Crain's Chicago Business

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FAST 50 FINALISTS: Here’s our roll call of the fastest-growing companies. PAGE 13

CRAIN’S LIST: How COVID affected the area’s biggest firms. PAGE 17

CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM | MAY 17, 2021 | $3.50

LIGHTFOOT’S BIGGEST OBSTACLE

After two years in office, the mayor’s attention soon turns to re-election.

Her success may turn on her capacity to either change the minds of those around her—or change her own. BY GREG HINZ & A.D. QUIG

M

JOHN R. BOEHM

ayor Lori Lightfoot had good reason to smile on April 28 when she appeared at the groundbreaking for the Bronzeville Winery, a success in her signature Invest South/West program to boost economic development in long-neglected neighborhoods.

Instead of merely cheering the news, however, the mayor took what would normally be a routine opportunity to tout an accomplishment and steered it into personal—and, some would say, divisive—territory.

“Now folks, there are always skeptics and naysayers; people who well tell you that, quote, if the mayor spends too much time in the neighborhoods— and let’s be clear, what they mean is Black and Brown neighborhoods—it will mean that downtown will suffer . . . that I don’t understand business,” See LIGHTFOOT on Page 14

Illinois charges into electric vehicles

Kirkland & Ellis is on a roll, pandemic or no Deal-making drives Chicago law firm’s revenue to an industry-topping $4.8 billion

BY STEVEN R. STRAHLER The pandemic is pushing law firm clients to seek more top-tier legal advice—especially at Kirkland & Ellis.

Kirkland had a gangbusters 2020. Revenue surged to $4.8 billion, the most of any law firm.

Profit climbed 20 percent to $6.2 million—average profit for each

and every equity partner, that is.

So far, Kirkland hasn’t missed a beat since a change at the top a little over a year ago. It is riding a deal-making boom, topping Wall Street bluebloods like Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and running circles around Chicago competitors.

Can Jon Ballis, a lower-key successor to Jeffrey Hammes as

Two assembly plants and a leading research center make the state a leading contender in the new industry

BY JOHN PLETZ Kirkland & Ellis Chair Jon Ballis chair, sustain the momentum as management of larger firms grows more complex? Kirkland has 2,900 lawyers, almost three See KIRKLAND on Page 25

Call it Illinois’ EV Corridor.

A nascent electric vehicle manufacturing hub is taking shape along Interstate 55, where Rivian will start making trucks next month in Normal. Lion Electric said May 7 it will build buses and trucks in Joliet starting next year. Just a little farther up Interstate 55 in Lemont, Ar-

gonne National Laboratory is conducting advanced battery research.

With two assembly plants and a leading research facility, Illinois has positioned itself to become a center of the technology transforming the automotive industry. As automakers move to replace internal combustion engines with electric See ELECTRIC on Page 27

NEWSPAPER l VOL. 44, NO. 20 l COPYRIGHT 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

JOE CAHILL The $20 million club welcomes a record-setting new member.

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CHICAGO BOOTH INSIGHTS Deconstructing the myths about outside advisers. PAGE 8

5/14/21 4:24 PM

2 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Is Illinois hindering Thompson Center’s survival?

BY DENNIS RODKIN The Illinois state agency charged with unloading the James R. Thompson Center is inadvertently hurting the possibility of developers rehabbing the building instead of tearing it down.

Crain’s reported last week that in a request for proposals released May 5, the Illinois Department of Central Management Services did not include a mention that the colorful Randolph Street building might be eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

Such a listing would unlock the possibility of historic preservation tax credits that might make preservation of the building more financially feasible than demolition.

Now, Crain’s has learned that the RFP doesn’t include a mention of eligibility because the agency was unaware of the building’s status. That’s despite the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office determining

more than a dozen years ago that the Thompson Center is eligible for the National Register.

Historic tax credits would likely be a fundamental piece of a developer’s financing package for the building, yet the possibility of getting those credits is not mentioned in the RFP. Earlier last week, John Murphy, whose firm redeveloped the former Cook County Hospital, said that “but for the tax credits, the rehab would not have happened.” Murphy’s $140 million project used about $27 million in tax credits. The $800 million restoration of the Old Post Office used $100 million in tax credits, according to the Chicago Tribune.

It’s not possible to say what amount a Thompson Center project would qualify for in tax credits. That would be determined by what portion of an as-yet undesigned project was deemed preservation.

