Crain's Chicago Business, November 20, 2023 by crainschicago

CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM I NOVEMBER 20, 2023

One way that homebuying is changing PHOTOS COURTESY OF NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE

Dr. Ankit Bharat (left) and transplant patient David “Davey” Bauer after surgery.

Artificial lungs and breast implants:

An improvisational double-lung transplant at Northwestern Doctors reveal the weird and innovative steps they took to save the life of a 34-year-old man whose lungs had liquified from infection I By Jon Asplund

Missouri man’s lung transplant odyssey at Northwestern Medicine required the use of an artificial lung and breast implants to save his life after years of smoking and then later vaping, a first for the health system. In May, surgeons from the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute became involved in a unique and innovative set of procedures leading to a double transplant for the 34-year-old man. See TRANSPLANT on Page 25

Bauer’s new lungs (left) and old lungs.

If you’re buying in the near future, expect to sign an agreement that clarifies where agent compensation comes from By Dennis Rodkin

There’s one change that anyone who’s planning to buy a house in the near future, before the dust settles on the web of lawsuits about agents’ commissions, should expect to run into: an upfront, written agreement between buyer and agent on precisely how the agent will get compensated. “All of this chaos about commissions has made it clear that we real estate professionals have to step it up,” said Laura Ellis, president of residential sales at Baird & Warner. “We all need to make sure there’s more transparency on where an agent’s commission comes from. It comes from the buyer.” A document known as a buyer’s agreement would not only make that fact plain, but in the light of the lawsuits’ potentially killing the long-practiced way commissions are handled, it would also specify that if the sellers aren’t disbursing commissions, the buyer’s agent must be compensated by the buyer. Ellis and others say buyers should expect to sign a document affirming that they clearly understand the flow of money in a deal

before they go out house-hunting with an agent, a step that will “enhance transparency,” she says. At the same time, it’s sure to add another layer of stress to an already anxious process, particularly for first-time buyers who are scrambling to find a home they like and can afford, line up their down payment and financing, and wade through a mountain of paperwork.

“We all need to make sure there’s more transparency on where an agent’s commission comes from. It comes from the buyer.” — Laura Ellis, president of residential sales at Baird & Warner “You don’t need another thing stressing you out during this process,” said Ryan Gable, president of StartingPoint Realty, a Chicago and Schaumburg firm, and See HOMEBUYING on Page 25

NOTABLE LEADERS IN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR LAW

BOOTH INSIGHTS Want happier, more productive employees? Be a coach, not a manager. PAGE 9

CRAIN’S LISTS Our annual ranking of the Chicago area’s largest hospitals and health systems. PAGE 12

ORPHE DIVOUNGUY ON THE ECONOMY

lthough demand for housing in Illinois has been resilient, construction sector activity has slowed faster than the rest of the country. Leaders should look to California as a cautionary tale. California’s population is decreasing. And the Golden State’s high costs of living may have contributed to its population decline. How did California reach this point? California has some of the most restrictive building rules and consequently the most sluggish housing supply in the country. At the Orphe other end of the Divounguy spectrum, Florida and Texas metros dominated the rankings for the largest increases in housing supply during the pandemic. Also at the top were Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C., as well as Nashville, Tenn. These markets also had among the least-restrictive building regulations and relatively more affordable markets before the pandemic. The disparity in housing policy is reshaping population trends across the country. Migration patterns are telling: Nearly 30% of Californians leaving the state are choosing Florida, Texas and Arizona, states with fewer building restrictions and more available housing. Consequently, Florida and Texas have seen significant population growth. The top 10 metros for the highest population growth in 2022 were Austin, Texas; Orlando, Fla.; Raleigh; Dallas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Charlotte; Tampa, Fla.; San Antonio; Houston and Nashville. Building restrictions and housing supply challenges keep people out and lower economic growth. The relationship between housing and population is complex. On one hand, an increase in the homebuying-age population raises housing demand and house prices, also resulting in higher housing supply over time. On the other hand, less affordable housing due to a lack of housing options can lower population growth through the migration channel. Among the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country, San Diego, Riverside, Calif., and Los Angeles were the top three metros for the smallest increase in their respective housing stocks during the pandemic, according to the latest data from the American Community Survey. In total, six California metros were among the worst 10 metros for growth in their housing stock. San Jose, San Francisco and

Sacramento were the other three with the most sluggish housing supply increases. Not surprisingly, these markets had some of the most restrictive building rules and were already home to the most unaffordable housing in the U.S. even before the pandemic. So, perhaps, it shouldn’t be too surprising that San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose were also four of the seven large metros with population declines during the pandemic. Affordability challenges are likely to prolong California’s shrinkage. The lack of affordable housing options is putting an end to many families’ California dream. California lost roughly 340,000 people on net to other states from 2021 to 2022 and this is likely to continue, at least in the near term. In 2023, the increase in mortgage rates caused housing affordability to worsen, according to the Zillow housing affordability dashboard. And housing access has gotten out of reach for most families faster in markets with the largest prepandemic housing unit deficits. In Los Angeles, San Diego and Riverside, the rise in housing costs is simply unsustainable. The typical new homebuyer with a 20% down payment would have to spend roughly 97%, 90% and 70% of their income on housing in each of those markets, respectively. This is compared to 41% for the median U.S. homebuyer. California’s real GDP growth in 2022 was a mere 0.7%, a dismal figure compared to Florida’s 4.6% and Texas’ 2.7%. This slowdown in economic activity is partly attributable to the state’s housing crisis, which not only affects those priced out of the market, but also constrains overall employment and economic growth. Despite these challenges, there is hope. Research indicates that minimal densification, such as allowing accessory dwelling units — or ADUs — and duplexes in single-family zones can significantly boost housing availability. Other necessary steps include relaxing permit requirements, off-street parking restrictions, lot size limits and height limits. California’s housing crisis serves as a warning to other states. The need for affordable housing is a critical social and economic issue. As California grapples with its challenges, other states have the opportunity to learn and chart a more sustainable and inclusive path forward. Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow Group and executive adviser at Quantitative Research Group, writes a monthly column for Crain’s.

Corrections ◗ The story, “What it’s taking to kick-start a neighborhood,” featured in the Equity section of the Nov. 13 issue should have stated that under a national program funded by JPMorgan Chase that aims to expand affordable homeownership, The Chicago Community Trust received a commitment of $4 million, has deployed $2 million and expects the remaining $2 million next year. ◗ In Crain’s Largest Accounting Firms list in the Nov. 13 issue, ORBA Managing Director Joseph Odzer’s name was misspelled. 2 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

COSTAR GROUP

California’s housing crisis is a warning to Illinois

Nema Chicago, center

Chicago’s tallest apartment building for sale Developer Crescent Heights put Nema Chicago, a 76-story, 800-unit luxury tower overlooking Grant Park, on the market amid a broader slump By Rachel Herzog

A developer is looking to cash out of Chicago’s tallest all-rental high-rise. Miami-based Crescent Heights has hired CBRE to market Nema Chicago, the 76-story, 800-unit luxury tower overlooking Grant Park, marketing materials for the property show. Built by Crescent Heights in 2019, the property at 1210 S. Indiana Ave. is the tallest building in the South Loop and one of the tallest in the city overall. If Nema Chicago fetches a price on par with recent sales of similar buildings, it could be one of Chicago’s richest-ever apartment building sales. But the building hits the market as high interest rates have challenged landlords and investors and led to decreased values for commercial properties. It will test demand for downtown trophy buildings at a time when apartment sales generally are declining. With many buyers on the sidelines, apartment sales in the Chicago area dropped during the first

nine months of the year by 30% compared with the same period in 2022, according to research firm MSCI Real Assets. Yet, that was far better than the 64% drop nationwide, MSCI data shows. And Chicago has been one of the nation’s top metro areas for rent growth, with average monthly net rent at Class A downtown apartment buildings up 3.3% to $3.76 per square foot in the second quarter of 2023, according to appraisal and consulting firm Integra Realty Resources. Marketing materials indicate Nema is 96.5% occupied, with an average rent of $3,022, or $3.89 per square foot, for buildings on the second to 47th floors, and $6,691, or $4.24 per square foot, for the upper floors. It’s not clear why Crescent Heights has opted to sell, or how much the developer expects the building to sell for. The firm did not respond to a request for comment from Crain’s. The developer is “open to a joint venture or recapitalization investment strategy” in addition to

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a sale, according to the marketing materials. The city’s largest multifamily deals so far this year are Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega’s nearly $232 million purchase of a 45-story West Loop apartment building in August and Crescent Heights’ acquisition of the 398unit North Water Apartments in Streeterville for $173 million. Nema could sell for $376.8 million if it matches the $471,000 perunit price of the West Loop building, the biggest sale of a downtown apartment building since 2019. The vacant lot next to Nema is also on the market. Crescent Heights hired CBRE in August to sell the 43,123-square-foot site at 1201 S. Michigan Ave., which is zoned for a tower about the same height as Nema. CBRE brokers John Jaeger, Brandon McMenomy, Steve Ward and Justin Puppi are marketing the apartment building on behalf of Crescent Heights. CoStar News first reported on Nema being listed for sale.

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This apartment complex could set a sale price record The 1,115-unit Pavilion complex near O’Hare International Airport is on the market amid a slow time for commercial property sales

JOHN R. BOEHM

By Danny Ecker

Stacy Donohue tends bar at two establishments in Wrigleyville and one in the South Loop.

Restaurateurs outraged by city’s PTO push as workers welcome it After nearly four years of pandemic restrictions and inflation, restaurant owners in the low-margin industry say there is nowhere left to cut costs to pay for the proposed time off I By Ally Marotti

eople will only pay so much for a brisket sandwich. Soul & Smoke co-owner Heather Bublick knows that all too well. Already, the barbecue restaurant has increased its brisket sandwich price to $18 from $13 in 2020. Bublick said she needs to charge $21 to cover the rising costs of ingredients and labor that go into making it, but anything over $20 sends customers searching for another lunch option. Instead, the restaurant made the sandwich smaller, piling it with six ounces of brisket instead of eight. After nearly four years of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and inflation, restaurant owners in the low-margin industry say there is See RESTAURANTS on Page 24

Restaurant owners say they are not opposed to providing additional benefits for workers, but they do not know how they will pay for them.

After getting rid of the affordable portion of its massive apartment complex near O’Hare International Airport, Brookfield Asset Management is looking to cash out with what could be one of the largest apartment deals ever in suburban Chicago. The Toronto-based real estate giant has hired real estate services firm Newmark to seek a buyer for the Pavilion Apartments, a 1,115-unit apartment property at 5441 N. East River Road on the city’s Northwest Side, according to a marketing flyer. Brookfield acquired the five-building complex — one of the area’s biggest multifamily properties by number of units — through its $6.8 billion acquisition of Forest City Realty Trust in 2018. There is no asking price listed for the property, which is within city limits but competes with apartments in the suburban O’Hare submarket. But people familiar with the offering said they expect bids could come in close to $150 million, or about $135,000 per unit. A sale at that price would be the most ever paid for a multifamily property in the Chicago area, topping a $139 million sale of Bourbon Square in Palatine last year, according to data from research firm MSCI Real Assets. Brookfield is testing the market as demand for suburban apartments remains strong. Higher interest rates over the past year have kept many renters from buying homes, a big reason

that net rents at apartments across the suburbs were up 5.4% during the second quarter compared with the same period last year, according to appraisal and consulting firm Integra Realty Resources.

There is no asking price listed for the property, which is within city limits but competes with apartments in the suburban O’Hare submarket. Yet, those same higher borrowing costs have made many investors especially cautious when it comes to doing deals. Sales of apartments nationwide were down 64% during the first nine months of the year compared with the same period in 2022, MSCI data shows. Brookfield will need to find a buyer that can overcome the hurdle of financing a large acquisition amid a tight lending environment. The Pavilion made headlines earlier this year when Brookfield disclosed that it was converting all 223 of its affordable units — those that are offered to renters earning no more than 60% of the area’s median income — into market-rate units. A 30-year See APARTMENTS on Page 26

Chicago firm is one of WeWork’s largest creditors The embattled co-working giant owes Alter Group of Wilmette nearly $11.9 million, according to a bankruptcy filing By Danny Ecker

Chicago investor Michael Alter’s real estate firm is one of WeWork’s largest creditors, according to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition the embattled co-working company filed earlier this month. WeWork owes a venture of Wilmette-based Alter Group nearly $11.9 million from “lease termination fees and related litigation,” according to U.S. bankruptcy court records. Only one other entity is listed as having a larger claim against WeWork among the co-working company’s $18.7 bil-

lion in liabilities, records show. The filing disclosed only the 30 largest unsecured creditors. It’s one of a few local ties disclosed by the troubled co-working giant in its move to reorganize through bankruptcy. The New York-based company disclosed that it plans to walk away from nearly 70 leases in North America, hoping it can emerge stronger by ditching its least profitable locations and focusing on its most lucrative ones. Alter’s claim is tied to the office portion of the 17-story building at 20 W. Kinzie St., which is owned by an Alter venture. WeWork oc-

cupied about 80% of that space until it shuttered the location earlier this year with roughly 12 years remaining on its lease. The company had a corporate guarantee on rent payments for the location, an Alter Group spokesman said in June, and WeWork agreed to an undisclosed termination fee to get out of its lease. But WeWork recently fell behind on its termination fee payments, according to a lawsuit Alter filed in September. The complaint did not specify how much WeWork owed, but the See WEWORK on Page 25

WeWork manages a 25,000-square-foot space in the grand hall of a 12-story building at 4753 N. Broadway in Uptown. I WEWORK

NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 3

Chicago company’s cancer drug gets boost from FDA for use on brain tumors The firm’s third Orphan Drug Designation for the immunotherapy drug it’s developing is for treating the most common type of brain tumor By Jon Asplund

Maia Biotechnology said Nov. 10 that it has received its third FDA Orphan Drug Designation, or ODD, for the cancer immunotherapy drug it is developing, THIO. The FDA has given Chicagobased Maia’s lead asset, THIO, the orphan drug status for the treatment of glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain tumor, Maia said in a press release.

Glioblastoma market In 2022, THIO received orphan drug designations for hepatocellular carcinoma and small-cell lung cancer.

“Each year, globally, more than 300,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumors, of which 25,000 are in the United States. Glioblastoma represents the majority of these cases in the U.S., with 15,000 new patients diagnosed and more than 10,000 deaths yearly, making it an orphan indication,” Dr. Vlad Vitoc, MAIA’s chairman and CEO, said in the release. “Given this prevalence, there is significant room for growth in the $2.2 billion glioblastoma market, which is expected to reach $3.2 billion globally in the next three years. We consider this ODD an important milestone for our development strategy and for glioblastoma patients who could

proval but makes drug development more financially feasible by providing up to seven years of market exclusivity for the approved orphan drug, up to 20 years of 25% federal tax credit for expenses incurred in conducting clinical research and waiver of certain prescription drug user fees for orphan drugs, the release said.

‘Potent anticancer activity’

benefit from a potentially revolutionary therapy.” The 1983 Orphan Drug Act was designed to incentivize the development of therapies that

demonstrate promise for the treatment of rare (orphan) diseases or conditions, Maia said in the release. The FDA’s ODD program is not tied to drug ap-

In data including mouse models of the drug, the company showed it was able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier in order to provide “potent anticancer activity and significant expansion of the animal lifespan,” Sergei Gryaznov, Maia’s chief scientific officer, said in the release. Maia is enrolling patients in a Phase 2 trial of THIO to evaluate it in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, the company said.

