dialysis start. The platform has been successfully assessed for HITRUST and NCQA certi cation, underscoring the commitment to IT security standards and clinical quality. Somatus expanded its RenalIQ® offerings, now featuring Interoperability that connects multiple clinical data platforms in real time, Scheduler that offers patients timely reminders for upcoming appointments, and a Provider Portal designed to engage providers in Value-Based Care programs.

Over $1 billion annual revenue

ANDREW COLLYER CIO

Fitch Group

Andrew Collyer, chief information of cer (CIO) at Fitch Group, is responsible for the company’s technology and data strategy and operations. With over 20 years of IT and software development experience in the nancial services and technology industries, he formerly served as the Head of Technology for Credit Ratings at Morningstar and as Director of Software Development at SunGard. Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree in Pure Mathematics from the University of Kent.

SUCCESS STORY

As Chief Information Of cer (CIO) of Fitch Group, Andrew Collyer’s attributes his success directly to his people. Their expertise and innovative spirit have been pivotal in integrating technology and data operations and transitioning 99% of their systems to a greener cloud infrastructure. The deployment of "FitchGPT," an in-house AI tool, has revolutionized their operations, empowering over 1,500 employees to experiment and innovate. By cultivating a culture of collaboration, underscored by our shift to Agile and the introduction of innovation sprints we have fostered an environment that champions continuous improvement, customer satisfaction and growth for Fitch’s businesses.

GARRET FITZGERALD CDO

Enru Logistics and Postal Optimization

Through a digital- rst career with GE and now Enru, Garret Fitzgerald brings a depth of experience in information technology and developing and launching new Industrial SaaS product offerings into industrial and logistics companies. He joined Enru Logistics in January 2022 to re-platform the business IT stack, upgrade and enhance the technology talent, and incubate our proprietary SaaS technology to revolutionize the industry.

SUCCESS STORY

Garret Fitzgerald’s team executed a true end-to-end Cloud transformation and carve-out Enru Logistics and Postal Optimization from LSC Communications. This included a total re-platforming and modernization of endof-life and on-premises infrastructure to a modern Azure cloud-only platform. They refreshed circuits and core network and implemented modern security tools and a comprehensive Compliance program. They transitioned to the M365 platform, providing a swath of disparate tools. Finally, many enterprise apps have been implemented, including a new TMS, a green eld integration, data lake and BI tech stack, and major modi cations to their ERP. They also reduced operating costs by 30% and pivoted into investments for the future.

Great CIOs know technology moves fast, and connected leaders move faster.”

- Tracy Harrington, ChicagoCIO Chair

TIM WALTER CIO

Edward Don & Company

As CIO at Edward Don & Company with over 30 years of comparable experience across various industries, Tim Walter holds an MBA from LSU, an MS from DePaul University and a bachelor's degree from Valparaiso University. He leads the programming team and is a member of SIM Chicago's Board of Directors, participates in the Technology Executives Advisor Group and supports the I.C. Stars charity, fostering the growth of future tech leaders.

SUCCESS STORY

Edward Don & Company's IT department's transformation from being viewed as a commodity to a dynamic partner, innovator and enabler is a testament to Tim Walter and his team’s success. The department was pivotal in enabling the company's seamless shift to remote work. Now, they're spearheading innovative projects that enhance backof ce operations and pro tability and boost customer engagement. Under Tim’s leadership, they’re empowering users to leverage technology for process improvement, allowing them to concentrate on activities that add more value. This shift in perception and function underlines IT's critical role in the company's ongoing evolution.

Large Corporate Finalists

MARK DAHLBERG VP IT Sysmex

Over $300 million annual revenue

When everything works perfectly, no one seems to notice the IT teams responsible for the innovative technology and complex, secure systems required to support modern business and commerce...until now.

RAJ SAMPOORNAM SVP & CIO Byline Bank

Raj Sampoornam is chief information of cer at Byline Bank in Chicago. As a strategic leader with expertise in digital transformation, data analytics and M&A Integrations, he de nes and implements Byline’s IT vision and strategy and leads the IT operations, cybersecurity and applications and analytics functions. Raj previously headed the business intelligence and analytics function at Banco Popular. Equipped with a bachelor’s and master’s in computer science and an MBA, Raj continues to drive innovation in the nancial technology space.

SUCCESS STORY

Raj Sampoornam’s greatest success was establishing a bold technology and digital strategy and securing support from their executive management team for that, thereby laying the foundation for Byline’s digital transformation. The bank achieved an impressive business value and a higher customer satisfaction rate, especially with the implementation of digital account opening and loan origination solutions. Raj is incredibly proud of his exceptionally talented team for achieving aggressive goals to modernize the technology landscape, enabling Byline to achieve its strategic goals and swiftly complete M&A integrations while also enhancing our cybersecurity posture.

PAUL SCHORR CIO Optimas Solutions

Paul Schorr leads the global technology strategy for Optimas. Before joining Optimas, Paul was the founder and managing director of Strategic Outlook, a boutique CIO advisory rm. Paul has served in a CIO capacity as a consultant or full-time employee for a number of great organizations including Performance Health, Zesty Paws, Zenwise, Uni-ball and a division of Disney Home Entertainment. Paul holds a BS in MIS from Eastern Illinois University.

SUCCESS STORY

Over the past 18 months, Paul Schorr and his team have led a complete IT turnaround; nancially, technically and culturally. This began with restructuring the IT organization, putting the right leaders in place, and setting a businessrst culture. They then completely restructured the aging IT infrastructure and security framework. Data centers were modernized with true disaster recovery failover. Simultaneously they drove a multi-million-dollar reduction in IT spending with additional ef ciencies in their 2024 plan. Most importantly, they reinvented the IT culture, rescued the IT/Business relationship, and migrated IT culture from a confrontational, non-supportive posture into a true global business partner.

PAUL HAISMAN

CIO

Rotary International

Paul Haisman leads a global team supporting Rotary International, Rotary Foundation and clubs worldwide. His leadership ensures innovative and modern technology, emphasizing continuous improvement and value. With over 25 years in technology leadership, Haisman holds a B.Sc. in computer science and an MBA. Recognized for thought leadership, in 2013, he received the Academy of Achievement Award from Illinois State University's College of Applied Science and Technology, and the 2023 Chicago SIM and AITP CIO of the Year candidate.

SUCCESS STORY

Upon joining Rotary, Paul Haisman identi ed challenges in global IT recruitment, particularly in India. As a nonpro t, talent retention issues led to over 35% of IT positions being consistently vacant, requiring costly consultants and diverting IT leaders from core responsibilities. To address this, he formed a short-term partnership, lling 40 positions in three months. For a long-term solution, Paul initiated an RFP process, securing a permanent technology partner to absorb 100 positions, retaining 96% of staff and saving over $1 million in consulting expenses. Paul’s effective leadership led to a 30% increase in development cycle release goals, achieving unprecedented success.

LACHLAN TIDMARSH

SVP & CIO

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Lachlan Tidmarsh is senior vice president and chief information of cer for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a national federation of independent and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies. As head of the Enterprise Information Technology organization, he sets the vision for the evolution of the Blue System’s technology infrastructure and solutions, as well as market-leading data capabilities, to enhance services and experiences for the nearly 118M Americans BCBS companies serve.

SUCCESS STORY

Only a few years ago, BCBSA’s work was powered by legacy technologies with limited ability to support emerging needs—speed to market for new solutions, interoperability and advanced data insights. Today, they’re successfully architecting a modern cloudenabled platform and dramatically enhancing analytic capabilities, leveraging an unparalleled data ecosystem encompassing nearly 118M members. Additionally, they’re enabling enhanced security collaboration among 33 BCBS companies and preparing Generative AI pilots to seize potential ef ciencies while minimizing risk. This collection of work is driving innovation and creating a more connected healthcare ecosystem, improving services and experiences for the one in three Americans we serve.

Corporate nalists

JON BEYER

CIO - Executive for IT & Digital Solutions

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Jon Beyer serves as chief information of cer at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He develops and directs the IT and digital strategy and maintains relationships with other executives to ensure the enablement of strategic priorities. Jon began in information security at Andersen Consulting (Accenture), continuing at Arthur Andersen as an architecture lead. He served as VP of infrastructure and technology operations at two Chicago startups. Jon received a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from DePaul University.

SUCCESS STORY

Jon Beyer’s leadership role is diverse, including: 1) providing excellence in functional services as CIO, 2) leading the intersection of business and technology for growing engagement with utilizing modern program execution, and 3) driving the organization to greater digital utilization with ampli ed reach to achieve the organization's strategic intents. Closely partnering with Strategic Communications, he is driving the creation of an AI-powered digital platform to engage seekers of faith and spirituality from where they are in their faith journey. Underpinning this digital ecosystem is a strategy to get people online, allowing them to get of ine to build relationships and connections.

