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Bailing out of Water Tower Place Retailers jump ship as the property’s owner sets a new course

Josh Bradshaw, community resource manager at Advanced Medical Transport

JOHN R. BOEHM

As the owner of Water Tower Place plots a comeback for the Mag Mile mall, a bunch of tenants have decided not to wait around to see how the plan turns out.

At least 10 retailers, including Banana Republic, Aritzia and Riley Rose, have left Water Tower in recent months, departures overshadowed by the recent decision of Macy’s, the mall’s biggest tenant, to close its department store there.

Water Tower’s post-pandemic future also will include a much small-

JOHN R. BOEHM

BY ALBY GALLUN

er role for its second-largest tenant, American Girl, which is shrinking its store there and giving up See WATER TOWER on Page 28

ILLINOIS’ VACCINE LEADER? Second City’s second act IT’S NOT CHICAGO. How private-equity owners aim to pump The region we all could learn from turns out to be Peoria. Here’s why.

OFTEN OVERSHADOWED BY THE METROPOLIS to its northeast, Peoria outshines Chicago and much of Illinois when it comes to coronavirus vaccinations.

Peoria County tops all 102 Illinois counties in pushing vaccines to its most vulnerable residents. As of March 4, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 84 percent of county residents 65 or older had received a first dose, two times the rate for Chicago and Cook County. Some 51 percent of Peoria seniors had been fully vaccinated as of that date, well above the statewide rate of 20 percent.

Surprised? So was Monica Hendrickson, pub-

BY A.D. QUIG

lic health administrator at the Peoria City/County Health Department, at a Feb. 24 event when Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that “if Peoria County were a state, it would be No. 2 in the nation for total doses administered per 100,000 residents.”

“I’m very happy I had a face mask on, on live TV,” Hendrickson says. “Otherwise, my shock would be more expressive.”

Planning, partnership, outreach and centralization appear to be key factors boosting vaccination rates See PEORIA on Page 31

new energy into a comedy institution

BY ALLY MAROTTI After a string of years that were hardly a laugh riot for previous management, Chicago’s famed Second City is entering its second act under new owners.

New York-based private-equity firm ZMC announced late last month that it would acquire the

61-year-old comedy institution, roughly four months after the company put itself up for sale following years of contemplating the move. ZMC declines to disclose terms, but deal tracker PitchBook pegs the price tag at $50 million.

Though private-equity firms See SECOND CITY on Page 31

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REAL ESTATE

YOUR VIEW

Buyers are snagging bargain prices on downtown condos. PAGE 3

We can only build COVID immunity by building trust. PAGE 10

3/5/21 4:26 PM

2 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Can Illinois’ political class end the big stall?

Y

property tax.

But, sadly, it is just as unlikely to be enacted now as it was then. Not because it’s a bad idea—it’s a great idea—but because most Illinois politicians then and now lack the guts to do what’s needed to be done. That’s to bring everybody to the table, elicit some needed fiscal pain from each of the stakeholders, and finally act decisively to end Illinois’ slide into an economic black hole.

Anyone who’s been around Springfield and a calculator for more than 10 minutes what needs to THIS VOTER IS SICK AND TIRED OF THE knows be done. Real estate BIG STALL. I DON’T THINK I’M ALONE. taxes, which are based on value rather than income and generally do not relief, the hit won’t be as bad. factor in ability to pay, need to It’s a great idea, one that lebe lowered. Other taxes, includgions of Illinois politicians from ing on services and retirement former Comptroller Dawn Clark income above a set level, need Netsch to Kaegi predecessor Jim to be raised. And as part of the Houlihan have pursued on and deal, some reasonable limits off for at least three decades.

Swap higher state taxes, likely on need to be imposed on spending, like that wholly unreasonincome, for lowering the hated ou might say Fritz Kaegi was doing the swap.

At a much-watched virtual speech a few days ago, the reform-minded Cook County assessor warned that fairness gives him no option but to soon jack up assessments on Chicago commercial property that’s been undervalued, no matter how much property owners’ bottom lines have been hurt by COVID. Of course, he added in a bit of verbal throat clearing, if Springfield would come across with some significant property tax

able circa-1975 pension deal in which retirees continue to get a minimum 3 percent annual costof-living increase at a time when inflation is running 1 percent or perhaps a bit more.

Democrats certainly are willing to raise taxes. And Republicans to cut spending. But if you don’t do the full monty at the same time, the deal falls apart and nothing happens. Which is why the swap never passed, because voters never were convinced that some taxes would go down if others went up.

There’s a word for that. Distrust. Voters don’t trust Springfield. Gov. J.B. Pritzker certainly knows that by now. Though he hasn’t admitted it out loud, lack of trust is why voters shot down his vaunted graduated income tax amendment in November.

And now he’s pushing his own version of the swap, demanding that business groups and Republicans come up with their own revenue or cost-cutting ideas or he’ll close $934 million

GREG HINZ ON POLITICS

the nation over the extended forecast horizon. . . .Over the next five years, employment in Illinois is forecast to increase 6.7 percent, below the 7.7 percent increase for the Midwest and 8.8 percent rise nationally.”

Sigh. Just do it already, wouldya? That means not being Bruce Rauner stubborn, or J.B. Pritzker aloof, or organized labor selfish, or hard-core Republican clueless, but getting into the big room and solving the problem with some sort of comprehensive package, something like what the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and the Civic Federation proposed in recent years. This voter is sick and tired of the big stall. I don’t think I’m the only one.

in “corporate tax loopholes,” some of which he himself signed into law. But expecting a minority party to lead when you’re the leader and have a supermajority in your pocket is a bit much.

The cost of Illinois politicians’ refusal to toughen up and do what needs to be done becomes clearer by the day. For instance, in a March 3 report on the state’s lagging economic prospects, Moody’s Analytics said Illinois, on paper, has everything it needs to be a top job magnet.

But unless fiscal pressures and soaring pension costs that now are somewhere past $144 billion in unfunded liabilities are solved, “the state will grow a step behind the Midwest average and a few steps behind

A history lesson that could haunt the mayor

Y

ears ago, as a young Lincoln Park resident, I often enjoyed exercise on what I called my “statues run.”

The loop took me south toward a bronze Robert Cavelier de LaSalle, then circled a pensive Abraham Lincoln before a northward jog passed a standing Benjamin Franklin and a regal Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

“Explorer,” I would think, passing LaSalle. “Freed the slaves” for Lincoln, and “Founding father” for Franklin. “Titanic Teutonic,” I’d whisper for Goethe, likely still understating his impact.

These days, someone rounding that loop might well put it this way: “Colonialist” for LaSalle; “White supremacist” for Lincoln; “Enslaver” for Franklin; and “Imperialist” for Goethe.

History is never simple. And that’s why Chicago, like many cities, is reconsidering its statues and what they say about our history and culture. It’s a complex, volatile undertaking, both necessary and unpredictable.

Tensions are high. A violent clash with police erupted last July over a protest group’s efforts to tear down a Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park. Mayor Lori Lightfoot then removed the Columbus statue in the dead of the night—temporarily, she said then.

Chicago is not alone. Ever since the Charlottesville, Va., standoff over a mounted Robert E. Lee led to the killing of an anti-Nazi protester in 2017, the modern-day argument over reckoning with our past has become a national obsession. From San Francisco to New York, monuments have been debated and defaced, removed and reinforced.

After the Grant Park melee in July, Lightfoot appointed a commission to advise on the future

P002_CCB_20210308.indd 2

of Chicago’s 500-plus statues and monuments. Their removal or retention is at stake.

Lightfoot promised an “inclusive and democratic public dialogue” about the explorers and colonialists, enslavers and abolitionists, freedom fighters and terrorists whose busts, bodies, horses and hats are frozen in time in parks and pedways across the city.

If ever there were a need for an open public decision-making process, the Monuments Project Advisory Committee was it. But the group’s early work has been anything but open.

“What’s said here, stays here” are words that opened one early meeting. The group identified 41 problematic monuments—a list selected by city staff, not the artists and experts convened to consult on the matter, records indicate.

Six months of meetings produced a mere 24 pages of vaguely worded minutes and notes in which no attendance was taken, no other records kept.

We know all this thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request by Better Government Association reporter David Jackson. His reporting raises questions about the monument commission’s compliance with the state’s Open Meetings Act. It’s yet another known flouting of Open Meetings by the Lightfoot administration.

Last summer, after a weekend of riots and looting following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, Lightfoot held at least three virtual meetings of the City Council without public notice or participation. The BGA sued over the alleged Open Meetings violation, and the mayor promised not to do it again—but authorized the city law department to keep contesting the lawsuit.

That’s the same law department that went to court to block WBBMTV/Channel 2 from airing a video it properly obtained of a botched police raid on the home of Anjanette Young, when the warrant listed a different address. The city’s top lawyer lost his job over the effort to block the broadcast.

And to think: Lightfoot took office nearly two years ago promising to run the most open and accountable government in city history.

It seemed credible at the time.

In addition to her bold service on the Chicago Police Board, bucking

DAVID GREISING ON GOVERNMENT

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s efforts to minimize the problem of rogue policing, she had developed a reputation as a good-government advocate. She even served on the board of the BGA. Reformer—or open-government reprobate? If Lightfoot doesn’t begin delivering on her transparency

promises soon, the answer will be obvious when the history of her administration is cast.

Crain’s contributor David Greising is president of the investigative watchdog Better Government Association.

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3/5/21 3:22 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 8, 2021 3

A HIGH-STAKES SUMMER FOR CHICAGO HOTELIERS

For many investors, there’s a lot more on the line than occupancy

CHICAGO’S SUMMER TOURISM season is about to turn up the heat on local hotel owners.

With the city lifting more COVID-19 restrictions amid dwindling case numbers and Mayor Lori Lightfoot suggesting some popular summer events and festivals may be returning, downtown hoteliers are getting ready to pounce on what could be a burst of demand from leisure travelers itching for a city vacation.

It’s desperately needed good news for hotel investors that have been starved for business as the pandemic stifles travel

A new 223-room hotel on Navy Pier, dubbed Sable, is set to debut March 18 despite the pier itself remaining mostly closed to visitors.

ComEd forecasts a high-wattage year bined $573 million in 2014 and 2015. ComEd’s profits, in terms of Exelon earnings per share, jumped 19 percent in 2016 to 57 cents thanks to the two big rate hikes. But, otherwise, profit increases when they’ve occurred

BY STEVE DANIELS have typically been in the single Commonwealth Edison still digits; some years, like in 2020, is weathering the disgrace of they’ve fallen.

ComEd also would account last year’s admission to nearly a decade of influence peddling for nearly 30 percent of what Exelon is projectand bribery in ing overall, by Springfield, but JOE CAHILL far the highest it’s a new year, and the utility is Which half of Exelon’s biz will share of the parpredicting a reprosper post-breakup? PAGE 4 ent’s earnings in at least two decord-shattering cades. performance ComEd’s expectations of a where it counts most—on the banner year come as its Chiprofit-and-loss statement.

ComEd is projecting adjusted cago-based parent embarks operating earnings will jump 21 on a plan to split itself into percent this year to 80 cents per two. ComEd would be part of a share of parent Exelon’s stock group—Exelon also owns utilities versus 66 cents in 2020. The util- serving Philadelphia, Baltimore, ity would see that $137 million Washington, D.C., and much of increase despite declining rates Maryland—that would form a company of regulated businessover the past three years.

That would be ComEd’s steep- es. The other part would consist est year-over-year profit boost in of Exelon’s fleet of nuclear power the past decade, which encom- plants, the largest in the counpasses the smart-grid era when try, as well as other generating delivery rates increased a com- facilities and its retail power and

But with a breakup looming, how long will the good times last?

P003_CCB_20210308.indd 3

 WHAT CONTROVERSY? ComEd may be a disgraced utility thanks to its bribery-scheme admissions last year, but it’s projecting a record-shattering 2021 where it counts—profits.

COMED CONTRIBUTION TO EXELON ADJUSTED OPERATING EARNINGS PER SHARE ComEd

Exelon total

$3.50

$2.80*

3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 $0.80 (29%)*

1.00 0.50 0

‘13

‘15

‘17

‘19

‘21

*Represents midpoint of range projected Source: SEC filings

natural gas supplier, Constellation, which are more dependent for success on the market rather than politicians.

ComEd has plans to invest in the local power grid at historically high levels over the next two years—the final years in See COMED on Page 30

Condo buyers snag bargains downtown A spot check of sales in the past few months shows units moving at deep discounts—at least for now

BY DENNIS RODKIN In a dozen years living in downtown Chicago, Varun Soni came to love it, but for family reasons he moved to the suburbs briefly.

He missed it. “I mean, you have the world at your fingertips when you live in downtown Chicago,” says Soni, a mortgage broker.

When he got ready to move back downtown in the early autumn of 2020, Soni found that his timing couldn’t have been much better. Other homebuyers were avoiding the crisis-wracked downtown neighborhoods, creating a giant oversupply of condos for sale, with the predictable result that he found plenty of bargains.

In November, Soni bought a 68th-floor condo overlooking Michigan Avenue for $975,000, or about 72 percent of what the sellers had paid for it 10 years earlier. While he thinks of the condo as home, not as a piece of his investment portfolio, Soni

JOHN R. BOEHM

See SUMMER on Page 29

MIKE SCHWARTZ PHOTOGRAPHY

BY DANNY ECKER

Varun Soni bought his high-rise condo last fall for 72 percent of what the sellers paid a decade ago. says he’s confident that “it’s only a matter of time, maybe a couple of years, before things go back to normal and people are coming downtown again, and my home will be worth more.”

Soni is not alone in getting a downtown condo below its years-ago price. Crain’s found three dozen condo sales in the See CONDOS on Page 29

3/5/21 4:31 PM

4 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

JOE CAHILL

CHICAGO COMES BACK

ON BUSINESS

the same growth challenges that plagued their predecessor.

The stock market is where independence has paid off. Share prices of four of the six remaining independents have outpaced the broader market by wide margins since their separation dates.

Which brings us to Exelon, which hopes its two businesses will be stronger apart than together. Profit pressures at the nuclear unit have weighed down Exelon’s bottom line and stock market value for years. Exelon stock dropped 6 percent over the past 10 years while the S&P 500 rose 187 percent and the S&P utilities index climbed 82 percent.

Exelon’s utility unit appears to have the better short-term outlook as an independent company. Crane has expanded the business in recent years as regulated utilities gained favor on Wall Street. Regulated electricity rates guarantee utilities a profit, while unregulated price competition in wholesale power markets squeezes profits at Exelon’s nuclear plants.

Liberated from the profit-challenged nuclear unit, an independent Exelon utility company likely would deliver the INDEPENDENCE LOOKS LESS consistent profit growth PROMISING FOR ONE BUSINESS. Wall Street prizes. Yet the split also would deprive the utility business of nuclear unit business, investment profiles and cash flows that have helped fund meeting unique customer needs.” growth—Crane acknowledged the That pretty much reflects company would need to raise $1 prevailing wisdom on corporate billion in additional equity. Longer breakups. Advocates argue that term, there’s also the possibility splitting bigger diversified compathat Illinois will adopt less-favornies into smaller ones focused on able rate-making standards when a single line of business improves a generous system ComEd pushed decision-making and resource through the Legislature 10 years allocation, sparking faster growth ago expires in 2022. and boosting profitability. Another Independence looks less factor, which usually goes unstatpromising for Exelon’s nuclear ed, is Wall Street’s preference for unit, which struggles to generate simpler “pure play” companies.

A decade after the breakup wave, acceptable investment returns in markets dominated by lower-cost with another big one on the horipower plants fueled by natural zon, the time is ripe to compare gas. Nuclear power is in retreat theory with real-world experience. globally, with the number of plants Did the companies split up 10 in operation declining to 408 from years ago fare better as indepen437 since the Fukushima disaster dents? in 2011. Exelon itself has threatSome weren’t independent ened to close two Illinois plants it long enough to draw a conclusion. says have become unprofitable, Four of the 10 companies created unless the state coughs up addiin the last round of spinoffs were acquired within a few years—high- tional subsidies.

Hopes for a nuclear revival lighting another reason Wall Street rose when President Joe Biden likes breakups: Smaller, narrowly took office with a goal of purging focused companies often attract carbon emissions from the power premium-priced buyout offers. sector by 2035. Nuclear plants Performance at the remainemit no carbon, which posiing companies has been mixed. tions them to gain from any new Fortune Brands Home & Security, restrictions on fossil fuel plants. a home products company that Without such a boost, an indedivorced Fortune Brands’ beverage business, has generated strong pendent nuclear company likely would have a hard time attracting revenue and profit growth. But stock market investors. And a food makers Mondelez Interdeclining share price could make national and what is now Kraft it a takeover target like some of Heinz, created in the breakup of Chicago’s other breakup progeny. the old Kraft Foods, have battled Exelon is reprising an old Wall Street favorite with its plan to split into two companies.