Crain’s adds two reporters, Block 37 shopping names new managing editor mall up for sale Mark Weinraub and Rachel Herzog join the newsroom, reporting to newly promoted Managing Editor Aly Brumback

Los Angeles investment firm CIM Group is making a second attempt to find a buyer

By Crain’s Staff

By Rachel Herzog

Crain’s Chicago Business is welcoming two new members to its reporting team, who will report to the publication’s new Managing Editor, Aly Brumback. Mark Weinraub, a 27-year career financial journalist, now covers banking and finance for Crain’s. Weinraub, a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, has spent the bulk of his career writing about commodities, agriculture, Chicago’s futures exchanges, government and other industries for Reuters. Weinraub, 49, worked in the agency’s Washington and New York bureaus before moving to the Chicago office in 2006. Meanwhile, Rachel Herzog joins Crain’s award-winning real estate reporting team, where she will work alongside veterans Danny Ecker and Dennis Rodkin. Herzog, 28, comes to Crain’s from The Real Deal, where she has covered commercial real estate in Chicago since June 2022. Prior to The Real Deal, Herzog wrote for the Arkansas DemocratGazette, where she started in 2017 as a web reporter before being promoted to city government reporter, and later to the statehouse beat. She is a grad-

A Los Angeles investment firm is making a second attempt to sell the Block 37 shopping mall, testing how the Loop asset will fare in a tough environment for retail landlords. CIM Group has hired Jones Lang LaSalle to sell the fivestory retail space at 108 N. State St., marketing materials show. The property was CIM’s first Chicago deal, and the investment firm has since become a major commercial owner and developer in the market, notably with its redevelopment of the historic Tribune Tower on North Michigan Avenue. Though it’s a trophy property with an attractive mix of tenants, downtown retail owners are contending with decreased foot traffic since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and depressed commercial property values as higher borrowing costs have reduced what buyers are willing to pay. CIM first put the 277,654-squarefoot mall up for sale in 2016, but the property never traded. The firm bought the mall out of foreclosure from Bank of America for $84 million in 2012, when it was 30% occupied and in need of a turnaround. The property is now about

4 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

Mark Weinraub

Rachel Herzog

uate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, receiving a bachelor’s degree in media and journalism, as well as a separate degree in Hispanic literature and culture. Herzog and Weinraub now report to Brumback, 36, who was promoted to managing editor in August from her previous role as assistant managing editor for audience engagement. Since joining Crain’s in that role in March 2022, Brumback has overhauled the newsroom’s audience engagement strategies, driving double-digit traffic growth across the website, newsletters and social media. As managing editor, she supervises the entire newsroom, working with reporters, editors and graphics staffers, as well as the audience team. Before joining Crain’s sister

Aly Brumback

publication Modern Healthcare as an audience specialist in August 2021, Brumback was a 10-year veteran of the Chicago Tribune, where she started as a national content copy editor and page designer before becoming part of the newspaper’s audience team. She is a graduate of Ball State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in journalism. “We are excited to welcome two experienced and knowledgeable beat reporters to our editorial team,” said Crain’s Editor Ann Dwyer. “I’m confident that under Aly’s leadership, Mark and Rachel will continue to produce awardwinning work that will further solidify Crain’s standing as the definitive source of business news and information in Chicago.”

70% leased, according to JLL, an improvement from 63% in 2016. Tenants include Zara, The Dearborn, Magnolia Bakery, Sephora, Anthropologie, Five Iron Golf, First Ascent Climbing & Fitness and AMC Theatres. The marketing flyer doesn’t have a listing price, and it’s not clear why CIM decided to sell. CIM representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Though the mall won’t sell for as much as it would if it were fully leased, it’s likely to draw interest from so-called valueadd investors motivated to bring in more tenants. A 2016 report said the property could fetch as much as $200 million at the time. The listing does not include Marquee at Block 37, a 694-unit apartment tower above the mall along Randolph Street. Real estate investment trust Morguard North American Residential bought the controlling interest in that property in 2019, valuing the rental units at $265 million. CIM also owns a 39-story office tower at 440 S. LaSalle St. and a 397-unit apartment tower at 1001 S. State St. CoStar News first reported that the Block 37 mall was for sale.

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The crisis PR playbook for business leaders navigating global political controversies There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for executives faced with thorny global issues. Even so, there are common mistakes to avoid. I By Jack Grieve

hen United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby addressed shareholders at the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Oct. 18, he opened with remarks about the “horrific attacks on Israel and the escalating conflict in the region that has millions of innocent people in harm’s way.” The airline is “heartbroken,” he said, and expects to “play a meaningful role in the humanitarian response.” Richard Edelman, CEO of Chicago-based global communications firm Edelman, penned a letter on Oct. 9 that did not mince words condemning the Hamas attack on Israel. He also shared advice he’d given to clients: “Communicate to employees your revulsion over the terrorist actions this past weekend and tell them what you are going to do.” Executives at McDonald’s have avoided publicly weighing in on the conflict despite some of its franchisees in the Middle East butting heads over support for Israeli troops or Palestinians in Gaza. After the McDonald’s Israel franchise announced that it was offering free meals to the Israel Defense Forces, there were calls to boycott the brand. And while neighboring McDonald’s owners have sought to distance themselves from the Israel entity, corporate leaders at McDonald’s have not directly addressed the franchisees’ differing positions. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for business leaders navigating controversial political issues. At times, strong statements with actions to back them up are warranted and even necessary. Other issues prompt companies to offer carefully crafted remarks that they feel run little risk of alienating their stakeholders. Most times, saying nothing can feel safer than saying anything. There are, however, some general best practices that businesses can reference when responding to potentially fraught issues. Crain’s sat down with five crisis communications experts to discuss those tactics and how businesses can best approach their public responses to political matters. Responses have been condensed for clarity. CRAIN’S: Say you are a business leader in Chicago. What issues are prompting a public response from your organization? Tilden Katz, senior principal at Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies: Political issues are obviously tricky because there’s not a consensus among your stakeholders about what to do. What we recommend for companies is to think through in 6 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

◗ How can comms teams

prepare for crises ahead of time? Varones: Companies I have worked with go through scenariobased decision-making exercises that identify issues the company realistically could confront, audiences that could be involved, messaging strategies and the most appropriate company response. Company leaders should also ask for and get viewpoint diversity from their teams. On the flip side, there is a tendency by a besieged company to play it safe or try to appease all sides of a debate. This is a big taboo to avoid. Oftentimes, responses of this nature come off defensive or tone-deaf and can result in nothingstatements being released and non-apologies being issued, which can result in prolonging a controversy.

advance the types of issues that they want to get involved in. It doesn’t have to be a list that you can never expand or edit, but at least have a framework. Tim Calkins, associate chair of the marketing department at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management: You want to be careful about getting in the middle of controversial issues if they are not directly related to your business. Sometimes there are topics that clearly fall in the space of your brand. It makes sense for a pharmaceutical company to comment on drug reimbursement policies or clinical trial topics. And it might make sense for a food company to get involved in topics related to food safety, food production or hunger. Where it gets a lot harder is when you have big issues that might be very important to employees or individuals in the company, but they are not directly related to what the company is doing or the values or mission of the company.

Partners: It really gets down to what kind of business you are, who your audience is and if they have been impacted. If I’m a nonprofit and my stakeholders are largely Israeli, then I might be beholden to be involved and speak about what’s going on in the Middle East right now. But if I’m a for-profit and I have people all over the world in all different countries coming from all different backgrounds, what are the long-term implications of speaking about it? ◗ What are the risks of speak-

ing out? What are the risks of staying silent?

Chris Varones, principal at Aesop Communications Group: It’s got to come back to relevance to the organization, why you exist and what you stand for. Some companies are going to see it in their interests, in their strategies and in their goals to respond to an issue, while others are not.

Danielle Bell, assistant professor and director of the IMC professional master’s program at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications: Silence is a message. If a decision is made to not speak on a particular issue or topic, it’s very important to be clear on why that decision is being made and what message is being sent by remaining silent. There is always a message being sent when you are silent. That could be intentional. Maybe the topic is outside your domain, expertise or influence. But this is when it’s important to use your values for guidance. If we are choosing not to speak, what are we saying by not speaking up?

Anne Marie Mitchell, senior vice president at Reputation

Varones: The risks of speaking up publicly on an issue can range

from a dip in stock price, a boycott or just being the target of a nasty, highly personalized troll campaign on social media. There’s also a serious risk of companies unintentionally ceding their decision-making power to outside parties if they appear to be bowing to outside pressure out of weakness. Sitting things out may provoke public criticism of indifference and insensitivity, but sometimes the “do no harm” approach serves companies best. In certain cases, companies can collect more information, engage stakeholders directly, differentiate between real concerns and momentary passions, and make better decisions with cooler heads. Calkins: In many cases, the best thing you can do is just not comment. There are so many issues that it’s impossible for a company to comment on everything. Especially if there is controversy and strong points of view on a topic, you really do not want to put your brand in the middle of that debate unless you really need to. Katz: The risk in speaking out is people feeling like you’re taking the wrong stand or that you aren’t going far enough in support. We’ve seen companies have to issue two or three statements because the first one was not well received in some way or another. In not speaking out, it can seem like you are unconcerned about the issues that matter to your stakeholders, whether that’s your

By J

investors or your employees or your customers.

McDonald’s has become ensnared in the Israeli-Hamas conflict as franchisees in the Middle East express support for either Israeli troops or Palestinians in Gaza. I TOA HEFTIBA VIA UNSPLASH

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Bell: In crisis communications, the most important phase is actually not the moment of crisis, but actually pre-crisis and post-crisis. You can never predict what’s going to happen in some of these crises, but you can plan and prepare for how you will respond and how you will show up in moments of crisis, especially in moments that you know could impact your area of expertise or influence. You want to think about who the messengers will be, what the key messages could be and what channels of communication you’ll want to use. After a crisis is when you learn from the crisis and apply those lessons to future preparation and planning. Calkins: Think about what events you are going to get involved in. Have a protocol to figure out how to develop a statement and do it quickly. You want to have a structure where you can get the expertise and the perspective that you need. ◗ What is your advice to

comms teams during crises? Bell: The extent to which you are clear on your core values and the extent to which you commit to living your values, especially when it’s hard, is the extent to which you are able to show up for your stakeholders in a way that makes them feel valued. Katz: There’s no magic “do these three steps and all your stakeholders will fall in line,” but there are some general best practices. See CRISIS PR on Page 7

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Swedish Hospital is the first in Illinois to implant Abbott Laboratories’ game-changing pacemaker Aveir DR, Abbott Labs’ newly approved dual-chamber, leadless pacemaker system, has gone into its first patients this month By Jon Asplund

Chicago’s Swedish Hospital became the first hospital in Illinois to implant Abbott Laboratories’ newly approved dual-chamber, leadless pacemaker on Nov. 7. It is technology that will revolutionize heart care, said the cardiac electrophysiologist who did the procedure. As soon as North Chicagobased Abbott told clinicians they could begin to use its Aveir DR pacemaker system this Monday, Dr. Hany Demo at Swedish worked to bring in his patient, 74-year-old Larry Anderson of Naperville, for the procedure. Unlike traditional dual-chamber pacemakers, which require surgical incisions in the chest, wired leads fed to the heart through veins and much larger mechanisms, the Abbott technology is the first to allow pacemakers to be placed on the upper and lower chambers of the heart, through a vein in the leg, without any wired leads, Demo said. The pacemakers, smaller than AAA batteries, are able to work in concert and operate using minimal power for eight to 10 years, he said. Aveir incorporates Abbott’s i2i technology, which offers beatto-beat communication between the two leadless pacemakers,

CRISIS PR From Page 6

Do think through the types of issues you want to talk about in advance. Do think through the issues you want to talk about publicly and the types of issues you want to talk about just internally — not everything has to be an external message. And do follow up and have substance behind your statements, because organizations can be rightfully criticized if they are just talking and not doing anything. Mitchell: One of the biggest challenges is trying to take a long-term view. I may emotionally feel one way, but do I want to make a public statement about it? Because once I do, I’m going to be in it for the long term. Calkins: It’s hard for one person alone to develop these statements, because one person brings their own personal experience to the statement. In many cases, there are different voices, people and perspectives that you need to include. Somebody writing a statement might say something that to them seems reasonable but does not seem right to somebody else. ◗ It seems like businesses are

increasingly vocal. Is the playbook changing?

according to a statement from Swedish, which is part of the NorthShore — Edward-Elmhurst Health system. “This is very exciting because the procedure we performed yesterday is the future of pacemakers,” Demo said. He said that although singlechamber leadless systems have been around for years, some 90% of patients who need pacemakers really need dual-chamber pacemakers. Aveir DR reduces patients’ exposure to infections and complications with the leads of the pacemakers, he said, and recovery time is dramatically reduced. Anderson, speaking 24 hours after getting the procedure, said he felt fine from the procedure and could already tell the pacemakers were doing their job keeping his heart rate steady.

Technical pioneer While the system is still in limited release, Demo said he expects wide adoption of the new pacemakers soon. Demo said Swedish was able to be one of the first to use the system because of the strength of its electrophysiology program, which has pioneered the technique of performing some cardiac procedures without the need of fluoroscopy. Varones: Companies have gotten more involved in public dialogue. I think this is because companies know they employ a more socially driven, politically minded generation of workers whose needs they need to consider. Also, social media and digital technologies have made companies into glass houses, where their actions are seen by many and the temptation is high to break things. All that said, while there are new trends and tools on the scene, I’m not sure if the “playbook” has fundamentally changed. Good company executives need to balance the interests of all their stakeholders, understand their marketplace well, play the long game, and know what they and their companies stand for. Like most things, resolving a controversy or crisis comes down to good leadership. Calkins: I think everyone is particularly sensitive after what happened with Bud Light earlier this year. For anybody in the world of marketing or branding, there’s a heightened level of sensitivity. Bud Light got caught in the middle of the debate around transgender rights and inclusion and acceptance, and that just ended very poorly for the brand.

Dr. Hany Demo at Swedish Hospital checks on Larry Anderson. I SWEDISH HOSPITAL

“We have a track record of state-of-the-art care,” Demo said, “and Abbott saw the opportunity to work with us.” Anderson said he was impressed by the Abbott team that consulted with Swedish clini-

cians during the procedure, bringing in “a strong team of engineers, with one person from Paris and one person from Oxford in the U.K.” The Aveir DR system was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug

Administration in July. Demo said Abbott did not receive CMS codes from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, until the week prior to the procedure, so they “gave the green light” on Nov. 6.

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This story appears in the ChicagoGlobal newsletter, a joint project of Crain’s Chicago Business and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 7

Auto dealership family buys Oakbrook Terrace tower The clan that owns Napleton Automotive Group paid $60 million for the property, well known as the tallest building in Illinois outside of Chicago By Danny Ecker

The family that owns the Napleton Automotive Group chain of car dealerships has purchased one of the most recognizable office properties in the Chicago suburbs, the biggest sale of a multi-tenant suburban office building in 18 months. A venture controlled by the Napleton family paid $60 million this week for the 31-story Oakbrook Terrace Tower at 1 Tower Lane in the western suburb, according to DuPage County property records and people familiar with the deal. The venture paid all cash to acquire the 785,257-square-foot building from New York-based privateequity giant Blackstone Group, which acquired it as part of a $3.3 billion portfolio acquisition from GE Capital Real Estate in 2015.

first nine months of the year were down by 60% from the same period last year, according to research firm MSCI Real Assets. That precarious backdrop helped Napleton buy Oakbrook Terrace Tower at just $76 per square foot, a low number relative to what the property was worth in the past. The tower’s previous trades were all done as part of portfolio sales, but real estate transfer tax records show the building was valued at nearly $89 million when Blackstone acquired it in 2015. Blackstone also spent about $11 million on capital improvements during its ownership tenure, according to a marketing flyer from real estate services firm Eastdil Secured, which brokered the sale. The tower was 76% leased when it hit the market more than a year ago, according to the flyer, led by a 108,723square-foot lease with German industrial giant Bosch that runs through November 2031. That occupancy is slightly higher than the average for suburban office buildings today. But the secondlargest tenant, movie rental company Redbox, has a lease for 69,627 square feet that’s due to expire in November 2024, according to the flyer. Ferrara Candy, which moved its headquarters downtown to the Old Post Office building before the COVID-19 pandemic, has a lease for just under 20,000 square feet

Higher interest rates have kept would-be buyers on the sidelines, and the remote work movement has scared off many investors. The sale comes amid an especially sluggish period for office property sales. Higher interest rates have kept would-be buyers on the sidelines, and the remote work movement has scared off many investors — key reasons that sales of suburban office buildings nationwide during the

that expires in March. Renewing leases or finding new tenants to fill available space is difficult and costly today for landlords amid record-high vacancy, which is one factor that might have lowered the tower’s market value.

Other properties Napleton Automotive Group, which is led by Ed Napleton and one of the largest dealership groups in the country, also has its main office at another nearby building but could relocate it to Oakbrook Terrace Tower. Napleton ranks No. 18 on the U.S. dealership ranking compiled by Crain’s sister publication Automotive News. As of late last year, the tower was projected to generate net operating income of $10.2 million in 2023, according to Eastdil marketing materials. A Napleton spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. A Blackstone spokeswoman did not comment on the Oakbrook Terrace sale directly, but said in a statement that it is focusing on “sectors with strong fundamentals propelled by macro demand trends” like logistics properties, student housing and data centers. Less than 2% of the properties the company owns are “traditional U.S. office,” the statement said. Blackstone has sold off a number of other suburban office properties in recent years. The firm last year unloaded the Pointe O’Hare office building

Oakbrook Terrace Tower I COSTAR GROUP

near O’Hare International Airport for nearly $39 million.