NEIL GOODRICH

Chief

Innovation Of cer

Envista

Forensics

For more than a decade, Neil Goodrich has been building teams that treat IT as a creative discipline, pioneering new capabilities and not only transforming their organizations but the team’s role within it. His multi-disciplinary background includes previous lives in investigations, operations, accounting and business analytics. He holds certi cations in gami ed design and project management and an MBA from the University of Illinois Chicago.

SUCCESS STORY

By blending new methodologies with the experience of long-tenured employees, Neil Goodrich has reinvented the IT team’s role within the business, delivering new capabilities while simultaneously solving long-standing challenges. The team has brought mobile toolsets to the experts in the eld, implemented new platforms to power the Sales and Marketing teams, created a centralized reporting platform to enhance decisionmaking, migrated its infrastructure and le storage to the cloud, and leveraged automation to transform service levels and return countless hours to employees across the organization.

Up to $300 million annual revenue

ANIL CHOUDARY CTO Alliant Credit Union

Anil Choudary is chief technology of cer (CTO) at Alliant Credit Union leading technology functions responsible for planning, building, managing and transforming Alliant's member-centric technology capabilities. Anil came to Alliant in 2021, from CIBC USA, where he was Head of Enterprise Architecture - U.S. Before that, Anil was CTO for Marcus Savings at Goldman Sachs and led technology teams to build, launch and scale Marcus Savings. Previously, Anil held multiple leadership roles in engineering at GE Capital.

SUCCESS STORY

Anil Choudary spearheaded Alliant’s digital transformation initiatives transitioning Alliant Credit Union into a fully digital consumer nancial services organization while partnering with key stakeholders across all lines of business to establish a business valuebased technology strategy and delivery model. Anil led the buildout of technology capabilities enabling speed to market and high availability and resiliency to support strategic business goals establishing the organization as a leading fully digital nancial service organization. This work included building out cloud-integrated data centers, building out foundational data capabilities and application pipelines for API enablement, and enabling readiness to leverage Gen AI capabilities.

AKSHAY PATEL

VP & CIO College of American Pathologists

“While industries and organizations vary in ChicagoCIO, successful leadership approaches are universal.”

-Tracy Harrington, ChicagoCIO Chair

KHAN TRAN CTO Avante Health Solutions

Akshay Patel is CIO and VP of the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the premier organization of board-certi ed pathologists. He is responsible for all technologyrelated operations, strategy/sourcing, architecture, PMO, cybersecurity and innovation. He serves on the Executive Team and advises the Board of Governors on technology strategy, risk management and the adoption of emerging technologies. Akshay holds a BS in Physics, an MS in Technology, an MBA, and PMP certi cations, and received CAP’s Presidential Honors Award.

SUCCESS STORY

CAP provides technology to enable pathologists/ laboratories, improve patient outcomes and build an engaged, diverse workforce with shared purpose. By building mutual respect with senior executives and the board and a partnership culture, CAP has embarked on a multi-year, aggressive technology modernization and evolution roadmap to realize these goals. The investment in its digital foundation enables CAP to pivot and evolve in an era of rapid technological advancements. Patient outcomes are improving with secure access to better information, enhanced insights and accelerated tool delivery. The technology may appear ordinary viewed through a microscope, but, in its entirety, helps save more lives.

Khan Tran is a senior executive with over 30 years of experience leading IT and engineering organizations in the health care and telecommunication industries. He capitalizes on expertise in product design and development, technology start-up, new product introduction, M&A integration, divestiture, organizational transformation, business development and partnership, global portfolio planning, and digital strategy. Khan delivers true innovation to revolutionize business processes critical to enterprise-wide cost savings and revenue generation.

SUCCESS STORY

Khan Tran successfully established a uni ed IT organization with digital operating framework and cloud- rst strategy as the catalyst to help Avante reimagine its business services and accelerate its digital transformation journey with a System of Actions. This enabled Avante to continuously operate among many business units while being presented as One Avante with a holistic view of its customers and a cohesive information security posture with streamlined operations. This also re-ignited vendor engagement toward a value-based partnership model to gain better alignment for collaborative innovation, capitalizing on emerging technology solutions for longterm value creation to ultimately move healthcare forward.

Mike

Murali Balakumar Oak Street Health (fmr)

Sean

Rick Cook Portillo's

Sabina Ewing Abbott

Michael Pegues City of Aurora

Bridget Quinlan Edge Logistics

Kris Rao HNI Corporation

Samir Shah Fortune Brands

Swati

Madhu Reddy Republic Bank of

Thomas

CHICAGOCISO ORBIE AWARDS

The annual ChicagoCISO ORBIE® Awards honors chief information security of cers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. Winners in the Super Global, Global, Large Enterprise, Enterprise, Large Corporate & Corporate categories will be announced April 10 at the Marriott Marquis Chicago.

INSIDE

ARLAN MCMILLAN Leadership Award Recipient

MICHAEL SMITH 2024 ChicagoCISO Chair

DR. TOM LEIGHTON Keynote Speaker

Credit: Getty imagesRudy Balasko

CONGRATULATIONS 2024 CHICAGOCISO ORBIE NOMINEES

WAQAS AKKAWI SIRVA Worldwide

KHURRAM ANWAR CF Industries

TIM BENGSON Sherwin-Williams

KASHIF BUKHARI Sealed Air Corp.

RUBEN CHACON Eaton

ROBYN CLARK Illinois Tool Works, Inc.

BRUCE COFFING City of Chicago

DAN CREED Allegiant Airlines

JIM CRIMENS Stericycle Inc.

DENEEN DEFIORE United Airlines

ALEX DICKSON GCM Grosvenor

ROBERT DRAWER Mayer Brown

IGOR FEY Basis Technologies

MIKE GREGORY CDW Government

GEOFF GUSTITUS Bosch

ROBERTO GUTIERREZ OSI Group

ALBERT HOELSCHER Cision

DARIN HURD Guaranteed Rate

RON ISBELL Lurie Children’sHospital

GLENN KAPETANSKY Trexin Consulting

SHAUN KHALFAN Discover Financial Services

MAHMOOD KHAN CNA Financial

RICARDO LAFOSSE KraftHeinz

ADAM LANCE Komatsu

EVAN LINDEN

Madison Air

JASON LISH Lumen Technologies

STEVE LOCKE Northern Trust

NIDHI LUTHRA Baxter International

JJ MARKEE Danaher

GEORGE MAROPAKIS McDonald’sCorporation

MATTHEW MARTIN Sidley Austin

TROY MATTERN StoneX

DANIEL MAYER Morningstar Inc.

LES MCCOLLUM, II UChicago Medicine

VIVEK MEHTA GoHealth, Inc.

JOE MENDEL Kellogg Company

MARK MORRISON Options Clearing Corporation

MATT MORTON The University of Chicago

JULIE MYERHOLTZ Grainger

RAHUL NAROOLA Dover

CHRISTOPHER NOREIKIS Merieux NutriSciences

ELIZABETH OGUNTI JBT

JASPER OSSENTJUK NielsenIQ (NIQ)

ADAM PAGE Zurich North America

CHAD PLEMONS TTX

JASON RUGER Motorola

JOHN SANDER Wesco

SARA SCHMIDT US Foods

ERIC SCHULZ Premient

BILL SHIELDS TransUniozn

MATT SILVA GEHealthcare

MICHAEL SMITH ATI Physical Therapy

MICHAEL SWEENEY UScellular

MIKE TEGTMEYER AIT Worldwide Logistics

KENNETH TOWNSEND Ingredion

ANGELA WILLIAMS UL Solutions

NEIL WITEK Oak Street Health

JEFFREY WRIGHT Allstate

2024 CHICAGOCISO CHAIR

Michael Smith

The answer is in the room

MICHAEL SMITH 2024 Chair, ChicagoCISO

when ideas, experiences, and best practices are shared in a secure group with a collaborative spirit.

There is no magic formula for how to be a great CISO for every scenario. Great technology executives know the best way to sharpen leadership acumen is through collaboration with peers facing similar challenges.

ChicagoCISO connects leading CISOs from Chicago’s largest organizations to enhance leadership e ectiveness, create value, mitigate risks, and share successes. e member-led, non-commercial programs foster meaningful professional relationships, enabling CISOs to collaborate on shared challenges, avoid pitfalls, and gain leadership advantage.

Members understand the "superpower" of trusted relationships. In every gathering of ChicagoCISO, the answer is in the room. rough year-round, member-led, secure events and

ChicagoCISO enables CISOs in the public and private sectors, government, education, and nonpro ts to succeed in one of the most challenging technology leadership roles. By joining

"Everyone wins when ideas, experiences, and best practices are shared in a secure group with a collaborative spirit."

interactions, the collective power of CISOs working together generates immense value. Everyone wins

ChicagoCISO, technology executives join a group of lifelong learners in the Inspire Leadership

Network – with 30 CIO and CISO chapters and over 1,400 members. e rst-ever ChicagoCISO ORBIE® Awards recognizes the technology excellence and value created through enterprise security by CISOs in Chicago. On behalf of ChicagoCISO, I congratulate all nominees and nalists for their remarkable achievements. A special thank you to the sponsors, underwriters, advisory board, and sta for making the inaugural ChicagoCISO ORBIE® Awards possible.