Corporate breakups were the rage 10 years ago among sluggish corporate behemoths looking to boost their lagging stock prices.

Between 2011 and 2013, some of the biggest names in Chicago business hopped on the trend. Motorola, Kraft, Abbott Labs, Fortune Brands and Sara Lee subdivided in a series of breakups that reshaped the city’s corporate landscape.

Now Exelon is following suit.

The Chicago-based utility holding company plans to separate its regulated utility business, which operates Commonwealth Edison and five other utilities that deliver power to homes and businesses, from its power generation unit, which operates the country’s biggest fleet of nuclear reactors.

Ten years haven’t changed the rationale for breaking up a diversified company. On a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Exelon CEO Christopher Crane said the planned split “better positions each business within its peer set and will support business strategies tailored to the distinct

P004_CCB_20200308.indd 4

GETTY IMAGES

Which half of Exelon’s biz will prosper post-breakup?

The pandemic is changing how we think about the future of work Leaders have an opportunity to start a future-focused conversation, inviting fresh perspectives. Your colleagues might appreciate the chance to be thought leaders.

BY EMILY DRAKE AND TODD CONNOR Chicago Comes Back is a weekly series on ChicagoBusiness.com providing leadership insights to help your business move forward, written by leadership consultants Emily Drake and Todd Connor.

Drake and Connor facilitate Crain’s Leadership Academy. Drake is a licensed therapist, owner of the Collective Academy and a leadership coach. Connor is the founder of Bunker Labs and the Collective Academy and is also a leadership consultant.

Check out previous installments at ChicagoBusiness.com/comesback.

TODD CONNOR: It’s a disorienting time, to say the least. The economic forecasts and the stock market are incredibly optimistic, while wealth inequality continues to grow and too many are unemployed. The vaccine rollout in the U.S. is one of the best in the world, even as we cross the sobering threshold of having lost 500,000 lives. The devastation is real, and also easy to ignore in some ways, as people are increasingly isolated, with some dying alone or only in the company of health care workers. We are connected virtually and also suffering from being alone. There are versions of divergent truths that are being held at the same time and without irony. And that is not even including our polarized politics.

EMILY DRAKE: It is disorienting.

And it’s overwhelming. I’ll add another tension, which is that we can be so consumed by national news or globalization, and yet forget about our very immediate community around us: the elderly woman next door, the local business on the corner or the kids in the next room.

What we know about pandemics is that they change the way we live, permanently. Nicholas Christakis gives a great perspective of this in his book, “Apollo’s Arrow,” about how the coronavirus will change the way we live—from small things, like normalizing mask wearing, to more substantial changes, like challenging an economic model that has under-recognized and underpaid essential workers.

TC: The way in which we operate will indeed be different. I think for

managers, the obvious question is whether we will return to the office or continue to work remotely. The answer is likely a blend—everything from hybrid to liquid, as we talked about in last week’s column.

But more interesting and impactful questions, I think, will surround the economic model. Too many feel left behind, which plays out in our politics, as well, and the question for those with power will be how they choose to bring others along. The pandemic encourages existential questions. Yuval Noah Harari predicts that just as mass industrialization created the working class, the AI revolution may create a new “unworking” class.

While we know the pain of being overworked, there are profound societal implications to a collective disengagement from work, as well, even if people are economically provided for. On the upside, post-pandemic periods also can foster great periods of joie de vivre, artistic renaissance and risk taking.

ED: As we’ve said throughout this season, there’s nuance. And new points of view are emerging, and sometimes even refreshing. The Illinois Coalition of Independent Work is one such point of view emerging after listening to appbased workers—delivery drivers, babysitters or landlords—a category unlike anything we would have seen 20 years ago. Recently, Jaime di Paulo, president and CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, shared with us: “Even before the pandemic began, we were seeing the need for people to be able to make mon-

ey around their lives—so they could go to school, take care of family or save for something big.

And in the pandemic, these appbased platforms are proving to be a critical source of additional income for Black and Brown people whose economic livelihoods have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. We need to create more of these jobs, and ensure we’re protecting the independence and flexibility workers need. As we think about the future of work, we must consider how the definition of work will continue to evolve, and app-based work is part of that evolution.”

TC: Whether you agree with di Paulo or not, it is a point of view. And businesses are increasingly expected to take a stance on issues involving wealth inequality, or technology, or politics, for that matter. This may not be a welcome development, but that discomfort is exactly what’s required to see if you really live, work and lead guided by your stated corporate values. That Fortune 500 companies pulled contributions for elected officials who challenged the legal and fair results of the 2020 presidential election is an example of what’s possible.

Maybe even necessary?

ED: It remains to be seen, but I think the discomfort is exciting. Leaders have such an opportunity to start a future-focused conversation with their teams, inviting perspectives and points of view—so long as they are respectful and avoid singling anyone out. Create a space for dialogue and ask questions like: “What will our industry look like?”; “How will community be redefined?”; “What has this time taught us?”; “What role will space and in-person connection play?”; “What impact could AI have?” These are big questions, but your colleagues might appreciate the chance to be considered as thought leaders. Especially when we so seldom have time to think and imagine right now.

3/5/21 3:21 PM

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Special Thanks to Our 2021 American Cancer Society Award Winners INAUGURAL IMPACT MAKER OF THE YEAR VOLUNTEER AWARD WINNER

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Michael Reinsdorf, president and chief operating officer of the Chicago Bulls, is co-leading a venture to buy a minority stake in the Chicago White Sox.

More Reinsdorfs want a stake in the Sox A venture led by Jerry Reinsdorf’s sons is looking to buy a noncontrolling share of the MLB franchise

BY DANNY ECKER

CHRIS WAY Senior Development Manager, ACS North Central Region

ADAM SCHLESINGER President of the Chicago ABOA (2017-2020) Partner, KPMG

Forty years after Jerry Reinsdorf led a group that purchased the Chicago White Sox, his kids are looking to buy into the business.

In a move that could boost the family’s collective ownership of the club, a venture led by Michael and Jonathan Reinsdorf has made an offer to the team’s minority investors to buy a noncontrolling share of the franchise, according to a letter Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf sent earlier last week to the team’s limited partners.

Terms of the offer from the Reinsdorf brothers’ entity are unclear, though Jerry Reinsdorf specified in the letter that he is not involved with the prospective buyer group and that any transaction would have no impact on his control of the team.

But the offer stands to add a new wrinkle to the complex ownership of the Sox, which have many investors but have been controlled by Jerry Reinsdorf through a general partner corporate entity since 1981.

“Over the years, several limited partners have sought to sell their White Sox partnership interests, and in many cases, they have been able to sell to other partners,” Reinsdorf wrote in the letter, obtained

by Crain’s. “These sales have been infrequent. Recently, I have become aware that additional partners are seeking liquidity because of the death of partners or to accomplish various estate planning goals. My adult sons, Michael and Jonathan, are part of a small, but well-funded and credible, investment group that wishes to purchase White Sox limited partnership interests.”

NOTIFICATION

The letter served as a formal notification of the offer to limited partners “desiring to sell their partnership interests” and to reiterate that Jerry Reinsdorf has “no financial interest in these potential transactions,” according to the letter.

“These potential transactions will not impact the operations of the White Sox, which will still be overseen by me as chairman of the general partner and as the MLB control person of the team. I do not know what price the buyer group is willing

P006_CCB_20210308.indd 6

to pay and am not making a recommendation to any partner regarding whether or not to accept the offer and sell your limited partnership interests. Please feel free to consult with your own advisors and accept or reject the offer as you see fit,” the letter said.

Ownership of the White Sox includes ChiSox Corp.—the general partner entity controlled by Jerry Reinsdorf—and Chicago White Sox Ltd., a group of limited partners that have financial stakes in the franchise but no say in team business decisions. The Reinsdorf brothers’ venture aims to buy into the latter.

PARTNERS

It’s unclear how many limited partners are involved with the team and what portion of the club they collectively own. But the younger Reinsdorfs—including Michael, who is president and chief operating officer of the Jerry Reinsdorf-owned Chicago Bulls—are seeking a stake in a Sox franchise that their 85-yearold father has “strongly suggested” his family sell after he dies, according to a 2013 Chicago Tribune report. While owning a limited partner share wouldn’t give the younger Reinsdorfs any more say in team operations, Michael Reinsdorf suggests in a statement to Crain’s that the intention to buy signals a long-term interest in White Sox ownership.

“This is an opportunity for many of the longtime Chicago White Sox partners to monetize their investment, some of whom have been with the team for as long as 40 years,” the statement says. “Jonathan and I believe in the growth and long-term prospects of baseball and the Chicago White Sox.” The timing of the offer suggests the prospective buyers might be trying to get in at a relative discount.

Michael, 53, and Jonathan, 51, are vying for a piece of the franchise as it suffers huge operating losses amid a COVID-19 pandemic that truncated the 2020 season with games mostly played at empty stadiums.

Teams are hoping to be able to sell some tickets for the upcoming 2021 season—in which oddsmakers have put the Sox among the favorites to win the World Series—but it’s not clear if or when that will happen.

3/5/21 3:27 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 8, 2021 7

Detroit’s Atwater Brewery to launch in Chicago

BY ALLY MAROTTI Detroit’s Atwater Brewery is bringing its beers to Chicago.

The craft beer company was acquired last year by Tenth & Blake Beer, the U.S. craft division of Molson Coors, for an undisclosed amount. Atwater is among the top 10 craft brewers by volume and sales in Michigan.

Chicago, and eventually the rest of Illinois, will be an important market for Atwater, says Mark Rieth, who first invested in the brewery in 2002 and bought it in 2005.

Detroit transplants in Chicago have been asking for it, and Molson Coors’ distribution network will make it possible.

“The Molson Coors partnership has really put us in a great spot to be able to launch the market properly,” Rieth says. “We put a lot of time, effort and energy prior to bringing our product to Chicagoland. . . .Now it’s time.”

The beer trucks left March 1 from Detroit, Rieth says. Atwater’s products are expected to hit Chicago retailers’ shelves by this week.

The goal is to get some tap handles into bars and restaurants in the next month or two.

However, it is an interesting time

to grow a brand in the craft beer world. Pandemic restrictions at bars and restaurants have dried up a main revenue stream for craft brewers. Many were forced to shift production to canned beer, which yields smaller profit margins than draft.

Customers have been buying plenty of beer at the store—craft beer sales were up in stores about 16 percent year over year in 2020, according to research firm Nielsen. But for many, those increased sales have not been enough to make up for the loss of closed taprooms and restaurants.

CRAFT CHALLENGES

Some Chicago craft breweries say they ended 2020 with revenues down one-third or more from 2019. Many still wonder if they’ll survive the pandemic.

The craft beer brands in Tenth & Blake’s portfolio have bucked that trend. The company says sales grew 16.8 percent in 2020, outpacing the U.S. craft industry, which grew 13.2 percent.

Every craft beer brand has faced challenges in the past year, whether financial or operational, says Paul Verdu, the head of Tenth & Blake. The more a brewery de-

pended on sales at bars, restaurants or some other establishment, the harder it has been, he says.

But having access to Molson Coors’ distribution networks and production capacities has helped brands in its portfolio.

The company’s partnerships with grocery and liquor stores allowed it to benefit from the increased in-store sales in ways that some smaller craft brewers could not. Additionally, Verdu says Molson Coors has been able to source cans amid a shortage that has plagued the industry for months.

There are other challenges as well, which Atwater will face as it expands into Chicago. People’s buying habits have changed during the pandemic. They gravitate toward brands they know.

Chicago is already a tough market, with so many local craft beer options, Verdu says.

But he is confident Atwater’s products will stand out on the shelf and help draw in new customers.

Plus, some people already know the brand, and he expects those that don’t will be drawn to its story.

“People look at Detroit as a really great comeback story, and brands from there are going to resonate really well,” he says. “There

ATWATER BREWERY

Molson Coors’ craft beer division acquired the Michigan brewery last year

Atwater Brewery products are expected to hit Chicago retailers’ shelves by this week. are challenges, but they are not insurmountable.”

Atwater was founded in 1997 as Atwater Block Brewery. It will be Tenth & Blake’s first regional craft beer to hit Chicago. Atwater’s beer is also sold in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

The name of the brewery is inspired by Prohibition-era scofflaws who would smuggle alcohol across the water from Canada. They would tell each other to “meet me at water,” Rieth says.

“They were rum running, bringing all the booze and the beer over

from Canada, not only for Detroit, but for the Chicago market,” Rieth says.

In Chicago, Atwater’s beers will be available at Binny’s Beverage Depot, Jewel-Osco and other craft beer retailers, Rieth says.

The beers coming to the state include Atwater’s Vanilla Java Porter; its Dirty Blonde Ale, a wheat ale with orange peel and coriander; and its Pog-o-licious IPA, a passion fruit-orange-guava IPA. The brewery will also offer a variety 12 pack, which includes Dirty Blonde, Pogo-licious IPA, Better Life Choices IPA and a mystery beer.

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3/5/21 3:26 PM

8 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Invenergy risks losing hundreds of millions in Texas exposure

BY STEVE DANIELS Exelon isn’t the only Chicago-based power generator ensnared in the Texas power drama.

Invenergy, the nation’s largest privately held wind power producer and also a significant operator of natural gas-fired plants, could be on the hook for hundreds of millions depending on whether its only gas plant in Texas could function during the three days when many of the state’s power generators were on the fritz. This is according to a March 1 report from Standard & Poor’s, which placed Invenergy’s Texas operation on a negative credit watch.

Invenergy’s potential Texas woes could hinder its ability to service and repay at least $366 million in debt supporting all seven of its U.S. gas plants, according to S&P. One of those is Invenergy’s 600-megawatt Nelson plant in Rock Falls, 120 miles west of Chicago, which is a provider to municipal utilities in the state.

In a statement, the company says it bears little risk under its financing arrangements. “Invenergy’s loans will not be affected by the recent events in Texas,” the company says. “(The Invenergy unit housing the seven plants) continues to have the ability to service its debt and is in good standing with the financing.”

The company declines to comment beyond that.

The 330-megawatt Texas facili-

ty is a “peaker” plant designed to run when demand is high. The plant, in Ector County near the New Mexico border, has a hedging agreement with unnamed counterparties that furnish it with regular cash payments. In exchange, the plant relinquishes to the investors the upside when prices are higher than expected.

The idea behind this call option, which S&P said runs through 2022, is to provide a steady source of revenue to the plant while giving investors the opportunity to hit it big when prices increase.

“While generally a way to mitigate price exposure for generators, (these options) can produce a perfect storm of rapid deterioration in credit quality if market prices spike and the generation unit is unable to perform,” S&P said.

The hitch is that the agreement requires Invenergy to operate the plant when investors demand it.

If it can’t operate, Invenergy must procure power in the open market to replace what it would have produced. Last month, during the three worst days of Texas’ power crisis, wholesale electricity prices ranged from $7,000 to $9,000 per megawatt-hour, 200 to 300 times higher than normal.

“While we do not know if Ector was indeed offline, and for how long, we think it is reasonable to assume it may have been,” S&P said. “The epic storm caused roughly 45 percent of all Texas power plant capacity to be unable to generate. The market and its

BLOOMBERG

The Chicago company might have run into a perfect financial storm when frigid weather crippled the state

During the three worst days of Texas’ power crisis last month, wholesale electricity prices surged to 200 to 300 times their normal levels. participants are in the early stages in gauging liabilities, but we expect there could be credit fallout for some generators.”

“In a worst-case scenario, assuming the plant was offline for several days, Ector’s liability could be in the low hundreds of millions,” the credit ratings agency added.

Invenergy’s U.S. gas plants overall generate up to 2,680 megawatts, so the Texas plant accounts for just 12 percent, according to S&P.

FINANCING STRUCTURE

S&P, however, doesn’t seem sure on whether the massive potential exposure to the small Texas plant could affect the rest of Invenergy’s U.S. gas-plant portfolio. If the plant has a financing structure that shields the rest of the facili-

ties from creditors, it could be that Invenergy simply would hand it over to debtholders. Such issues often wind up in court, however.

“We assume the (call-option) counterparty will pursue any liability Ector has,” S&P wrote.