A proponent of rehabbing the building said that if the possibility of tax credits isn’t on the table, de-

velopers may work up their designs without that option.

“Developers often will consider federal historic tax credits in their pro forma for buildings deemed eligible” for the National Register, said Lisa DiChiera, director of advocacy at Landmarks Illinois, which is not a state agency. The developers then pursue getting the building on the list and the tax credits available for listed buildings.

Without a mention of eligibility in the RFP, developers may not know that this route to preservation is available.

As it turns out, Central Management Services, or CMS, the agency handling the Thompson Center’s sale, doesn’t know, either.

“CMS is not aware of any previous determination of the building’s eligibility on the National Register,” the agency’s press representative, Marjani Williams, said in an email.

Yet DiChiera produced a copy of an October 2009 letter from an of-

JOHN R. BOEHM

The state agency charged with selling the building says it’s unaware of any eligibility for preservation tax credits, but another state agency confirmed it a dozen years ago

James R. Thompson Center ficial of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency that says in its first paragraph, “This property was previously determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.”

The letter was part of discussions of some structural repairs to the Thompson Center and how to re-

clad the exterior afterward in ways that would not later reduce its eligibility for the register.

DiChiera said CMS, which now says it doesn’t know of eligibility, was part of the 2009 discussions.

Marjani said in an email that the building is not now listed on the register and that the National Park Service informed CMS that without being on the register, the Thompson Center “will not be eligible for federal historic preservation tax credits.”

Landmarks Illinois and several other groups, including the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects and Preservation Chicago, recently began an effort to get the Thompson Center, designed by the late Helmut Jahn and built in 1985, listed on the National Register before the state sells the building, which it aims to do next year.

“CMS is not advocating for any specific development plans or approaches,” the agency said in a statement emailed to Crain’s, “and has developed an RFP that provides bidders sufficient flexibility to help ensure a sale and redevelopment of the Thompson Center is feasible, including redevelopment concepts.”

Reducing inequality starts with scholarship tax credits

I

outcomes. They could help to mitigate the increase in inequality exacerbated by COVID-19.

Research by the Urban Institute shows tax credit scholarships raise high school graduation rates, college enrollment and college attainment of recipients—mostly children from low-income households. In Florida, for example, scholarship recipients were 12 percent more likely to go to college. Those who had received a scholarship from grade 8 to 10 were 2 percentage points more likely to graduate college.

The program helps moms, too.

In 2020, when many women with children lost their jobs and some women were forced out of the workforce because their kids were not in classrooms, scholarship recipients got a lifeline: the ability to send their kids to school.

A survey conducted in November and December 2020 found that while 60 PRITZKER’S POLICY DECISIONS percent of private-school ARE AT ODDS WITH HIS RHETORIC. students were receiving full in-person instruction, only 24 percent of traditional pubof women—especially Black and lic-school students were. Research Hispanic mothers—caused by found that public school closures COVID-19. were unwarranted because K-12 The Invest in Kids Scholarship in-person learning had no effect Tax Credit program was enacted on the spread of COVID-19. in 2017 to help improve access to Research shows students better education opportunities in grades 1-12 affected by the for children from low-income and closures can expect a 3 percent working-class families. Empower Illinois reported the average annu- decrease in income during their lifetimes. While the Chicago al household income of particiTeachers Union kept Chicago pants is $38,000. The vast majority Public Schools—where the bulk of the donations to the program of students are non-white and 76 come from individuals.

Pritzker, who is a vocal advocate percent of them are economically of reducing income inequality, has disadvantaged—from reopening, tax credit scholarship recipients every reason to be a proponent were likely more able to reap the of the Invest in Kids program. benefits of in-person instrucIn other states with scholarship tion and to avoid falling further tax credits, these programs have behind when compared to more been found to improve student n his February budget address, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed nine new taxes he says will generate $932 million in revenue. He’s calling these proposals “corporate tax loopholes,”but a scholarship tax credit program that gives scholarships to low-income students is on the chopping block.

First, low-income kids aren’t corporate loopholes. Second, with state revenues now exceeding pre-pandemic levels, why is the program up for cuts at all?

Removing these tax credits would hurt the education of kids who benefit from these scholarships and their families—mostly low-income Illinoisans—thus contributing to a more unequal Illinois economy. When many Illinois public schools did not offer in-person learning, these scholarships likely curbed the large decline in labor force participation

P002_CCB_20210517.indd 2

affluent families.