Sincerely,

Michael Smith 2024 Chair, ChicagoCISO SVP, Chief Information Security O cer, ATI Physical erapy

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. Tom Leighton

Multiplying threats call for nimble defenses:

A conversation with industry icon Dr. Tom Leighton, Akamai Technologies

DR. TOM LEIGHTON | Co-Founder & CEO Akamai Technologies

“Akamai” is Hawaiian for smart. e word also describes the strategy shaped by Tom Leighton as CEO at Akamai Technologies. Under his leadership, Akamai has evolved from a content delivery network into the world’s most distributed cloud platform, with solutions for content delivery, cybersecurity and cloud computing. Cybersecurity now represents the company’s largest revenue stream totaling more than $1.8 billion in 2023.

Leighton is the keynote speaker for the 2024 ChicagoCISO ORBIE Awards. What follows are

his thoughts on how to thwart cybersecurity threats in a quickly changing risk landscape.

What would you say is the highlight of your distinguished career?

Leighton: It’s the chance to make life better for billions of people. Akamai interacts with billions of people trillions of times a day to make their internet experience faster and more secure.

What do you consider the biggest technological breakthrough?

Leighton: e internet. It’s on a par with television, radio and the printing press—remarkable advances in communication. e internet has transformed our lives mostly for the good. Arti cial Intelligence (AI) could be just as big as it becomes more humanlike in its abilities.

Q: How would you characterize the cybersecurity environment?

Leighton: It’s very challenging. ere are very powerful, bad actors and major nation-states with big budgets and very smart, motivated people. is leads to more sophisticated and more frequent penetrations of computer systems. Today, enterprises are not anywhere near where they need to be with their defenses. Generative AI is going to make it a lot worse.

What is the biggest cyber risk to business?

Leighton: So ware is full of vulnerabilities. Everything is connected. e bad guys do not have to be physically connected to systems. ey can get in virtually. ey can nd any hole in the system because they have access to zillions of bots to launch attacks. It makes the job of CISO very di cult.

How have the risks changed?

Leighton: Traditional AI, or machine learning, helped the defender more than the attacker. It was great for anomaly detection. It could determine if the entity coming in was a human or a bot. Generative AI helps the attacker more than the defender. It can write code and create images. e folks in our labs have trained up some very nasty bots very quickly to get around defenses.

Q: What can businesses do?

Leighton: e burden is on the business to identify when its systems have been penetrated and proactively block the spread, so the damage is not catastrophic. Segmentation is really important. It divides the network into multiple segments to increase security and control. Our Guardicore Segmentation product is now the market leader in the category. We put a mini rewall agent on every application and every device to keep malware from spreading to limit damage. We also work a lot on API (Application Programming Interface) security. CSOs and CISOs o en don’t even know all the APIs their company has exposed. A lot of the headlines today involve the exploitation of API vulnerabilities, along with

feature. The CISO also has to know how to talk to the board of directors, which probably isn’t made up of technology experts. That means it’s even more important to have the right judgment about when to say, ‘No,’ or ‘We must do this to protect the company.’

Can you tell us about your work to promote STEM education?

Leighton: STEM education is incredibly important. ere’s a shortage of cybersecurity talent and we need more. It starts in grades K-12 by inspiring and encouraging kids interested in math, science, engineering and computer science. We want to reach a diverse group of kids.

"Software is full of vulnerabilities. Everything is connected. The bad guys do not have to be physically connected to systems."

social engineering, phishing and spear phishing.

How is the role of the CSO/CISO evolving?

Leighton: Today’s CISO must balance the need for investment in business growth vs. more defenses. It’s a tough job to have the wisdom and judgment to strike the right balance. You have to know when to throw the flag on the field and say, ‘We can’t do this.’ It could mean taking some privilege away from a developer or lobbying for more spending on security defenses. Maybe then the company can’t afford to invest in a new product

Fewer women are in STEM classes and it’s important to support them. Kids without nancial means may not have access to STEM classes. At the Akamai Foundation, my primary interest is to encourage and support students of all backgrounds to develop strong technical talent.

What’s your best advice to CSOs/CISOs or aspiring CSOs/CISOs?

Leighton: Stay as up-to-date as you can. Talk with your colleagues. Invest in the latest defenses. Work with reputable companies.

LEADERSHIP AWARD RECIPIENT

Arlan McMillan

Think like a risk manager

Winning strategies in cyber security with Arlan McMillan, Kirkland & Ellis

Arlan McMillan has a long and distinguished career in cyber security. Before joining the law rm Kirkland & Ellis, he was the chief information security o cer (CISO) at United Airlines. Prior to that, he was the rst CISO for the City of Chicago.

As the 2024 ORBIE CISO Leadership Award winner, McMillan recently shared his thoughts on cyber security threats and e ective risk management.

How did you start your career?

McMillan: My career began almost 30 years ago, before there even were chief information o cers. I was the second engineer hired for the CashPro Web digital banking platform at ABN AMRO Bank that preceded current online banking websites. I was lucky to learn from people who created

the foundations of modern technology.

What is the difference between a CSO and a CISO?

McMillan: A CSO also has responsibility for physical security.

Why did you decide to focus on information security?

McMillan: By the time we were doing $20 billion in transactions a month through CashPro Web, it occurred to me that we needed to take security seriously. Online banking would become a target for criminals and organized crime. But at the time, information security was not a stand-alone profession.

Are you a “techie” by nature?

McMillan: I love technology, and that’s part of what makes me good at my job. It allows me to understand how to look at a particular problem or tell when something isn’t right. But the CISO’s role is fundamentally that of a risk manager.

What are the biggest cyber security risks?

McMillan: e biggest risk is the loss of signi cant amounts of data, or when key operational systems become unavailable. A big threat is ransomware, where access to data and systems is blocked unless a ransom is paid.

What’s the biggest security pitfall?

McMillan: Companies don’t practice good cyber hygiene, the equivalent of brushing your teeth twice a day. ere are routine practices that can reduce a whole variety of threats.

Which routine practices are key?

McMillan: Aggressive patching is the number one action every business should be taking. Companies get into trouble when they don’t patch their systems. Patches are readily available for free from so ware vendors. And stay on top of email security. e nonpro t Center for Internet Security (CIS) o ers a roadmap, CIS 18, to stop the most common and dangerous cyber threats. It’s a good place to start.

How has AI changed the risks?

McMillan: Deep fakes created by arti cial intelligence are an emerging threat. is technology can be used to convincingly represent a known and trusted person to trick an unsuspecting person into performing an authorized action such as nancial transfers. Scammers recently stole

"Companies don’t practice good cyber hygiene, the equivalent of brushing your teeth twice a day. There are routine practices that can reduce a whole variety of threats."

$25.5 million from a multinational company a er a fake video conference call. Fraudsters know how to use this technology, and it’ll grow rapidly.

Is there a way to protect against deep fakes?

McMillan: ere are no strong technological solutions yet. However, it helps to have dual authorization processes for any large nancial transfer like those used in mature nance groups.

What’s the biggest challenge faced by CISOs?

McMillan: e primary challenge is measuring and then communicating risk up the management chain. CISOs o en struggle to successfully communicate the level of cyber risk in an organization. at gap creates underfunding for security and increased risk to the organization. CISOs need to learn how to talk about cyber risk in a way that leadership can understand. If CISOs only talk tech, they won’t have a seat at the table.

How would you characterize your leadership style?

McMillan: I’m very collaborative. To have an e ective cyber security program, you really need to gather disparate

stakeholders together with an aligned mission. at requires education, conversation and trust building, which demands a lot of relationship building.

What do you consider your most signi cant contribution to the eld?

McMillan: I developed a free toolset for the cyber security community that’s been available for the past 15 years. It is a methodology to quantify, prioritize and communicate risk. at helps improve decisionmaking by identifying the most impactful risks.

What’s your best advice to CSOs/CISOs or aspiring CSOs/CISOs?

McMillan: I have two pieces of advice. First, shi your thinking about the role. CSOs and CISOs are not technologists solving security issues, but enterprise risk managers. Secondly, use established best practices as the foundation for your cyber security program. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.

What does this ORBIE CISO Leadership Award mean to you?

McMillan: ORBIE award winners are selected by previous winners. It is the highest honor to be recognized by peers who are of such high caliber. I am truly humbled.

ARLAN MCMILLAN | CSO, Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Super Global Finalists

DENEEN DEFIORE

VP & CISO

United Airlines

Deneen DeFiore, chief information security of cer at United Airlines, is an accomplished technology and risk management executive with experience across multiple critical infrastructure sectors. She leads the cybersecurity and digital risk organization to ensure United is prepared to prevent, detect and respond to evolving cyber threats. She leads initiatives on commercial aviation cyber safety risk, improving cyber resilience and represents United in working with international partners to reduce cyber safety risk across the aviation ecosystem.