“We will lower the ratings (on the whole portfolio) if Ector’s loss has the potential to extend to (it),” S&P wrote. “Because the asset contributes only about 5 percent of consolidated cash flows to the portfolio, if any liabilities are contained to Ector, we might conclude that (Invenergy) would be able to support the loss of the asset to the group.”

Invenergy’s potential exposure to the Texas disaster demonstrates just how broadly the failures of generators in the market reach. It also shows how even a tiny participation in a power mar-

ket as vast as Texas’—an exposure aimed at hedging Invenergy’s risk to any one part of the country—can become a monumental risk if the market’s functionality is as weak as the Lone Star State’s proved to be.

Exelon, which operates three Texas gas plants generating up to 3,500 megawatts, reported recently that those plants’ inability to function from Feb. 15 through Feb. 17 will cost the company up to $950 million before taxes. It’s now considering whether to sell those plants or otherwise exit the state’s power market.

Invenergy is owned and run by ultrawealthy power-industry entrepreneur Michael Polsky. The company is best known as a developer and operator of wind and solar facilities, including several projects in Illinois.

Ex-McDonald’s CEO Thompson leads $70M venture fund The fund will back minority- and women-founded startups. Investors include the state, nonprofits, Guggenheim founder Mark Walter and other family offices.

BY JOHN PLETZ Former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson is heading up a new $70 million venture-capital fund that will invest in minority and women entrepreneurs in Chicago.

The fund, which launches April 1, includes $16 million from the state of Illinois and $10 million from Benefit Chicago, a nonprofit effort that includes the MacArthur Foundation, Chicago Community Trust and Calvert Impact Capital, as well as family offices such as Guggenheim Partners founder Mark Walter and his wife, Kimbra.

It’s the latest in a wave of funds aimed at supporting Black and Hispanic business founders that have emerged in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, which spawned protests and intensi-

P008_CCB_20210308.indd 8

fied the public debate over racial inequality. P33, a nonprofit group that promotes the Chicago tech industry, launched a $5 million grant fund in late February with Verizon. Accenture also announced a program to increase venture funding for tech startups launched by Black founders.

DISPARITIES

Black and Hispanic founders get a sliver of venture funding, just 2.4 percent nationally and just 1.9 percent in Chicago, said Desiree Vargas Wrigley, who heads up the Tech Rise fund launched by P33 and Verizon. When Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs in Chicago are just starting out, raising socalled friends and family rounds, they receive an average of about $35,000, compared with about

$107,000 for all founders.

“The amount of investments typically available to Black and Brown entrepreneurs and women falls discouragingly short of what’s available to the broader population of entrepreneurs,” Thompson said.

The new fund, called the Cleveland Avenue State Treasurer Urban Success Initiative, or CAST US, will be run by Andrea Zopp, former president of World Business Chicago, who joined Cleveland Avenue in December. The fund didn’t disclose details on the size or type of investments it plans to make.

Thompson, who in 2017 launched a venture fund and incubator called Cleveland Avenue, named for the Chicago street where he grew up, began talking

Don Thompson in 2019 with Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs about a fund to support “underrepresented entrepreneurs in under-invested areas in Chicago.” The treasurer’s office has authority to invest up to $800 million, or 5 percent of state investment funds, in venture-capital funds.

It plans to invest 75 percent of the money in Black and His-

panic-owned companies, with 75 percent of them in Chicago’s South and West Side neighborhoods, and 50 percent founded by women.

The fund will invest across a wide range of industries. It generally will target companies that have begun generating revenue.

Cleveland Avenue, which has about 50 employees, will make the investments and provide support to the companies.

The fund said that Black and Latino entrepreneurs have 80 percent of their capital needs going unmet, compared with 46 percent of white business owners, citing a recent study by the consulting firm Next Street.

“We wanted to be able to give them financial support and resource support, whether it be marketing, financials, real estate or construction,” Thompson said in an interview. “It’s about expertise, relationships and financial capital.”

3/5/21 3:25 PM

BEST PLACES TO WORK 2021

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 8, 2021 9

BEST CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS 2021

PLACES TO WORK

Though office life in the past year was virtually unrecognizable for most workers, they still have thoughts about what makes a good employer.

This year, Crain’s has again partnered with Best Companies Group, an independent research firm, to survey employees about their workplaces.

Last year, 189 companies participated, and 100 were named to our Best Places to Work list. This year, 198 companies participated, and 182 met the criteria.

We’re presenting the top 100 here, in alphabetical order.

Join us for a virtual event April 9, when we will reveal the ranked list. The ranked list will also appear April 9 on our website and in our April 12 print edition.

CELEBRATE THE BEST PLACES TO WORK

9

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The event will feature a live unveiling of the ranking order of this year’s 2021 Best Places to Work companies. Secure your company’s ticket package at ChicagoBusiness.com/BPTWAwards

ActiveCampaign Adage Technologies All Campus Altair Advisers Aptitive Arco/Murray Assurance Avionos Baker Tilly US Balasa Dinverno Foltz Barnes & Thornburg Beacon Funding Beacon Hill Staffing Group BenchPrep BIG Construction Bluedog Design Bold Insight BOS Braviant Holdings Builtech Services Burwood Group C+R Research CarrierDirect Centro Chicago Association of Realtors City Staffing Clarity Partners Claro Healthcare Clayco Clune Construction Concord Marketing Solutions Delta Dental of Illinois Distinctive Schools Duane Morris

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Ebco Evergreen Bank Group First Bank of Highland Park Glenstar Grotefeld Hoffmann Honey Can Do International Horizon Therapeutics Hunt Club iManage Infosec Infutor Data Solutions Instant Alliance Integrated Project Management Kenway Consulting Keypath Education KI Industries Klein & Hoffman Kovitz Investment Group LaSalle Network Laughlin Constable Leahy-IFP Lendlease Liberty Advisor Group LogicGate M. Holland Magenium Solutions McShane Construction Mediafly Mesirow Financial MNJ Technologies MPAC Healthcare Mueller & Co. Neighborhood Loans

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Neighborhoods.com New Home Star Objective Paradigm Optima Pariveda Solutions Perkins Coie Populus Group Premier International Prime TSR PSC Group Radio Flyer Ralph H. Simpson Redmond Construction RevenueWell Reverb Ryan Scale Marketing SDI Presence Sikich Skender Smokeball SQN Associates Stratosphere Networks Stumm Insurance Talman Consultants The Marketing Store The Office of Experience The Salem Group Topstep Waystar Weiss & Co. Whitney Architects YCharts

Photos, from top: Mesirow Financial employees mentor Chicago Public Schools students.

BOS offers bottles of hand sanitizer. Assurance colleagues attend a pre-pandemic Employee Appreciation Day at Pinstripes. Klein & Hoffman’s Hershel Bhat and Bobby Lau work on a project at Union Station. LaSalle Network employees raised nearly $8,000 and donated more than 5,000 items to local food pantries. Tug of war was among the activities at Honey Can Do International’s annual company picnic. Photos provided by companies.

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3/5/21 3:18 PM

10 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

EDITORIAL

Who will step up to save Illinois?

T

bility ratio to be about 48 percent of state GDP for the fiscal 2021 reporting cycle.”

So, half of our economic output is now obliterated by our debt. Think about that.

This can’t stand. And everyone knows it. As Greg Hinz argues in this week’s issue, “Real estate taxes, which are based on value rather than income and generally do not factor in ability to pay, need to be lowered. Other taxes . . . need to be raised.

And as part of the deal, some reasonable

SOMEONE IS GOING TO HAVE TO BE WILLING TO TAKE THE POLITICAL RISK, FOR ALL OUR SAKES.

GETTY IMAGES

he analysts hired by the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting & Accountability put it rather delicately: “Fiscal problems could jeopardize Illinois’ ability to gracefully emerge from the recession.”

It’s only March, but that may turn out to be the understatement of the year in Illinois government. We’ve said it before—as recently as last week, in fact—and, sadly, we’ll likely have to say it again: Finding the political will to get our collective finances in order is the most important job facing this state after we get the pandemic under control.

Two new reports, including COGFA’s just-released State of Illinois Economic Forecast quoted above, underscore that urgency: “After years of population declines, Illinois lost residents at the nation’s second-fastest clip in 2020. Weak public finances mean Illinois will have to make extraordinary fiscal adjustments that leave it playing catch-up in the next business cycle. Population loss and troubled state finances will limit Illinois’ long-term potential,” the COGFA report warns.

Similarly, Moody’s Investors Service notes in a March 3 report that Illinois is setting another record among the 50 states—and not the good kind. Based on a formula that Moody’s created, our aggregate adjusted net pension liability for the state’s five major public employee pension plans reached $317 billion as of last June, a 19 percent jump from the previous year.

That jump was driven largely by falling interest rates—a condition that isn’t likely to ease since the Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep rates down to help the national economy recover from the pandemic-induced recession. But the rosy stories our pension fund managers tell themselves are part of the problem, too.

As Moody’s points out, the Teachers’ Retirement system reported an investment

return of 0.52 percent in fiscal 2020. The system’s forecasts assume a 7 percent return.

Toting up pensions plus bonds and other sorts of post-employment obligations to public employees adds up to another ugly picture: “Including the state’s new pension data, an increase in outstanding bonds and an economy stunted by last year’s recession, we expect Illinois’ lia-

limits need to be imposed on spending, like that wholly unreasonable circa-1975 pension deal in which retirees continue to get a minimum 3 percent annual cost-ofliving increase at a time when inflation is running 1 percent or perhaps a bit more.”

As we have argued before, Illinois has everything it needs to be a magnet for jobs and investment. Everything, that is, except leaders—Democrats and Republicans, union chiefs and corporate brass— who are willing to get together and make the hard calls to save this state from ruin.

Someone is going to have to be willing to take the political risk, for all our sakes.

The time for tribalism—looking out for a narrow constituency at the expense of everyone else—is long past, Illinois. We rise or we fall together. And it feels like we’re falling, fast.

YOUR VIEW

We can only build COVID immunity by building trust

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the community leading. hat has the COVID-19 We must learn from our expandemic taught us perience. When COVID hit last about health and wellwinter, health care and homeless ness, especially in our Black and shelter providers worked with Latinx populations? the city to bring COVID testing to For one, you cannot dismantle the shelters and encampments. decades of structural racism and High-risk older adults were shelinequity with a shot in the arm. tered in Hotel 166 with the help Before we can build immuniof Lawndale Christian Health ty, we must build trust. There is Dr. David Ansell Center, while those who tested no time to wait. Our Black and is senior vice positive for COVID-19 were takBrown neighbors are getting president for en to A Safe Haven for isolation. sick and dying from COVID at Community an alarming rate—much greater Health Equity at When homeless shelters were testing 40 percent positive for than the rest of the population. Rush University COVID, we collectively got that To stop the spread and change Medical Center. down to single digits in a few the trajectory for all, we must bring vaccinations into communities of weeks by isolating patients and providing necessary and important tools like sendcolor and do it now.

Equity means that those who need more ing med students to deliver 25,000 masks should get more. It can’t be “build it and to the shelters before masks were manthey will come.” Education, prevention dated. This same approach to testing was and clinical care must go into the neigh- brought to Cook County Jail and nursing borhoods, on the streets and in the homes, homes.

Community health centers, hospitals and into the very heart of the community, with

community organizations have also been meeting since April as part of the mayor’s Racial Equity Response Team to bring resources and health services to the neighborhoods—food, check-ins, rent relief, masks and COVID testing. This model has now occurred in neighborhoods around the city, and it is making a difference

FAMILIAR PLACES

We must continue all these actions while also increasing access to protection— bringing vaccines to local high schools and the local pharmacy and churches—places that are familiar, where people feel welcome, and where they can be with people they know and trust.

Last month, we vaccinated 130 pastors and faith leaders from around Chicago so they can be ambassadors for their parishioners. There is an urgent need for not only vaccine supply but also trusted messengers who can go a long way toward breaking down the decades-long barriers to good health.

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, 150 N. Michigan Ave., 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.

P010-P011_CCB_20210308.indd 10

The city of Chicago is also expanding its reach—limited by supplies but driven by an equity framework. They are not only using a giant stadium approach just announced, but also spreading the vaccine to the hardest hit neighborhoods, sending out teams to communities and prioritizing employers who have had the most cases and need the most help to get our economy and our community’s health back on track. We all know that our ability to get closer to normal depends on significant numbers throughout our populace getting the shot.

We could have all the ICU beds in the world, but to end the pandemic we need to get the vaccine deep into the community.

We could also have all the vaccine in the world, but if we don’t have the arms willing to receive, we will never get past COVID. Let’s focus on working together to educate and inoculate—to maximize every dose and every opportunity to build healthier communities where poor health has existed for far too long.

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.

3/5/21 4:59 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 8, 2021 11

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

This bill would hurt workers, industries

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here are few settings where the hardships caused by the pandemic are on clearer display than hospitals and doctor offices. So it was a shock when Springfield lawmakers in January abruptly pushed through legislation that will dramatically increase costs borne by hospitals, clinics, doctors and job creators. The measure, now on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk, will allow trial lawyers to collect a whopping 9 percent annually in interest on personal injury cases that may be brought against a range of industries, including health care, manufacturers, retailers, insurers, hotels and airlines.

This measure would establish Illinois as one of the most expensive states in the nation regarding this area of the law. These changes will add billions in additional litigation costs for hospitals and businesses struggling after a year of pandemic-related difficulties.

Chief executive officer KC Crain Group publisher/executive editor Jim Kirk

Associate publisher Kate Van Etten *** Editor Ann Dwyer Creative director Thomas J. Linden Assistant managing editor Jan Parr Assistant managing editor/ Joe Cahill columnist

For safety-net hospitals treating the most vulnerable, this puts them one verdict away from potentially closing their doors. Medical specialists already leery of practicing in Illinois because of high insurance rates may choose to go elsewhere. Manufacturers will look to relocate to a state where it is more affordable to do business. Retailers struggling from a year of closures and capacity limits will not be able to rehire staff. This will slow growth, investment and job creation at a time when we should be urgently working toward a recovery.

Legislation with such a broad impact deserves proper, public consideration. We urge a veto from the governor.

DR. ROBERT W. PANTON MARK DENZLER

A.J. WILHELMI ROB KARR JACK LAVIN

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3/5/21 2:45 PM

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Respectfully,

Students will have early access to industry-related internships and job opportunities.

Internships can expand networking opportunities for women who are looking to start a career in the tech field. Historically, Ȃ /$1 ) /2*-&$)" - .0'/. $)9 a shorter job search, higher salaries, better positions and longer tenures.

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We believe financial hurdles should be the last thing to stand in the way of women interested in pursuing a tech career.

BRINGING WOMEN TO THE FOREFRONT FOR CAREERS IN TECH

Tom Monahan President and CEO, DeVry University

ٖNational Science Board, Science & Engineering Indicators 2018, Appendix Table 3-12: S&E Occupations SAP Why Mentors Matter; referencing National Library of Medicine Allen, et al 2004 ISACA 2017 Women in Technology Survey – first bar graph 9 Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis Economic Research citing source of internal research – page 3, first para 7 8

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TAKE THE FIRST STEP TOWARD YOUR TECH CAREER

WOMEN+TECH Scholars Program: Launch Your Digital Career Women are ready to break through career barriers and take their place in tech. DeVry University is on a mission to help them with our new Women+Tech Scholars Program.

WOMEN+TECH SCHOLARSHIP* Additionally, with a legacy rooted in innovation, DeVry is committed to awarding up to $10 million in scholarships to help empower women to lean into tech-focused careers.

If you’re ready to launch your tech career or know a woman who is, visit DeVry.edu to learn more.

*For complete details on the Women+Tech Scholarship, visit https://www.devry.edu/tuition-financial-aid/financial-aid/scholarships-grants.html.

DeVry University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), www.hlcommission.org. Keller Graduate School of Management is included in this accreditation. Unresolved complaints may be reported to the Illinois Board of Higher Education through the online compliant system http://complaints.ibhe.org/ or by mail to 1 N. Old State Capitol Plaza, Ste. 333, Springfield, IL 62701-1377. Program availability varies by location. In site-based programs, students will be required to take a substantial amount of coursework online to complete their program. ©2021 DeVry Educational Development Corp. All rights reserved.

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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 / CONSULTING

ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN

FINANCIAL SERVICES

LAW

NON-PROFIT

Crowe LLP, Chicago

Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Chicago

IFF, Chicago

Nixon Peabody LLP, Chicago

IFF, Chicago

IFF is pleased to announce the election of George Burciaga, Managing Partner of IGNITE CITIES, to the Board of Directors.