Lastly, reducing enrollment at public schools doesn’t mean decreased funding for public schools. Since 2018, when the program launched, state education spending grew more each year than in the past. Additionally, the state’s education-funding formula has a hold harmless provision, so even if a student leaves public school via the scholarship program, school districts’ revenue can never fall below where it was when the scholarship program began.

ORPHE DIVOUNGUY ON THE ECONOMY

Since first announcing his run for governor, Pritzker claimed he wanted to reduce inequality and make the Illinois economy more inclusive. However, his policy decisions are at odds with his rhetoric. The push to reduce and

ultimately end Illinois’ scholarship tax credits hurts the people he says he wants to help.

Crain’s contributor Orphe Divounguy is chief economist at the Illinois Policy Institute.

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5/14/21 3:24 PM

How much is enough for Exelon?

The power giant wants more ratepayer support than Pritzker is offering

GETTY IMAGES

BY STEVE DANIELS

Chris Noble, a member of People Before Profit, calls for the suspension of intellectual property restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines during a rally outside Moderna’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., in March.

PUSH FOR VACCINE PATENT WAIVERS

WORRIES DRUGMAKERS Backers say it would help end pandemic; foes wonder where it would end BY STEPHANIE GOLDBERG

P003_CCB_20210517.indd 3

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed specific subsidy levels to preserve two Exelon-owned nuclear plants slated to close; Exelon has different ideas.

DRESDEN NUCLEAR STATION

Megawatt-hours generated in 2019: 15.1 million Pritzker-proposed subsidy $3.50 per megawatt-hour, $52 million annually New Jersey-level subsidy cited by Exelon $10 per megawatt-hour, $151 million annually

BYRON NUCLEAR STATION

Megawatt-hours generated in 2019: 20.3 million Pritzker-proposed subsidy $1 per megawatt-hour, $20 million annually New Jersey-level subsidy cited by Exelon $10 per megawatt-hour, $203 million annually Sources: Company statements and data; Pritzker plan

keep open the Dresden and Byron stations, which otherwise are slated to close this fall. The company even refused an invitation to appear May 11 before a House See EXELON on Page 26

Firm still sees gold in serving the silver set

BY DANNY ECKER

The Biden administration recently said the U.S. would participate in negotiations at the World Trade Organization to help boost vaccine supply in poor counties. up supply chains in the process.

Albert Bourla, CEO of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Pfizer, warned in a recent open letter that “entities with little or no experience in manufacturing vaccines are likely to chase the very raw materials we require to scale our production, putting the safety and security of all at risk,” if patents are waived.

See DRUGMAKERS on Page 25

COVID-19 has been especially painful for Ventas. As one of the largest owners of senior housing in the country, the Chicago-based real estate investment trust scrambled to fight off outbreaks of the virus at its facilities early in the pandemic, cut a quarter of its corporate staff to brace for financial pain and watched as vacancy steadily rose with demand for its properties gutted.

But the crisis appears to have done little to shake up its strategy.

Despite a public health catastrophe that has clobbered its profits and pushed one of its top rivals away from senior housing toward the fast-growing life sciences sector, Ventas has mostly stayed on the path it was following before COVID. The REIT over the past year has made incremental

VENTAS

TALK OF TEMPORARILY LIFTING intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines raises questions about the future of patent protections for lifesaving drugs, devices and medical supplies.

To help increase access to vaccines in poor countries, the Biden administration recently said the U.S. would participate in World Trade Organization negotiations over waiving intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies. The U.S. previously was among wealthy nations opposed to easing patent protections.

“Once you start saying that a particular type of intellectual property is no longer going to be respected, people start worrying about: What’s the limiting principle here? What’s stopping you from applying this to other settings?” says Craig Garthwaite, a health economist at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

In the case of COVID-19, waiver advocates say the move would help increase vaccine availability globally, preventing the virus from spreading and generating new variants. Patent protections make vaccines more costly, an obstacle to widespread immunization in developing countries like India, the current epicenter of the pandemic.

But critics argue that waiving patents will do little to increase supply and could instead promote an influx of unsafe or less effective shots, hindering the world’s ability to end the pandemic and jamming

Who blinks?

With only a little over two weeks left until the end of the Legislature’s spring session, Gov. J.B. Pritzker may have to emulate the governor he deposed and force ratepayers to shell out hundreds of millions annually if he wants to save two nuclear plants on the brink of closing.