SUCCESS STORY

Keeping the United network safe and secure from cybercriminals means being the industry leader. By implementing a zero-trust platform, including multi-factor authentication, employees have seamless and secure access to applications and systems, and customers are con dent their information remains safe. We’ve increased cybersecurity drills and exercises across all United teams to understand the threat landscape and how to react immediately - reducing operational impacts. We stay current by partnering with regulatory and industry associations to share and receive information. Our award-winning momentum means we are on the right path in protecting our employees and customers strategically and innovatively.

Expand your cyber resilience with 7,500 skilled security experts to help you anticipate, protect, withstand, and recover from adverse cyber events.

Over $18 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations

SHAUN KHALFAN

SVP & CISO

Discover Financial Services

Shaun Khalfan is the chief information security of cer for Discover Financial Services and a four-time CISO with experience at world-leading nancial services institutions and top U.S. government agencies, where he has repeated success shepherding digital transformation aligned with business goals, launching cybersecurity frameworks, ensuring protection of assets, data, privacy and company reputation, and achieving enterprise-wide governance and compliance. Shaun has a MBA from George Washington University and serves on boards for the Kohl Children’s Museum, National Cybersecurity Alliance and Valimail.

RICARDO LAFOSSE CISO

KraftHeinz shepherding

Ricardo Lafosse is chief information security of cer for Kraft Heinz. Ricardo is responsible for IT risk governance, OT security, incident management, technical disaster recovery and determining enterprise-wide security policies and procedures. He regularly presents on security topics at global conferences, including Blackhat, Defcon, RSA, ISACA and Secure World. He is an avid gamer and anime nerd. Ricardo has more than 19 years of experience in information security for various critical infrastructure sectors.

SUCCESS STORY

To shift security left, we integrated security by design and conducted early security testing to identify vulnerabilities before deployment using a Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline, Trident, which moves products to market faster and creates a standardized process for application deployment. Trust built with our customers is important. We established an AI Governance Council and a framework for the adoption of AI responsibly. Having clear guidelines for how employees can engage with and use AI models and mechanisms to enforce guidelines will help enable innovation while ensuring the security of our customers, their data and their assets.

SUCCESS STORY

I am most proud of our cloud security strategy that included people, process and technology to provide a holistic view of how we manage our environment in the cloud. You might say, “This is 2024. Why is this relevant?” Because many organizations are going through their own digital transformation, and the cloud is pivotal in that journey. Building security in the cloud from the ground up was and is an awe-inspiring and amazing journey that has been embraced by our organization. We are now seen as protectors of the business ... not a house of NO.

JOHN SANDER VP & CISO Wesco

John Sander currently serves as

VP

and chief information security of cer of Wesco. John is a highly respected leader possessing 25+ years of experience developing technology solutions on a global scale to resolve signi cant business challenges. He has proven experience developing global IT strategy and governance, evaluating emerging technologies, transforming organizations, managing large-scale global programs, negotiating large contracts, fostering strategic relationships with external partners and providing budget management and oversight.

SUCCESS STORY

One of our biggest achievements has been to drive out tedious, repetitive tasks to enable my cybersecurity team to focus on the most critical, value-added cybersecurity work. We have accomplished this through a combination of simpli cation (process and technology), automation and outsourcing. We are now able to spend our precious time evaluating, planning and developing optimal solutions to reduce our most signi cant risks. We are not just reacting to events, but focused on understanding why the events happened, the real level of concern and implementing the most effective solution to protect our company and valuable assets.

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Global Finalists

ROBYN CLARK

CISO

Illinois Tool Works, Inc.

Robyn Clark was named global chief information security of cer of Illinois Tool Works (ITW) in 2019.

Over $2 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations

Robyn envisions and oversees the company’s cybersecurity strategy and execution across autonomous operating units that span 51 countries and 45,000 employees. She has over 25 years of experience in IT and cybersecurity in a variety of manufacturing industries, including water treatment, automotive, electronics, food and beverage, chemical, plastics, construction and automated equipment. She is responsible for leading transformational programs focused on IT, ERP, mergers and acquisitions, data analytics, cybersecurity and business applications.

JASON LISH

CSO

Lumen Technologies

Jason Lish is the CSO at Lumen Technologies. Before Lumen, Jason served as chief security, privacy and data of cer at Advisor Group.

Previously, he served as CIO at Alight Solutions and held senior securityoriented leadership positions at Charles Schwab and Honeywell International. He also proudly served in the United States Air Force for nearly seven years. Jason is also an advisory board member for several companies and holds a bachelor’s and master's degree.

SUCCESS STORY

Over the last three years, I have been part of Lumen's digital transformation journey, where we’ve worked to tightly integrate security into our products and culture. During this time, I have also helped change the security organization from a separate function to a uni ed and high-performing business enabler. Lumen is a global communications provider that helps millions of businesses and households tap into the digital world. Our security team has a dual responsibility: to protect the Lumen enterprise and to ensure a safe and clean digital communications ecosystem for our global customers.

NIDHI LUTHRA

CISO Baxter International

Nidhi Luthra joined Baxter International in 2023 as the VP, chief information security of cer with oversight of enterprise, product security and IT quality compliance. Her prior experience includes serving as global cyber risk of cer at Abbott, CISO for AMITA Health and CISO for Presence Health. Nidhi attended Cornell University for Executive Leadership for Healthcare Professionals. She has a master’s in management of labor relations from Cleveland State and a master’s in telecommunications policy from Ohio University.

SUCCESS STORY

If anything, my success has been in my wisdom to surround myself with a community of incredible support, strength and guidance. For they have ensured that my story was remarkable, and never about anything but my success. If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants (Isaac Newton).

DANIEL MAYER CISO Morningstar, Inc.

Daniel Mayer is chief information security of cer for global nancial services rm Morningstar, with over 20 years of information security experience. Before joining Morningstar, Daniel was regional VP for consulting rm NCC Group, where he led technical delivery for the Midwest and performed security reviews across a broad range of applications and networks. Daniel presented research at well-known conferences such as Black Hat and holds a Ph.D. in computer science and a M.S. in physics.

SUCCESS STORY

As an innovative, growing nancial services company, Morningstar has been expanding signi cantly through acquisitions, not all of which had been fully enrolled into Morningstar’s comprehensive central security program. I made it a board-level concern to ensure that security standards are consistently applied across all Morningstar entities, and my team partnered with our various businesses to ensure standardization is achieved. To execute this successfully, I focused on breaking silos, building excellent relationships with business leaders and establishing alignment with other central technology functions. Ultimately, this major initiative allowed us to signi cantly reduce the risk to the enterprise.

ANGELA WILLIAMS SVP & CISO UL Solutions

Angela Williams has built a reputation as an information technology and cybersecurity change agent, innovative thought leader and digital enabler. Angela servers as the SVP, chief information security of cer with UL Solutions, a global independent safety science and certi cation company. She leads the efforts to reduce UL Solutions’ enterprise risk by maintaining the information security program to ensure that information assets and associated technology, applications, systems, infrastructure and processes are adequately protected.

SUCCESS STORY

I lead high-performance diverse teams to address an organization’s cybersecurity, data privacy and regulatory requirement challenges on a global scale. My teams’ expertise has positioned the organization to identify and manage risk, reduce time to identify and contain threats, increase the education of a global workforce and establish key metrics. These successes have improved workforce engagement and equipped leaders to make informed, risk-based decisions. The teams are empowered transformational leaders who have changed the culture and practices of business stakeholder experiences when partnering with the cybersecurity department. This has increased business support for the overall cybersecurity strategy.

The ORBIE signi es exceptional leadership, innovation, and vision; representing the characteristics and qualities that inspire others to achieve their potential.

Large Enterprise Finalists

KHURRAM ANWAR

Head of Global Information Security

CF Industries

Khurram Anwar is a proven cyber security leader with a successful track record spanning over 18+ years in delivering business value by developing and executing cyber security strategies. Khurram’s understanding of the information technology stack across the enterprise and cyber risk management has allowed him to successfully operate in a variety of industries and become a highly respected specialist in chemical, logistics, pharma and services utilities. He is experienced in balancing security needs in heavily regulated industries.

SUCCESS STORY

Today’s CISOs can no longer afford to drive cybersecurity strategies in isolation. Business success and safety require deep, ongoing communication and strategic collaboration. I started building that trust from the very moment I joined the organization. When I am with the business or a senior leader, I hardly talk about cybersecurity but rather listen to what my business partners are telling me, including their pain points, issues and what keeps them up at night. I was able to get on the same page with business leaders by helping them understand that the cybersecurity of ce is there to enable and facilitate.