Mr. Burciaga is an international technology thought leader and smart city architect specializing in digital transformation, sustainability, and efficiency funding.

Based in Chicago, he is highly regarded for his smart city deployments and mayoral partnerships throughout the country. He attended DePaul University and currently serves on the Executive Board of Chicago United.

Nixon Peabody is proud to announce that William Kirby has been promoted to counsel.

Bill represents clients in a wide variety of complex commercial litigation matters and business disputes.

He focuses on developing and implementing comprehensive and aggressive defense strategies for clients facing wide-scale product liability actions, representing banks and financial industry regulators in complex financial services litigation, and prosecuting and defending trade secret misappropriation disputes.

IFF is pleased to announce that Nakea West has been promoted to Managing Director of Resource Development.

Ms. West has been with IFF for 4 years and now leads the agency’s work with philanthropic partners to support general operations and programmatic responses, which help maximize IFF’s impact with Midwest nonprofits. She is a University of Chicago graduate and previously worked in similar roles with Project Vote and Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, both in Washington, D.C.

Crowe, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm in the U.S. with offices around the world, would like to announce the following newly Fafat promoted consulting managing directors.

Nikhil Fafat, SCJP, leads and develops turnkey solutions and produces thought leadership that provides significant value to clients.

Aaron Lowrance, MCP, specializes in Microsoft Lowrance Dynamics technology and is focused on providing services related to Dynamics AX/365.

ACCOUNTING / CONSULTING Crowe LLP, Chicago Crowe, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm in the U.S. with offices around the world, would like to announce the following newly promoted tax managing directors. Kanter Trudie Kanter, CPA, provides tax and related accounting, consulting and internal control services to companies in the financial services industry.

Chris Kobylewski, CPA, focuses on the accounting Kobylewski for income taxes for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

ACCOUNTING / CONSULTING Crowe LLP, Chicago Crowe, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm in the U.S. with offices around the world, would like to announce the following newly promoted directors.

Mayle Paul Mayle, MCP, named managing director in consulting, will help drive technological vision, implement new technology strategies and manage technological resources within Crowe’s cloud solution group.

Mike McClain, named McClain director in firm information technology services, will help to lead efforts to develop, manage and govern current- and futurestate technology architectures and strategies in alignment with the firm’s vision and goals, industry standards and regulatory requirements.

Lamar Johnson Collaborative welcomes Linda Mysliwiec, AIA as Principal. With 20 years of design and project management experience, Linda brings an impressive portfolio of healthcare, commercial, mission critical and education projects to the firm. She holds a B.Arch and BS in Environmental Design from Ball State University and is a licensed architect in the state of Illinois.

CONSTRUCTION SERVICES All-Tech Decorating Co., Romeoville All-Tech Decorating Co. is pleased to announce Devin Cronin and Jessica Helmer as members of the ATD Ownership Team. Devin and Jessica have been Cronin with ATD for 34 years combined and have been influential leaders within the organization.

Devin started his career with ATD as a Painter, moved into Estimator/ Project Manager and has been instrumental in the growth of ATD. He Helmer has managed the Sales Division comprising of Estimators/ PMs helping navigate the big picture.

Jessica graduated from Purdue University. Her journey at ATD started as an Estimator/Assistant PM. As a Sales Relationship Executive she will be a liaison between the Sales Team and customers while offering a creative, out of the box approach.

CONSULTING Salo, Chicago / Minneapolis Nick Gust has been promoted to chief operating officer at Salo.

In his new role, Gust will maintain his current responsibilities and direct report relationships but will also assume responsibility for the operational support function.

Over the past few years at Salo, Nick has successfully led the Minneapolis finance team, helped create the compass program and built Salo’s business development director engine, a candidate pipeline.

Crowe LLP, Chicago Crowe, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm in the U.S. with offices around the world, would like to announce the following newly promoted director. Alicia McKnight, CISA, was named managing director in consulting. Through governance, compliance and risk (GCR) technology solutions, McKnight enables clients to build and maintain consistent, repeatable and efficient risk management processes.

Slayton Search Partners, Chicago Slayton Search Partners announces that Molly Hull, Senior Vice President and Principal, has been appointed as a New Council Member for the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC). This membership will be an initial three-year term and will provide Molly the potential to be more active in local AESC activities and networking events.

PHARMACEUTICAL

IFF, Chicago

LAW

IFF is pleased to announce the election of Hamilton Chang to its Board of Directors. Mr. Chang is a business leader with decades of finance, sales, and management experience, having managed and built multi-million-dollar businesses both nationally and internationally. He was recognized as a Business Leader of Color in 2019 and serves/has served on the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, as well as various corporate, nonprofit, and university related boards.

Nixon Peabody LLP, Chicago Nixon Peabody is proud to announce that Elizabeth Zamora Meraz has been promoted to counsel. Elizabeth represents clients in medical device and pharmaceutical cases and real estate litigation. Her practice covers disputes involving health care regulation compliance, provider/payor disputes, and breach of contract and fraud claims involving health care companies. She advises clients on commercial property foreclosures, easements and zoning, and real estate development project disputes.

Orphazyme US, Inc., Chicago Kevin McCann joined Orphazyme as Head of Finance and a member of the company’s U.S. leadership team as the company prepares to launch its first rare disease treatment. He earned a degree in accounting from the University of Iowa and has more than 20 years of experience with global healthcare companies, including most recently in Ireland for Baxter. Orphazyme is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company with its U.S. headquarters in Chicago and its global offices in Copenhagen, Denmark.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

REAL ESTATE

IFF, Chicago

Black Bear Capital Partners, Chicago

IFF is pleased to announce the election of John Sassaris to its Board of Directors. Mr. Sassaris is the Senior Vice President/Market Executive at Fifth Third Bank and was previously a Regional President of Commercial Banking at MB Financial Bank, where he spent 28 years developing specialties like New Markets Tax Credits, 501c3 bond issues, and other areas of public finance. Mr. Sassaris holds an MBA from DePaul University and is re-joining IFF’s Board after previously serving from 2013-2019.

LAW Taft Stettinius & Hollister, Chicago Peter E. Deegan, a former U.S. Attorney, has joined Taft as a partner in the Chicago office. A federal prosecutor for two decades, Peter joins five other Taft attorneys in the firm’s Corporate Compliance and White Collar Criminal Defense practice who were previously with the Department of Justice. Peter has extensive national experience in matters involving white collar crime, corporate compliance, and financial fraud.

Black Bear Capital Partners (BBCP), a real estate financial advisory firm and affiliate of Black Bear Asset Management (BBAM), announced today that it has expanded its Chicago office with the addition of veteran real estate finance advisor Suraj Desai, who joins as a Senior Managing Director. In his new role with BBCP, Desai is primarily responsible for the sourcing and execution of structured debt and equity transactions across all geographies and asset classes, with a focus on hotels. Desai adds to the newly formed Chicago office which also includes professionals Eric Trombly, Matthew Stearns, Raymond Zanca, Scott Modelski, Zach Fitzgerald, and Sam Koziol.

FINANCIAL SERVICES IFF, Chicago

EXECUTIVE SEARCH ACCOUNTING / CONSULTING

FINANCIAL SERVICES

IFF is pleased to announce that Terry Young has been hired as Chief Credit Officer & Senior Vice President of Capital Solutions. Mr. Young most recently led commercial lending activities for Urban Partnership Bank and previously served as Lead Director for Fannie Mae, where he managed the agency’s Community Development Group. He earned his MBA from the University of IllinoisUrbana and has more than 30 years of experience in commercial real estate and community development lending.

NON-PROFIT

SOFTWARE

Goodwill Industries International, Inc., Chicago / Rockville

Tandem, Chicago

Onney Crawley joined Goodwill Industries International as its new Chief Marketing Officer.

Crawley will work on growing the Goodwill brand as well as attract new and expand existing relationships with Goodwill customers, advocates, funders, job seekers and employers.

Crawley previously led marketing, brand development, public relations and related disciplines as the VP of Marketing for Serta Simmons Bedding and worked on consumer brands at General Mills, The Kellogg Company, Mars and Sears.

Mercedes Bernard has been named Vice President of Delivery at Tandem. In this newly created role, Mercedes will drive the consistent, quality delivery of client work, serve as an advocate for the company’s delivery team, and lead Tandem’s work in equity and inclusion. Mercedes has a nine-year history as a developer, joining Tandem in 2017 as a Senior Software Engineer. She rose through the company to Principal Software Engineer and Engineering Manager roles before this promotion.

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 8, 2021 15

2021

HEALTH CARE HEROES The yearlong pandemic has tried and tested health care workers on the front line—from nursing assistants at rehab facilities to emergency room doctors tending to critically ill patients. These Health Care Heroes—34 individuals and 25 teams—went beyond the call. Early on, they stepped up to care for COVID-19 patients when the risks weren’t fully understood. They scrambled to procure and distribute personal protective equipment, which was in short supply. Many treated patients, including homeless people, in the hardest-hit neighborhoods.

Managers immersed themselves in recommended protocols and treatments and educated their staffs.

They bucked up their teams during the darkest days and worried about keeping their families safe. Brighter days arrived in December with the first batch of vaccines, and health care workers say opening those first vials marked a turning point. Some of the heroes have taken on extra duty to get Chicagoans inoculated and pave the way for the pandemic’s end.

DAVID BAROUNIS Medical director of critical care Advocate Christ Medical Center

GAIL BRYANT

HOLLY BUCKENDAHL

OMAR CAMPOS

VISHNU CHUNDI

CHRISTOPHER COLBERT

Family physician Wellness 365

CEO Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana

Unit manager Alden Poplar Creek

Senior partner Metro Infectious Disease Consultants

Assistant emergency medicine residency director University of Illinois College of Medicine-Chicago

By Judith Crown and Lisa Bertagnoli

At Wellness 365 in Arlington Heights, Dr. Gail Bryant’s team members put themselves at risk to keep patients up to date about the spread of COVID-19 and to maintain a high standard of care. Bryant employs a staff of nine and two service dogs. They developed a “Parking Lot Protocol” for patients with known exposure and flu-like symptoms, treating them in their cars. Recognizing that patients with COVID needed supportive and symptomatic care, they armed those diagnosed with an incentive spirometer, instructions for breathing exercises, pulse oximeters, and fluid and quarantine instructions. None of the 40 COVID patients had to be hospitalized.

“The team members showed up every day smiling, put aside their fear and stayed in the trenches taking care of our patients without complaint,” Bryant says.

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The pandemic required Holly Buckendahl to reallocate staff to assume responsibilities usually handled by volunteers. The suspension of volunteers in March-December resulted in the loss of 31,783 hours representing $864,498 worth of volunteer time at Oak Brookbased Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana. The organization continued to provide care through its five Ronald McDonald Houses and three Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, as well as medical care for 1,940 children through its mobile unit and thousands of meals for families.

The organization supported more than 1,600 COVID-19 tests when mobile units were repurposed as testing sites for Advocate Children’s Hospital. Buckendahl’s team reimagined its fundraising and converted the May gala to a virtual event. The team ended up raising $9.5 million for the year.

At Alden Poplar Creek in Hoffman Estates, unit manager Omar Campos cares for residents as a certified nursing assistant, orders and stocks medical supplies, maintains schedules, repairs equipment and transports residents to appointments.

His responsibilities increased during the pandemic, with the addition of high-frequency cleaning and equipment disinfection, vital sign and symptom monitoring, stocking personal protective equipment and caring for sick residents. At one juncture, Campos went out of his way to purchase, with his own money, snacks and goodies for the facility’s front-line workers who were feeling overwhelmed by the impacts of COVID. When Campos has had a bad day trying to staff a COVID-stricken facility with employees who are tired and scared, he reminds the team that there are better days ahead.

GETTY IMAGES

METHODOLOGY: The honorees did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn 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 the list, an honoree must be working on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, making an impact and saving lives. Roles considered were doctors, nurses, physician assistants, aides, emergency medical technicians, and maintenance and janitorial workers, among others.

Dr. David Barounis has worked in Advocate Christ Medical Center’s critical care unit treating COVID patients since the beginning of the pandemic. A specialist in acute respiratory distress syndrome and cardiovascular emergencies, he has coordinated care, including developing best practices, caring for infected patients, ensuring training and education for physicians and critical care staff, and making sure there’s enough space to safely treat patients while not exposing the rest of the hospital. One challenge: keeping his family safe. After each shift, Barounis removes his scrubs in the garage and heads for a shower. He often forgoes bedtime stories with his children to make sure they don’t become infected from his possible exposure at work. Having received the vaccine, he looks forward to seeing the end of the pandemic.

Dr. Vishnu Chundi last March was named chair of the Chicago Medical Society’s COVID-19 task force. As part of his task force work, Chundi helped design protocols needed to keep patients safe and prevent in-house transmission. He championed innovative treatments and the expansion of testing for the Chicago region, and his team was among the first to call for using steroids and plasma to care for COVID patients. Meanwhile, the PPE shortage left smaller practices at a purchasing disadvantage, and Chundi organized these practices as a single buyer, enabling procurement at a better price.

Chundi is also chair of infection control at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park and MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, which treated high numbers of COVID patients.

In addition to his position at the University of Illinois College of Medicine-Chicago, Dr. Christopher Colbert is chair of continuing medical education for the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians. Identifying early the importance of management education to the medical community, Colbert organized the first virtual national emergency medicine conference, a three-day program in spring 2020 that focused on COVID topics. He co-chaired a second virtual conference in the fall, and plans are underway for this spring. Colbert also provided material on COVID topics to the residency program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He continues to volunteer for additional shifts in the COVID-19 tents at UIC. He is a frequent guest on radio and television shows, where he advocates for vaccinations. Additionally, Colbert is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

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16 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

MARIA CRUZ

MARIA DEMARIN

ANDREW DONNELLY

RAMSIS GHALY

SUSANA GONZALEZ

Admissions director Alden Estates of Evanston

Unit manager Alden North Shore

At Alden North Shore in Skokie, Maria Demarin works as a certified nursing aide and is also the unit manager. The facility offers orthopedic, cardiac, stroke, pulmonary and shortterm rehabilitation. During the height of the COVID outbreak, Demarin worked at various Alden facilities full time as a CNA, including COVID units. For about eight months, she traveled to different rehab facilities, sometimes commuting for more than an hour each way. It was a challenge to enter unfamiliar buildings and work with new patients, having to get to know them and the facility quickly.

Demarin has since returned to the Skokie unit but continues to work as a CNA when needed.

Medical director, critical care anesthesiologist Ghaly Neurosurgical Associates

Nurse educator ASI

Normally, Maria Cruz handles referrals from hospitals, home or skilled nursing facilities to determine if a patient should be admitted.

Alden Estates of Evanston offers orthopedic, cardiac, stroke, pulmonary and shortterm rehabilitation. Last year, the staff was impacted by the virus, which left Alden with limited staff to care for residents. Cruz began working the floor as a certified nursing assistant, including the COVID unit. She also helped at other Alden facilities. At one point, there was an outbreak at the Evanston facility, with residents and staff testing positive. Cruz is credited with effectively communicating with the frontline staff and helping to relieve their stress while also working alongside them.

Director of pharmacy services; clinical professor and associate dean for clinical affairs UI Health, UIC College of Pharmacy

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When COVID-19 surged, Dr. Andrew Donnelly, who also is clinical professor and associate dean for clinical affairs at the UIC College of Pharmacy, sourced medications needed for ventilated ICU patients. He was part of a group that ensured there were usage guidelines in place for medications with FDA emergency use authorization status, such as remdesivir.

For pharmacy staff, Donnelly made sure that appropriate PPE was available and instituted social distancing and cleaning policies. As director of pharmacy services at UI Health, he helped develop a drug shortage dashboard that was distributed daily to the pharmacy department and hospital leadership.

An uplifting moment occurred in mid-December when the hospital received its first allotment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Donnelly is part of the leadership group that developed the logistics for the vaccination program, and this group continues to work on expanding vaccination capability.

Dr. Ramsis Ghaly of Ghaly Neurosurgical Associates is on senior staff at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County and Advocate Illinois Masonic and teaches medical students and residents. He’s clinical professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago for anesthesiology and neurosurgery. He specializes in trauma, gunshot wounds, emergency management and resuscitation.

He believes that in March 2020 he was the first anesthesiologist to intubate a COVID patient in Chicago. Since the onset, he has intubated, resuscitated and delivered critical care to hundreds of sick patients, with peak numbers between March and June of last year. He handles calls from both hospitals around the clock, including code blue notifications, which indicate a medical emergency such as cardiac or respiratory arrest. He developed an inexpensive plastic barrier that protects staff during anesthesia and intubation.