Thanks to scandal, though, the company he’s staring down, Exelon, isn’t the potent force in Springfield it was nearly five years ago when Bruce Rauner signed into law $235 million a year in subsidies to keep open two other nukes, the Clinton and Quad Cities stations.

Exelon’s tactics differ in an important respect as well. Unlike in 2016, the company won’t detail its demands in the way that matters most—dollars and cents—to

BAILOUT BATTLE

The pandemic shook the senior-living biz, but Ventas is hanging on

GETTY IMAGES

on of D-19 unity heades in /The

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 3

Ventas owns the Sunrise Assisted Living property in Lincoln Park. moves to beef up its life sciences and medical office businesses, but its future remains largely tied to the same bet it has been making for years: Running assisted and independent senior living facilities designed to serve aging baby boomers over the next decade is its ticket to growth.

The company this month reported the first back-to-back months of occupancy upticks in its senior housing portfolio since the onset of the crisis, a badly needed sign that a segment that accounts for See VENTAS on Page 24

5/14/21 4:20 PM

4 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

JOE CAHILL

CHICAGO COMES BACK

ON BUSINESS

Flouting COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings, the $20 million club threw its doors open wide last year, welcoming a record number of Chicago-area CEOs across the magic compensation threshold.

The club expanded to seven members in 2020, the highest count since it opened in 2012.

New blood poured in last year, with only two of 2019’s six members returning.

Leading the way was Oak Street Health CEO Mike Pykosz, whose $73.5 million pay package set another club record. All but about $1 million of Pykosz’s staggering haul reflects stock and option awards. A company spokeswoman says “a significant portion” of his 2020 total reflects the accounting treatment of equity awarded in previous years that increased dramatically in value when the operator of medical clinics went public last year. Reporting rules required the company to disclose the increased value as 2020 compensation, she explains.

Returning members Richard Gonzalez of AbbVie and

RAISES FOR CHICAGO-AREA BOSSES LAGGED A BIT. Gregory Brown of Motorola Solutions followed Pykosz with $24 million and $23 million, respectively. Next came newcomers Juan Luciano of ADM at $22 million and Allstate’s Thomas Wilson with $21.1 million. Boeing’s new CEO David Calhoun pocketed $21.1 million, all but $559,000 of it from a giant stock grant. Robert Ford, who took over at Abbott Labs last year, got $20.5 million.

Ford succeeded longtime club stalwart Miles White, who became executive chairman of Abbott after handing off the CEO title. Other dropouts were Caterpillar’s James Umpleby, whose pay sank below the club bar, along with Samuel Allen and Rich Williams, who stepped down as CEOs of Deere and Groupon, respectively.

Excluding Pykosz’s staggering $71.2 million raise, the biggest pay hike went to Christopher Kempczinski of McDonald’s.

Kempczinski got a $5.6 million raise to $10.8 million for his first full year as CEO of the burger chain, which promoted him to the top job in November 2019.

His total included stock and option awards worth a combined $9.5 million.

Umpleby took the biggest pay cut among local CEOs. His pay fell to $13.7 million from $34.5 million, a $20.8 million drop. An $18.2 million noncash

P004_CCB_20210517.indd 4

adjustment to his pension value inflated the 2019 figure.

Local CEOs as a group did well, despite the devastating impact of coronavirus restrictions on wide swaths of the economy.

Median pay for bosses of 103 Chicago-area publicly traded companies rose 5.2 percent to $6.3 million, according to data compiled by ISS Corporate Solutions, a Rockville, Md.based executive compensation, corporate governance and sustainability consultancy.

Rising pay locally tracked national trends as compensation packages weighted toward equity lifted executives above the pandemic’s downdraft.

Stock and option awards drove compensation higher, even as some CEOs took temporary salary cuts and did without cash bonuses.

Raises for Chicago-area bosses lagged a bit, ICS data shows. Median pay for Russell 3000 CEOs rose 6.5 percent to $3.8 million. Local CEOs also were slightly less likely to get raises. Pay increased for 56 percent of them, compared with 59 percent nationally. The median raise for a Chicago-area CEO was 14.4 percent, below the national median bump of 18.4 percent.

Smaller raises likely reflect the composition of corporate Chicago, which includes some big companies in industries hit hard

by COVID and relatively few major players in sectors boosted by its effect on commerce.