Notable sale Blackstone is perhaps best known locally for its ownership of Willis Tower, which it has modernized over the past several years with hundreds of millions of dollars of renovations. The Oakbrook Terrace Tower deal is the largest sale of a multitenant office building in the Chicago suburbs since May 2022, when the Kemper Lakes Business Center in Lake Zurich changed hands for $190 million,

according to MSCI data. Designed by late architect Helmut Jahn and completed in 1987 by developer Miglin-Beitler, Oakbrook Terrace Tower is the tallest building in Illinois outside of downtown Chicago. The property includes both the office tower as well as a 129,000-square-foot warehouse building at its base that was developed in 1970. Eastdil brokers Bryan Rosenberg, David Caprile and Stephen Livaditis marketed Oakbrook Terrace Tower for sale on behalf of Blackstone.

Why Kristi Ross made the leap from fintech to coffee She and her husband are cooking up an online exchange, roastery and cafe By John Pletz

During 30 years in the trading industry, Kristi Ross would start and end her days with coffee — a lot of it. After leaving Tastytrade a year ago, following its billion-dollar acquisition by IG Group, Ross and her husband, Craig, a health care executive, made the leap into the coffee business. They launched U3, an ecommerce site to sell their own coffee, as well as offerings from other craft roasters, along with specialty products. They plan to open a roastery and cafe in Forest Park next year. U3’s website also includes a media component to help coffee growers, roasters and others in the business tell their stories, taking a page from her work at Tastytrade, an options-trading 8 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

and education platform that featured a financial network.

Family project Ross, who is one of Chicago’s best-known and most successful female tech entrepreneurs, hasn’t completely abandoned her fintech roots, however. Longer term, she’s also focusing on building a blockchain solution for U3 that would allow consumers to tip the people who grow coffee as easily as they tip the baristas who pour it. Ross, who was co-CEO of Tastytrade and chief financial officer at options-trading firm Thinkorswim, decided to focus on a family project for her next act as an entrepreneur. “After we closed the deal, I had a lot of time to reflect on: ‘What do I want to do with the second half of my life?’ ” she said. “We have three girls. No one wanted to go into

trading or pharmaceuticals.” “I thought, what can we do together? Our family is obsessed with coffee,” she added. “Coming from a niche business, trading derivatives, I always wanted to try something mass market.”

Big market As Starbucks can attest, it’s a big market, with more than $50 billion in annual sales at coffee shops and restaurants in the U.S. Tom Sosnoff, who co-founded Tastytrade with Ross and Linwood Ma, has a coffee side hustle, too. Even though he isn’t a coffee drinker, Sosnoff says he’s opening a coffee shop called Bad Coffee in the Ravenswood neighborhood as a place to hang out. As for his former co-CEO in the trading business, he says: “If anybody can change the world of coffee, it will be Kristi.”

Kristi Ross launched a coffee brand, U3 Coffee. I PHOTO COURTESY OF U3 COFFEE

CHICAGO BOOTH INSIGHTS

dramatically changing workforce is rendering traditional management styles almost obsolete. Top-down styles — defining tasks, assigning deadlines and tracking performance — have been found to be less effective than newer, more bottom-up approaches in which managers act more as coaches than task-givers. Instead of being told what to do, employees today want to feel understood. They want to be guided, supported and empowered, not commanded and then critiqued. According to a 2019 study, employees with managers who do these things have been found to be more productive, report feeling more engaged and valued, and are less likely to quit. Transitioning to a coaching mentality, however, is not easy. Most people rise to the management level by developing some technical, functional or professional expertise and repeatedly proving their ability to deliver. Over time, they migrate that expertise to others. Rarely does climbing the corporate ladder impart the softer people skills needed

to be coaches. Skills such as empathy, critical listening, praising accomplishments and delivering constructive feedback are foreign to many people without training, practice and intention. Not surprisingly, studies show that most managers admit that coaching employees is their least favorite way to manage. It simply doesn’t come naturally. For managers looking to be more effective as coaches rather than task-givers, there are two general styles they might look to pursue. The mentor coach: This is viewed as perhaps the easiest transition a manager can make toward being a more effective coach. It reflects the ability to refrain from “telling” how a task should be undertaken, based on years of experience, to “sharing” such experience as a way of imparting wisdom. Today’s workforce is turned off by being told what to do and prefers instead to be taught how to do something. This style focuses on guiding employees to see how they might successfully undertake a task and avoid common

DYLAN GILLIS/UNSPLASH

Want happier, more productive employees? Be a coach, not a manager.

mistakes that are often made without experience. Mentoring coaches see value in providing advice-oriented feedback and taking a hands-on approach to directing employee development. Exceptional mentoring coaches even develop a comfort in talking employees through periods of stress, anxiety and personal difficulties, and display an encouraging and supportive manner in the way they communicate. The passive coach: As the name implies, this style is admittedly more hands-off, but no less demanding than being a mentor coach. This style focuses on un-

derstanding an individual’s strengths and weaknesses and providing constant feedback to spur self-development and growth. Passive coaches make themselves readily available for feedback, positive as well as constructive, yet leave employees largely in charge of their own development. Passive coaches are usually well aware of the scope of their own competencies and areas of expertise and are not shy about sending employees to others who might be better suited for particular developmental needs. Achieving a coaching culture is itself a top-down endeavor requir-

Tim Kelly is an investor-inresidence at Chicago Booth’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. He was a private-equity investor for 30 years before earning his doctorate in psychology.

Advice for small businesses and entrepreneurs in partnership with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

ing leadership buy-in. It must be championed and incorporated into the fabric of how your business operates. The benefits are hard to overlook: a better-performing workforce, employees achieving their potential and teams that are more inclined to think critically, creatively and collaboratively — and stick around.

NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 9

EDITORIAL

Pritzker steps in to clean up Chicago’s asylum-seeker mess

WTTW NEWS

he influx of asylum-seekers to Chicago has shaped up to be a humanitarian crisis, one that will only intensify as winter approaches. To be fair to the local officials trying to manage it, this crisis not one of their own creation. It’s been thrust upon them by cynical border-state pols hoping to make a point and, more fundamentally, a federal government that has perennially failed to craft and pass comprehensive reform of this country’s outmoded immigration system. Even so, the city of Chicago’s response has been just a notch or two above abysmal, with migrants sleeping on floors in police stations and airports for far too long. So it was somewhat reassuring to see Gov. J.B. Pritzker step in with promises of significant aid to prop up Mayor Brandon Johnson’s haphazard handling of this human tide. The governor committed his administration to provide $160 million in state funding — which is $10 million more than the mayor dedicated in his own 2024 budget to address the problem, though he’s on track to spend twice that much in the coming year. What’s worth noting about that $160 million infusion, however, is that it’s not coming in the form of one big, fat check written to the order of the mayor but rather is being directed to specific funding buckets — and dispensed along with a dose of policy prescriptions that Johnson & Co. should have pursued before now. That says something about Team Pritzker’s level of confidence in Team Johnson’s handling of the crisis so far. The $160 million in state money will be provided in three lump sums: $30 million to create a just-announced “large intake and

Migrants outside a Chicago police station.

welcome center” at an undisclosed location, $65 million to help Chicago establish a tent base camp to provide shelter for up to 2,000 people at a time and another $65 million to help coordinate the resettlement of migrants, including rental assistance. The fresh round of Pritzker administration aid comes on top of $478 million the state has already spent to help resettle and care for migrants. That earlier state funding includes $115 million in direct funding to the city as well as $90 million in Illinois Emergency Management Agency funding for needs such as shelter, food, laundry, health care and more.

The new plan — hammered out between the city and state but disclosed in part by the mayor a day ahead of the governor’s new funding announcement — calls for increasing staffing capacity at “landing zones” where migrants first arrive in the city, imposing a tiered, 60-day shelter stay limit and boosting support to help new arrivals find work and permanent shelter. Johnson added that the city will begin to cite and fine bus companies that disregard curfews, landing zone locations, and loading and unloading rules. He also said the city will “facilitate connections to other destinations for individuals who do not wish to stay in Chicago

and reunite them with family members and sponsors outside of our city.” That the mayor and the governor weren’t even on the same page about when and how to announce these new interventions is a signal of just how poorly the intergovernmental response to this crisis has gone so far, reaching a nadir in late September when the mayor’s thenfloor leader, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, accused the governor of not doing enough to help — never mind that Springfield at that time had already provided roughly $330 million to the cause. Now we have the governor, alongside Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, stepping up with additional funding as well as ideas to get the city’s migrant house in some sort of order. “The city has been operating its own methodology process. And it hasn’t moved fast enough,” as Pritzker put it in a Nov. 16 press conference. “So we’ve done a complete data analysis of everything that’s happened for the last 14 months to determine exactly where the bottlenecks are. And so we’re bringing our resources in to try to flatten out those bottlenecks, make sure that people are moving through faster, and make sure that the city is building shelters faster.” The latest remedies — the bus crackdown, the shelter-stay limit, the new intake center — are a welcome change from the city’s sofar shambolic efforts to come to grips with the situation. But to be honest, these remedies should have been put in motion a year ago, and they should have been put in motion by City Hall.

PERSONAL VIEW

We need to do more to include disabled employees

workforces include few disabled ere’s some remarkable employees (4% to 7%), despite an news: Employment among actual prevalence that is much disabled people is at an allhigher: 25% of employees have a time high. Remote work and indisability or health condition that creased flexibility are paying off for limits a major life activity. job-seekers with disabilities, and This gross underestimation reover the last year, the labor force sults in significant underinvestparticipation rate for people with ment in two critical areas needed disabilities ages 16-64 increased for inclusive workplaces: disabilnearly 4 percentage points. Emily Blum is ity support, such as accommoWe’ve seen some of these posi- executive dating access needs, including tive trends play out here in the director at work-from-home options; and Chicago as diversity, equity and Disability DEI strategies not only focused inclusion efforts are gradually ex- Lead. on hiring and retention, but also panding to be inclusive of disability, and many companies have revamped on the advancement of disabled employjobs as well as the hiring processes to be ees. Workplace stigma and discrimination more accessible, flexible and welcoming for disabled employees are real, so it’s not to disabled employees. Yet, there is also some remarkably bad that surprising that most don’t feel comfortable identifying as such. In fact, Boston news. Despite this progress, employees with Consulting found disabled employees are disabilities remain wary of disclosing their 1.5 times more likely to experience disdisability to their employers. A study earlier crimination in the workplace than their this year by Boston Consulting Group nondisabled colleagues. As the executive director of a leadership found most organizations report that their

organization focused on advancing disabled leaders, I hear firsthand the challenges my members endure. Whether it is unsupportive bosses, having to fight for accommodations or getting overlooked for training and advancement opportunities, disabled people are not able to bring their full selves to work. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, a moment to pay tribute to the accomplishments of disabled workers. I call on employers to not only honor their contributions, but to also recommit to creating equitable and welcoming cultures, inclusive of disability. Here’s how: Identify and support disabled leaders and mentors. It’s imperative for organizational leaders to model disability disclosure. When they do, a study by Accenture found employees are 26% more likely to be open about their own disability. Make disability part of your DEI strategy. If disability isn’t part of your DEI efforts, your business isn’t doing all it can to support its current and prospective em-

Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited. Send letters to Crain’s Chicago Business, 130 E. Randolph St., Suite 3200, Chicago, IL 60601, or email us at letters@chicagobusiness.com. Please include your full name, the city from which you’re writing and a phone number for fact-checking purposes. 10 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

ployees. Get training on disability awareness; recognize bias and stigma use inclusive language and behavior; and leverage tools that promote inclusion. Move beyond compliance and commit to more disability-inclusive workplaces. Do more than the minimum. AskJan.org is a great place to start and it offers a workplace accommodation toolkit that provides guidance and resources for updating accommodation policies and practices. Invest in employee resource groups. Many of our members have leadership roles within their organization’s disability affinity groups. They are helping to center conversations, create welcoming spaces and even help drive business decisions that are inclusive of disabled employees and customers. These groups need management support, inclusive of sponsorship and financial backing. Employers can create a stronger workforce by supporting a culture of disclosure and inclusion. This month, commit to ensuring your employees can show up exactly as who they are.

Sound off: Send a column for the Opinion page to editor@chicagobusiness.com. Please include a phone number for verification purposes, and limit submissions to 425 words or fewer.

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PERSONAL VIEW

Arts leaders need financial tools and resources, too

he Chicago arts community is going through a renaissance. The pervasive challenges brought on by the pandemic have reshaped our lives. As a country, we’ve had a reckoning and a reconfiguring. And just as art imitates life, Chicago’s arts and culture scene has faced a similar shift. In 2020, Chicago arts organizations averaged a loss of $437,230. Ticket sales, which typically contribute to about 60% of industry revenue, still have not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, inflation has increased costs, and the life raft of government grants that kept some organizations afloat during the pandemic is deflating. Small and medium-size arts organizations, which are vital to engaging and serving Chicago’s many diverse communities, are the most vulnerable amid these turbulent economic conditions, and many have had to pivot to avoid closing their curtains. As co-artistic directors of Teatro Vista, a Chicago nonprofit theater company dedicated to elevating stories told by Latino artists, we understand firsthand the environment that organizations are navigating. When we stepped into this role in 2021, we had plenty of experience as leaders in the industry, but there was a gap in formal financial training that made managing operations and finances a tremendous task. Our situation reflects one of the key challenges we see in Chicago’s arts and culture industry: leadership transitions and their impact on organizations’ sustainability. Like us, many incoming arts and culture leaders must quickly learn and navigate things like budget planning, staffing costs, facility leasing/ownership and more, often without access to the necessary education and tools to help steward a sustainable business. Additionally, many incoming leaders are new to their organizations and may not know the true cost of programming. That’s where the MacArthur Arts & Culture Loan Fund comes in. IFF, a nationally recognized mission-driven lender for Midwest nonprofits, partners with the MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with BDO and Fifth Third Bank, to administer the MACLF program. It is designed to help small to midsize Chicagobased arts organizations manage those challenges by providing access to tools and resources, including an operating line of credit, financial management workshops, customized coaching and technical assistance on financial projects. In 2022, we participated in the MACLF program to equip ourselves with the tools to strengthen Teatro Vista’s financial capacity as we were transitioning into executive roles. Six of the seven other organizations in our cohort had also undergone a recent leadership shift, which points to

Wendy Mateo (left) and Lorena Diaz are co-artistic directors of Teatro Vista. how frequently leadership transitions happen, along with their ensuing challenges. As part of

MACLF’s financial management workshops led by BDO, one of our sessions included a course on change management to support leaders in aligning organizational practices and identifying needs during transitions. As Chicago’s arts and culture landscape evolves, organizations are relying more on donor support to replace revenue shortages. But if leaders aren’t prepared for indepth financial conversations with funders, these philanthropic partnerships can lead to harmful outcomes. We leverage our

MACLF experience to have constructive conversations with partners and tell them exactly what we need — and don’t need — which

with a hope and a wish, but with actual plans for how we’re going to execute. Programs like MACLF are vital to supporting organiza-

As Chicago’s arts and culture landscape evolves, organizations are relying more on donor support to replace revenue shortages. allows us to partner intentionally to stay true to our core values. For the first time in Teatro Vista’s 32-year history, we’re able to look at the next 10 years not just

tions during this period of transformation, helping to set the stage for Chicago arts and culture to thrive now and for years to come.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Hilton Chicago, Continental Room

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker ChicagoBusiness.com/PBNov PRESENTING SPONSOR

ASSOCIATION SPONSOR

NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 11

CRAIN'S LIST HOSPITALS CRAIN'S LIST HOSPITALS Ranked by 2022 net patient revenue.

Ran

Ranked by 2022 net patient revenue.