Nurse educator Susana Gonzalez trains staff for ASI Home Care agency in Chicago. With the onset of the pandemic, Gonzalez switched to virtual training and added instruction in infection control and the use of PPE. She stepped in to help with the telehealth monitoring of the agency’s COVID patients. Gonzalez secured donations of PPE, including masks, face shields, gloves and hand sanitizer, for the more than 300 home-care aides and nurses that enabled them to work safely and care for elderly clients and patients. In November, Gonzalez managed to have 100 influenza vaccines donated. She is an adjunct faculty member at Morton College and DePaul University. She serves on the boards of the American Nurses Association-Illinois and the Chicago Bilingual Nurse Consortium.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 8, 2021 17

EPHRIAM T. GRIMES

CHRISTINE HALEY

JESSICA HEWITT

DANIEL IVANKOVICH

ALI KHAN

Associate medical director for the emergency department Advocate Trinity Hospital

Director of housing Cook County Health

Licensed clinical social worker Advocate Trinity Hospital

Orthopedic surgeon OnePatient Global Health Initiative

Executive medical director Oak Street Health

As director of housing for Cook County Health, Christine Haley focuses on the needs of patients experiencing homelessness, which disproportionately affects African Americans.

The pandemic exacerbated health disparities in Cook County and highlighted the impact of the social determinants of health. Haley worked with community partners to convert a South Side YMCA into a medical respite center to provide isolation and recovery.

For COVID-19 patients facing housing insecurity, there were not a lot of options for remaining safely isolated. Under Haley’s direction, the South Side medical respite program served 51 individuals, all of whom completed their public health-directed isolation period with medical guidance from a care team.

For Haley, the crisis became personal in the spring when her daughter was hospitalized.

Haley trained resident assistants while sitting beside her daughter’s bed.

With COVID-19 raging at Advocate Trinity Hospital on the South Side, social worker Jessica Hewitt released a video of a 90-plus-yearold patient being released to cheers from staff members.

That was a rare upbeat moment for Hewitt, who counsels patients and families at the hospital in the Calumet Heights neighborhood. She focuses on the coordination of patient treatment at the hospital and in post-inpatient rehab. She also works to help alleviate the mental and emotional toll hospital visits take on both patients and their families.

Those responsibilities were heightened by the influx of patients with serious and often fatal outcomes at the height of the pandemic. Adding to the complexity: working within an impoverished community where social distancing wasn’t always possible and education on the virus was scant.

Dr. Daniel Ivankovich heads OnePatient Global Health Initiative, a nonprofit that specializes in orthopedics and serves underserved populations on the South and West sides.

OnePatient has treated more than 100,000 uninsured or underinsured patients from Chicago’s troubled neighborhoods and performs more than 600 surgical procedures per year, including treatment of gunshot victims. He and his team continued to provide care through the height of the pandemic.

Ivankovich and his wife, Karla Ivankovich, a clinical professional counselor, provided PPE to safety-net hospitals on the South and West sides whose emergency rooms and ICUs were being overwhelmed. Ivankovich’s team was gratified to raise spirits at one community hospital that was running out of supplies, with staff members worrying about how to care for patients and remain safe.

At Oak Street Health, Dr. Ali Khan teamed with the city of Chicago to enable broader COVID-19 testing in Black and Latino neighborhoods.

Recently, Oak Street worked with the Chicago and Cook County health departments to secure vaccine doses needed to inoculate employees and independent health care workers.

Oak Street Health had vaccinated more than 20,000 people as of mid-February. Last year, Oak Street converted to telehealth and video appointments. The practice also delivered food and supplies, such as pulse oximeters. And it expanded in-home operations to care for patients discharged from hospitals. Khan served on the city’s COVID-19 Reopening Health Care Committee and Racial Equity Rapid Response Task Force. He says his most uplifting moment came on Jan. 4, when he uncapped a Moderna vial of vaccine for the first time.

At Advocate Trinity Hospital on the South Side, Dr. Ephriam T. Grimes serves as associate medical director for the emergency department.

When the pandemic started, the South Side was hit hard and the 27-bed emergency room became busy with COVID-19 patients. Grimes organized the hospital and department response, proposing policies and procedures to manage the influx of patients.

Dealing with the volume of sickness and isolation exacted a psychological toll on Grimes and the department. He committed himself to working out and encouraged his team to get any help needed. He has posted on social media about the importance of safety measures such as social distancing and, more recently, has educated the community on details about COVID vaccines and their availability.

HOSPITAL WORKERS ARE MAKING THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENCES For the past year, our hospital workers — both on the frontlines and in support roles — have dedicated their lives to battling COVID-19, working together to provide exceptional patient care. The UChicago Medicine pharmacy and curbside testing teams rose to the occasion to tend to our most vulnerable patients.

From everyone at UChicago Medicine and Ingalls Memorial — THANK YOU for the sacrifices you make every day. Your dedication, commitment and courage deserve our deepest gratitude and admiration.

UChicagoMedicine.org

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18 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

DAVID KUSHNER

DAVID LONG

MARY OTTING

TRICIA PENDERGRAST

SUZANNE PHAM

Medical director Brightside

Assistant professor of anesthesiology Rush University Medical Center

Registered nurse and EMS coordinator Lurie Children’s Hospital

Second-year medical student Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Department of Hospital Medicine, program director Weiss Memorial Hospital

During the pandemic, anesthesiologist Dr. David Long was tasked with intubating COVID-19-positive patients at Rush University Medical Center and witnessed firsthand the devastation of the virus. He also cared for COVID-19-positive patients who were undergoing emergency surgeries. He signed up for additional shifts and became part of a team that took overnight calls and performed multiple emergency intubations, even early on when it was unclear how the virus was transmitted. As the anesthesiologist, he was the patient’s sole provider during intubations in order to limit possible exposure to other staff. Long was an integral part of a group that established pandemic-related procedures for his department and team. He even provided input to members of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Cabinet on medical licensing and rule changes prompted by the crisis.

At Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Mary Otting is a nurse and emergency medical services coordinator. She’s a member of a team under the National Disaster Medical System, a coordinated federal health care system that assists communities stricken by natural disasters such as hurricanes. Last year, Otting was deployed to care for COVID patients when local hospitals were overwhelmed. Each stint was for 14 days, and then Otting returned to her regular job at Lurie. In May, Otting was deployed with team members to help staff an ICU at the Navajo Nation hospital in Gallup, N.M. In August, she was sent to a hospital in Eagle Pass, Texas, to staff an emergency room. And in December she traveled to Beaver Dam, Wis., to assist staffing on a surgical unit.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, first-year medical student Tricia Pendergrast watched as Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine pivoted into emergency mode and wondered how she could help.

Pendergrast joined with classmates to gather and distribute PPE, which was in short supply, to hospitals, nursing homes, community organizations and homeless shelters. The group recruited more than 500 volunteers including not just medical students but student nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists and students in other health care fields. The effort led to the founding of GetMePPE Chicago, which has donated 800,000 units of PPE including masks, face shields, disinfectant, hand sanitizer, respirators, soap, thermometers and gowns. The group continues to support nursing homes, shelters and community health organizations. Pendergrast is interested in pediatric critical care and pediatric anesthesiology.

As Weiss Memorial Hospital’s medical director in charge of the pandemic response, Dr. Suzanne Pham immersed herself in COVID topics and changing guidance in order to provide clinical recommendations at the hospital. Pham facilitated partnerships with hotels and local businesses to acquire PPE and worked to have Weiss become a recipient of the General Motors-manufactured ventilators. She forged relationships with experts at Mayo Clinic and other institutions, leading Weiss to be one of the first centers in Chicago to provide infusions of COVID-19 convalescent plasma for patients. She is working to bring Phase 3 clinical trials to Weiss to expand patient treatment options. In April 2020, the hospital was at a critical shortage of supplies, but April 18 marked a turning point when a truck delivered the needed General Motors ventilators.

Throughout the pandemic, Dr. David Kushner and the team at Northbrook-based Brightside clinics continued to treat patients afflicted by opioids.

Brightside redesigned its programs to treat patients via telemedicine. Recognizing that it’s difficult to show the same level of compassion over a screen, the clinic increased hours and carved out more time for each patient.

Brightside also opened new locations in rural areas. Last year, Kushner and the team were able to help 60 percent more people begin recovery, a significant increase from 2019. The clinic treats heroin and opioid addiction and has locations in North Aurora, Tinley Park, Rockford, Ottawa, Freeport and Bloomingdale. Kushner has been medical director since 2017 and began working with the clinic with its inception in 2015.

GAMILAH PIERRE

DANNY PYNE

ELIZABETH REGAN

VALERIE ROMO

JASMINE SAAVEDRA

Physician partner Partners in Obstetrics & Women’s Health

Operations director Project C.U.R.E.

Emergency medicine physician and medical director of disaster medicine and preparedness Advocate Christ Medical Center

RN One Home Health

Pediatrician Esperanza Health Centers

Registered nurse Valerie Romo manages care for patients in their homes with a multidisciplinary team at One Home Health. As the pandemic developed, there was a huge need for COVID-positive patients to be cared for at home.

She worked through her own fears of the novel virus and encouraged her peers to do so, as well. Romo found ways to celebrate her co-workers on the front line by submitting for them to receive free Jamba Juice. At the start of the pandemic when PPE supplies were limited, Romo and her electrician husband acquired N95 masks for her fellow nurses and therapists. More recently with the rollout of vaccines, Romo took a second job as a nurse vaccinator through Oak Street Health clinics in Ashburn and Chicago Heights.

In early April 2020, pediatrician Dr. Jasmine Saavedra volunteered to become full-time staff at Esperanza Health Centers’ drive-up coronavirus testing tent in the Brighton Park clinic parking lot. As the new mother of a 5-monthold, Saavedra realized this wasn’t an easy choice.

It meant stepping away from her pediatrics practice and entering an unknown realm.

Her medical team volunteered to join her, and together they’ve provided testing and follow-up care to thousands of patients and community members. Saavedra provides a full medical encounter for each patient—not just swab-andgo—and personally delivers results. “People need more than a test,” she says. “They have questions. ‘Am I going to die?’ ” Sometimes people from the neighborhood bring them food or candy, just to thank them for being there, she says.

Early in the pandemic, Dr. Gamilah Pierre worked to minimize health care workers’ risk of COVID exposure. As Silver Cross Hospital OB-GYN department chair at the time, Pierre worked with executive leadership to mandate that all staff receive N95 masks, which they would not have received otherwise. Doctors, nurses and staff of the New Lenox hospital had voiced concerns about potential exposure, which was not initially included in discussions about safety protocols. Under Pierre’s leadership, the labor and delivery department required that all patients wear masks and all OB-GYN patients be tested for COVID-19. A video on the hospital’s YouTube page featuring Pierre discussing the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy and her efforts to keep women giving birth safe has been viewed more than 8,400 times. Pierre also is a physician partner at Partners in Obstetrics & Women’s Health.

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Project C.U.R.E is a Coloradobased humanitarian relief organization best known for shipping medical suppliers to countries that don’t have proper access to medical care. As operations director for Project C.U.R.E.’s Woodridge unit, Danny Pyne procured, sorted and packed containers of medical equipment that could improve the health care of a village. When COVID-19 first appeared in China, Pyne managed a shipment of 95,000 N95 masks to Wuhan.

When the virus hit Chicago, Pyne within days transitioned Project C.U.R.E. work from international to domestic medical relief, supporting Chicago-area organizations with donated PPE. Through Pyne’s efforts, Project C.U.R.E. has donated PPE to more than 100 organizations including nursing homes, fire and police departments, medical centers, mental health facilities and rehab centers.

From the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Regan thought it would be important to have a multidisciplinary team solely focused on overseeing the testing and care of COVID-19 patients. The COVID-19 strike team at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn was developed with critical care and emergency department nurses and physicians. They work directly with front-line clinicians to keep track of testing capacity, to discuss patient cases and treatment options, and to train colleagues on donning and doffing PPE. Regan led incident command as units transitioned into COVID-19 critical care.

Clinicians were trained on evolving PPE guidelines, and new therapies were administered to COVID-19 patients. While she has returned to treating patients in the emergency department, Regan still is active in COVID-19 planning and response.

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FEARLESSLY FOCUSED ON CARING FOR YOU

DuPage Medical Group is proud to celebrate the six leaders featured in this edition for their extraordinary efforts guiding our teams, patients and the communities we serve throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We are forever grateful to each of our 5,000+ physicians and associates for the countless acts of heroism and selfless dedication they’ve demonstrated while caring for our patients during this unprecedented year.

Thank you to our incredible team and all the healthcare workers who remain resolved to our most sacred purpose;

to fight with all we have, everyday, for each human life in our care.

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20 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

MARISSA SALVALEON

REBECCA SINGER

SUE SURANE

MARY TORNABENE

RAJIV UDANI

Nurse Vi Senior Living

Clinical assistant professor University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing

Clinical nurse specialist, Emergency Department Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital/Advocate Aurora Health

Family nurse practitioner Heartland Alliance Health

Hospital-based internal medicine and senior clinical educator NorthShore Medical Group

Last year, staff at Vi Senior Living in Glenview began planning for a COVID-19 isolation unit and the safety protocols that would be needed.

Eventually the day came when a resident needed to be moved to the unit. At a meeting arranged to decide staffing, Marissa Salvaleon showed up with a change of clothes. While other nurses had expressed reluctance and anxiety about the risk, Salvaleon said, “Of course I am working in the COVID unit.

These are my residents, and it is my job as a nurse to care for them no matter what.” Salvaleon not only took on this responsibility at the onset of the pandemic but continued to put herself in harm’s way for the 10 months the unit has been in use.

After more than a decade working with the humanitarian response organization Doctors Without Borders, Rebecca Singer applied her emergency response skills by establishing and managing a COVID-19 testing site for UI Health employees. Not long after, she extended this model as a volunteer with COVID Rapid Response Teams to settings hardest hit by the pandemic, including longterm care facilities, homeless shelters and Cook County Jail.

Singer organized interdisciplinary teams of students and faculty to undertake the effort, which was formalized by the Chicago Department of Public Health.

The teams have tested more than 20,000 individuals in various settings, including shelters for those experiencing homelessness, homeless encampments, long-term care facilities, behavior health facilities, correctional facilities, youth homes, temporary housing and domestic violence shelters.

Sue Surane had planned to conclude her 45 years in nursing and retire around February 2020. But, as she puts it, “the world had other plans.”

Surane delayed her retirement, knowing her experience would be valuable to the clinical staff in the emergency department at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. Since deciding to stay, Surane has been instrumental in training front-line nurses.

She’s drawn from her experience during the Ebola and SARS outbreaks while educating, training and planning a drill for emergency department nurses. Since the pandemic began, Surane has focused on making sure nurses know best practices on COVID testing assessment, new emerging treatments and safe care including PPE use and hygiene at the hospital and at home.

Recently, she started vaccinating and teaching post-vaccination care and practices.

SARAH UNTERMAN

MAURA WALDRON

LAUREN ZALAY

Chief of staff Jesse Brown Veteran Affairs Medical Center

Staff registered nurse Rush University Medical Center

DDS University Associates in Dentistry

Maura Waldron’s unit became a COVID unit in April 2020 and has since become the primary COVID unit at Rush University Medical Center. Throughout the summer, staff cared for both COVID-19 and general medicine patients.

As COVID numbers rose during the second surge, Waldron’s unit counseled other units on the latest COVID protocols to ensure that they were current and confident in the care that they would need to provide.

In her role as the chair of the Recognition Committee, Waldron has found ways to celebrate achievements and milestones for units. She coordinated two baby showers, two bridal showers, a 40-year work anniversary and a mother-of-the-bride shower.

Last spring, she and her husband hosted weekly trivia nights to raise funds for COVID relief charities.

When COVID-19 hit, Dr. Lauren Zalay encountered a devastating issue with the lack of availability of PPE. So she organized and coordinated securing PPE for her office, plus other dental and health care offices around the city and across the country. Zalay worked with a Chicago-area philanthropist to manufacture and secure PPE of all types for health care workers and continues that mission to this day. She donated nearly all of her office’s PPE to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and charitable organizations working on front lines across the city. Zalay, a general dentist with University Associates in Dentistry, appeared on local media to inform health care professionals that PPE was available. Her relentless pursuit of protecting health care workers allowed front-line workers and other health professionals to rest easy, knowing that they were protected and safe in doing their jobs.