“Chicago is dominated by companies that wouldn’t have benefited most from the pandemic,” says ICS Executive Director Brian Johnson, noting a lack of e-commerce giants in the area.

CEO pay fell sharply at local companies in the travel sector, which suffered badly as people canceled trips and stayed home.

Scott Kirby, promoted to CEO of United Airlines last year, took just $168,000 in salary and got no cash bonus. As a result, his overall compensation plunged by nearly half to $8.9 million.

Hyatt Hotels CEO Mark Hoplamazian took an 11.6 percent cut to $13 million as his salary fell to $318,000 from $1.2 million and his cash bonus dropped to zero from $1.9 million.

Yet CEOs of local companies generally did better than their shareholders last year. The 5.2 percent rise in median pay exceeded the 3.5 percent increase in Bloomberg’s index of Illinois stocks, which badly trailed an 18.8 percent rise in the Russell 3000 and the S&P 500’s 16.3 percent gain.

Recovery is up to you now, business leaders

BLOOMBERG

Meet the new king of the $20 million club

From increasing vaccinations, working safely and maintaining progress, challenges are still lurking. Strong leaders can step in and remind us of our shared obligation.

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: Here is some data out about vaccine rates in Illinois: More than 9 million doses have been administered, and about one-third of Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated.

More than 70 percent of residents over the age of 65 have received their first dose. So, this is all good news. But there are some challenges lurking. Mortality rates and hospitalizations in recent weeks have increased, and the daily vaccine rate from April 2 to May 2 has declined about 41 percent. A lot of progress has been made, but there’s also a fear that there could be a plateauing effect.

What are we to make of this as it relates to bringing Chicago back?

EMILY DRAKE: Well, certainly you and I are no public health experts or epidemiologists, but what we can talk about are some of the questions we can ask ourselves individually and what business leaders trying to frame their return strategies might be asking themselves. I worry about the mental health implications, and the psychological whiplash, of preparing for a return after a hard-fought winter and a collective discipline that has been required only to feel as though the answer may be “not yet.” There are broader questions that arise if a percentage of people opt not to receive the vaccine, making herd immunity elusive. We’ve been talking a lot about this very question, about our obligations to our neighborhood, our community and our society.

TC: This is certainly a bigger con-

versation—one we will not answer here—about the tension between individual rights and collective responsibility we hold as a society. Collapsing levels of trust, not to mention widespread misinformation, set the preconditions for a challenging recovery. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2021, business, government, non-governmental organizations and media have all seen their trust index in the U.S. decline over the course of the last decade. Of those four institutions, business received the highest trust index score. Globally, business is the most trusted institution and the only institution to earn the “trust” designation on the trust index score. I find it fascinating that business is also the only institution among those four viewed as ethical and competent.

ED: It is fascinating, but also depressing, because historically we would have assumed trust for scientists, government experts, clergy and other community leaders.

Given this fact, though, business has a chance to lead in ways that may feel different and uncomfortable, but required. If this is true, business really will set the conditions for how we come back to work and back to life as a society. What some have to say about vaccine skepticism, business might counter with invitations to return, safety protocols, clear messaging and expectations for being vaccinated. Clarity is what we need, but even when we get it, sometimes fear and instinct win out. I would encourage everyone, always, to slow down a bit and

dig a little deeper—past the fear, to the source.

TC: Right. Business can certainly normalize behaviors and set expectations for our return—even when it comes to the vaccine.

According to a Rockefeller Foundation survey, 65 percent of employers plan to offer incentives for employees to get vaccinated, and 63 percent will require some kind of proof of vaccination.

Overall, 44 percent will require employees to be vaccinated, 31 percent will just encourage vaccinations and 14 percent will require some employees to be vaccinated. There is this strange dichotomy of some people wanting what they want in terms of freedoms and full access but also rejecting any sacrifice, individual contribution or community responsibility that might also be required. As long as we live together in a society, my sense is we can’t have both, and some mature voices that remind us of our shared obligation to each other in this collective society will be required. Business might be just that voice.

ED: I’m optimistic about how we stay better together in the shortterm. The disturbances created by vaccine decision-making and policies bringing us back to the office will reveal more of what we have to work through and work on together as leaders. There’s no finish line here, but part of our truth as a city, state and country is that the challenges we are seeing with our recovery are indicators of where community and collective responsibility may have atrophied. Those challenges are where strong leaders can step in and remind us of our shared obligation. As we open up, see each other face-to-face and greet each other again, maybe there will be softening there. And if businesses lead the way in that, as they are in so many ways, I think that’s a great use of power.