11 22

2022 2022 RANK RANK

HOSPITAL HOSPITAL

HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR

NETWORK AFFILIATION NETWORK AFFILIATION

2022 NET PROFIT 2022 NET PATIENT 2022 NET PROFIT 2022 NET(MILLIONS); PATIENT (MILLIONS); REVENUE (MILLIONS); REVENUE (MILLIONS); 1-YEAR CHANGE 1-YEAR CHANGE 1-YEAR CHANGE 1-YEAR CHANGE

NO. OF INPATIENT NO. OF INPATIENT DAYS DAYS

HOSPITAL HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEES

AVAILABLE AVAILABLE BEDS BEDS

DAILY OCCUPANCY DAILY OCCUPANCY RATE RATE

RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER RUSH UNIVERSITY Chicago, Rush.edu MEDICAL CENTER Chicago, Rush.edu

Omar B. Lateef Omar B. Lateef CEO CEO

Rush University System for Rush University System for Health Health

$2,310.3 $2,310.3 7.3% 7.3%

$59.6 $59.6 -71.1% -71.1%

167,835 167,835

10,177 10,177

650 650

70.7% 70.7%

1 1

NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL NORTHWESTERN Chicago, NM.org MEMORIAL HOSPITAL Chicago, NM.org

Thomas McAfee Thomas McAfee President President

Northwestern Memorial Northwestern Memorial HealthCare HealthCare

$2,302.1 $2,302.1 3.5% 3.5%

$179.1 $179.1 11.8% 11.8%

225,216 225,216

6,822 6,822

857 857

72.0% 72.0%

33 44

3 3

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICAL CENTER Thomas E. Jackiewicz UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICAL CENTER President Thomas E. Jackiewicz Chicago, UChicagoMedicine.org Chicago, UChicagoMedicine.org President

University of Chicago Medicine University of Chicago Medicine

$2,188.9 $2,188.9 9.4% 9.4%

$126.1 1 $126.1 1 -16.5% -16.5%

240,441 240,441

10,700 10,700

806 806

86.0% 86.0%

4 4

ADVOCATE CHRIST MEDICAL CENTER ADVOCATE CHRIST MEDICAL CENTER Oak Lawn, AdvocateHealth.com Oak Lawn, AdvocateHealth.com

Moody Chisholm Moody Chisholm President President

Advocate Health Advocate Health

$1,372.7 $1,372.7 0.5% 0.5%

$99.4 $99.4 -40.6% -40.6%

229,482 229,482

5,151 5,151

735 735

85.5% 85.5%

55 66

5 5

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER Maywood, LoyolaMedicine.org Maywood, LoyolaMedicine.org

Tad A. Gomez Tad A. Gomez President President

Loyola Medicine 2 Loyola Medicine 2

$1,352.8 $1,352.8 2.8% 2.8%

$38.8 $38.8 -71.3% -71.3%

132,100 132,100

6,858 6,858

500 500

72.4% 72.4%

7 7

Thomas P. Shanley Thomas P.CEO Shanley President, President, CEO

Independent Independent

$1,288.4 $1,288.4 12.9% 12.9%

$5.6 $5.6 23.7% 23.7%

91,170 91,170

6,645 6,645

352 352

71.0% 71.0%

77 88

6 6

ANN & ROBERT H. LURIE CHILDREN'S ANN & ROBERT H. LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO Chicago, LurieChildrens.org Chicago, LurieChildrens.org NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE CENTRAL NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE CENTRAL DUPAGE HOSPITAL DUPAGENM.org HOSPITAL Winfield, Winfield, NM.org ADVOCATE LUTHERAN GENERAL HOSPITAL ADVOCATE LUTHERAN GENERAL HOSPITAL Park Ridge, AdvocateHealth.com Park Ridge, AdvocateHealth.com

Kenneth Hedley Kenneth Hedley President President

Northwestern Memorial Northwestern Memorial HealthCare HealthCare

$1,183.8 $1,183.8 2.8% 2.8%

$226.1 $226.1 0.6% 0.6%

77,480 77,480

4,126 4,126

408 408

52.0% 52.0%

Dia Nichols Dia Nichols President President

Advocate Health Advocate Health

$1,083.0 $1,083.0 5.6% 5.6%

$192.0 $192.0 -4.4% -4.4%

162,156 162,156

3,706 3,706

560 560

79.3% 79.3%

99 10 10

9 9

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS HOSPITAL & UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS HOSPITAL & CLINICS CLINICS Hospital.UIllinois.edu Chicago, Chicago, Hospital.UIllinois.edu JOHN H. STROGER JR. HOSPITAL OF COOK JOHN H. STROGER JR. HOSPITAL OF COOK COUNTY COUNTYCookCountyHealth.org Chicago, Chicago, CookCountyHealth.org EDWARD HOSPITAL EDWARD HOSPITAL Naperville, EEHealth.org Naperville, EEHealth.org

Mark I. Rosenblatt Mark I. CEO Rosenblatt Interim Interim CEO

University of Illinois Chicago University of Illinois Chicago

$1,005.6 $1,005.6 18.5% 18.5%

$40.5 $40.5 -47.6% -47.6%

105,148 105,148

4,402 4,402

392 392

73.5% 73.5%

Craig Williams Craigadministrative Williams Chief Chief administrative officer officer Yvette Saba Yvette Saba President President

Cook County Health & Hospitals $842.8 Cook County Health & Hospitals 81.1% $842.8 System System 81.1%

$348.3 $348.3 138.2% 138.2%

88,710 88,710

5,344 5,344

450 450

62.3% 62.3%

NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst $760.3 NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst 8.6% $760.3 Health Health 8.6%

$95.7 $95.7 -18.6% -18.6%

86,272 86,272

3,509 3,509

358 358

66.0% 66.0%

2 2

8 8

19 19 11 11 10 10

NORTHSHORE EVANSTON HOSPITAL NORTHSHORE EVANSTON HOSPITAL Evanston, NorthShore.org Evanston, NorthShore.org

Douglas M. Silverstein Douglas M. Silverstein President President

NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst $737.2 NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst -1.0% $737.2 Health Health -1.0%

$0.0 $0.0 — —

86,859 86,859

3,940 3,940

342 342

69.6% 69.6%

13 13 14 14

12 12

NORTHWEST COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NORTHWEST COMMUNITY Arlington Heights, NCH.org HEALTHCARE Arlington Heights, NCH.org

Michael Hartke Michael Hartke President President

NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst $699.5 NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst 11.0% $699.5 Health Health 11.0%

$0.0 $0.0 -100.0% -100.0%

102,088 102,088

2,586 2,586

425 425

65.8% 65.8%

13 13

$675.9 $675.9 9.5% 9.5%

$148.6 $148.6 31.8% 31.8%

50,926 50,926

1,966 1,966

238 238

58.6% 58.6%

14 14

Susan Nordstrom Susan Nordstrom Lopez Lopez President President Randy Neiswonger Randy Neiswonger CEO CEO

Advocate Health Advocate Health

15 15 16 16

ADVOCATE ILLINOIS MASONIC MEDICAL ADVOCATE ILLINOIS MASONIC MEDICAL CENTER CENTER AdvocateHealth.com Chicago, Chicago, AdvocateHealth.com COMMUNITY HOSPITAL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL Munster, COMHS.org Munster, COMHS.org

Community Healthcare System Community Healthcare System

$593.9 $593.9 3.2% 3.2%

$68.6 $68.6 -21.8% -21.8%

82,927 82,927

3,092 3,092

399 399

58.0% 58.0%

16 16

ELMHURST HOSPITAL ELMHURST HOSPITAL Elmhurst, EEHealth.org Elmhurst, EEHealth.org

Kimberley Darey Kimberley Darey President President

NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst $543.9 NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst 6.4% $543.9 Health Health 6.4%

$63.2 $63.2 23.7% 23.7%

81,086 81,086

2,285 2,285

258 258

86.1% 86.1%

17 17 18 18

17 17

SILVER CROSS HOSPITAL SILVER CROSS HOSPITAL New Lenox, SilverCross.org New Lenox, SilverCross.org

Ruth A. Colby Ruth A. Colby President, CEO President, CEO

Independent Independent

$522.2 $522.2 5.0% 5.0%

($58.8) ($58.8) — —

93,025 93,025

3,198 3,198

302 302

84.4% 84.4%

15 15

RUSH COPLEY MEDICAL CENTER RUSH COPLEY Aurora, Rush.eduMEDICAL CENTER Aurora, Rush.edu

John Diederich John Diederich President, CEO President, CEO

Rush University System for Rush University System for Health Health

$490.7 $490.7 -5.4% -5.4%

($47.3) ($47.3) — —

47,642 47,642

2,547 2,547

210 210

62.2% 62.2%

19 19 20 20

18 18

ASCENSION ALEXIAN BROTHERS ASCENSION ALEXIAN BROTHERS Elk Grove Village, Healthcare.Ascension.org Elk Grove Village, Healthcare.Ascension.org

Dan Doherty Dan Doherty President, CEO President, CEO

Ascension Illinois Ascension Illinois

$487.9 3 $487.9 3 -0.5% -0.5%

($0.6) 3 ($0.6) 3 — —

75,498 3 75,498 3

1,274 3 1,274 3

354 3 354 3

— —

20 20

Marsha J. Oberrieder Marsha J. Oberrieder President President

Northwestern Memorial Northwestern Memorial HealthCare HealthCare

$474.3 $474.3 9.2% 9.2%

($22.6) ($22.6) — —

39,723 39,723

1,598 1,598

114 114

95.5% 95.5%

21 21 22 22

21 21

NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE LAKE FOREST NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE LAKE FOREST HOSPITAL HOSPITAL Lake Forest, NM.org Lake Forest, NM.org ADVOCATE GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL ADVOCATE GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL Downers Grove, AdvocateHealth.com Downers Grove, AdvocateHealth.com

Allison Wyler Allison Wyler President President

Advocate Health Advocate Health

$437.1 $437.1 5.7% 5.7%

$57.0 $57.0 2.7% 2.7%

73,088 73,088

1,577 1,577

293 293

68.3% 68.3%

NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE DELNOR NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE DELNOR HOSPITAL HOSPITAL Geneva, NM.org Geneva, NM.org METHODIST HOSPITALS METHODIST HOSPITALS Gary, MethodistHospitals.org Gary, MethodistHospitals.org

Mike Vivoda Mike Vivoda President President

Northwestern Memorial Northwestern Memorial HealthCare HealthCare

$428.2 $428.2 6.6% 6.6%

$66.6 $66.6 31.8% 31.8%

35,230 35,230

1,354 1,354

159 159

60.7% 60.7%

Matthew Doyle Matthew Doyle President, CEO President, CEO

Independent Independent

$391.8 $391.8 — —

($16.5) ($16.5) — —

69,504 69,504

1,852 1,852

534 534

35.7% 35.7%

Karen A. Lambert Karen A. Lambert President President

Advocate Health Advocate Health

$375.2 $375.2 — —

$80.8 $80.8 — —

37,582 37,582

1,577 1,577

293 293

58.5% 58.5%

NR 23 23 NR ADVOCATE GOOD SHEPHERD HOSPITAL NR 24 ADVOCATEAdvocateHealth.com GOOD SHEPHERD HOSPITAL NR Barrington, 24 Barrington, AdvocateHealth.com

25 25

NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE PALOS Mike Vivoda Northwestern Memorial $374.6 ($72.8) 90,927 2,168 425 58.6% NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE PALOS Mike Vivoda Northwestern Memorial $374.6 ($72.8) 90,927 2,168 425 58.6% HOSPITAL Interim president HealthCare 5.2% — HOSPITAL Interim president HealthCare 5.2% — Palos Heights, NM.org Palos Heights, NM.org Research by Sophie Rodgers (sophie.rodgers@crain.com). | To qualify for this list, hospitals must be located in the seven-county area of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will in Illinois, and Lake in Indiana. Information was provided by hospitals,by andSophie all figures are as of (sophie.rodgers@crain.com). Dec. 31 unless otherwise noted. “Inpatient days”forrefers to actual number days provided onarea an inpatient basis, excluding nursery, psychiatric, and observation beds. Research Rodgers | To qualify this list, hospitals mustof bepatient-care located in the seven-county of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Willlong-term in Illinois,rehabilitation and Lake in Indiana. Information was“Available provided 24 24

beds” refers toand theallnumber beds,31excluding nursery, noted. psychiatric, long-term and observation beds. “Daily occupancy inpatientbasis, days excluding divided bynursery, bed days available. long-term NOTES: 1. Represents netand income. 2. Loyola Medicine is a by hospitals, figures of arestaffed as of Dec. unless otherwise “Inpatient days”rehabilitation refers to actual number of patient-care days provided rate” on anisinpatient psychiatric, rehabilitation observation beds. “Available wholly owned of Trinity Health Corp. 3. Fromnursery, American Hospital Directory. beds” refers tosubsidiary the number of staffed beds, excluding psychiatric, long-term rehabilitation and observation beds. “Daily occupancy rate” is inpatient days divided by bed days available. NOTES: 1. Represents net income. 2. Loyola Medicine is a wholly owned subsidiary of Trinity Health Corp. 3. From American Hospital Directory.

12 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

2 3

6 7 8

11 11 12 12

22 22

com edu staff Adv is a

ANCY PANCY

CRAIN'S LIST HEALTH SYSTEMS Ranked by 2022 net patient revenue. 2022 RANK HOSPITAL SYSTEM

TOP EXECUTIVE(S) 1

2022 NET PROFIT 2022 NET PATIENT REVENUE (MILLIONS); (MILLIONS); 1-YEAR CHANGE 1-YEAR CHANGE

2022 TOTAL COMMUNITY BENEFIT 2022 CHARITY CARE (MILLIONS); (MILLIONS); 1-YEAR CHANGE 1-YEAR CHANGE

2022 BAD DEBT (MILLIONS); 1-YEAR CHANGE

STAFFED BEDS; LICENSED BEDS

LOCAL PHYSICIANS; TOTAL PHYSICIANS

LOCAL FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES; TOTAL FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES

HEALTH 1 1 ADVOCATE Oak Brook, AdvocateHealth.org

Jim Skogsbergh Eugene A. Woods Co-CEOs

$23,849.5 —

— —

$5,900.8 —

— —

2,343 7,482

26,970 2 54,942

MEDICINE 2 2 NORTHWESTERN Chicago, NM.org

Howard B. Chrisman President, CEO

$7,399.1 8.6%

$335.8 -29.8%

$1,253.3 9.2%

$90.8 13.6%

$149.2 75.3%

2,624 2,538

2,588 2,728

25,137 26,440

– EDWARD3 3 NORTHSHORE ELMHURST HEALTH

J.P. Gallagher President, CEO

$4,597.2 55.0%

($734.4) —

$498.5 64.7%

$41.1 29.7%

$28.6 -67.4%

2,101 2,313

1,795 1,810

19,556 3 19,651

UNIVERSITY SYSTEM FOR 4 4 RUSH HEALTH

Omar B. Lateef President, CEO

$2,993.7 4.5%

($3.4) —

$653.6 26.7%

$36.7 54.4%

$70.0 -28.0%

943 1,102

926 926

13,478 13,478

OF CHICAGO MEDICINE Mark Anderson $2,770.2 5 5 UNIVERSITY Chicago, UChicagoMedicine.org Executive vice president 9.2%

$82.3 4 -31.0%

$686.2 13.1%

$33.7 23.0%

$200.0 49.7%

— 1,296

1,700 1,700

15,000 15,000

Evanston, Northshore.org

Chicago, Rush.edu

for medical affairs, dean of the division of the biological sciences

MEDICINE 6 6 LOYOLA Westchester, LoyolaMedicine.org

Shawn P. Vincent President, CEO

$1,731.9 0.5%

$5.4 -97.2%

$296.9 16.2%

$37.1 15.9%

$6.4 -1.0%

911 1,168

962 962

7,447 7,447

COUNTY HEALTH 7 8 COOK Chicago, CookCountyHealth.org

Israel Rocha Jr. CEO

$872.9 74.1%

$314.3 1,136.1%

$1,003.2 —

$200.8 -21.6%

$188.6 15.0%

411 535

538 538

5,660 5,660

CHICAGO 8 9 SINAI Chicago, Sinai.org

Ngozi Ezike President, CEO

$526.4 14.2%

($19.6) —

$79.0 6.8%

$54.5 19.4%

$23.7 -2.1%

550 628

227 227

2,944 2,944

Research by Sophie Rodgers (sophie.rodgers@crain.com). | To qualify for this list, hospital systems must be headquartered in the seven-county area of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will in Illinois, and Lake in Indiana. This list comprises information provided by participating hospital systems, and all figures are as of Dec. 31 unless otherwise noted. “Total community benefit” includes the unpaid cost of Medicare, Medicaid, uncompensated care, research, health profession education, community health services, subsidized health services and financial donations. “Charity care” refers to strict charity care as defined by the Illinois Community Benefits Act. “Staffed beds” are beds that are licensed and physically available, where staff are on hand to attend to the patient who occupies the bed. Staffed beds include those that are occupied and those that are vacant. “Licensed beds” refers to the maximum number of beds a hospital holds a license to operate. NOTES: 1. Formerly Advocate Aurora Health. 2. As of December 2022, Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health merged to become Advocate Health. 3. As of January 2022, Edward-Elmhurst Health became part of NorthShore. 4. Represents net income. 5. Loyola Medicine is a wholly owned subsidiary of Trinity Health Corp.

ded ble ded is a able is a

NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 13

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Advertising Section To place your listing, visit www.chicagobusiness.com/peoplemoves or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com

ACCOUNTING

CONSTRUCTION

NON-PROFIT

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

ORBA, Chicago

Clayco, Chicago

USA Midwest Province, Chicago

Morreale Communications, Chicago

ORBA, one of Chicago’s largest public accounting firms, welcomes Jennifer Kueker to the firm. Jen will be joining ORBA as its new Chief Financial Officer. Jen will oversee the management of the firm’s internal department as well as the strategic implementation of procedural improvement processes. Her extensive financial background ranges from small partnerships to global corporations. Jen has spent more than 12 years of her career as a Controller in professional services firms.