Dr. Sarah Unterman, responsible for clinical care at Jesse Brown Veteran Affairs Medical Center and four outlying clinics encompassing more than 50,000 patients, had been in her role for less than a year when the pandemic started.

She helped convert the majority of care to telehealth, opened a new 20-bed COVID inpatient unit, developed an innovative way to avoid intubation and ventilator use and oversaw the Johnson & Johnson vaccine trial and other research studies at the hospital. She also supervised the retraining of more than 100 clinic nurses to prepare them for COVID-19 ICU duty. She started the “Healing Heroes” celebration for discharged COVID patients.

When her staff became stressed, Unterman spent entire days and nights in the ICU, ensuring that staff had what they needed in terms of “stuff” and emotional support.

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Nurse practitioner Mary Tornabene has specialized in caring for homeless people. During the pandemic, she’s helped service providers implement practices that limit contact and prioritize hygiene and social distancing. Tornabene works with outreach teams to survey Chicago shelters for people with COVID-19 symptoms and coordinates testing with local officials and shelter providers. Tornabene also provides services through a new telehealth model for Heartland Alliance’s health care centers on Chicago’s North, South and West sides.

She provides patients with a self-screening program she created based on CDC guidelines, along with her personal phone number. Providing homeless people with hotel rooms or other shelter where they could socially distance has worked well, and Tornabene is using these results to advocate for expanded shielding hotel programs in the city and suburbs.

As head of internal medicine at Highland Park Hospital, Dr. Rajiv Udani led a team of NorthShore Medical Group physicians to establish a dedicated COVID-19 intensive care unit at Glenbrook Hospital. He led this team into the unknown whirlwind of acute COVID-19 intensive care, frequently without adequate PPE and treatment protocols and marked by long periods of no social and emotional contact with his family and friends. He and his team became COVID-19 specialists, assisting with acute care and early-phase experimental clinical and palliative care treatments for this deadly disease. Udani assisted his team in implementing lifesaving treatments for critically ill patients from Cook, Lake and DuPage counties transported to Glenbrook Hospital’s allCOVID emergency intensive care treatment center. He performed community outreach to secure additional protective gear for his colleagues.

ACCESS COMMUNITY HEALTH NETWORK COVID-19 Testing Task Force

This multidisciplinary task force worked with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office last spring to open five COVID-19 testing sites in some of the Chicago area’s hardest-hit Black and Latino communities. It has since opened a sixth site in DuPage County and has screened more than 30,000 patients and community residents. The team worked with 200-plus civic leaders and community organizations to get information on coronavirus education, testing and safety measures into communities. It has also helped residents find medical care and resources such as food, housing and benefits support throughout the pandemic. One proud accomplishment for the team: successfully reaching isolated seniors and other residents who might have fallen through the cracks—for instance, Salvation Army homeless clients who must be tested in order to be cleared for temporary housing.

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ADVOCATE SOUTH SUBURBAN HOSPITAL, HAZEL CREST Unit 4 North/South Nursing Team

Sometimes the complexities of caring for COVID-19 patients can crystallize in one story. That’s the case with the Advocate nursing team, which gave up family time on Christmas Eve and Day to be at the hospital caring for COVID-19 patients to ensure continuity of care. One patient, elderly and without a family, found it difficult if not impossible to smile. The team put a holiday tree in his room and gave the patient some gifts, including a sweater and socks. Upon opening them, the patient finally smiled. The cheer-up campaign continued with a cake, gifts and a rendition of “Happy Birthday” on the patient’s birthday, plus celebrating the patient’s hospital release with a round of applause, as it does for all COVID-19 patients.

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ALDEN VILLAGE

BEST HOME HEALTHCARE NETWORK

Case Management Team

Post-Hospital In-Home Patient Support

Alden Village’s case management team is responsible for consistently communicating with residents’ family members and/or guardians. This responsibility is critically important during the pandemic, as visitation restrictions make it tough, if not impossible, for residents to see family members. Throughout the pandemic, the team has kept residents connected to their loved ones, setting up virtual visits and even arranging e-learning courses for residents and family members. The team also arranges individual activities for residents because group activities have been restricted, and it helps residents get haircuts. Team members perform these tasks in addition to their regular duties, among them changing out and sanitizing rooms and assisting with coronavirus testing, all while maintaining a positive attitude and conveying the team’s strength and dedication to Alden Village residents.

Patients discharged after hospital care for COVID-19 can experience the shock of mental illness, joblessness and loss of family or altered family dynamics. Best Home Healthcare Network is Cook County’s largest Medicare home health care agency, often taking on clients who have been rejected by other providers due to a disadvantaged economic and/or insurance status. Its in-home support team of registered nurses and therapists offers surplus PPE and free testing to patients, their families, employees and employees’ families to prevent the spread of the virus. It has had zero cases of the virus spreading from one patient home to another. The team extended hours and increased staffing over the winter holidays and during the virus’s second wave to meet the surging demand for in-home clinical support.

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22 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

BUCK SERVICES This team of 260-plus employees has cleaned and disinfected more than 5 million square feet since the start of the pandemic. It trained 30 people, with the help of a COVID-19 response team, to disinfect all 265 DuPage County voting sites during the presidential election last year. The company worked with the DuPage County election board to create a program that would allow people to feel safe about the voting process. For seven weeks, Buck Services employees worked 10-plus hours each day disinfecting voting booths, pens, hallways, door handles and more at the DuPage County Fairgrounds and other early-voting sites. The team continued serving its regular clients— schools, churches, and medical and commercial offices.

CITY COLLEGES OF CHICAGO Malcolm X College Health Sciences Team

This team is led by the dean of health sciences, who is responsible for academic programming for the largest ensemble of health sciences programs in Illinois. The team donates PPE and ventilation equipment to, volunteers at and staffs hospitals and federally qualified health centers. It created a self-paced online contact tracing program for the Chicago Department of Public Health and continues to train, support and staff medical facilities during the pandemic. It also reopened a dental hygiene clinic for the community. The dental hygiene team petitioned the college to allow students back on campus last June to complete their clinicals, thus allowing a new cohort to begin in the fall. Malcolm X College has also hosted the first mass vaccination site in the city.

DOCTORS TEST CENTERS Doctors Test Centers was established to provide effective COVID-19 testing for surgical patients to ensure that both surgical teams and patients are safe. It has expanded to offer testing in downtown Chicago and was recently awarded a license from the city’s Department of Aviation to provide COVID-19 testing for passengers and employees at O’Hare International and Midway International airports. Those who test positive are immediately removed from the airports, thus helping prevent the spread of the virus. In addition to the physical work required to launch the walk-up test sites at the airports, it’s emotionally taxing work, as the team discovered when it had to tell people that they couldn’t fly home to see their families over the holidays. That was balanced by giving families good news when it turned out they had taken the wrong tests and were able to fly home.

DUPAGE MEDICAL GROUP

EDWARD-ELMHURST HEALTH

ENVISION UNLIMITED

COVID-19 Response Physician Leaders

Laboratory Services

Team Envision

Since January 2020, before COVID-19 was prevalent locally, this elite team of six physicians pooled their expertise to lead the organization’s COVID-19 response efforts. This includes preparedness strategies, employee education and safety, testing and treatment operations, vaccine distribution and more. The team developed early-testing strategies; treatment protocols, including the monoclonal antibody treatment; and a vaccination rollout process for DMG physicians and associates and other health care workers in the community. To help staff deal with the stress of the pandemic—including being “present” for their families during such challenging times—and buoy their mental and emotional well-being, the team created resources such as webinars led by DMG’s behavioral and mental health providers and an innovative physician-led coaching and leadership development program. The inaugural class had 40 DMG physicians.

Within 72 hours of the March pandemic onset, this team converted its M2000 testing platform to run COVID-19 testing. It’s now running six different tests for the virus and working on a seventh, and it worked with key stakeholders to figure out the most accurate and reliable way to send patient data to state health authorities. The team volunteered to process specimens collected at state drive-thru testing sites. Its clinical laboratory scientists work three shifts, seven days a week, to provide fast turnaround of test results.

In November, the team handled up to 900 specimens a day, 2.5 times the normal volume. Additional staff members stepped up to be trained, and others adjusted their schedules without hesitation. Notes of recognition—and treats—help keep morale high.

This team cares for more than 2,000 adults with intellectual and development disabilities and mental health needs. Team Envision helps these adults with special needs understand why and how to wear a mask and keep safely distant from others. During the lockdown, the team made thousands of wellness calls and visited homes, delivering PPE, food, books, cleaning supplies and clothing to families, even standing on lawns to sing “Happy Birthday” to clients. Other team members volunteered to live 24 hours a day in group homes where they normally worked eight-hour shifts to make sure residents were fed, safe and taking precautions to prevent coronavirus spread. To ensure that team members stay stable during the crisis, Team Envision established a mental-health employee hotline.

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GATEWAY FOUNDATION

GIFT OF HOPE

HPH TRANSPORT

Essential Workers

Organ Recovery Team

HPH Transport Drivers

During the pandemic, Gateway Foundation has served more than 30,000 people seeking treatment for addiction, which has become known as “the second pandemic.” The foundation’s essential workers make entering treatment for addiction a welcoming and safe experience, so no one has to choose between treatment or staying home because of the virus. This team developed tools and protocols to pivot to virtual treatment for those uneasy about or unable to enter residential treatment. It identified locations in its network of facilities to serve as COVID-19-positive units so that clients who tested positive could continue treatment. Daily outreach to program alumni has been a lifeline to those in recovery, and family members have responded accordingly, thanking team members for getting loved ones into treatment during these trying times.

Gift of Hope’s Organ Recovery Team works with doctors, nurses and other key staff at 100-plus hospitals in the Chicago area to recover lifesaving organs for transplant. Their work begins when someone dies.

They talk to the family about donation, ensure the organs are healthy and safe for transplant, match each organ with a waiting recipient, and coordinate the organ recovery process. During the COVID crisis, hospital restrictions made it difficult for the team to meet face-to-face with families, talk to them about donation and answer their questions. The team found creative ways to connect with families, through Zoom calls or for a limited time in the hospital. In the end, Gift of Hope coordinated a record number of organs for transplant in 2020.

Especially during a pandemic, people without cars, access to transportation or willing friends and family members need a way to get to their doctor’s appointments. HPH provides transportation services to health care facilities, customizing fleets of drivers and vehicles to get patients to and from their appointments.

During this time, drivers have done more than provide transport—they’ve also delivered food to people unable to get to the grocery store and have set up iPads so patients could see their doctors via telehealth. The teams are outfitted with PPE and their vehicles have protective shields; still, the team set aside any fears in order to give patients, some of whom displayed COVID-19 symptoms, safe transport to and from their appointments.

One of the

NATION’S BEST. CLOSE to Home.

Silver Cross Hospital Being named one of the nation’s 100 TOP HOSPITALS is something few hospitals ever achieve. So you can imagine how proud we are to earn this distinction for the 8th time!

100 Top Hospitals like Silver Cross have better survival rates, fewer complications, shorter hospital stays and higher ratings from patients.

Added to our Straight A’s for Patient Safety from the Leapfrog Group, our 100 Top recognition demonstrates that safety, quality and patient experience are at the heart of everything we do.

So when you’re looking for one of the country’s best hospitals, look no further than Silver Cross — proud to be your 100 Top Hospital.

We proudly salute our Silver Cross Heroes.

1900 Silver Cross Blvd. • New Lenox, IL 60451 silvercross.org

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24 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

LA RABIDA CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

MIDWEST RESPIRATORY

NE HEALTHCARE SERVICES

Environmental & Support Services Team

Midwest Respiratory Team

“S” Team: Marisol Santiago and Diana Soto

Many La Rabida patients are immunocompromised and have chronic lifelong illnesses that leave them more susceptible to infections. From installing dozens of touchless hand-sanitizing stations to instituting more frequent and rigorous cleaning and supplying vital PPE, this team worked tirelessly to keep these patients safe. One innovative example: Mandatory mask-wearing made lip-reading difficult for patients with hearing loss. The team developed a tabletop shield made from clear acrylic trays, and the purchasing team sourced masks with a clear window. This quick response enabled lip-reading, thus allowing clinicians to work with patients and ensure that therapy sessions continued uninterrupted. The environmental services staff made it their mission to prevent the spread of COVID-19, even when it meant being on their feet for their entire shifts.

These critical-care doctors and nurse practitioners, responsible for patients who are critically ill and dying, have logged countless hours of patient care.

The group worked with limited PPE in the early days of the pandemic. The team treated intubated patients in the prone position and implemented novel lifesaving treatments. The team has moved heaven and earth to allow loved ones to spend time with dying family members; team members themselves hold the hands of the dying. They have also witnessed tearful family reunions and against-all-odds recoveries. Their care and concern extends to hospital staff members in lending an encouraging word or simply asking if someone is OK. They keep spirits up, encourage everyone to keep fighting and figure out difficult situations together.

These sisters, both registered nurses, have a combined 40 years of nursing expertise and are English-Spanish bilingual as well. They provide culturally sensitive care, invaluable to the patients, many of whom are Spanish-speaking. Many patients also live in areas where COVID-19 has hit hardest and in multifamily dwellings. A high percentage of this team’s referrals are clients who have been rejected by other agencies due to the patient’s failing health. One challenging moment was dealing with a COVID-positive husband and wife. The wife died, and the husband survived.

A month later, he was discharged from rehab and in need of significant home care, for both physical and mental challenges. The team stepped in with a holistic approach to care, and the patient has recovered well.

SALUTING A GREAT COLLEAGUE AND INSPIRING HONOREE. Marissa Salvaleon provides comfort and care to our residents every day at Vi at The Glen. Her selflessness and compassion have truly brought excellence to Vi and to senior living.

Marissa, from all your friends at Vi, congratulations on being recognized as a Crain’s 2021 Notable Health Care Hero.

Marissa Salvaleon, Registered Nurse Vi at The Glen

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NORTHSHORE UNIVERSITY HEALTHSYSTEM

PERFUSION TECHNOLOGISTS OF GREATER CHICAGO

SILVER CROSS HOSPITAL

Clinical Pharmacy Team

Advocate Christ and Rush University medical centers

This team’s clinical pharmacists and staff use their extensive clinical and operational expertise, from maintaining precise schedules of vaccine shipment arrivals, vaccine clinic dates and manual inventory to properly storing and preparing the vaccine and executing the program. Since mid-December, it has followed a tiered approach to COVID-19 vaccine distribution that’s been consistent with state and federal guidelines. It has vaccinated more than 11,000 care team members, including NorthShore employees, affiliated physicians and their employed clinical staff, as well as local community providers. The team received its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 17. “I feel like I’ve been injected with hope,” one front-line care worker says. “Everyone has had the same response: hope, joy, gratitude, relief.”

This team of doctors, nurses, perfusionists, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, physical therapists and support staff accepted and treated COVID-19 patients who failed at other medical treatments and who were all but certain to die. The team placed patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, support systems to allow their lungs and bodies to heal, with a success rate it says is unequaled worldwide.

About 80 patients are thriving because the team accepted them as patients when other institutions could no longer help. At Advocate Christ, the team converted a 20-bed ICU into a 25-bed COVID-19 ECMO unit. The team cared for each patient like family, and it played the theme song from “Rocky” when patients were discharged from the unit. The community helped, with restaurants supplying meals to the team.

ICU Nurses

Working through the ultimate challenge of COVID-19 last year, this team of more than 100 nurses faced physical and emotional exhaustion daily but found ways to celebrate any improvements that patients made. The nurses make time every day to fully engage patients and families in their care via video calls and communications. The nurses treat all patients equally and understand their perspectives during these difficult times. At times, three or four nurses, in full PPE garb, have serenaded a patient with a rendition of “Happy Birthday.” Nurses have also held the hands of dying patients, as virus precautions prevented families from being with loved ones at the time of death.

The team learned together that this unprecedented time would call for dedication and commitment.

CONGRATULATIONS TO

Valerie Romo 2020 HEALTHCARE HERO

A Massive Thank You to all Healthcare Workers We’re Hiring! www.onehhc.com

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26 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

SWEDISH HOSPITAL

SWEDISH HOSPITAL

THRESHOLDS

Environmental Services Team

Facilities Team

Thresholds Justice Program

This team, at the front line of the pandemic, works round the clock to keep patient rooms, hallways, elevators, restrooms and public areas clean and disinfected. While working in COVID-19 isolation rooms, team members wear full PPE, which makes their jobs even more difficult. The team’s work has allowed the facility to remain open and serving the community during the pandemic. “We count on this team every day to help keep the hospital running so we can safely treat our patients in disinfected rooms that we need to turn over quickly, which is critical as we faced capacity challenges during the pandemic,” says Chief Nursing Officer Kathy Donofrio. Throughout the pandemic, the team has adapted physically and mentally, all while putting patients first.