Over $5 billion annual revenue

MAHMOOD KHAN

SVP & CSO

CNA Financial

Mahmood Khan joined CNA in 2020, where he proudly serves as the Global CSO. In this role, he oversees the cyber and physical security team responsible for the rm's security strategy, policy and program, and he has transformed the company’s existing information security program. Mahmood has spent more than 22 years building and executing innovative information and cybersecurity strategies, working at various Fortune 500 organizations and serving in numerous roles focused on protecting their business and sensitive data.

SUCCESS STORY

My greatest accomplishment in my existing role is successfully building and retaining an outstanding security team at CNA. The team is the most fundamental component of any endeavor, and I am proud to say that the people who work in our team are the most important assets in our organization. This team has transformed our security program by successfully executing multiple security advancement initiatives that support our technology and business strategies. Through our collaborative approach, we have not only established a robust cyber resilience program but also garnered a few security awards along the way.

ADAM PAGE

CISO

Zurich North America

Adam Page is an accomplished information security leader with over 20 years of progressive experience. Adam is results-oriented and a self-motivated contributor who builds and develops teams that continuously improve the overall security posture and adapt to challenges. He is an organized and collaborative professional with the ability to identify, mitigate and communicate risk while supporting business needs.

SUCCESS STORY

The success stories I appreciate the most are those of our individual team members and the collective team. As leaders, a signi cant part of our job is to grow and develop others, deliver through others and to provide opportunities with appropriate support. Our shared success this last year includes the ability to hire three individuals into their rst cybersecurity role, promote three team members to new positions, material improvements in perimeter protection and vulnerability management, and appropriately balance investments across all our cybersecurity program functions.

SARA SCHMIDT

SVP & CISO US Foods

In her nearly 20-year career in information security, Sara Schmidt has established her reputation as an inclusive, proactive leader focused on delivering the highest-value security outcomes for business partners. In her current role, Sara serves as the senior vice president and chief information security of cer at US Foods, where she leads the organization’s cyber defense strategy, responsible for ensuring the information and cybersecurity of the organization’s systems, processes and people.

SUCCESS STORY

One of my greatest satisfactions comes through developing cybersecurity team structures that empower the organization and professionals alike, driving business goals and delivering optimum results in security initiatives as well as for individual career advancement. I achieve this by collaborating with my team to develop a strategy that leverages their expertise and stretches them in new areas, while also allowing each individual to de ne their career. From identifying weaknesses to de ning success, the team drives the agenda. The partnership and trust built through this collaborative process not only empowers the individual but also strengthens our entire team.

HOSTED BY DALLASCIO AND DALLASCISO

AUGUST 13–15, 2024 | DALLAS, TX

Converge is the Inspire Leadership Network annual member conference, bringing together o cers and members from every chapter for three days of leadership strategies, opportunities to build relationships and collaborate with C-level technology executives from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare and nonprofit organizations.

Enterprise Finalists

DAN CREED

VP & CISO Allegiant Travel Company

Dan Creed is currently the chief information security of cer for Allegiant Travel Company, responsible for information security, cybersecurity operations and the privacy, risk governance and compliance teams. He is a seasoned information security, cybersecurity and risk management professional who has worked across every facet of information security and cybersecurity throughout his 30+ year career. Dan has helped design some of the largest, most robust and complex information security systems and network architectures in the world.

SUCCESS STORY

My team placed 7th at AWS Re:Invent in their Security Jam. The team has also grown their skill set — having progressed from where most of the team had never done a git commit to writing code and committing 100-plus commits a month on average. We have increased our cyber resiliency signi cantly and deployed the rst phase of our private access solution to replace our VPN, and we will begin deploying phishing-resistant MFA in Q2 of 2024. Lastly, the team's CSIRP was battle-tested during the MoveIT Zero Day Vulnerability. Honestly, I have been blessed with such an amazingly talented team!

Over $2.5 billion annual revenue

JIM

CRIMENS VP, Global IT Security Stericycle, Inc.

James (Jim) Crimens joined Stericycle in late 2021 as vice president, Global IT Security. In that role, he leads a team of cybersecurity professionals working to keep Stericycle, its partners and customers safe from cyber threats. James has spent the last 26 years helping organizations build and strengthen their security and risk programs, recover from cyber incidents, build secure products and services, and execute business transformations. Jim resides in Northern Virginia.

SUCCESS STORY

Over a two-year journey, we have assembled a coalition of security and cross-functional stakeholders to transform a nascent cybersecurity program into one of focused discipline, secure business enablement and corporate resilience. Through partnership with leadership, our Board and stakeholders globally, we have enabled secure digital transformation and modernization efforts to support the continued evolution of the business. Simultaneously, we introduced new cyber and risk management capabilities to enable a more secure Stericycle. This progress has been recognized by thirdparty assessors and our cyber insurers. As a result, Stericycle is more secure and resilient to cyber threats.

MATT MORTON

ED & CISO University of Chicago

Matt Morton is the executive director and CISO at the University of Chicago and has over 30 years of experience in technology, specializing in information security.

With a master's in higher education administration and certi cations in CISM, CGEIT, HCISPP and CISSP, he’s a seasoned leader and public speaker on IT governance and cybersecurity. Beyond work, Matt enjoys outdoor activities and attending his ve children’s events, blending professional expertise with a passion for family and nature.

SUCCESS STORY

At the University of Chicago, the CISO’s role extends beyond managing cybersecurity to building relationships with internal constituents, employees and suppliers based on trust and mutual respect. Collaborative efforts with research teams prioritize security without hindering academic freedom. The development of a Secure Research Collaboration Platform (SRCP) is an example of this approach. Securing the network, improving identity and developing friction-free approaches to security have resulted in a program that balances openness and security in a dynamic academic environment with a positive, inclusive work culture. This inclusive, transparent approach has built a secure digital future at the university.

Large Corporate Finalists

DARIN HURD

EVP & CISO

Guaranteed Rate

Darin Hurd is EVP and chief information security of cer at Guaranteed Rate, where he works with incredible colleagues to deliver the best mortgage origination experience on the planet. He has a unique combination of breadth and depth and had designed, built or operated every technology function to align, integrate and enable business capabilities and operations at all organizational levels. He holds a MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and CISO Executive Certi cate from Carnegie Mellon University.

SUCCESS STORY

Trust is a company’s promise. For Guaranteed Rate, it’s the promise of putting the customer rst, low rates, and getting your mortgage, your way, anytime, anywhere. Digital trust is also a company’s promise. Digital trust enables customers to carry out business transactions in a safe, secure, ethical and reliable manner. It is a fundamental requirement in a global economy that relies on connectivity, data and innovative technologies. Guaranteed Rate continues to leverage the cybersecurity program we’ve built as a competitive differentiator to support revenue growth, capture market share, deepen stakeholder relationships and extend our industry leadership.

NEIL WITEK CISO

Oak Street Health

Neil Witek is the CISO and HIPAA security of cer at Oak Street Health (OSH). OSH, now part of CVS Healthspire, is a patientcentric network of primary care centers for Medicare-eligible patients. His responsibilities encompass cybersecurity for the 200-plus OSH clinics serving more than 200,000 patients, meeting regulatory and contractual obligations. Neil holds a master’s in information security assurance and has earned several technology certi cations, including CISSP, CISA, CIPP, PMP, GLEG and QTE and is a HITRUST CCSFP.

SUCCESS STORY

I joined OSH in early 2021 during a period of incredible success and growth when the business required a more advanced security program to meet increasing regulatory and contractual obligations. In short order, my team developed a 24-month risk-driven security roadmap consisting of 35 distinct initiatives to align OSH’s security program with numerous requirements and its HITRUST CSF certi cation scope. The team’s greatest accomplishment is the culmination of these efforts into a comprehensive security program — measured, evaluated and certi ed — from executive leadership, through IT leadership down to frontline contributors, all working together to deliver, operationalize and mature.

Over $900 million annual revenue

EVAN LINDEN

CISO

Nortek Global HVAC

Evan Linden is CISO at Nortek Global HVAC, with over 30 years of information technology experience in multiple verticals including telecom, transportation, manufacturing, ecommerce and HR. Evan’s expertise includes platform architecture, security architecture, cryptography, strategic planning, process engineering and technology evaluation. He has successfully led projects involving security policy, security architecture, compliance, training, penetration testing and improving application lifecycle management. Evan is a results-oriented individual with excellent communication skills and a strong sense of responsibility and accountability.

SUCCESS STORY

I feel like one of the greatest accomplishments under my leadership has been the introduction of automation tools that have allowed us to remove all but four user accounts from Domain admins and all user accounts from Enterprise admins groups in our domains. Access has been replaced with timeboxed, just-in-time access for those roles, with one-time passwords and full auditing. Additionally, the attempt to add any new or existing account other than the just-intime access account is reverted, logged and alerted in our auditing system, and security tickets are raised as attempted account takeover incidents.