Clayco is pleased to announce the hiring of PR veteran, Elizabeth Jensen, as Director of Corporate Communications. Elizabeth brings more than 20 years of communications experience with a proven track record of delivering strategic programs that enhance brand reputation and stakeholder trust. In her new role, Elizabeth will be responsible for creating and implementing Clayco’s communication strategy.

The Midwest Jesuits have promoted Patrick Kennedy to Senior Advancement Director responsible for Major Gifts. Since joining the Midwest Province, he has excelled at reaching new constituencies in the Chicago and Cincinnati markets.

Berenice Alvarez was recently named Partner and oversees Morreale’s top talent and daily operations. Her leadership has contributed greatly to building a diverse client roster, earning her high regard internally and externally. Previously, Alvarez led community outreach at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and served as a legislative aide in the Illinois General Assembly. She earned a fellowship at the Chicago Latino Caucus Foundation Leadership Academy and was named Negocios Now 40 under 40.

NON-PROFIT

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

USA Midwest Province, Chicago

Morreale Communications, Chicago

Lauren Gaffey has been promoted to Senior Associate Director of Communications. She will continue to manage jesuitprayer.org, a website and email Gaffey program utilized by readers in more than 140 countries. Quentin Maguire has been appointed VP of Advancement & Communications. Previously, he led the Communications team and its award-winning Maguire magazine, Jesuits. Maguire brings a wealth of leadership skills from his experience at the consultancies Razorfish and iXL Enterprises, and ABC/WLS-TV

As Morreale’s new Vice President for Transportation and Infrastructure, Wendy Abrams takes the helm of the firm’s celebrated portfolio of clients moving and shaping the Midwestern U.S. She brings vast experience leading prominent communications teams, including those at Metra and the Illinois Tollway. A Chicago City Hall alumnus with recent roles in the private sector, Abrams’ work has earned awards from PRWeek, PR News, the Public Relations Society of America and the Publicity Club of Chicago.

ENGINEERING Middough Inc., Cleveland HQ ARCHITECTURE Valerio Dewalt Train, Chicago Sheri Andrews has been promoted to Principal at VDT. Her project experience includes the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools’ Earl Shapiro Hall and Gordon Parks Arts Hall; Vue53 Graduate Student Residences in Chicago; the Canopy Hotel in Grand Rapids, and Google Tech Corners Campus in California. She is currently leading the renovation of the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, after completing their master plan in 2019. Read more here: https://www.buildordie.com/vdta-blog/ 2023-leadership-promotions

Middough welcomes Sam Barnes, PE, as President and Chief Executive Officer based in its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. With over three decades in the power industry and a track record of impressive leadership positions, Sam brings a wealth of engineering, project management, and leadership experience to Middough and becomes only the third President and CEO in the company’s almost 75-year history. Ron Ledin, who was President and CEO for 45 years, will now serve as the Executive Chairman.

Morreale Communications, Chicago

Valerio Dewalt Train, Chicago

Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, Chicago

Peter Wojtowicz has been promoted to Senior Associate at VDT. His project experience includes the 8 East Huron apartments in Chicago, the Canopy Hotel in Grand Rapids, Omega Yeast Labs in Chicago, and the URP Innovation One office building in Madison. He is currently working on a mixed-use, multi-family high rise in Raleigh, and warehouses in Ohio; Elmhurst, and California. He received his Master of Architecture from IIT. Read more: www.buildordie.com/vdta-blog/2023leadership-promotions

Having served as a summer associate at the firm in 2022, Niko Moses rejoins the firm’s Biotechnology Prosecution group as an associate, assisting in prosecuting patents for biomedical innovators, including specification drafting, prior art research, and responding to office actions. She received her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Tulane University, her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from Wayne State University, and her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Morreale Communications has named Cybil Rose as Executive Vice President. Rose will oversee strategic and crisis communications, media relations and business development for the firm and its clients. As a trusted PR counsel for the professional and financial services, hospitality, construction and technology industries, Rose positions clients to tell their whole, unique perspectives. Her work has earned accolades from the Publicity Club of Chicago and the Public Relations Society of America.

CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM I DECEMBER 7, 2020 I

THE TAKEAWAY

Suzanne Yoon Yoon, 45, is Partners, which invests in lower midmarket consumer, manufacturing and services companies. Her parents brought her to the U.S. from South Korea when she was a baby. She was raised in the Chicago area. Today, she lives in Ukrainian Village with her husband and three sons.

> You’re one of the few women leading

What makes you tick?

come from an immigrant family and was > Iraised by a single mother after my father

U.S. Is that a lonely role? I don’t think it is, because I have such a good network of other women. It’s not like

P014_CCB_20231120_v1.indd 1

As a spectator? It’s a tie between pro football and

> my boys’ baseball

games. I’m an unfortunate lifelong Bears fan.

PROMOTE.

What’s ’ your best catch? ’s the hardest catch was a 60-pound tuna from the Gulf side of Mexico.

Why not?

What’s ’’s one of your favorite things about Korean culture?

> I still love Korean food. on education f d. The focus foo f education and Mom.”There was a lot of discipline in the house.

Reprinted with permission from Crain’ss Chicago Business. © 2021 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. rese www.chicagobusiness.com/section/reprints. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. Visit ww www w.chicagobusiness.com/section/reprints. w .chicagobusiness.com/section/reprints. #CB21042

would do anything that had me running around. I just enjoy games generally.

Reprinted with permission from Crain’s Chicago Business. © 2021 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. Visit www.chicagobusiness.com/section/reprints. #CB21042

What’s your favorite sport? Today, it would be

> golf. Previously, I

the ride, but I do enjoy it.

CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM/ COMPANYMOVES

What did your mother do for f a living? She was a nurse who would sometimes work two shifts ffts a day. day. Today, T ay, Tod yy, she’s she’s’’s director director of nursing for f a nursing home business. business.

#25 Overall #18 Small Businesses #25 Overall #18 Small Businesses #25 Overall #18 Small Businesses

What’s your call on working remotely in the COVID-19 era? was unanimous everyone wanted to be back in.

When you have an afternoon to yourself, how do you spend it? Sometimes I clean. I like to keep my life simple—I like to simplify; I’m a purger. For relaxation, I’m into mediation, yoga and working out.

For more information, contact Debora Stein at dstein@crain.com or submit directly to

remotely in tough times: cash for office equipment and child care, additional PTO to deal More than a year into pandemic, mostt officewith workers are still doing their thing fr ffrom om with COVID challenges. Once again thisthe year, Crain’s partnered Best Companies lunches, table tennis and happy hours m oot home, making likeBest catered moot Group to survey employees and office identifyperks the 100 Places to Work, a list that gets But the best companies came up with ways working a to support their troops wo ays orkking more competitivepoints. each year. remotely in tough times: cash for office equipment quipment and child care, additional PTO to o deal with COVID challenges. Once again this year, r Crain’s partnered with Best Companies r, panies Group to survey employees and identify the 100 Best Places to Wo Work, W rk, k a list that ggets k, ets more competitive each year.

passed away in an armed robbery when I was 10. I’ve never taken a single thing for granted in my life.

More than a year into the pandemic, most office workers are still doing their thing from home, making office perks like catered lunches, table tennis and happy hours moot points. But the best companies came up with ways to support their troops working remotely in tough times: cash for office equipment and child care, additional PTO to deal with COVID challenges. Once again this Crain’s most partnered Bestare Companies More than a year into theyear, pandemic, officewith workers still doing their thing from Group to survey home, employees andoffice identify the like 100 Best Places to Work, a list thatand getshappy hours moot making perks catered lunches, table tennis more competitivepoints. each year. But the best companies came up with ways to support their troops working

Feature your latest milestones, launches, partnerships, awards and more in Crain’s

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Is there a future for women in private equity? getI see more women in private equity than there have been, so I think it’s’’s getting better. The inroads have been modest.

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11/14/23 5:04 PM

NOTABLE LEADERS IN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR LAW These 40 leaders handle legal matters for both management and employees. Their work includes labor-union negotiations, noncompetes, severance agreements for high-ranking employees, unfair and discriminatory labor practices, whistleblower situations, workplace policies, retirement and pension plans, wage-and-hour violations and countless other legal matters that crop up in the workplace. Their dedication to fairness continues outside the workplace, as they devote hundreds of hours to volunteering and pro bono work. — By Lisa Bertagnoli METHODOLOGY: The individuals featured did not pay to be included. Their profiles were written from the nomination materials submitted. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by editors. To qualify for this list, nominees must live and work in the Chicago area, serve in a senior role at a law firm with at least 10 staff attorneys and have practiced for a minimum of 10 years. Their work with clients or pro bono projects must have a measurable impact and they must demonstrate leadership in professional organizations and civic or community initiatives.

Brian Alcala

Nineveh Alkhas

Heather Bailey

Kevin Cloutier

Partner Nixon Peabody

Partner Latham & Watkins

Brian Alcala practices in employment and labor relations law. He has represented employers in trade-secret, noncompete, wage-and-hour, employment discrimination and other employment and commercial litigation matters throughout the United States. He regularly consults with clients on union-related matters and has defended employers before the National Labor Relations Board, as well as before OSHA. Alcala and his team successfully secured asylum status for a refugee from Honduras who had escaped the country due to violence and intolerable gang warfare, enabling this pro bono client to live and work in the U.S. Alcala is a contributor to the Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, the Erie Family Health Foundation board, the Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center, Cal’s Angels and the South Suburban Humane Society.

Nineveh Alkhas leads Latham’s deal-focused labor and employment team. She advises clients in corporate transactions, capitalizing on her employment litigation experience to strategize with respect to all labor and employment matters implicated in a deal. Recently she represented Endeavor in the $21 billion merger of Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment; Tapestry in its $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings, establishing a global house of iconic luxury brands; and Bunge in its $30 billion cross-border acquisition of Viterra, creating a diversified global agribusiness solutions company. Alkhas works closely with the Chicago chapter of Friends of the Children, providing pro bono advice on all aspects of the employment relationship. She also serves on Latham’s EEO Review board committee.

Co-chair, labor & employment & benefits service group Amundsen Davis

Partner Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton

William Dugan Principal Baker McKenzie William Dugan leads the firm’s U.S. employment group. He represents clients in the financial industry and regularly litigates before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Among recent accomplishments: He led a trial team to victory when, after six weeks of trial, the jury rejected a former chief financial officer’s $100 million claim and found in the company’s favor on all counterclaims. He was retained by a California company in a derivative shareholder lawsuit and companion AAA arbitration in which certain investors sought to oust company founders. He was retained by the operators of one of the largest solar farm projects in the United States to navigate complex union issues. And he successfully defeated several Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act claims. Dugan is a fellow at the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers.

Heather Bailey concentrates her nationwide practice on employment and labor counseling and litigation. Recent accomplishments include winning summary judgment for a health care provider against alleged FLSAand ERISA-retaliation claims and winning a motion to dismiss for a hospital accused of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. She served with the Illinois Restaurant Association’s Pro Bono Legal Network and Expert Guidance during the pandemic, advising on HR policies, Families First law and the Paycheck Protection Program. Bailey is a NAMA Knowledge Source Partner, advising vending operators on HR guidance, employee issues and litigation. She is an employment legislation adviser for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

Kevin Cloutier’s recent client successes include obtaining a preliminary injunction for client Groupon that enjoined a former vice president from violating post-employment obligations; winning a preliminary injunction for NAV Consulting, enjoining a former vice president from violating contractual noncompete obligations; and prevailing on appeal in a case involving noncompete agreements for truck drivers, resulting in victory for client Swift Transportation. Cloutier is committed to pro bono work and has successfully represented several prisoners and of-need clients in federal court litigation. He represents a prisoner in a rights case arising out of inadequate medical care. Cloutier also started a scholarship fund to provide access to club soccer for children who could not otherwise afford to play on travel teams.

Jennifer Dunn

David Fish

Anne-Marie Foster

Partner Franczek

Founder and litigation leader Fish Potter Bolaños

Partner Nyhan Bambrick Kinzie & Lowry

Jennifer Dunn serves as outside labor counsel for the city of Chicago in negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police, the Police Benevolent & Protective Association and the Chicago Firefighters Union. She recently negotiated a five-year successor contract between the city and its coalition of 30 trade unions. Dunn also serves as outside labor counsel for the city of Evanston, where she recently negotiated successor contracts with the FOP, IAFF and AFSCME, and as outside labor counsel for a number of Illinois public school districts, community colleges and private schools. Dunn is a member of the American Bar Association (Labor & Employment Section and Section on State & Local Government Bargaining Committee); the Illinois State Bar Association (Labor & Employment Section) and the Chicago Bar Association.

David Fish is one of the founders of a 12-lawyer employment and civil rights law firm in Chicago and Naperville. In the past three years, his firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients in a number of areas, including sexual harassment, whistleblower, race discrimination, employment rights and privacy. Fish volunteers at Prairie State Legal Services almost every week, providing services to low-income and elderly clients. In 2021, the Illinois State Bar Association recognized his firm with its John McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award. Fish has been involved in many highprofile cases, including representing one of the survivors in an R. Kelly sexual abuse case; representing the rights of union workers before the Illinois Supreme Court; and working to reshape the privacy rights of Illinois workers. Fish is an adjunct professor at NIU’s College of Law.

Anne-Marie Foster has led the defense of nearly two dozen discrimination cases against employer clients before the IDHR and EEOC and obtained findings of no substantial evidence of discrimination. Among recent accomplishments: In 2022 the IDOL determined that her client was not liable for a six-figure payout in a Wage Act case alleging an unpaid bonus, interest and penalties; in a case involving novel construction-site insurance policy issues, the IWCC adopted her argument against coverage for an employee’s injury; and she obtained summary judgment in a DuPage County case where damages were claimed in multiple six figures. Foster is board secretary for Kaleidoscope, a Chicago nonprofit helping to keep families facing challenges intact. Foster is also a Judicial Evaluation Committee member of the Chicago Bar. NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 15

NOTABLE LEADERS IN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR LAW

Felicia Frazier

Amy Gaylord

Jeremy Glenn

Scott Gore

Michael Gray

Managing partner/labor chair Odelson Murphey Frazier & McGrath

Co-chair, traditional labor law practice Akerman

Partner Laner Muchin

Partner Jones Day

Felicia Frazier’s practice focuses on labor contract negotiations, grievance and arbitration disputes, hearings before the ILRB and IELRB, and trainings for new hires in school and municipal settings. She chairs the firm’s labor practice group and oversees firm personnel. Within the past 18 months, she was appointed special counsel for Chicago police board matters and successfully negotiated patrol and sergeants’ contracts for the villages of Matteson and Calumet Park. She was also appointed the village attorney of University Park, where she successfully negotiated the patrol officers’ contract. Frazier regularly volunteers at St. John Church’s homeless kitchen. She is a member of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, the Black Women Lawyers Association and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Amy Gaylord focuses her practice on traditional labor matters and employment litigation. Recent achievements include representing Catholic University in a National Labor Relations Board case, successfully arguing that the NLRB lacked jurisdiction due to religious-institution status; resolving a complex negotiation between the world’s leading electrical and utility company and the Teamsters; settling a contract for a municipal client with the Midwest’s largest operating engineers local; securing summary judgment for a municipal client in a police officer’s wrongfultermination case; and defending a major aerospace company, resulting in dismissal, deferral or withdrawal of all unfair labor practice charges. Gaylord is president of the Labor & Employment Relations Association’s Chicago chapter.