Hospitals normally have a limited number of negative-pressure rooms that can be used as isolation rooms. But these quickly filled up with COVID-19 patients, and quick action was needed to be able to treat patients. “The facilities team worked nonstop to create additional negative-pressure rooms as quickly as possible for our patients,” says Saliba Kokaly, vice president of operations. During the spring surge of patients, the team retrofitted 32 negative-pressure rooms to provide a total of 56 rooms, more than doubling the original number of 24. Retrofitting was an extensive process, requiring adding isolation exhaust fans, ductwork, HEPA fan units and isolation monitors. The project ran smoothly due to the team’s experience and strong teamwork, plus support by the nursing staff.

Thresholds Justice Program provides services such as case management, housing, employment and access to health care to individuals with serious mental illnesses before and after their release from Cook County Jail. The jail houses 6,000 people and has a high rate of mental illness in its population. It costs Illinois $38,000 per year per person to keep people in jail.

Thresholds Justice Program keeps people from returning to jail through stabilizing support and wellness initiatives. The team has had success finding housing for clients, many of whom were homeless before going to jail or have a record, which means it’s difficult to find apartments. The Thresholds team benefits from the resilience of its clients, who are navigating the world through poverty, significant mental illnesses and social isolation.

Thank You On behalf of the entire Gateway Foundation Family, we recognize the 1,400 Gateway Heroes who brought life-saving addiction treatment to over 8,000 people a day during the largest public health crisis of our time. Gateway Foundation is proud to have provided evidence based addiction medicine nationally for over 52 years with 15 sites throughout Illinois. A QFWLJW YMFSP ^TZ YT YMJ JSYNWJ ‫ܪ‬JQI TK XZGXYFSHJ use treatment professionals who provide hope and solutions to those who suffer from substance misuse.

Tom Britton President/CEO

Andy Smith Board Chairman

Addiction is a disease.

We have Addiction Medicine that heals. gatewayfoundation.org

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877.505.HOPE

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TOTAL HOME HEALTH

UCHICAGO MEDICINE

UCHICAGO MEDICINE

Respiratory & Delivery Team

Pharmacy Department

Curbside COVID-19 Testing Team

Team members transition patients home from the hospital and teach them how to use home oxygen and ventilator therapy equipment. The team has discharged more than 1,000 COVID-19 patients, thus opening hospital beds for more patients in need.

Often, patients and family members are exhausted by the time they get home from the hospital. So upon arriving at the home, the team helps make the transition a bit easier and more comfortable for patients. During the pandemic, the team has learned how to recharge, handle extended shifts, and also deal with grief when picking up equipment from the home of a patient who did not survive. Overall, the team has done an incredible job of helping patients and their families in the time of greatest need.

In July, this team, led by Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer Kevin Colgan, began preparing for the approval and arrival of COVID-19 vaccine. Early research and planning made UChicago one of the first medical centers to obtain the proper freezer capacity to store the vaccine, which would allow for mass vaccination of patients on the South Side. The team has helped plan and operate the employee vaccination clinic, which operates 16 hours a day, and helped address common vaccine concerns, among them allergic reactions and risk versus benefit for pregnant and breastfeeding women. When South Side pharmacies were damaged and temporarily closed after protests in early June, the pharmacy team took steps to ensure the community could continue to access pharmaceutical services.

Access to accurate and reliable testing has been critical to delivering high-quality care to patients with COVID-19.

From March through December, this team administered 259,114 tests throughout the health system. The team has also tested employees, enabling them to get back to work faster and care for South Side patients, many of whom are at a higher risk of contracting the virus. The curbside testing team made it possible for the medical center to treat 26,861 inpatient admissions—2,001 of whom were COVID-positive—from March through December. Team members have reassured patients who were terrified of the nasal swab and given lollipops to children who needed a test. Even as some team members lost loved ones to the virus, they continued to professionally and efficiently test a large number of patients weekly.

CONGRATULATIONS

We celebrate our Organ Operations Team, named one of Crain’s Health Care Heroes.

Gamilah Pierre, MD FACOG

Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, your tireless and creative efforts — along with the unwavering support of our hospital partners — resulted in coordinating a record number of organs for transplant in 2020.

A CRAIN'S 2021 NOTABLE HEALTH CARE HERO

And we recognize the incredible generosity of organ and tissue donors and their families.

We celebrate Girls Inc. of Chicago Board Member Gamilah Pierre, MD FACOG and all frontline heroes who have selflessly taken care of others to fight against the devastating effects of COVID-19.

Gamilah, a physician who specializes in women's health care, continues to educate, empower, and keep women (including pregnant mothers and those giving birth) safe during the pandemic.

As one of Chicago's leading girl-serving nonprofit organizations, we are immensely proud of Gamilah for being a strong, smart, bold role model for the next generation of youth leaders, especially young girls who look at her and can see what is possible.

Andrew Marton (center) tragically passed away in April 2020. His final wish was to be an organ donor, and his legacy lives on through the four lives he saved.

Inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.

www.girlsincofchicago.org

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28 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

CLASSIFIEDS

æ`ÛiÀÌ Ã } -iVÌ

.

APARTMENT BUILDINGS WANTED

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Private Investors seeking to acquire larger buildings of 50 to 200 units or more on the North side or N or NW suburbs only.

We are not brokers. Reply confidentially to John135791113@Gmail.com.

ANESTHESIOLOGIST NEEDED FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH CLINIC Hiring for ANESTHESIOLOGIST position ($150 PER HOUR) at Women’s Health Clinic and Family Planning and Birth Control Practice in the Western Suburbs of Chicago.

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BUSINESS FOR SALE WOMEN’S HEALTH CLINIC FOR SALE Seeking buyers for Access Health Center, Ltd. A Women’s Health Clinic and Family Planning and birth control practice in Downers Grove, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. The practice is $750,000 and Real Estate of $1.1 Million.

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The vertical mall format has become a harder sell over the years, especially on Michigan Avenue, where most of the excitement is out on the street.

Water Tower Place maps out its post-COVID future Water Tower also has suffered from the same trends that have hurt valuable space along North Mich- suburban malls across the country: igan Avenue, according to plans the rise of online shopping and fall shared with prospective tenants of department stores. COVID-19 and brokers and confirmed by the merely accelerated the decline, as brick-and-mortar retail sales dried retailer.

The plans from last summer offer up and chains closed stores or went a sneak peek of a major turnaround under.

The Macy’s at Water Tower, forenvisioned by Brookfield Property Partners, owner of the storied but merly a Marshall Field’s store, ocstruggling vertical mall. New York- cupies nearly 324,000 square feet of based Brookfield would tear out the the 818,000-square-foot mall at 845 escalators and cascading fountains N. Michigan Ave., starting on the inside its main entrance and build first floor and going all the way up to out a corridor and several stores on the ninth. The departure of Macy’s, the first floor. Other highlights in- which closes the week of March 21, clude a food hall on the mall’s mez- leaves a gaping hole, but it also preszanine level, co-working space on ents an opportunity to break up the its fifth floor and an entertainment space and lease it to multiple tenants at higher rates, Lai says. space on the sixth.

“Whatever Brookfield puts in, it The property is due for a makeover, says Amanda Lai, manager will be more profitable from a rent at McMillan Doolittle, a Chica- standpoint,” she says.

That assumes Brookfield will go-based retail consulting firm.

“It’s a relic of the past,” she says. be able find tenants that want the “It reminds me of retail prior to space. More retailers lately have been contracting than expanding. e-commerce.”

A successful redevelopment A review of Water Tower’s store dicould bring Water Tower back from rectory shows that at least 10 stores a devastating downturn in the U.S. in the mall have closed since last mall business that has crushed summer. Banana Republic closed property values and pushed many a 7,100-square-foot store on the fourth floor, and Aritzia left a “IT’S A RELIC OF THE PAST. IT REMINDS ME 4,200-square-foot third-floor space.

OF RETAIL PRIOR TO E-COMMERCE.” The Foodlife food Amanda Lai, manager, McMillan Doolittle hall and the Mity Nice Bar & Grill mortgages into default. Green Street on the mall’s mezzanine level also Advisors, a California-based re- closed last year.

Changes are also in the works for search firm, estimates that mall values have plunged 45 percent from American Girl. The doll retailer octheir 2016 peak. Water Tower has cupies about 52,000 square feet on suffered a stunning drop as well, the north side of the mall, stretchvalued last year at $394 million, ing from street-level space up a set down 52 percent from 2013, accord- of escalators to the second floor.

An American Girl spokeswoman ing to a recent securities filing.

Anchoring one of the country’s confirms the company is giving up top shopping districts, Water Tow- almost all of its lower-level space in er occupies an A-plus urban loca- a two-phase remodeling, keeping a tion—one reason not to bet against small amount for a ground-floor enit. One of the first vertical malls in trance to the store. That would leave the world when it opened in 1975, it with about 36,000 square feet towith nine floors of stores, Water tal, according to the plans shared Tower was a retailing novelty at the with brokers and tenants last sumtime, but the format has become a mer and obtained by Crain’s.

American Girl expects to comharder sell over the years, especially on Michigan Avenue, where most of plete the first phase of its remodeling project by late spring, according the excitement is out on the street.

“Retailers don’t love it,” says Rea- to the spokeswoman.

Brookfield declines to discuss its gan Pratt, principal at Twenve Advisors, a Chicago-based investment redevelopment plans, saying in a advisory firm. “Nobody wants to be statement that they “remain speculative at this time.” on the seventh floor.”

WATER TOWER from Page 1

“Brookfield Properties has a proven track record of repurposing our properties with exciting new uses that meet the needs of today’s consumer,” the statement says. “To fulfill this opportunity and deliver a new vision for Water Tower Place, we will need significant support and collaboration from our partners at the Mayor’s office, Alderman’s office, Tax Assessor’s office, the Mag Mile Association and the local community.”

SPACE APLENTY

With American Girl moving to the second floor and Macy’s closing, Brookfield would have plenty of space to offer multiple tenants on the first floor, according to the plans obtained by Crain’s. Shoppers would walk down a corridor past several ground-floor stores to escalators that would take them up to a food hall with space for seven restaurants.

Brookfield, which also owns Oakbrook Center and Northbrook Court malls, signaled its commitment to Water Tower last May, when it bought out its joint venture partner in the mall, UBS Trumbull, giving it a 94 percent stake in the property.

Brookfield recorded a $15.4 million loss from the deal and put Water Tower on its balance sheet at $394 million, according to the company’s 2020 annual report. The deal underscores how far the mall sector has fallen since 2013, when UBS Trumbull acquired its stake in Water Tower. The 2013 deal valued the mall at $819 million.

Brookfield also is carrying more than $300 million of debt on the property that comes due next month, according to the annual report. Though refinancing shopping malls has become more difficult given the state of the market, Brookfield is well-capitalized and likely has multiple options when it comes to paying off the debt, Pratt says. Water Tower isn’t a distressed property.

Brookfield also will need to invest a lot more money in the mall to redevelop it—and boost its value in the long run. Though the loss of Macy’s and other tenants presents a problem, it may just be an opportunity in disguise.

“It’s not pain-free,” Pratt says. “But once it happens, it does clear up the slate and allow you to take it to where you think retail’s going to go.”

3/5/21 4:31 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 8, 2021 29

Many downtown condo buyers are enjoying a discount. Will that trend continue?

CONDOS from Page 3 past few months where the buyers paid below the unit’s previous sale price.

They include a South Michigan Avenue condo whose February sale price, $300,000, was $25,000 below what the seller paid for it in 2003, a one-bedroom on Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville whose February sale at $270,000 was $66,000 below its 2004 price, and a two-bedroom on Erie Street in River North whose March sale at $651,500 was $159,000 off its 2004 price.

JOHN R. BOEHM

ONE-TWO PUNCH

“This is happening, probably to the dismay of a lot of the sellers,” says Carin Powell, the Hometown Real Estate agent who represented Soni. Because of the one-two punch that combined COVID-era shutdowns of restaurants, theaters and cultural venues in the central area with the episodes of social unrest that focused on downtown shopping districts, Powell says, “the environment is different for those people who would be retiring and moving downtown or buying a second home in the city, and they’re not doing it now.”

Not all downtown condos are selling at deep discounts. There is no definitive count of the proportion of money-losers to money-gainers, in part because previous sale prices are often not available. Examples of sellers who turned a profit are readily available: At Lake Point Tower, a two-bedroom unit sold for $750,000 this month, up $290,000

Varun Soni from 2004, and many others have sold at a profit or break-even.

That is, the downtown market isn’t dead and is attracting buyers.

Even so, bargain-hunters can spot a discount on the horizon, and the cloud that hung over downtown neighborhoods in 2020 attracted their notice.

“Some of them preface their search with, ‘Let’s find a steal,’ ” says Melissa Dondalski, an @properties agent, “but there’s also the group that are just looking for the

right home, and at these prices they can get more than they expected.”

Dondalski represented a buyer who in October bought a two-bedroom condo at the Joffrey Tower on State Street for $580,000.

That was below both its 2015 sale price ($600,000) and its 2008 sale price ($594,000). Her client was in the “looking for the right home” group, she says. She declines to put a Crain’s reporter in touch with them but says the buyers were “millennials who were tired

of renting. They were smart people who looked at what things are worth now and decided to buy.”

INVESTORS BUSY

Agents say investor buyers have been busy in the market, though it’s not possible to determine how many of these deep-discount purchases were made by end-user buyers and how many by investors.

That’s in part because Cook County transaction records, which identify buyers, have been lagging behind

by months during the COVID crisis.

Sandra Wright, an agent with Chicago Properties Firm, says investors “have done their research.

They know how long you’ve been on the market, how much excess inventory is out there, and that you want to cut your losses with a quick closing,” which they can make possible with an all-cash purchase.

Wright represented an investor buyer who paid $580,000 in September for a two-bedroom condo on Superior Street just off North Michigan Avenue. The sellers accepted $40,000 less than they paid for the condo in 2004.

One sign that the word is out that bargains are to be had downtown: In January, according to the Chicago Association of Realtors, 54 condos sold, an increase of almost 75 percent from the same month a year earlier, when 31 condos sold.

“I think everyone woke up in January and realized the world didn’t come to an end,” says Niko Apostal, an agent at Keller Williams One Chicago. “There was a vaccine and a new administration in Washington.”

Apostal represented the sellers of a one-bedroom condo on Lake Shore Drive, which they had bought for a family member. It sat on the market for several months and had taken a few price cuts. Then in late January, a cash buyer showed up.

The sale closed in mid-February at $270,000, which was $102,000 below what the sellers paid for it seven years ago.

“That was painful,” Apostal says, but “they understood where the market was.”

Post-COVID travel to Chicago set to pick up, raising hopes and issues for hotels ers’ decisions about the way to go forward.” demand. But for many, this year’s Almost any business will mark peak visitation months come with an improvement from 2020. Aversomething bigger at stake: the abil- age occupancy at downtown hotels ity to hang on to their properties at that were open last year was just 27 all. percent—lower when you consider After a year of cutting deals to that many hotels suspended operadefer loan payments and buy time tions for months—compared with for the market to recover, owners 74 percent in 2019, according to this summer will need to show data from hotel research firm STR. their lenders promising signs that Revenue per available room, a key they can stage a comeback and re- performance metric that accounts sume paying off their debt, industry for both occupancy and average stakeholders say. That means the daily rate, averaged just $35.23 business hoteliers generate in the in 2020, a staggering 77 percent months ahead will help them de- year-over-year decrease, STR data shows.

Owners of limit“THERE ARE A LOT OF HOTEL OWNERS ed-service hotels that on leisure stays THAT DESPERATELY NEED TO PUT SOME thrive as opposed to business travelers are feeling POINTS ON THE BOARD.” more optimistic as city Bob Habeeb, CEO, Maverick Hotels & Restaurants officials prepare for attractions that draw fine which path they’ll take next— tourists to Chicago during the sumriding out the storm or facing fore- mer to be back.

Habeeb is so bullish that he set closure.

“There are a lot of hotel owners the debut of a new 223-room hotel that desperately need to put some his firm developed on Navy Pier, points on the board,” says Bob Ha- dubbed Sable, for March 18 despite beeb, CEO of Chicago-based ho- the pier itself remaining mostly tel developer Maverick Hotels & closed to visitors. The early start Restaurants. “You have to be able to will give the hotel’s staff a runway articulate a story that (a hotel) is not to prepare for a possible summer a losing proposition. . . .If for some rush, he says.