LES MCCOLLUM II

CISO UChicago Medicine

Les McCollum is a seasoned and experienced chief information security of cer and has led comprehensive security programs in the public and private sectors. His accolades include being named a Top 100 Global Leader in Security, a Top Global CISO award at the Cyber Defense Conference and the 2023 Cyberscoop Top 50 Award. An active member of various client advisory boards, Les champions continuous learning in cybersecurity and holds a master's in cyber risk management from Georgetown University.

SUCCESS STORY

As chief information security of cer at a leading academic health system, I have led pivotal security initiatives, most notably redeploying an advanced endpoint detection solution to protect against cyber threats and enhancing real-time threat response. Additionally, my leadership included transitioning to a new security vendor for continuous monitoring and reinforcing defenses against evolving risks. My strategic enhancements to the administrative and technical controls have fostered a proactive security culture. These efforts have secured critical digital assets and established me as a visionary leader in healthcare information security, vital to the health system’s mission of excellence in patient care, education and research.

Chief Information Security Officer of the Year Nominee

Congratulations, John Sander and team

Behind every great leader at Wesco is a team of problem solvers who embrace challenges big and small to keep life running smoothly.

Ingenuity delivered.

Wesco.com

Corporate nalists

ChicagoCISO is the preeminent peer leadership network of Chicagoland chief information security of cers.

Up to $900 million annual revenue

ALEX DICKSON CISO GCM Grosvenor

Alex Dickson has over 15 years of experience in information security and technology roles, primarily at nancial services companies.

Having been in leadership roles in both IT and information security, he has a strong appreciation for the governance and implementation of a program, as well as building relationships between teams. Alex received his bachelor's degree in technical management from DeVry University, completed the CISO certi cate program at Carnegie Mellon University and holds his CISSP.

SUCCESS STORY

VIVEK MEHTA CISO GoHealth, Inc.

With a distinguished career as a seasoned chief information and security of cer, Vivek Mehta is renowned for his thought leadership and pragmatic approach. He excels in enabling business strategy, optimizing risk, aligning stakeholders and inspiring teams to drive digital transformations while securing digital assets. Adept at applying leading frameworks, Vivek oversaw regulatory compliance across diverse industries and several federal agency programs. He speaks at industry forums and serves on boards to lend his governance expertise.

SUCCESS STORY

The ORBIE Awards is a premier technology executive recognition program in the United States. Since inception in 1998, over 500 ORBIE winners have received the prestigious ORBIE Award.

During my tenure at GCM Grosvenor, my team has substantially matured our cybersecurity program. A pivotal milestone was reached during an internal penetration test where, for the rst time, testers failed to gain any access, prompting us to grant them permission. This success began with streamlined project management, adopting the CIS critical controls, restructuring collaboration and prioritization with other teams, and the establishment of key risk indicators and an executive-reporting dashboard. Results include signi cant throughput and relationship improvement across the organization, project successes around asset awareness and inventory, phishing prevention and awareness, cyber due diligence, vulnerability remediation and account security.

I prompted the team to model and quantify cyber risk. After painstakingly entering asset and control information into the modeling tool, they enjoyed running Monte Carlo simulations. The team was grati ed to witness the quanti cation and distribution of residual risk. Leveraging the model, the team evaluated high-severity gaps, selecting controls with the highest return on security investment. This process shaped a well-informed roadmap and a defensible investment plan. Importantly, it played a pivotal role in validating insurance coverage and effectively conveying cyber risk to the executive team and the audit committee, facilitating informed capital allocation decisions aligned with risk appetite.

JASPER

OSSENTJUK SVP & CISO NielsenIQ

Jasper Ossentjuk is a senior vice president and global chief information security of cer at NielsenIQ. Before joining NielsenIQ, Jasper held security and technology leadership positions at Transunion, HSBC and Accenture. Jasper is a Quali ed Technology Executive (QTE) and holds a master’s in project management from the George Washington University School of Business, and a bachelor’s degree with a dual major in management information systems and operations management from the University of Arizona.

SUCCESS STORY

The greatest accomplishment of the NIQ cybersecurity team has been changing the company’s culture to embrace cybersecurity. We’ve created effective relationships, trust and engagement across the whole organization. Our colleagues solicit input and partnership to enhance security at NIQ. The projects and technology transformation we’ve delivered pale in comparison to the trust and rapport we’ve built with our colleagues at all levels and geographies across the company. We’ve helped the business understand how cybersecurity can be an enabler of business and a differentiator in the marketplace. We’ve developed trust by remaining business- and solution-focused.

MICHAEL SMITH SVP & CISO ATI Physical Therapy

As senior vice president and CISO for ATI Physical Therapy, Michael Smith has responsibility for cyber security, disaster recovery, IT risk management, IT SOX compliance and IT nancial management, supporting 7,000 employees and contractors and 900 health care clinic locations. Before ATI, Michael spent 18 years in IT and management consulting, where he held leadership and service delivery roles with KPMG, Capgemini and Ernst & Young, delivering client engagements to some of the world’s largest companies.

SUCCESS STORY

ATI conducts millions of patient visits each year, and keeping the information safe for our patients, partners and employees is a top priority. In support of that, I led a comprehensive multi-year IT security transformation to rebuild ATI’s cybersecurity program from the ground up to modernize ATI’s cybersecurity capabilities. This transformation has delivered and exceeded its goals, and it has allowed ATI to deliver greater value to our patients, business partners, employees and vendor partners. I am incredibly proud of what our team has achieved together, and we continue to innovate and progress our cyber program forward.

ADVISORY BOARD OFFICERS

VICE CHAIR

Angela Williams UL Solutions

PROGRAMS CHAIR

Daniel Mayer Morningstar Financial Services

MEMBERSHIP CHAIR

Nidhi Luthra Baxter International

PROGRAMS CHAIR

Matt Morton University of Chicago

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

CHICAGOCISO MEMBERS

MEMBERSHIP CO-CHAIR

Lester McCollum II Synchrony

AWARDS CHAIR

Robert Allen

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

JEFFREY DEAKINS Marmon Holdings Inc

MARCIN GRECZEK Merchants Fleet RYAN HAIG Enverus

CHAIR Michael Smith ATI Physical Therapy

Robyn Clark Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Geoff Gustitus Bosch

Evan Linden Nortek

Jason Lish Lumen

John Sander WESCO International

Sara Schmidt US Foods

Bill Shields TransUnion

John Sudduth Ampcus, Inc.

DILLON

feel good about taking Foot Locker and seeing if I can help lead us to a better future,” she said. “Is it hard sometimes? Sure. But you know what? I’ve been around the block. is is the third time I’ve been a public company CEO. I feel condent that the strategies are right.”

The mission

When Dillon took over at Foot Locker 18 months ago, she was tasked with moving the retailer away from its shopping mall roots and diversifying inventory at a company largely dependent on Nike. Some experts hypothesized that the size of the challenge was exactly why Dillon took the job. She had the chops: Ulta’s annual revenue surged 230% and share price tripled under her watch. Still, some said she risked her reputation on a Foot Locker turnaround.

Dillon didn’t exactly see it that way. She told Crain’s she “wasn’t necessarily planning” to be the CEO of another public company at age 62, but she has an a nity for retailers’ ability to create jobs.

She also saw Foot Locker as an iconic brand in a growing category.

“I was that 16-year-old kid working in retail in high school and college, putting myself through college,” she said. “I love a challenge, but I also love the opportunity to really help strengthen a company that I believe a lot in.”

Foot Locker is seeing some progress under Dillon’s plan. e company reported during its fourth-quarter earnings call that brand mix diversity beyond Nike increased to 40% from 37% the

HISPANIC

From Page 3

continuing inbound migration. at’s according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals’ annual report on Hispanic homeownership, released March 11.

Among U.S. states, Illinois had the fifth-largest net in-migration of Hispanic people in 2023, at 17,000. It’s a small number compared to the top two states — Texas, with 79,000 new Hispanic residents and Pennsylvania, with more than 58,000 — but notably positive when set against the Chicago area’s years-long decline in the overall population.

e combination of a ordability and incoming population gives Chicago 1.2 million “credit visible” Hispanics, according to the report. "Credit visible" people have enough credit activity on their records to be scorable by the credit agencies, a fundamental part of qualifying for a mortgage.

e Chicago-area pool of potential homeowners is second only to Houston’s 1.4 million. Chicago and Houston are the only big metro areas the association identi ed as “opportunity markets.” Others have far smaller numbers of prospective Hispanic buyers, such as St. Louis, with 52,000 "credit visible" Hispanics,

year prior, hitting that measure’s 2026 target early. O -mall square footage increased to 39%, up from 34%; and new store concepts comprise 16% of the company’s square footage, up from 11%.

However, the company reported a net loss of $389 million, compared with a net income of $19 million during the same quarter the year prior. A key metric of comparable sales decreased by 0.7%.

Those numbers were driven in part by industry headwinds. The athletic apparel sector surged in 2021, as consumers spent stimulus money on sports gear. Supply chain problems then caused merchandise shipments to stall. Inventory problems replaced shipping issues by 2022, and retailers were swimming in several seasons' worth of delayed products. A glut of athletic shoes and apparel triggered excessive discounting as spending on footwear slowed amid the recession.