Chicago office managing partner; member, firm board of directors; member, national labor & employment practice Cozen O’Connor

Scott Gore, who practices employer-side employment law, has negotiated contracts for public and privately owned corporations and resolved labor disputes with dozens of unions. In September 2022, he helped avert a strike that could have affected railroad operations throughout the U.S. by reaching a favorable agreement between a national transportation company and its respective union. He also helped three national aggregate producers reach an agreement with the unions representing their employees, ending a seven-week strike that shut down roadway construction in the Chicago area over the summer. He has served as lead counsel for the state of Illinois, bargaining statewide contracts covering more than 35,000 child care and home health care workers. Gore is a supporter of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

Michael Gray leads major labor and employment matters for global institutions including McDonald’s, Hilton, BNSF, Ecolab and Blackstone. He recently successfully preserved Ecolab’s appellate win in a PAGA action; defended McDonald’s in two of the largest putative class actions alleging BIPA violations regarding voice ordering at drive-thrus; and defended McDonald’s in two BIPA class actions regarding finger-scanning time clocks. He’s defending Citgo in a putative ERISA class action contending calculated benefits and took over BNSF’s defense in a BIPA class action. Gray is a member of the executive committee of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and provides pro bono services related to the museum’s L&E matters. He’s a co-founder of the American Heart Association’s Counsel for a Cause Chicago campaign, which has raised more than $3 million.

Prin priv cotea Jac

Jeremy Glenn led a collective bargaining negotiation for a Chicago building owners’ multiemployer association, reaching mutually lauded agreements with a large engineering union. He also represented the owners of a privately owned casual footwear brand in connection with its sale for $2.5 billion. Glenn is currently representing several national corporations, including agribusiness and financial services companies, in wage-hour class actions in federal courts across the country. Glenn serves on his firm’s board of directors and is the office managing partner in Chicago. He chairs the board of directors of the Olive Branch Mission, the oldest emergency and transitional housing shelter in Chicago.

Leadership. Vision. Dedication. Greenberg Traurig congratulates David Stein on his recognition as a 2023 Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Leader in Employment & Labor Law.

G R E E N B E RG T RA U R I G, L L P | AT TO R N E Y S AT L AW | 2650 AT TO R N E YS | 47 LO CAT I O N S WO R L DW I D E ° | G T LAW.CO M

David J. Stein | Shareholder 77 West Wacker Drive | Suite 3100 | Chicago, IL 60601 | 312.456.8400 Greenberg Traurig, LLP

GreenbergTraurigLLP

GT_Law

Greenberg Traurig is a service mark and trade name of Greenberg Traurig, LLP and Greenberg Traurig, P.A. ©2023 Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Attorneys at Law. All rights reserved. Attorney Advertising. °These numbers are subject to fluctuation. 39264

16 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

W O R L D W I D E LO CAT I O N S

United States, Europe and the Middle East, Asia, Latin America

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Jody Kahn Mason

Maria Kallmeyer

Kevin Kelly

Jennifer Kenedy

Jason Kim

Principal; co-leader, biometric privacy litigation group; co-leader, privacy litigation team Jackson Lewis

Partner Quarles & Brady

Partner Locke Lord

Partner Neal Gerber Eisenberg

Maria Kallmeyer is a leader in the firm’s immigration practice. She has helped provide relief to medically underserved inner-city and rural communities by enabling local hospitals to access immigrant medical talent, including a number of critical care specialists for overwhelmed ICUs. She has also worked with clients to resolve situations where employees are stranded abroad by abrupt policy changes and helped bring clients technology talent that is otherwise unavailable in the United States. Kallmeyer frequently takes on pro-bono asylum cases for endangered individuals, such as a member of the Afghan military escaping Taliban rule. Kallmeyer is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Chicago chapter, active in its conference planning and serving as liaison between the group and the U.S. government.

Kevin Kelly’s primary labor and employment work relates to residential property management. He is labor counsel to the Apartment Building Owners & Managers Association of Chicago, coordinating the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements between ABOMA and SEIU Local 1 covering janitorial and door staff employees. He also provides labor-relations advice to area condominium associations and property management companies. In 2022, he successfully coordinated the negotiation of the ABOMA-SEIU Local 1 janitorial collective bargaining agreement. Kelly leads Locke Lord’s involvement with Chicago Lighthouse, a social service organization serving the blind, visually impaired, disabled and veteran communities with comprehensive vision care and vision rehabilitation services and assistive technology.

Partner; vice chair, executive committee; deputy general counsel Locke Lord

Jody Kahn Mason co-leads a team that has litigated nearly 200 matters involving claims under BIPA and regularly advises clients about various privacy laws. She has submitted amicus briefs before the Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of a number of trade associations, including the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois, the Illinois Trucking Association, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. Kahn Mason advocates for defensefriendly rulings on key issues pertaining to the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Jennifer Kenedy concentrates her practice on commercial litigation, including trade secret misappropriation, employment and contractual/noncompete disputes, catastrophic product liability, labor and employment, and real estate litigation. In 2022, she led a 12-attorney team in a $200 million bet-the-company noncompete, trade secret and unfair-competition case involving AI-enabled telehealth technology. The case involved a sale of a business and interpretation of four separate noncompete agreements; the matter settled favorably for client Andor Health. Kenedy was a co-founder and is now an advisory board member of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law and a board member of Business Counsel Inc., an international network of trial firms.

Serving clients in multiple industries, Jason Kim develops and implements corporate labor strategies, litigates NLRB unfair labor practice proceedings, arbitrates labor grievances and serves as chief spokesperson in collective bargaining negotiations. For more than 20 years he has successfully represented a major producer of gypsum board in labor strategy and collective bargaining negotiations, nationwide workplace policy implementation and union relations at multiple client facilities. Kim is a member of the ABA committee on practice and procedure under the National Labor Relations Act; a member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association; and serves on the emeritus board of Chicago Cares, a service organization that works to strengthen communities in Chicago through volunteerism.

2023 NOTABLE LEADERS IN EMPLOYMENT & LABOR LAW

Congratulations Margo! Benesch proudly congratulates our Partner and Co-Chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group, Margo Wolf O’Donnell, for being named to Crain’s Chicago Business’ Notable Leaders in Employment & Labor Law.

beneschlaw.com

NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 17

NOTABLE LEADERS IN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR LAW

Meredith Kirshenbaum

Sang-yul Lee

Jorge Leon

Marketa Lindt

John Litchfield

Principal Goldberg Kohn

Partner K&L Gates

Partner Michael Best & Friedrich

Partner Sidley Austin

Partner Foley & Lardner

Meredith Kirshenbaum is a principal in the firm’s labor and employment and litigation groups. Much of her work centers on preventive support, and she closely partners with school leaders on building strong culture. She has successfully represented charter schools in National Labor Relations Board proceedings, defending against petitions for representation and unfair labor practice charges. During the past 18 months, she has represented four charter schools in their collective bargaining negotiations. Kirshenbaum has devoted hundreds of hours of pro bono time to supporting charter schools in their labor and employment matters in Chicago. She’s also an associate board member of the Anti-Defamation League, a board member at Camp for All Kids and recently served on her synagogue’s rabbinical search committee.

Sang-yul Lee advises clients on multistate and international employment issues. In 2023, he resolved a multiyear pension dispute on behalf of a transportation client. As co-lead counsel, his team negotiated a settlement for a fraction of an alleged $10 million pension liability, concluding eight years of investigations and litigation. He also guided the management team and governing board of Advancing Justice-Chicago in its response to organizing efforts by its employees. At Lee’s recommendation, the organization agreed to a voluntary recognition process in lieu of a potentially contentious election, enabling transparent negotiations that resulted in an inaugural agreement. Lee is first vice president of the Chicago Bar Foundation and on the advisory board of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Foundation.

Jorge Leon co-leads his firm’s employee benefits and executive compensation practice within the labor and employment group. He oversees the design and administration of health and welfare programs, executive compensation arrangements and retirement plans. Based on his litigation and compliance work in ERISA and cybersecurity, he developed a new specialty, merging the employment aspects of data privacy, cybersecurity and benefits. He provided pro bono employment law counseling at all stages of disputes for Gads Hill Center, a 125-year-old social service nonprofit. To ensure that the organization is protected prospectively, he helped develop compliant HR and employment policies. A Field Museum trustee, Leon chairs the retirement and benefits committee and serves on the executive, compensation and DEAI committees.

Marketa Lindt is a nationally recognized adviser on I-9 compliance, leading Sidley’s practice counseling companies on document verification and E-Verify. She developed innovative approaches for companies to transform COVID-era onboarding processes to incorporate the government’s new remote hire regulations. She represents employers in civil and criminal workplace enforcement actions, immigration-related investigations and due diligence in corporate transactions. During her recent tenure as national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Lindt led a delegation to the southern border to bring awareness to the human rights issues in tent courts in Brownsville, Texas, and the refugee camp in Matamoros, Mexico. Lindt is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce immigration policy committee.

In the last year, John Litchfield won summary judgment victories on significant employment discrimination and retaliation claims and positive resolutions in several class and collective wage-and-hour and BIPA claims. He also supports Foley’s business law department, serving as a resource in all forms of business matters. He launched and led Foley’s AI employment law resource group and is part of Foley’s ADA task force. He chairs Foley’s LGBTQIA+ affinity group and is a member of the firm’s recruiting committee. Litchfield serves as outside pro bono counsel for several Chicago and national organizations, including Chicago House and Social Service Agency, Center on Halsted and the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America. Litchfield volunteers at Howard Brown Health Center and the Broadway Youth Center.

Par tion Ake

ALWAYS FOCUSED. FULLY COMMITTED.

Congratulations to Epstein Becker Green’s Peter Steinmeyer for being named a Leader in Labor & Employment Law by Crain’s Chicago Business, and to all our notable attorneys for their commitment to focused excellence in health care, life sciences, labor, and employment law. 'ĨĮĴÐðĊ ÐÆāÐī :īÐÐĊ ðĮ ĊĴðďĊă ăœ ťīĉ ĴìĴ åďÆķĮÐĮ ðĴĮ īÐĮďķīÆÐĮ ďĊ ìÐăĴì ÆīÐș ăðåÐ ĮÆðÐĊÆÐĮș ĊÌ œďīāåďīÆÐ ĉĊæÐĉÐĊĴ ĮďăķĴðďĊĮș ÆďķĨăÐÌ œðĴì ĨďœÐīåķă ăðĴðæĴðďĊ ĮĴīĴÐæðÐĮȘ ĴÐæðÐĮȘ ebglaw.com ɭ ǡǟǡǢ 'ĨĮĴÐðĊ ÐÆāÐī ɪ :īÐÐĊș qȘ Ș ĴĴďīĊÐř ÌŒÐīĴðĮðĊæ

18 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

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Ellen McLaughlin

Elizabeth “Liz” McRee

Margo Wolf O’Donnell

Partner and co-chair, traditional labor law practice Akerman

Partner, labor and employment; national co-chair, Seyfarth women’s network Seyfarth Shaw In September, Ellen McLaughlin drafted comments to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s proposed regulations to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and SHRM. She testified on the proposed bill before the U.S. House Education & Labor Committee, and many of her recommended revisions to the bill became law. In April her work on a U Visa for a victim of a violent crime was approved, meaning the young woman could apply for employment authorization and permanent status. McLaughlin is a faculty and board member for the National Employment Law Institute. She is a member of the Coalition for Women’s Initiatives in Law and was one of the organization’s original board members.

Partner Jones Day

Partner; co-chair, labor and employment practice group; co-chair, DEI committee Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff Margo Wolf O’Donnell has 25 years’ experience as an employment attorney. She conceptualized Benesch’s post-Dobbs task force, a multidisciplinary team of attorneys convened to monitor and report on the legal and business impacts of the Supreme Court decision. The task force organized the firm’s pro bono efforts across practice groups to assist with the navigation of legal issues brought by the new ruling on a national basis. O’Donnell also founded Benesch’s B-Sharp program, a nationally renowned platform that delivers business coaching to 1,000 women attorneys annually. She is on the boards of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, the Yale Alumni Fund and the women’s board of the University of Chicago.

Tom Mandler represents employers on a nationwide basis in the full spectrum of issues dealing with employees. He has negotiated more than 300 collective bargaining agreements involving arbitration, mediation, strikes, picketing and injunctions. Recently he acted as his client’s chief spokesperson and provided legal, strategic and leadership advice for one of three 2022 lockouts in the U.S. The union ultimately ratified a slightly revised final offer. Additionally, he successfully defended a client confronted with 22 governmental charges, all of which were dismissed by the governmental agencies, including several that were appealed to Washington, D.C. Mandler is currently negotiating the first collective bargaining agreement for a well-known, 150-year-old Chicago cultural institution.

ADVOCATE. COUNSELOR. STRATEGIST.

Elizabeth McRee co-leads Jones Day’s global labor and employment practice, which has 16 lawyers in Chicago and more than 120 worldwide. Recent accomplishments include leading teams for McDonald’s that prevailed on four motions to dismiss, drastically narrowing the extensive original complaint; winning summary judgment for another client on all 15 claims including sex/race discrimination, harassment, wage and hour violations, intentional torts, and negligence; and for dairyproducts company Saputo, winning partial summary judgment on claims of gender, age and disability discrimination, as well as claims of retaliation under FMLA, ADEA and ADA. McRee serves on the board of Family Focus, a nonprofit that invests in strengthening families and their children in Chicago and northeastern Illinois.

NOTEWORTHY

1.5% The year-over-year increase in demand for legal work in bankruptcy, labor and employment, litigation and antitrust among practices that helped drive growth, according to Thomson Reuters Institute’s Law Firm Financial Index.

Congratulations to Labor & Employment Partner Jason Kim on his recognition as one of Crain's Chicago Business Notable Leaders in Employment and Labor Law. Jason is a go-to resource for clients seeking to manage their workplace resources. Well-versed in the laws and statutes governing employers, Jason thoughtfully develops long-term labor strategies to maximize the value and effectiveness of each client’s workforce. Jason’s dedication and experience make him an invaluable asset to businesses in Chicago and nationally. To learn more about Jason and our nationally ranked Labor and Employment team, visit: nge.com/Labor-Employment.

NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 19

NOTABLE LEADERS IN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR LAW

Allison Powers

Teresa Reuter

Jeff Risch

Benjamin Rosemergy

Joel H. Spitz

Partner Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg

Partner Sidley Austin

Co-chair, labor and employment service group

Partner Latham & Watkins

Partner McGuireWoods

Me Cla

Amundsen Davis

Allison Powers’ recent successes include resolving discrimination and wage-and-hour lawsuits against a variety of clients in the private sector; leading internal investigations involving alleged misconduct of employees of major global brands and publicly traded companies; and providing critical strategic advice to clients in crisis and transition. She represented a former Section 8 tenant in her transition to first-time homeownership. After discovering the seller/developer had misrepresented conditions, Powers filed for breach of contract, which was resolved in the client’s favor. In March 2022, she was appointed by the governor to be a commissioner of the executive ethics commission. Confirmed by the state Senate in April 2023, Powers is the only Black woman and the second-youngest commissioner.

Teresa Reuter recently conducted an investigation for a public company’s board into allegations that a senior executive treated individuals of a certain gender unfairly. She also advised a large private-equity firm on employment issues stemming from its purchase of billions of dollars in assets and the creation of a new entity to manage those assets. Reuter also counsels employers on the DEI implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. Separately, in 2023, Reuter obtained work authorization for a client who is not a U.S. citizen, whose alleged abusive spouse prevented her from obtaining citizenship. Reuter has led numerous firm events and programs, including the Thanksgiving food drive, Lawyers in the Classroom and the Back-toSchool supplies drive.

Under Jeff Risch’s leadership, Amundsen Davis has grown to more than 25 attorneys practicing management-side labor and employment law. He recently secured dismissals in two BIPA class actions and a dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the Illinois Department of Labor seeking remedies under the Prevailing Wage Act while successfully defending IDOL’s motion to dismiss a companion lawsuit filed by the same contractor, who seeks a declaration that its work does not fall under the PWA. For the past 20 years Risch has provided ongoing HR support to employers through the Illinois Chamber of Commerce’s Employer Helpline service. A member of his firm’s executive committee, Risch is also on the board of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and leads its employment law and litigation committee.

Benjamin Rosemergy advises clients on the executive compensation and employee benefits aspects of corporate transactions. Recently, he represented Blackstone Infrastructure Partners in its planned $2.15 billion acquisition of a minority equity interest in NIPSCO; Webhelp in its $4.8 billion business combination with Concentrix; and L’Oréal in its acquisition of Aesop. Rosemergy advised the Boys & Girls Clubs of Venice on employee benefits matters in connection with its January 2023 merger with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles. The merger optimizes the resources of both clubs and enables more investment opportunities that further its mission. Rosemergy is an active supporter and former member of the board of the Chicago-based Legal Council for Health Justice (formerly the AIDS Legal Council).