In Streeterville, the owners of the reason the summer disappoints, that could weigh heavily on lend- 285-room Ambassador Chicago SUMMER from Page 3

P029_CCB_20210308.indd 29

hotel say it will reopen April 5 after being closed since last spring.

Paul Hitselberger, whose Rosemont-based hotel firm First Hospitality works as a management consultant at the Ambassador, says he was encouraged by his company’s Chicago hotels posting their best numbers since the pandemic began during the Valentine’s Day weekend. “There is a sense of hope and optimism,” he says.

But even if stir-crazy tourists come back with a vengeance, the headwinds facing hotel owners for the summer are strong.

ROOM RATES

Few hotel owners have a handle on the room rates they’ll be able to charge without much business travel or demand from people in town for conventions squeezing available downtown inventory like they normally do. Such group business typically accounts for about half of downtown’s annual hotel bookings, but the pandemic has already claimed some summer casualties: The Rosemont-based International Housewares Association this month called off its Aug. 7-10 Inspired Home Show, one of the largest annual events at McCormick Place.

Helping hoteliers’ rate-setting power is that about one-third of the roughly 100 hotels in the central business district were closed as of

the beginning of March, according to the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association. Those are mostly large, full-service properties like the 1,544-room Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue or the 1,218-room Sheraton Grand Chicago along the Chicago River that typically thrive on group business, events and convention-goers.

Fewer hotels competing for visitors this summer could help boost room rates, which fell by an average of 35 percent last year, according to STR. But if the so-called big-box hotels reopen to seize summer leisure demand, that could drive rates back down, says John Rutledge, president and CEO of Chicago-based Oxford Capital Group.

“It’s going to be a two steps forward, one step back recovery trajectory as the inventory flexes back up,” says Rutledge, whose downtown properties include the LondonHouse, Hotel Julian and Hotel Essex on Michigan Avenue and the Godfrey Hotel in River North.

Owners won’t mind the extra competition if it means the state has lifted its 50-person cap on indoor gatherings. That policy has frustrated hotel managers who argue they can safely hold events such as weddings with a few hundred people in ballrooms that normally hold a couple of thousand. But it’s still not clear when those rules will be relaxed, says

IHLA CEO Michael Jacobson.

“Leisure demand is going to be nice to have, but the game-changer is easing the restrictions on group business,” says Jacobson, whose group is advocating for the state to immediately allow 50 percent capacity in rooms, with a maximum of 150 people. “There is no true recovery until that begins to happen.”

Without events, hotel managers are also trying to figure out how many workers they’ll need to meet the summer leisure demand. That’s a trickier calculation at properties where staff and services have been stripped down during the pandemic, says Nabil Moubayed, general manager of the Kimpton Gray Hotel in the Loop.

The 281-room hotel has a couple of dozen staffers today and will need to bring back more for the summer. But it likely won’t need anywhere near the roughly 150 it had pre-pandemic as it holds off— at least for now—on certain services like daily housekeeping and valet service.

“One thing consumers will have to be aware of is we’re not going to go back to 100 percent of who we were,” Moubayed says. “That’s what I’m worried about—you work so hard to build your reputation and a baseline of who we are . . . and most of that has kind of gone away. We still have that spirit, but it’s not the same.”

3/5/21 4:34 PM

30 MARCH 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

ComEd says it’s powering toward a record profit COMED from Page 3 which it has the authority under the 2011 Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, or EIMA, to change its rates each year via a formula.

That statute, better known as the smart-grid law, gives state utility regulators no say over the returns a utility makes and less control than under traditional rate-setting over how much it spends.

For utilities, higher spending equals more profit so long as regulators approve the investments.

Utilities earn a set return on the investments they make, so the more that “rate base” piles up, the more money they make. Exelon says that once the company breaks up it will pay 60 percent of what its utilities earn each year to shareholders via its dividend. An ever-increasing dividend, which makes utility stocks more valuable, is depen-

ditional $125 million to the more than $4.7 billion it had budgeted.

On Exelon’s fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts, executives said they’d “identified” another $500 million to spend at all the utilities over the coming four years since late last year.

‘A NATIONAL LEADER’

Asked about the spending, a ComEd spokeswoman says in an email, “Our investment plans are driven entirely by system and customer needs—for a reliable, resilient and secure system that can withstand more extreme weather and cyber threats while delivering energy that is cleaner and more responsive to the changing ways people consume it. In fact, 60 percent of the $125 million investment increase for 2021-2022 is for new business, including the work needed for new data centers that are coming here to Illinois because ComEd is a nationWHILE COMED TRIES TO POSITION al leader in reliability, clean and affordability.”

ITSELF FOR THE LONG TERM, THE energy Putting this level of spending into perspective, Abe SHORT TERM IS LOOKING ROSY Scarr, director of pro-conAFTER A TOUGH 2020. sumer Illinois PIRG, says the next two years are nearly dent on ever-increasing earnings. equivalent to the full $2.6 billion ComEd, which already had of ComEd’s smart-grid program, planned to invest in 2021 and 2022 which state lawmakers endorsed at levels equal to the peaks during in the 2011 law. That program was the smart-grid blitz, will add an ad- authorized over a 10-year period,

but ComEd already has completed it.

At that time, Scarr says, ComEd said $900 million annually was a baseline for capital spending—essentially a maintenance budget. In 2021 and 2022, ComEd expects to invest nearly $4 billion in its distribution network, nearly $2 billion in spending above a maintenance level.

“They’re spending about as much in two years as the whole EIMA fight was over,” Scarr says of the 2011 law, the passage of which was the focus of part of ComEd’s bribery conspiracy.

PIRG wants the state to order an outside audit of all ComEd’s investments under EIMA.

CALLS FOR CHANGE

For now, PIRG and other advocates are calling on Springfield to end ComEd’s formula-rate authority before it expires at the end of 2022, which Gov. J.B. Pritzker also is advocating. Pritzker wants passage of legislation to put the state on a path to a carbon-free power-generation sector. Exelon is asking for more money from ratepayers to keep open two nuclear plants it otherwise will close later this year.

Pritzker wants ComEd to return to the traditional way of setting rates, which entails filing a request with the Illinois Commerce Com-

ComEd opposes efforts to go back to the traditional way of setting power rates. mission and an 11-month proceeding. ComEd opposes going back to the old ways, but there’s no consensus so far among various interests negotiating a bill on a new system that ComEd would accept.

While ComEd tries to position itself for the long term, the short term is looking rosy after a tough 2020. The bribery scheme’s monetary costs—a $200 million fine paid to the federal government— weren’t reflected in ComEd’s “adjusted” operating earnings. When that was accounted for, the result was 45 cents per share, so the actual projected increase in 2021 is 78 percent.

The utility says several factors

explain projections for a flush 2021. They include higher Treasury bond yields, which establish ComEd’s return on equity each year. Also, ComEd expects onetime costs tied to the pandemic to go away or ease this year. And the rate base on which it’s earning a return continues to rise each year thanks to the smart grid.

Adds the ComEd spokeswoman: “We stand by the investments we’ve made to support customers and business growth in our communities, enhance security, and enable the power grid to withstand more frequent extreme storms, and we have yet to hear anyone identify a single investment that they believe we should not make.”

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3/5/21 4:33 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MARCH 8, 2021 31

New owners stage Second City’s next act are famous for ruthlessly wringing efficiencies out of the properties they pick up, ZMC’s leaders contend a growth strategy is the only play that makes sense for an investment like Second City. The question is how to make it happen. In Second City’s case, it will be more of the same—reaching audiences online and expanding its existing corporate business—plus a dose of old-fashioned geographic expansion once the pandemic lifts.

Even before COVID darkened theaters around the world, Second City faced its share of financial and organizational challenges. The most dramatic of them included a 2015 fire that destroyed its Old Town offices, forcing a rebuild. Then, last summer, longtime CEO and co-owner Andrew Alexander stepped down in the wake of accusations of institutional racism leveled by some performers.

CHALLENGES

Chicago’s burgeoning reputation as a live-theater destination created competitive challenges over the years as well from upstarts like the iO Theater, Annoyance Theatre and others. The pandemic brought the curtain down on all of them, of course. But Jordan Turkewitz, ZMC co-chief investment officer and managing partner, sees lasting value in Second City’s brand. The company knows how to develop talent, counting stars such as Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Keegan-Michael Key and Stephen Colbert as alums. It’s also supplemented its bottom line with live events and corporate training business—one that spawned a management guide inspired by the troupe’s improvisational techniques. And it’s run a digital business that’s positioned it to weather

the COVID freeze-out.

“None of that we want to change,” Turkewitz says. “We just really want to build off all of that.”

Turkewitz declines to comment on specific growth plans, but he says there is opportunity to bring the Second City name to more stages in more cities. He and his fellow investors are also thinking about how to get Second City’s shows in front of more eyeballs.

Second City is “a content creation machine,” says Steve Johnston, Second City’s president and managing partner. There are new characters and comedic premises being developed nightly. It also has a library of content from SecondCityTV, which originated in the 1980s at Second City’s Toronto theater and features alums such as “Schitt’s Creek” stars Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara.

The pandemic pushed Second City to stream its shows online.

Those reach people in more than 40 states and 25 countries. That’s a good start, but ZMC’s backing can help Second City’s talent find success beyond just stage time in a theater, Johnston says.

“The industry is evolving and getting more and more sophisticated.

It’s not a mom-and-pop business anymore,” Johnston says. Second City “needs that next level of sophistication and support to help grow in a way that honors the art and the brand, and also provides more access to talent.”

ZMC brings some serious Hollywood investment bona fides to Second City. The firm was founded in 2001 by Strauss Zelnick, former CEO of Columbia Music Entertainment and chief operating officer of 20th Century Fox. ZMC’s portfolio centers on entertainment properties; one former holding in particular, a production company named Alloy, spawned TV productions including

“Gossip Girl,” “Pretty Little Liars” and “Vampire Diaries.” Another onetime portfolio company, Cast & Crew, provides payroll services to production companies, a business ZMC sold in 2015 for $700 million, according to PitchBook. Remaining an active investment is 9 Story Media Group, the creator of kids’ shows such as “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” and “Wild Kratts.”

INVESTMENTS

The Second City acquisition was part of ZMC’s third fund, which closed in November 2019 with $775 million. The Illinois State Board of Investment is one of four limited partners in the fund, according to PitchBook. ZMC’s first fund closed in 2008 with $147 million, and its second, a $415 million fund, closed in 2014.

With so many investments in the entertainment space and a track record of increasing its fund size, Andee Harris of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management says she could see ZMC taking pieces of Second City and combining them with parts of other companies in its portfolio. Perhaps Second City’s educational content could be paired with an offering from ZMC’s Education Networks of America, for example.

“It increases revenue immediately,” Harris contends.

Second City has long offered comedy classes and corporate partnerships, all of which it quickly took online last year when the pandemic struck.

Digitizing its training center got rid of geographical barriers and helped diversify its student base, says Second City Chief Operating Officer Parisa Jalili. Pre-pandemic, a person had to be in Los Angeles, Toronto or Chicago—where Second City has theaters—to take a

ZAC OSGOOD

SECOND CITY from Page 1

class. Now, one-third of its students come from outside those cities, Jalili says.

As a growth investor, ZMC found that reach appealing, Turkewitz says.

The firm plans to grow and leverage the digital offerings more, even once people can go back to theaters.

“We saw that it wasn’t an idea on a napkin,” he says. “The company was already doing it, and we knew it was going to persist beyond this pandemic.”

Second City has had wins, but it undoubtedly will face hurdles in the coming months. Among them is a challenge plaguing the entire industry: how to reopen and get live audiences back in theaters.

Theaters around the city have now been closed for a full year. Most are struggling to pay bills and questioning their survival.

The iO Theater closed permanent-

ly last year and put itself up for sale about a week after Second City did.

Co-founder Charna Halpern said there have been bites, but no takers.

The Annoyance Theater, which also started offering its comedy classes online, has been cobbling together grants and lobbying for government help for theaters.

Meanwhile, Chicago’s comedians have not been waiting around for theaters to reopen. Stand-up groups performed in parks last summer, and new outfits, such as the Stoop Comedy, have created other opportunities for people to perform.

Despite the challenges, Second City’s management team, which will remain in place, is hopeful.

“We have the opportunity to redefine what success at Second City looks like,” Jalili says. “It’s not limited to just six people on a stage anymore.”

Planning, partnership, outreach and centralization boost vaccination rates PEORIA from Page 1 in Peoria and neighboring Tazewell and Woodford counties, especially among seniors. Most patients are within 15 miles of major health care providers. East Peoria in Tazewell County was designated as a regional vaccine distribution site, meaning doses were close by. And the local health department has strong ties to large hospitals in the area.

“They have all of the pieces: supply, great partnerships, great efficiency in how to register people.

It was centralized,” says Courtney Hedderman, the associate state director of advocacy and outreach at AARP Illinois.

Chicago’s and suburban Cook’s total populations are each more than 13 times the size of Peoria, and more diverse, making their rollouts more complex, health officials say. Dr. Kiran Joshi, co-lead of the Cook County Department of Public Health, added that in suburban Cook, hundreds of thou-

sands of health care workers, first responders and essential workers outnumbered seniors in the first phases of the vaccine rollout. Seniors got priority bookings at the United Center mass vaccination site, which serves both jurisdictions. Meanwhile, the city declared March as “Senior Month,” as part of a push to catch that population up.

While larger jurisdictions like Chicago and Cook County had to coordinate vaccination campaigns with multiple hospitals, clinics, community groups and government-run sites, Peoria relied on a small number of trusted local organizations with broad reach.

Two big hospitals—OSF and UnityPoint—are located right in the middle of the tri-county area, and Heartland Health Center, a federally qualified health center, is nearby. So when health officials convened the three and crunched patient data, they found roughly 90 percent of the county’s seniors

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were already in their systems.

Each had different attack plans for getting patients signed up, and Hendrickson’s team pushed doses to all three to accelerate vaccinations. OSF and UnityPoint also enlisted independent physicians— who are often left out of the loop elsewhere in Illinois—reaching out to ask for lists of patients they could get booked for shots.

“As you can imagine with two large health care entities, we’re fairly competitive with each other,” says Dr. John Miller, the vice president of medical affairs at UnityPoint Health, noting the chain’s downtown Peoria hospital stands just across the highway from OSF St. Francis Medical Center. “But our key to success was cooperation, not competitiveness.”

LOGISTICS

UnityPoint staffed a call center with just under a dozen people to contact patients. At the Methodist Atrium in downtown Peoria, staffers deployed from UnityPoint pri-

mary care clinics can jab up to 700 people per day, Miller says. OSF can inoculate a similar number at a vacant Peoria nursing home converted into a vaccination center.

Both facilities are accessible by bus and don’t have stairs for seniors to climb.

OSF ranked their oldest patients and reached out first to those with the biggest health risks, booking them through an electronic system.

“Patients would call it their golden ticket. They could self-schedule at our clinics and make second-dose appointments. Then we did calls, and we’re now starting text-based messages to say, ‘Hey, we’re waiting to hear from you,’ ” says Sarah Overton, OSF’s chief nursing officer and vice president of clinical services.

AARP’s Hedderman says two of the biggest challenges for Illinois counties have been managing public expectations about shot availability and ensuring equitable distribution of vaccines.

Peoria is working on the latter.

Hendrickson called on nonprofit ambulance service Advanced Medical Transport to bring shots directly to people not connected to a health center.

“We have the people, the vehicles. We have the ability to take the show on the road,” says Josh Bradshaw, AMT’s community resource manager. AMT sends vaccine strike teams to homeless shelters, affordable housing buildings and senior-living facilities. The service expects to have fully vaccinated 1,420 people by the end of March.

Bradshaw says AMT already had a years-long working relationship with Hendrickson’s department, including collaboration on a testing site for first responders earlier in the pandemic. “By the time we got to the vaccine, we had partnerships, relationships, supply channels, so many things figured out that, I don’t want to say it was easy for us, but it wasn’t insurmountable that we could make this happen in an efficient manner.”

Vol. 44, No. 10 – Crain’s Chicago Business (ISSN 0149-6956) is published weekly, except for the last week in December, at 150 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60601-3806. $3.50 a copy, $169 a year. Outside the United States, add $50 a year for surface mail. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, Ill. Postmaster: Send address changes to Crain’s Chicago Business, PO Box 433282, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9688. Four weeks’ notice required for change of address. © Entire contents copyright 2021 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

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