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6 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

LUXURY HOME OF THE WEEK Advertising Section

THE TAKEAWAY

Molly McShane McShane took over in October as CEO of McShane Cos., a Rosemontbased construction and development business. She succeeds her father, Jim McShane, 76, who founded the business in 1984 and remains chairman.

A graduate of Boston College and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, she joined the company in 2002 after working briefly in advertising. McShane, 44, is one of five children; only one other sibling— Dan, general counsel—works for the company. She and her husband have two girls and live in Bucktown. By Alby Gallun

> How is it leading a company during a pandemic?

Having such a big change in leadership almost came at a good time because everyone is so open-minded to change that it felt like not the biggest one we had been through.

>

What have you done to maintain your sanity during this crazy time?

Pre-pandemic, I had a very hard time finding moments to exercise. And ever since we started working from home, I've been a daily exerciser, which has been wonderful. Especially in the early days when it was a lot more stressful—really kept my stress levels at bay.

<

Your first job?

My first paycheck type of job was at the public pool in Deerfield. I was 14. I taught swimming lessons. You couldn't lifeguard until you were 16.

Swim lessons didn't make you enough money, so all of us 14-year-olds had to work in the concession stand as well.

It was kind of swim teacher/nachocheese pourer.

<

It wasn't really a disruption to your work on job sites, was it?

Luckily not. Almost every location that we were in, we were considered an essential activity. There were a couple of counties in California that shut down some of our jobs momentarily.

> Peloton?

No, it's an indoor bike, but it's a recumbent because I have some back issues.

>

NONPROFITS:

Do you have a new 2021 event to share?

Submit Your Event at chicagobusiness.com/submitbigdates21

P006_CCB_20210517.indd 6

>

On June 21 Crain’s will be publishing Big Dates 2.1, an update for all non-profit fundraising events taking place July-December 2021.

Submissions are FREE. Deadline is May 21.

Was there an expectation that you would work for the family business?

It really wasn't a family business. It was my dad's business and that's how all of us thought of it. We didn't talk about it at home.

When I had moved back to Chicago, dad suggested I give it a try. I initially rebuffed him because I said I'm not qualified. I think many of us women tend to do that.

Talk about your experience being a woman in construction.

I don't think my experience being a woman in this field is drastically different than the experiences a lot of women have. I think I probably encountered a different type of challenge once I had children. Being a mother in the workforce in general presents challenges that, honestly, are more severe because you can see them as career limiting. When I see women who encounter certain challenges that I'm familiar with, I encourage them to talk about (those challenges) with their male peers and male supervisors so that men can understand what we're going through and be allies in the struggle to get things right.

5/13/21 6:25 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 7

Will Lincoln Parkers support this big apartment project?

Royal Bank offers commercial loans with attractive rates and terms.

The owner of Lakeshore Sport & Fitness is planning a huge redevelopment that would make the property the tallest building for several blocks in any direction The owner of Lakeshore Sport & Fitness is drawing up plans for a major redevelopment of its Lincoln Park property, expanding the club and adding a block of apartments that would top out at 14 floors, making it the tallest building for several blocks in any direction.

The health club plans to add onto its existing building at 1320 W. Fullerton Ave., says Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), who represents the neighborhood. Lakeshore representatives will present their plans for the property at a May 25 Zoom meeting, a key step in the process to obtain a zoning change for the project from the City Council.

Hopkins isn’t sure how many apartments Lakeshore plans at the property, but a building of that size could encompass a lot, even with a health club on its lower floors. Given its scale, the proposal could face resistance from neighborhood residents over its density and potential impact on traffic.

“Traffic is already a concern” in the area, Hopkins says.

A Lakeshore executive declined to discuss the project. Apartments are the option of choice for many developers these days.

Though the pandemic and civil unrest hurt demand for high-rise rental housing downtown last year, neighborhood landlords have fared better. With the pandemic waning and economy improving, the outlook for the North Side apartment is positive.

to the Sheffield Neighborhood Association, a neighborhood group with an influential voice on development issues. SNA President Brian Comer declined to discuss specifics until the May 25 meeting and says he would keep his thoughts on the proposal to himself until then.