Joel H. Spitz has handled hundreds of discrimination cases, including multiparty and classaction cases involving Title VII, ADA, FLSA and the Illinois Human Rights Act. Recent activities include defending and resolving a nationwide class and collective action EEOC lawsuit, alleging generalized age bias in the hiring of pharmaceutical sales reps; successfully defending whistleblower allegations brought by a former employee alleging she was inappropriately terminated for complaining about illegal marketing practices; successfully representing a client in a nationwide class action alleging unlawful deductions from pay; securing summary judgment in a reverse-discrimination case in North Carolina; and successfully defending against an alleged violation of state law age and gender discrimination by a former employee.

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20 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

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David Stein

Pete Steinmeyer

Nigel Telman

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Partner

Paul Starkman is a leading member of the firm’s labor and employment group. Among recent activities: His win in the 7th Circuit provided guidance on harassment investigations; his article on DEI initiatives and discrimination litigation was published in Bloomberg Law Practitioner Insights; and he successfully transitioned the leadership at a legal nonprofit, negotiating the separation and creating new employment agreements for the organization’s incoming leadership. He also transitioned leadership (investigating a C-level employee and then negotiating their termination) at a foundation that provides funding for women- and minority-owned businesses. Starkman is the past management chairman of the American Bar Association’s employment rights and responsibilities committee.

David Stein joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder in May 2023. He recently assisted a large automotive sub-supplier in resolving a high-exposure wage-and-hour collective action alleging working employees before and after shifts and forcing early returns from lunch. The collective was, at its peak, close to 200 participants; through aggressive discovery, Stein established that many of the members of the collective never worked off the clock. The matter was resolved for pennies on the original demand after numerous members of the collective opted out of further participation in the lawsuit during the discovery process. Stein recently was appointed to the executive board of the Washington University Chicago Professionals Network.

Labor and employment attorney; managing shareholder of Chicago office Epstein Becker Green Pete Steinmeyer co-chairs the firm’s national trade secrets and employee mobility sub-practice and is co-founder and co-host of “Spilling Secrets,” EBG’s podcast on the future of trade secret and noncompete law. He currently is the lead counsel in two multimillion-dollar litigations regarding unfair competition and theft of trade secrets. He recently spearheaded comments on behalf of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce in opposition to the FTC’s proposed rule banning noncompetes nationwide. Steinmeyer also advised the Illinois Chamber of Commerce in negotiations that led to a reform of Illinois’ noncompete law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. Steinmeyer is on the executive committee of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and chairs its legal and judicial committee.

Proskauer Rose Nigel Telman represents Chicagobased institutions in significant labor and employment disputes. He recently obtained a complete victory for a Chicago-based university, five trustees and the former university president in a case alleging whistleblower retaliation; it was dismissed on summary judgment and affirmed on appeal. He also provides strategic counsel to help clients navigate complex issues that affect their businesses, including adapting DEI initiatives in response to Supreme Court decisions. Telman served as lead attorney, alongside co-counsel Disability Rights Advocates, in a successful case alleging that the city of Chicago discriminated against blind and low-vision pedestrians by failing to install accessible pedestrian signals. This victory will lead to accessibility improvements for the more than 65,000 people with vision difficulties in Chicago.

NOTEWORTHY

5.9% The year-over-year growth in the second quarter of 2023 of averaged worked rates — the rate a client has agreed to pay to engage a firm on a legal matter, according to Thomson Reuters Institute’s Law Firm Financial Index.

NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 21

NOTABLE LEADERS IN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR LAW

Joseph Torres

Jill Vorobiev

Anna Wermuth

Christina Wernick

Partner Jenner & Block

Partner Reed Smith

Partner Laner Muchin

Joseph Torres serves as co-chair of Jenner & Block’s ERISA, business litigation, and labor and employment practices. He’s also a fellow and board member of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, as well as the chairelect of the ABA’s labor and employment law section. He recently obtained dismissal of an ERISA class action for Kellogg Co. and a dismissal of a complex employee benefit claim for Abbott Laboratories. Torres also assisted Jenner & Block in the firm’s collaboration with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund to run their Name Change Project. He joined counsel from the firm and from Abbott Laboratories to secure name change petitions for low-income transgender, gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people. In 2022, Torres was appointed to the board of the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois.

Jill Vorobiev advises companies across an array of industries, including health care, managed care, aerospace, aviation, tech, manufacturing and property management, and on executive employment issues, high-level investigations, labor contracts, trade secret misappropriation, noncompetes, ERISA matters and whistleblower cases. She also trains employers on federal and state employment laws and compliance matters. She recently assisted organizations that are devoted to promoting more livable and sustainable urban communities and improving nonprofits’ properties through energy efficiencies to reduce operating costs. She also provides labor and employment counsel to the Center for Neighborhood Technology and to Elevate Energy. Vorobiev has served on the Chicago Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee for 10-plus years.

Vice chair, labor and employment department Cozen O’Connor Anna Wermuth has helped drive the growth of Cozen O’Connor’s national labor and employment department, representing management in high-stakes litigation. These include precedent-setting 7th Circuit decisions in a recent Fair Labor Standards Act collective action and in a same-sex stereotyping case. She has developed a nationally recognized higher-education practice as a legal resource, representing universities in faculty, staff and student litigation. She secured a high-profile victory in an appeal centering on a Division I team’s efforts to form the first-ever union of scholarship student-athletes; she’s now negotiating contracts involving graduate students at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Wermuth has served on the board of Chicago Youth Centers for more than a decade.

Christina Wernick resolved a federal court case in which a union fringe-benefit fund sought to compel her construction company client to pay an inflated, six-figure audit. The affiliated construction union was further threatening to assess withdrawal liability against her client after the client terminated their collective bargaining agreement with the union. Wernick negotiated an interest-based settlement that drastically reduced the client’s liability, avoided the imposition of withdrawal liability, maintained the client’s nonunion status, and resulted in repair of the parties’ strained labor relations. She serves on the Labor & Employment Law Council of the Associated General Contractors of America, is involved with the Chicagoland Associated General Contractors, and provides training to members of the Federation of Women Contractors.

NOTEWORTHY

0.6%

The amount midsize firms grew their associate headcount between January and June 2023, according to Thomson Reuters Institute’s Law Firm Financial Index.

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

NOTABLE WOMEN IN LAW Nominate a woman in law who makes an impact in the types of cases handled, clients won and/or pro bono work.

NOMINATE BY DEC. 1 ChicagoBusiness.com/NotableNoms

22 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

THOUGHT LEADER REPORT

HEALTHCARE

SPONSORED CONTENT

Preparation for the next COVID wave: The Enforcement Wave How do we protect ourselves? Pretending risk does not exist when it does is as effective as ignoring symptoms or just hoping that lump will go away. The worst thing a doctor can say to you is, “I wish you had come in earlier.” As someone who helps businesses navigate government investigations every day, my ‘worst-case’ summary is similar. MARK J. SILBERMAN

THERESA CROSS

Partner, Vice Chair of Benesch Healthcare+ Practice 312-212-4952 msilberman@beneschlaw.com

Associate Benesch Law 312-637-8868 tcross@beneschlaw.com

Ultimately, there are three choices, starting with an honest assessment. • If you truly don’t have a problem, be prepared to explain if/when the government comes knocking. • If you do have a problem:

fter multiple waves of COVID, most of us are ready to put it behind us. But there are remnants from the COVID pandemic that remain to be addressed. This is not a reference to symptoms of longCOVID but, rather, the inevitable COVID Enforcement Wave. Civil investigative demands, audits, investigations and enforcement actions are popping up nationwide. Massive recoveries are inspiring, perhaps driving, government enforcement efforts. The first wave of enforcement efforts focused primarily on the worst of the bad actors who intentionally took advantage of the pandemic, seizing upon opportunities to lie, cheat, steal and profit from the public trust. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Like COVID, this will occur in waves and will spin off variants. Investigations will focus not just on bad actors, but also on those who did business with bad actors, and comparable business lines—each time looking for patterns, identifying conduct of sufficient similarity to warrant inquiry. The impact of these ‘adjacent cases’ can be real and costly. Even well-intentioned actors who have done nothing wrong will be viewed through the lens of those who intentionally engaged in bad acts. It is not the first time these types of enforcement efforts have happened and, if you are not prepared, navigating these investigations can be as disruptive as the pandemic itself. Where bad actors made a profit, others could end up having to pay the price. Prepare by looking backwards The low-hanging fruit are bad actors whose cases carry the biggest financial return and are the easiest to prove. Each case offers lessons (and incentives) that drive the next round of enforcement. Understanding the

P023_CCB_20231120.indd 23

original efforts allows the opportunity for preparation – and perhaps avoidance. And this is not going away. The government extended its statute of limitations to prosecute COVID fraud. Bills were signed extending the statute of limitations for prosecuting Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) cases. The False Claims Act allows action for false claims submitted to the government for six years (a date potentially extendable up to ten years).

• Explore self-reporting, selfdisclosure, mitigation and/or corrective action to reduce or avoid the consequences of any misstep. • Like the ostrich before you, stick your head in the sand and hope the government does not come with questions. Some people will get away with fraud. More people will struggle to explain honest mistakes because they were unprepared.

When the government comes knocking, it will already have a narrative that, likely, does not advance your best interests. Proactivity allows you to reduce risk and control the narrative. And while that is most relevant if you have a problem, you will only know if you perform the necessary assessments. Coordination with compliance and risk management teams or legal counsel—someone whose job it is to tell you what you need to know, not what you want to hear—can mitigate risk. The strategy ultimately becomes a question of risk tolerance that should be discussed with and navigated by counsel. Even honest mistakes can result in substantial financial penalties, and investigations produce a strain on resources that can disrupt (or decimate) organizations. Ultimately, the choice between proactive evaluation and ‘wait-and-see’ is a roll of the dice. Don’t bet your business. Proactivity allows for avoidance: Action vs. Reaction Assessments supply information that helps identify answers and, ultimately, having answers matters. Honest mistakes may look similar to

fraud but are not. Decisions made during the chaos of the pandemic are being evaluated with hindsight. You need to be able to demonstrate more than good intentions to navigate these government investigations. The government doesn’t care about everything good your organization may have previously or subsequently done. Those responsible for investigating and prosecuting COVID fraud are myopically focused on recovering government funds and punishing wrongdoing. You need to be able to demonstrate when you do not fit that mold. Because the costs and disruption of an investigation – even a baseless one – are worth avoiding wherever possible. Conduct the internal due diligence now to determine your risk. Evaluate your ‘answer’ now, when the information and explanations are readily available, rather than years from now. Staying ahead of the government’s enforcement wave is what allows you to make riding that wave as enjoyable as possible. And if you choose to ignore it – we hope no one ever looks at you and says, ‘We wish you had come in sooner.’

Healthcare is particularly susceptible to the Enforcement Wave Enforcement focuses on healthcare because that is where most of the pandemic’s chaos existed (and it’s also where the money is). Both the catalyst and backdrop for much of the fraud committed, the conduct is not always being evaluated against the chaos of the pandemic. As with most honest mistakes in healthcare, mistakes are often only made once but repeated, again and again. A coding or billing error can result from a single mistake but can then be repeated hundreds or thousands of times until detected, audited or accused. This remained exponentially true during the pandemic. If the government learns the right lessons from its initial enforcement efforts, it will go a long way to identify wrongdoing. But, as has happened before, if the government learns the wrong lessons from its original enforcement wave, it forces individuals who are not engaged in any wrongdoing to spend significant time and resources explaining innocuous conduct to the government. Remember, having done something wrong is not a precursor for a government investigation and the expense and disruption it causes is real.

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RESTAURANTS From Page 3

nowhere left to cut costs. As such, many restaurateurs are outraged by a paid leave ordinance that the City Council approved in a 36 to 12 vote Nov. 9, with some owners saying it will cost them thousands of dollars that they do not have. “So many of us are just getting by,” said Bublick, whose restaurant has locations in the Avondale neighborhood, at Soldier Field and in Evanston. “Really, how much more can the restaurant industry take?” The ordinance will require Chicago employers to provide employees 10 paid days off starting next year. Companies with more than 100 employees will be required to pay out up to seven unused days off when a worker ends employment. Businesses with 50 or fewer employees would be exempt from having to pay out unused days, and there would be a one-year phase-in of required payout for companies with 51 to 100 workers. The final version of the ordinance is a result of weeks of negotiations and concessions to industry groups. One concession to restaurants was that tips won’t be included in the rate employers pay for days off. Jason Lee, senior adviser to Mayor Brandon Johnson, said the administration worked with “whoever was willing to engage.” The city plans to closely monitor implementations and make changes if necessary. Lee said if employees can’t take paid time off for child care or because they’re sick, “our economy doesn’t work.” “Minimum wage or the 40-hour workweek or whatever law you want to say was an advance for labor, there’s always been trepidation and fear that this is going to be the thing that puts us out of business,” Lee said. “This hasn’t been the case. Workers, most of all, need businesses to thrive. It’s where they work.” Restaurant owners say they are not opposed to providing additional benefits for workers, but they do not know how they will pay for them. The paid leave discussion comes on the heels of another ordinance to phase out the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers, a process that will begin in July. Restaurateurs say it’s a one-two punch, and they’re grappling with how to trim labor costs or cut back hours. To be sure, not all restaurant owners are opposed. The mayor’s office issued a press release listing some establishments that support the ordinance, including Back of the Yards Coffee. Other owners, though, say that such changes are making Chicago inhospitable for restaurants. During the worst of inflation, restaurant owners tried to convince customers they were getting value amid increasing costs. Some say they have given up trying to explain the price hikes. Others are scouting locations outside the city. Michelle Durpetti, third-generation owner of Gene & Georgetti in River North, said she recently retained a lawyer to help her stay educated on all the requirements. She’s also changing a tradition for the steakhouse: Typically, it shuts down for seven to 10 days in Janu-

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Labor costs are the biggest driver of higher menu prices and surcharges at restaurants, said David Henkes, senior principal at market research firm Technomic.

ary, to give employees a break after the rush of the holidays. This year, it will remain open for dinner to ensure at least some revenue flow. “It’s really scary to have an independent restaurant in Chicago,” she said. “As a family, we are constantly having conversations looking to ensure the safety and longevity of our brand. And that includes conversations about moving outside of Illinois.” Restaurant workers, for their part, say more paid time off could help shift a paradigm. There’s been a “grind mentality” in the industry, where workers take pride in working long hours, said Tad Walters, a prep cook at The Loyalist in the West Loop. That mentality has changed since the pandemic. Workers are getting better at setting boundaries, and codified PTO could further encourage that shift. “Anything that benefits workers, that gives them more power, more money, more not living around the poverty line and being miserable, I think that’s pretty good,” Walters said.

Paradigm shift At Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen in the South Loop, fourthgeneration owner Dan Raskin calculates that giving his 38 employees an extra five paid days off will cost about $25,000 a year. That estimate does not include the one or two new employees he said he’ll likely have to hire to cover the shifts of people taking time off. Already, Manny’s has raised the price of its corned beef sandwich to $18.95 from $14.95 in 2019. Raskin said Manny’s online reviews have been flooded with price complaints, and diners complain, too. “I don’t defend it anymore,” he said. “I’m just like, ‘I’m sorry, it is what it is.’ ” Labor costs are the biggest driver of higher menu prices and surcharges at restaurants, said David Henkes, senior principal at market research firm Technomic. Food inflation is decelerating, but Illinois’ hospitality industry has not recovered from the loss of talent it suffered during the pandemic. The industry employed 629,900 people in February 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In September, it employed an estimated 599,400. Restaurants have raised wages over the past few years to attract talent. Competitively, a rule affecting

menu prices at most Chicago restaurants won’t change how a person decides which restaurant to go to, said Darren Tristano, CEO of research and consulting firm Foodservice Results. But it will push people toward grocery stores, and encourage eating at home. “The behavior is shifting toward, ‘I just can’t eat out as often,’ ” Tristano said. “That’s never good for the industry. You want behavior to go the other way.” The new ordinance will also give employees the right to sue their employer if they don’t comply with the ordinance. The city agreed to delay the implementation of that rule for a year, offering a grace period for employers to understand the new ordinance. Lee said most workers will not look to file lawsuits. “They need these days off,” he said. “Their kids get sick, their cars break down.” Still, major restaurants are concerned. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, which owns about 110 restaurants, including RPM Steak, Beatrix and Cafe-Ba-Ba-Reeba, has provided vacation for its fulltime employees for more than 40 years, President R.J. Melman said in a written statement. However, the company is opposed to the current draft of the PTO proposal. “If there’s an error in paying out vacation time, the penalties are disproportionately severe — three times the amount of the mistake plus attorney fees. Most importantly, there is no statutory opportunity for the employer to correct the mistake without the looming threat of litigation and unreasonable penalties,” he said in the statement. “We have requested that the ordinance provide an opportunity to receive notice of an error and a reasonable period to fix a mistake before there is a lawsuit. We believe that a more balanced approach can lead to legislation that can benefit everyone involved.” With the City Council passing the new ordinance, it will bring peace of mind to Stacy Donohue, who bartends at two restaurants in Wrigleyville and one in the South Loop. She has aging parents in New York and a sister in Las Vegas. When she visits them, she shortens her trips to avoid missing too many shifts. “When we’re off work, we don’t make a penny,” she said. “You know you’re not getting that $300 to $600 that night.”