The balancing act

Foot Locker must find a way to drive sales without relying too heavily on discounting, which hurts margins and is not sustainable, said David Swartz, senior equity analyst at Morningstar.  “If Foot Locker does that long enough, it becomes a discount store. It becomes Payless ShoeSource, which went out of business in the U.S.,” he said.

Adding to the challenge are Foot Locker’s efforts to shift its store footprint. Closing even underperforming, outdated stores still means losing some customers, Swartz said. It’s hard to grow sales during that process, but there are ways.

Two possible methods: Driv-

and Detroit, with 114,000.

Nationwide, the number of Hispanic homeowners grew by more than 377,000 in 2023, to about 9.56 million, according to the report. e number has grown by 40% in the past decade. e report does not break out data for the Chicago area.

“To a Hispanic family, having a house means making it in America,” said Eddie Garcia, CEO of Berwyn-based brokerage Realty of Chicago, which focuses on Hispanic buyers and sellers. He forecasts that “in the next five to seven years, we’re going to be the biggest population of firsttime homebuyers” in the Chicago area.

Garcia founded Realty of Chicago in 2011 with a focus on the Hispanic market and has grown it to more than 350 agents, in large part “because of demand,” he said.

Chicago affordability

Affordability is key, Garcia said. At the Hispanic real estate association's conference where the report was first released, “all my friends from other cities were talking about how much more house you can get in Chicago than in L.A. and New York. It makes a big difference.”

Garcia and Torres both said the drive to convert from renting to owning is strong even among Hispanic people for whom it will

ing online sales and loyalty. Dillon has plans for both. The company plans to roll out a new mobile app and other technology this year that will provide a smoother shopping experience.

Already, the share of customers that shop both in-store and online increased to 19.5% in the fourth quarter from 17.7% during the same period in 2022. Foot Locker also plans to launch a new loyalty program in the U.S. that will focus on using targeted deals and reward points to drive purchases, a tactic proven to drive sales in retail.

There’s also new store formats, which can grow an audience. Foot Locker plans to unveil its new “store of the future” format soon in New Jersey, with several similar locations coming later this year.

Such investments will take time and money, and some investors don’t have such patience, said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

“She said a turnaround would take a minute and she has had over 700,000 minutes,” he said in an email. “Shareholders won't wait two or three years for solid results.”

With the state Foot Locker was in when Dillon took over, a real turnaround could take longer than that, said Harry Kraemer, former CEO of Baxter International and a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

“As a CEO, you have to decide, ‘Am I going to run the company for the short term or the long term?’” he said. “She’s absolutely doing the long term. That’s why I think she took the job.”

cost more because they have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. The federal government issues an ITIN to an income earner who doesn’t qualify for a Social Security number.

Mortgage rates for borrowers with an ITIN tend to run at least 2.5 percentage points above the prevailing rates, said Juan Augustin Fleitas, the Berwyn branch manager of CrossCountry Mortgage. With rates now near 7%, Fleitas said, “they’re paying over 9%, but their goal is homeownership, so they’ll do it.”

ere’s little chance of going for a lower-cost mortgage such as an adjustable rate, because “most of the loan products that take ITINs are 30-year xed rates,” Fleitas said.

Torres said “the emphasis is on buyer education” when she and other agents work with Hispanic buyers. ere are two key reasons, she said: Many are rstgeneration buyers, without elders’ experience to draw on, and the complications from ITINs make the process thornier than it would otherwise be.

Jumping through extra hoops is worth it, said Ruiz, who did not share whether her family has ITINs or Social Security numbers.

“Owning our house in a quiet, nice place is really good,” she said.

vice president of corporate safety, wrote: “We’ve stepped up our interactions with the FAA recently. . . . ey agree that we need to take an even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.

“Over the next several weeks, we will begin to see more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities. We welcome their engagement and are very open to hear from them about what they nd and their perspective on things we may need to change to make us even safer.”

She said “the FAA will also pause a variety of certi cation activities for a period of time.”

United didn’t specify what type of certi cations are involved, but Bloomberg News reported that restrictions could include everything from certifying pilots for new assignments to adding new routes.

“ is is the rst time they’re using economic sanctions to force change,” says Mike McCormick, an assistant professor at EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., who worked for the FAA for 33 years. “In the past it’s generally been additional review or oversight in certi cation and inspections. e FAA is making the assessment that before United Airlines can grow — get-

ART INSTITUTE

From Page 3

entertainer from Vienna, Austria, who was murdered in a Nazi concentration camp and his art collection looted, according to New York o cials. e Art Institute of Chicago remains the lone holdout.

By refusing to return the Schiele drawing, entitled “Russian War Prisoner,” and ghting the claims in court, the Art Institute is moving against a tide of public and institutional opinion over how to deal with looted and disputed items in collections that threatens the museum’s reputation as a world-class institution.

“ e Art Institute is really ethically out of step with the art world and its peer institutions in this case,” said Elizabeth Campbell, a professor of history and director of the Center for Art Collection Ethics at the University of Denver. “ ere's a growing audience of people paying attention to these cases and their reputation has been tainted by refusing to restitute the drawing.”

e Art Institute of Chicago told Crain’s that more information regarding its ownership and provenance of the artwork will be contained in its legal response to the Manhattan District Attorney's Ofce, which is expected in the coming weeks.

In a written statement, the museum said it had “extensive research” in the provenance history of the work and is “con dent” in its “lawful ownership.”

ting new aircraft, adding routes — we need to have the proof they’re able to handle that growth: Do they have quality control and processes in place? at’s a big step for the FAA to take.”

Headwinds for the industry

e FAA review comes as United heads into the busy summer travel season. e review threatens to put the brakes on United CEO Scott Kirby’s expansion plans, which involve adding new routes and new, larger planes. ose plans already are being disrupted by the FAA’s stepped-up scrutiny of Boeing in the wake of its troubles with the 737 Max.

United is just the most recent and visible player in a steady procession of safety incidents across the U.S. aviation industry, from a string of aircraft near-misses last year to maintenance and manufacturing lapses, such as the in- ight blowout of a panel on a plane own by Alaska Airlines in January.

All the while, the FAA has been under increased scrutiny, especially for its oversight of Boeing, whose planes were involved in two fatal crashes in 2019 and 2020, and more recently, the aircraft that su ered the blowout of a panel in midair. One area of concern that has emerged is whether the FAA allowed too much self-regulation.

In response, the agency has taken a more visible and tougher role as a regulator, putting limits on Boeing’s production lines while it reviews the planemaker’s practices. Newly appointed FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker, who pre-

“If we had this work unlawfully, we would return it, but that is not the case here,” the statement read.

e Manhattan District Attorney's O ce tells a di erent story. In its motion, prosecutors present various instances where the museum failed to properly vet the artwork’s history, which, as the district attorney's o ce writes in the court ling, “undercuts any arguments that AIC were truly goodfaith purchasers.”

A victory?

e Art Institute of Chicago recently claimed victory in another, separate legal battle over the provenance of the same artwork, this one with the heirs of the Grünbaum family. In that civil suit, the judge found the heirs had exceeded the statute of limitations.

In his ruling, the judge said the AIC was a “good-faith possessor” of the artwork, which it purchased in 1966, and that “had it been so clear that the artwork was stolen, the plainti s would have made a demand sooner than 40 years after the defendant acquired the artwork.”

e Grünbaum heirs are appealing the ruling. An attorney for the family is pushing back against the perception of an Art Institute victory in the case.

“Good-faith possession of stolen art is not a valid defense under New York law,” said Raymond Dowd, an attorney representing the Grünbaum heirs. “I'm perplexed that the Art Institute of Chicago could characterize this proceeding as any sort of a victory. . . . ese are just bully-

viously worked at United, has been unusually blunt and public about the problems at Boeing, where CEO Dave Calhoun announced March 25 that he will step down as part of a management overhaul sparked by the 737 Max crisis.

“ ere’s a lot of pressure on the FAA going back to the 737 Max (crashes),” McCormick says. “… e FAA lost its credibility and global leadership role in setting the standard as a regulator. It’s hard to get that credibility back. is latest bout of problems is triggering the FAA to take more immediate and direct action.”

e Alaska Airlines incident and the string of lapses at United also underscore how the nation’s airlines have struggled to return to a normal level of service after a near-shutdown during the pan-

ing tactics against Holocaust families.”

e ruling, however, didn’t address the underlying question that the Manhattan District Attorney’s O ce seeks to determine in court of whether the "Russian War Prisoner" drawing was indeed looted and who the rightful owners should be.

“ e ruling relied on technical grounds over the passage of time and didn’t answer the substantive question of who owns the painting and whether it's stolen,” said Patty Gerstenblith, a distinguished research professor of law specializing in cultural heritage law at DePaul University.

International opinion

e museum’s reliance on technical legal arguments to prove its ownership is another example of it bucking international trends and standards.

In early March, the U.S. State Department and the World Jewish Restitution Organization convened a conference in Washington, D.C., on the topic of looted art. e date marked the 25th anniversary of the landmark Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Con scated Art, which aimed to promote the restitution of art and cultural artifacts seized from Jewish owners during the Holocaust.

“ e Holocaust was not only the largest genocide in history, it was also one of the largest mass thefts in history,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a video address during the event.

commitment that guides every aspect of our profession,” the union said in a statement. “We welcome the additional scrutiny and remain dedicated to nurturing a safety culture that continuously evolves, prioritizing the well-being of our crew and passengers above all else.”

United pilots aren’t the only ones advocating for more regulators to keep a closer eye on things.

“What the FAA is doing with United is reactive increased oversight,” says Tajer, adding that the Allied Pilots Association sounded the alarm after the Alaska Air incident and reports of similar instances in which bolts were found loose or missing on new aircraft.

demic, which led to early retirements of experienced front-line workers — including pilots, mechanics and air tra c controllers — as well as those behind the scenes in planning and operations roles. Unions, advocates and industry observers have frequently raised eyebrows and concerns amid a boom in travel demand, and frequent operational hiccups, that followed.

What pilots want

e Air Line Pilots Association, which represents pilots at United, said it hasn’t been briefed by the company about the FAA review beyond the company memo but welcomes the agency’s involvement.

“We maintain that safety is the cornerstone of United Airlines pilots’ culture — an unwavering

Presented at the conference was a list of internally backed best practices, supported by the State Department, for the future pursuit of Nazi-looted art and artifacts. Gideon Taylor, president of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, which supported countries in drafting the document, said ghting technical legal battles goes against those internationally recognized principles that are endorsed by 22 countries.

“A statute of limitations is a technical device. It's not a device around morality or what's right,” Taylor said. “Technical law has become a substitute for a judgment on what is the right thing to do, and I think that's a mistake.”

In his video remarks during the conference, Blinken laid out the challenges facing heirs in reclaiming looted artwork, saying “too many governments, museums, dealers, galleries and individuals still resist restitution e orts,” all while the heirs “confront staggering legal and nancial barriers.”

“Family members must prove they are the true heirs,” he continued. “ at their art was wrongly taken or subject to a forced sale. at their relatives were persecuted. at statutes of limitations do not apply — an absurd obligation to place on the descendants of people who were murdered eight decades ago.”

More provenance problems

is is not the rst time the Art Institute of Chicago has faced disputes over provenance. A recent

“ e FAA needs to transition to proactive increased oversight of all airlines and their maintenance shops, both on-shore and oshore. We’ve called for them to step up their boots-on-the-ground with operations at all the airlines . . . this is systemic. United just happened to be the one with video cameras on it when the wheel fell o .”

In a March 18 letter to customers, United CEO Scott Kirby told customers the carrier is reviewing recent mishaps, promising that any lessons learned would “inform our safety training and procedures” across the company.

“Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety,” Kirby wrote. “While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus.”

investigation by Crain’s and ProPublica found that at least four pieces from the museum’s Alsdorf collection may have been looted from Nepal and exported illegally, including an inscribed gilt-copper necklace that the Nepali government wants returned.

e Alsdorf collection also contains incomplete provenance by modern standards, according to a national online registry of museum pieces, the report found. “While some museums have taken a more expansive approach to weeding out looted artifacts,” Crain’s and ProPublica wrote, “the Art Institute lags behind.”

Campbell, the University of Denver ethicist, believes these broader provenance disputes may play a role in the museum’s reluctance to voluntarily return the Schiele piece.

“AIC’s legal proceedings seem like actions that a museum takes when it's feeling threatened and may be an e ort to protect itself from future claims for di erent pieces it possesses,” she said.

With these disputes out in the open, and as the legal ghts continue, the museum faces an optics problem. And Gerstenblith of DePaul said the museum has now lost the opportunity to shape public perceptions.

“ ese institutions like the Art Institute have a lot more to gain by being magnanimous and doing something voluntarily,” she said. “By ghting in court, they can no longer control the public narrative.”

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby | BLOOMBERG

The feds are tired of McDonald’s broken ice cream machines,

By Jack Grieve

Changes to a federal software copyright law could make it easier for McDonald’s franchisees to x broken ice cream machines.

McDonald’s soft serve, sundae and McFlurry machines are notoriously susceptible to long-term outages. Approximately 12.5% of U.S. McDonald’s locations have broken ice cream machines right now, according to outage tracking website McBroken. e fast-food chain itself has even acknowledged the epidemic of broken McFlurry machines.

Part of the reason for the problems is that McDonald’s franchisees are often not allowed to perform repairs themselves, nor can they contract third-party repair providers that are not approved by the machines’ maker. Taylor, the food service equipment provider that makes the machines, is the arbiter of which technicians can perform repairs.

Manufacturers like Taylor are able to invoke such restrictions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which allows for copyright holders to impose anti-circumvention measures to protect their software and the machines that use it.

But Taylor’s stronghold on the right to repair its products could soon loosen. In a joint comment to the U.S. Copyright O ce, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division recommended expand-

ing exemptions to the DMCA, which could open the door for more DIY and third-party repairs to software for industrial and commercial equipment.

“Renewing and expanding repair-related exemptions would promote competition in markets for replacement parts, repair and maintenance services, as well as facilitate competition in markets for repairable products,” the March 14 letter said. “Promoting competition in repair markets benefits consumers and workers

because it makes it easier and cheaper to fix things you own.”

e DOJ-FTC letter did not mention McDonald’s by name but cited owners of commercial softserve machines as potential benefactors of the exemption expansion, as rst reported by e Verge. “Soft-serve equipment breakdown can lead to $625 per day loss of sales,” the letter said, referring to an analysis from iFixit.

e letter mentioned oftencited criticisms of restrictions on the rights to repair. “Eliminating

repair restrictions can lower the cost of repairs, improve access to repair services and minimize costly and inconvenient delays,” it said. “Unnecessary repair restrictions have the opposite e ect. ey can reduce consumer choice, raise repair costs and drive independent repair shops out of business by denying them access to key inputs.”

e Copyright O ce is considering whether to recommend that the Librarian of Congress renew the existing exemptions and accept the proposed expansions.

Veteran of ce leasing broker jumps to tenant side

In rare move across the table, Melissa Rubenstein joins real estate services giant Cushman & Wake eld

By Danny Ecker

A veteran real estate broker who has spent more than two decades helping landlords lease up prominent downtown o ce buildings has jumped to a new rm, where she’ll negotiate deals for tenants instead.

Melissa Rubenstein has joined real estate services giant Cushman & Wake eld as managing director of its o ce tenant representation group. Rubenstein joins a team of veteran tenant reps, Ari Klein, Scott Shelbourne and Je Skender, after a long run at Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle, where she had been a leasing agent since 2009. It’s a rare jump from to the other side of the negotiating table for a well-established broker in the Chicago real estate landscape. Commercial real estate brokers often move from one real estate services firm to another, but it’s relatively uncommon for leasing veterans to switch to tenant representation. It also comes at perhaps the most challenging time on record for modern office buildings, with many companies slashing their workspace as they embrace the re -

mote work movement and higher interest rates hammering property values.

Rubenstein said she saw an opportunity to bring her background working with landlords to a team of tenant-side brokers, helping companies better understand what they ought to be asking for when signing new leases and what types of things building owners are willing to give.

“

ese are long-standing relationships that I’m leaving at JLL

to do something totally di erent, because I really feel I can add value from the tenant side,” said Rubenstein, who during her career represented landlords including Boston-based Beacon Capital Partners, Montreal-based Ivanhoe Cambridge and New York-based AmTrust in negotiating leases. “Tenants now are really looking for landlords that are going to be their partner, and their partner for the long haul. Just because we have a piece of

paper we’ve signed — it’s more than that — it’s, ‘What are you going to do to help me if my business grows?’”

Rubenstein began her commercial real estate career on the leasing side with Transwestern Commercial Services before moving to industry giant CBRE in 2004. She has overseen leasing efforts for 101 N. Wacker Drive, 1 and 180 N. LaSalle St. and 515 N. State St., among other highprofile properties.

Rubenstein, who stands out in a commercial real estate brokerage world dominated by men, said she also liked the idea of joining a rm with women in top leadership positions. Vicki Noonan, a veteran leasing agent who has been market leader for Cushman’s Chicago o ce since 2016, said in a statement that Rubenstein’s jump to the tenant side “is a testament to her adaptability and vision. Her perspective and insight make her an invaluable addition to our o ce tenant rep group.”

Rubenstein joins a tenant rep team with clients that include Mesirow Financial, Loop Capital and software provider Workday.

McDonald’s soft serve, sundae and McFlurry machines are notoriously susceptible to long-term outages. | BLOOMBERG

Melissa Rubenstein | CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD

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