From Page 3

bankruptcy filing appears to shed light on the scale of the fee. Alter did not respond to a request for comment. The bankruptcy filing comes as Alter Group tries to sell the Kinzie Street property. Alter Group Executive Vice President Rich Gatto told Crain’s in June that the WeWork termination fee could either be used to make mortgage payments or combined with proceeds from a sale to help Alter Group pay off its $60 million loan on the property. In addition to his real estate holdings, Alter is known as the owner of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky franchise. Separate from the Kinzie Street property, WeWork named its shuttered location at 125 S.

Clark St. in the Loop as one of leases it plans to reject as part of the bankruptcy process. After the company closed that 112,000-square-foot space earlier this year, the owner of the property filed an eviction lawsuit against WeWork to take control of the space and recover unpaid rent from a lease running through late 2033, according to the lawsuit. A spokesman for the Clark Street building’s owner — a venture controlled by German real estate investor Commerz Real AG — did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bankruptcy filing.

Active locations WeWork has been shuttering what the company has dubbed “underperforming” Chicago locations over the past couple years in an effort to cut costs

and invest in locations it expects to be more profitable. In addition to the Kinzie Street and Clark Street closures, WeWork last year shut down a 50,000-square-foot location at 332 S. Michigan Ave. WeWork still has eight active downtown Chicago locations, according to its website, at 220 N. Green St.; 167 N. Green St.; 625 W. Adams St.; 222 S. Riverside Plaza; 1 S. Dearborn St.; 330 N. Wabash Ave.; 515 N. State St., and 448 N. LaSalle St. WeWork also manages a 25,000-square-foot space in the grand hall of a 12-story building at 4753 N. Broadway in Uptown, which is being converted by developer Cedar Street into 176 apartments. The location marks the first time WeWork partnered with a residential developer to offer co-working as an amenity to people who will live there.

NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE

WEWORK

Dr. Chitaru Kurihara (left) and Dr. Ankit Bharat operating on David “Davey” Bauer.

HOMEBUYING

TRANSPLANT

half of whose business is with first-time buyers. “But yeah, you’re going to get one.” In the swirl of big lawsuits over the issue of commissions, including one on behalf of home sellers in which a Kansas City jury awarded a $1.78 billion verdict in late October and one on behalf of homebuyers that was filed in Chicago a few days later, a key issue is the conventional split of commissions. Out of their proceeds in the sale, the sellers give to their agent one amount for commissions, often but not always 6%, and that agent pockets half and gives the other half to the agent for the buyer. Buyers, it’s been argued in the courts, don’t always understand that although the seller disbursed the commissions, it’s the buyers, through their purchase money, who are actually funding the commissions for both agents.

What they learned, they said, can be applied to keeping other patients alive after the removal of their lungs. David “Davey” Bauer of DeSoto, Mo., near St. Louis required the double-lung transplant after he caught the flu and his lungs became infected, Northwestern said in a statement. Surgeons removed Bauer’s infected lungs and created an artificial lung to keep him alive, the statement said. But to keep his heart in place while his lungs were removed, surgeons came up with the idea of using size DD breast implants inside his chest cavity, while they listed Bauer for a double-lung transplant, the statement said. Fortunately for Bauer, a match was found within 24 hours. “Davey’s case is remarkable because it shows that we can keep patients alive after removing their lungs through new technology, which can be transformative for many critically ill patients,” Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery and director of the Canning Thoracic Institute, said in the statement. “With this new approach that we’ve developed, many patients who get to the point of needing a lung transplant — but their damaged lungs are making them too sick to get one — can now potentially get transplanted. I think it’s going to open a lot of doors for many patients who have no other options.”

From Page 1

Misconception It should be clear to buyers that this is where the money comes from, but “the misunderstanding that the buyer is paying nothing for the service is out there. They’re being told there’s no cost to them,” said Matt Laricy, an Americorp agent based in the city. That’s in part, as Laricy, Gable and Ellis all say, because some uncountable number of agents hoping to land new buyer clients will say something along the lines of, “It doesn’t cost you anything. It’s free.” It’s only true in the sense that the buyer typically doesn’t write the agent a check, but it’s not true because the buyer’s money boomerangs back through the parties to the agent. “Nobody should still be saying it, but they are,” Ellis said. Baird & Warner is emphatic in training new agents to be crystal clear in explaining how the money flows to the agents. Buyers should now count on signing a document with the agent that details the compensation that will result if the buyers do a deal

From Page 1

Buyers should now count on signing a document with the agent that details the compensation that will result if the buyers do a deal through that agent. I BLOOMBERG PHOTO

through that agent, Ellis said. Baird & Warner already encourages all agents for buyers to get a signed buyer’s agreement, but because agents are independent contractors, “we can’t require it.” Now, Ellis says, it’s likely that far more agents will make the buyer’s agreement a standard piece of their practice. Until the present day, buyer agreements “haven’t been common in Chicago,” Laricy said, “but they will be now.” A signed buyer’s agreement won’t only be an acknowledgement of how the commission flow works conventionally, but very likely will include provisions for any new twists, Ellis and the others said. If sellers tell their agent they don’t want to pay a commission to the buyer’s agent, “the agent has to be compensated somehow,” Ellis said, so the buyer’s agreement will stipulate that the buyer’s agent gets paid a certain amount or percentage after the closing, whether out of the seller’s proceeds or directly from the buyer. Gable said the prospect of having to pay an agent upfront “would scare a lot of buyers,” but at this point it seems unlikely to become a standard. He and Ellis both said

what’s most likely is that new closing forms will specify each of the two agents’ commissions in separate columns, with the money still coming from the buyer’s purchase funds, both down payment and mortgage loan.

Spelling out the details Making all of this information explicit “will help consumers,” Ellis said, but it will also help the buyer’s agent. First, it will provide a measure of protection for their compensation as the industry rejiggers its standards in the wake of the lawsuits. More important, Laricy said, is that it will spell out the role a buyer’s agent plays. It’s not just getting keys to the front doors of the properties that a buyer wants to see, but also helping the buyer determine whether the asking price is right, setting up financing, and understanding and dealing with such tough details as a seller’s radon disclosure and finding a real estate attorney for the closing. “Here are the services I’m going to provide to you,” Gable describes an agent’s pre-shopping presentation to buyers informing them, and in return, “here is how I’ll be compensated.”

‘Uncharted territory’ In April, Bauer started experiencing shortness of breath and was diagnosed with influenza A, the statement said. He developed a lung infection that was resistant to antibiotics, was admitted to a hospital in St. Louis and then placed on ECMO to operate his heart and the lungs, but he continued to decline, the statement said. “Davey’s lungs were so heavily infected that they started to liquefy. If you looked at his X-ray, there was nothing left — the lungs were completely filled with puss,” Dr. Rade Tomic, pulmonologist and

medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute Lung Transplant Program, said in the statement. “When we received a call from Davey’s medical team in St. Louis, we thought we could help him, but it was also very clear he wouldn’t survive the transplant in his current condition. He needed to clear the infection before we could list him for transplant, but the only way to do that was to remove both lungs. This was uncharted territory for us, but our team knew if we couldn’t help Davey, no one else could.”

‘Thinking outside the box’ The surgical team engineered an “artificial lung” that could attach to Bauer’s body, keeping the blood flowing to the heart, while also keeping his brain and other organs perfused, the statement said. Then, it said, they worked with a Northwestern plastic surgeon to come up with the breast implant solution to keep Bauer’s heart from physically collapsing inside the chest cavity. “I never imagined we’d be using DD breast implants to help bridge a patient to lung transplantation, but our team is known for taking on the most difficult cases and thinking outside the box to save lives,” Bharat said in the statement. Bauer was discharged from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in late September after months in intensive care and continues to recover at optimal pace in Chicago, the statement said. “I’m so grateful to be alive and know I wouldn’t be here today without the support of my girlfriend, family, friends and my Northwestern Medicine transplant team who never gave up on me,” Bauer said in the statement. “While we don’t have definitive ways of proving my years of vaping caused my medical condition, doctors do know for a fact that vaping causes lung injury. If I could go back in time, I never would have picked up a cigarette or vape pen, and I hope my story can help encourage others to quit, because I wouldn’t wish this difficult journey on anyone.”

NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 25

Companies are laying out the risks of generative artificial intelligence to investors UL Solutions is among the first to disclose the promise and peril of the new technology in its IPO prospectus ing our business results,” UL Solutions says in the prospectus. That race carries its own challenges, such as how to pay the companies, such as ChatGPT creator Open AI, that create the training models that make generative AI effective. There also are new concerns about protecting consumer data, which could be compromised with greater speed and scale than it already has been. Incidents in which companies are paying out millions in damages for data breaches already are commonplace.

By John Pletz

AI has gone from buzzword to a risk to be disclosed to investors. UL Solutions had plenty to say about the promise and peril of artificial intelligence — including generative AI, the technology behind ChatGPT, Bard and other chatbots — in its prospectus for a planned public stock offering. The Northbrook-based company is among the first to disclose AI as a risk in a prospectus, joining three other filers since September, according to KPMG, a tax and advisory firms that works with companies preparing to go public. “This is a fairly recent phenomenon,” says Shari Mager, who leads KPMG’s capital market readiness practice, which works with companies thinking about going public. “I suspect we’re going to see more of this.” New technologies and trends always get attention when it comes to risk, but generative AI has emerged with surprising speed. “I can’t think of something that’s become so prevalent so fast in recent times,” Mager says. UL Solutions laid out opportunities and threats that run the gamut, such as automating jobs, competition and regulation. The disclosures reflect both the massive hype now swirling around the technology and the dizzying speed with which it’s disrupting businesses of all types. “A number of industries can potentially be hurt by technological advances in artificial intelligence,” says Tim Loughran, a finance professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

APARTMENTS From Page 3

contract tied to the federal lowincome housing tax credits program that required the affordable units expired at the end of last year, and most of the previous tenants of those units have relocated to other Brookfield properties, according to a Block Club Chicago report. The 16-story complex is 97% occupied today and remains a “naturally affordable” option with an average monthly rent of $1,573, or $1.98 per square foot, according to marketing materials from Newmark. The brokerage frames the property as a rare large-scale acquisition and an opportunity for a buyer to boost the complex’s value through higher rents. A Brookfield spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. The Pavilion was appraised at $186.2 million in 2018, when Forest City refinanced the property with a new $92.7 million loan, according to a report from ratings

‘Regulatory uncertainty’

UL Solutions’ main campus in Northbrook. I PHOTO COURTESY OF UL SOLUTIONS

UL Solutions, formerly known as Underwriters Laboratories, primarily tests products for manufacturers, from consumer electronics to heating and air-conditioning equipment. It also has a growing software and advisory unit.

White-collar threat Although UL Solutions is 129 years old, it’s primarily a tech company. Like other tech companies, it’s been developing machine learning and other types of artificial intelligence for a while. Because generative AI is uniquely good at gathering and distilling vast amounts of data and serving it up in ways that humans can use, it threatens to automate the tedium that makes up a lot of

white-collar work. That’s both an opportunity and threat to companies like UL Solutions. “As technology continues to evolve, more tasks currently performed by people may be augmented or replaced by automation, robotics, AI/machine learning and other technological advances outside of our control,” the company says in its prospectus. “These technological advances also have the potential to enable the development of alternative competitive services or enable our customers to reduce or bypass the use of our services. If any of our customers, competitors or new market entrants were to develop algorithms or other AI tools capable of replicating or better com-

peting against our services, our services and solutions could, over time, become obsolete or unnecessary, or demand for our services could be significantly reduced, particularly if any such AI alternative proved to be more accurate, more efficient or more costeffective than our employees.” UL Solutions is in a sprint with others to get a handle on generative AI and incorporate the technology into its business before its competitors and customers do. “Ultimately, our failure to incorporate AI technologies in our product offerings in a timely, effective and compliant manner may place us at a competitive disadvantage, reducing demand for our offerings and adversely affect-

With the White House already signaling its intention to regulate AI without a clear road map creates the risk of regulatory uncertainty, which generally spooks investors. “Uncertainty in the legal regulatory regime relating to AI may require significant resources to modify and maintain business practices to comply with U.S. and non-U.S. laws, the nature of which cannot be determined at this time. Several jurisdictions around the globe, including Europe and certain U.S. states, have already proposed or enacted laws governing AI,” the company says in its prospectus. Expect to see more disclosures like this. IPO documents are a preview of what’s to come for public companies, Mager says. But it could take a while before the SEC issues formal rules, says Mike Dambra, an associate professor of accounting and law in the University at Buffalo School of Management. “The SEC usually lets these things play out and see how the market interprets them,” he says.

agency Fitch. That loan was packaged with other apartment mortgages to secure a bond offering by government-backed housing finance agency Freddie Mac. The 4.05% interest rate loan — a far lower rate than buyers could secure today — is due to mature in March 2028, according to MSCI data. The Pavilion generated net operating income of just more than $7.8 million in 2022, according to loan data reported by real estate information company CoStar Group. That was down from $9.1 million during the 12-month stretch before the 2018 refinancing, according to the Fitch report.

Wide range of amenities Originally built between 1968 and 1972, the Pavilion’s scale allows it to offer a wide range of amenities, including tennis and racquetball courts, indoor and outdoor pools and a fitness center, according to the Newmark flyer. Brookfield owns a number of high-profile properties in the Chicago area. Its suburban assets in-

26 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 20, 2023

The Pavilion Apartments at 5441 N. East River Road I COSTAR GROUP PHOTO

clude Oakbrook Center mall — where it recently notched a big windfall from a new mortgage — and Northbrook Court mall in the

northern suburb, which it is on track to redevelop with a mix of new uses. Brookfield also owns the Aloft at the Glen Town Center

apartments in Glenview. Newmark brokers Liz Gagliardi and Chuck Johanns are marketing the Pavilion on behalf of Brookfield.

I PH

An eclectic entrepreneur’s Avondale house has had several past lives

ChicagoBusiness.com President and CEO KC Crain Group publisher Jim Kirk, (312) 397-5503 or jkirk@crain.com

n its first 100 or so years, this building on an Avondale street corner served variously as, if newspaper accounts and neighborhood lore are all correct, a grocery store, a pickle factory, a church and a puzzle factory. Then in 2001, Adrian and Mark Thomas came along. “I thought it was a real cool building,” says Mark Thomas. “My wife hated it.” They bought it. Over the next few years, Adrian Thomas steered the transformation of the building on Washtenaw Avenue and its big side yard into a home for their family of four, a place to entertain, and a showcase for the eclectic tidbits her husband has picked up in the five decades he’s been running a web of alternative businesses, including punk- and Goth-infused clothing store The Alley, a jewelry factory and a building filled with artists’ studios. Since The Alley, once a fixture

at Belmont Avenue and Clark Street, reopened on Fletcher Street, Thomas’ businesses are now all within a few blocks of the house. Built in the 1890s, the 3,200-square-foot building is now a three-bedroom house with several openings along the side that blend the indoors with the yard. The interior is a mix of old, such as an employee drinking fountain from the building’s days as a factory, and new, including a sleek contemporary kitchen with blue cabinetry. They added a garage at one end of the lot that also contains Mark Thomas’ exercise room, tricked out in pink and zebra stripes. Now downsizing into a condo nearby, the couple put the house on the market Nov. 13, priced at just below $1.3 million. It’s represented by Mario Greco of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago.

VHT PHOTOS

Mark Thomas, the man behind stores like The Alley and Taboo Tabou, and his wife are selling the house they made out of an 1890s commercial building I By Dennis Rodkin

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NOVEMBER 20, 2023 | CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS | 27

Let’s rise to the challenge, Chicago. Only a hunger-free community can really be healthy. When we help feed our neighbors, we truly become a greater Chicago.

Please give now. chicagosfoodbank.org/rise

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