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Lakeshore Sport & Fitness

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EXPANSION PLANS

The Fullerton Avenue project would include “residential apartments, rooftop amenities and expanded facilities for Lakeshore Sport & Fitness,” Hopkins writes in an email to constituents about the May 25 presentation.

The alderman is short on further details and says he’s reserving judgment on the proposal until he receives input from constituents. Under City Hall custom, the City Council typically won’t consider a zoning change for a proposed development unless the alderman representing the neighborhood signs off on it first.

At 14 stories, the project would stand out in a neighborhood with few buildings exceeding five stories. Several tall towers rise on the eastern edge of Lincoln Park, the tallest being Eugenie Terrace at 44 stories, and developers recently completed two 19-story apartment towers on the former Children’s Memorial Hospital site, at Fullerton, Lincoln Avenue and Halsted Street. But heights taper off further west along Fullerton.

Lakeshore representatives have already presented their proposal

P007_CCB_20210517.indd 7

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8 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Deconstructing the myths about outside advisers

I

once spent some time on a board of outside advisers for a company that had a failing division. Try as he might, the CEO just couldn’t turn things around in this one area.

When he finally turned to the advisory board, I connected him with a noncompeting company that I knew had dealt with similar problems. In no time, our CEO had learned enough to correct the division’s problems and make it a success.

These types of stories abound in the business world, leading to a

command decisions as needed.

All of this is pretty much nonsense, of course. Insiders work 50-60 hours a week in the business, and outside advisers visit for a few hours each quarter. Even so, I think there are good reasons to consider assembling a board of outside advisers.

Outside advisers have probably been a few places you haven’t and may know some people you don’t.

They not only offer advice based on their own experiences but can connect you with resources to which you wouldn’t otherwise have access.

As a result of their OUTSIDE ADVISERS HAVE PROBABLY independence and objectivity, they’re BEEN A FEW PLACES YOU HAVEN’T AND also able to address MAY KNOW SOME PEOPLE YOU DON’T. topics that other employees can’t or won’t. mystique about outside advisers. Outsiders can uniquely add value They’re thought to be endowed when a CEO has an underperformwith supernatural powers or to ing division and doesn’t want to possess more and special knowl- talk about it or when an acquisition edge about a wider range of topics fails to live up to projections but no than those inside a business. In one is asking for a review.

They have no favorite solutions addition, outside board members are assumed to be ready to make to most problems. They tend to

James E. Schrager is a clinical professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

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

be less informed but more objective. They know they are a part of a team and not the leader. And outsiders can proffer safe paths of communication between different levels of executives.

AN ORDERLY PROCESS

One of the most important areas where outsiders can aid an enterprise is succession planning. This is a huge challenge to all businesses, small and large. The exercise is fraught with danger, and many

GETTY IMAGES

Those with different experiences and objectivity can be real assets

CEOs have not experienced this before.

Outsiders should not pick the next CEO, but rather run a thoughtful and orderly process so the best choice will be clear. Here the experience of outside directors at other companies and their objectivity comes directly into play.

I don’t have any magical ad-

vice on how to choose an outside adviser, but I can say this: Consider thoughtful people who have been around business, know a wide range of people and are bold enough to say necessary but difficult things. They won’t live up to the mythology that’s out there, but they’ll be assets when tough decisions need objectivity.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 9

Grubhub offers restaurants a cheaper alternative

BY JOHN PLETZ Grubhub is offering restaurants access to its food-ordering technology for their own websites.

It’s an attempt to answer some of the biggest complaints about Grubhub and other online ordering and delivery platforms such as DoorDash and Uber Eats. Instead of paying a marketing commission of roughly 10 percent to 15 percent for each order through Grubhub’s app, restaurants will pay a monthly subscription fee to use the software. Restaurants also will have control over the data about their customers, Grubhub says.

Grubhub has offered backend technology services for several years, but mainly to large restaurant chains. DoorDash already offers a similar service to restaurants.

“We’re constantly listening and learning from our independent restaurant partners, and we’ve heard them. Restaurants want more options to build their brands online and maintain a loyal base of diners through their own channels,” Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney said in a statement.

Restaurants have long bristled at losing regular customers to mobile apps such as Grubhub, which then keep the data

com, which should reduce some of the focus on Grubhub’s bottom line. Grubhub and other delivery platforms have been enjoying big increases in business as the COVID-19 pandemic forced diners to order out. Grubhub’s first-quarter revenue was up 52 percent from a year earlier.

But Grubhub and peers already are at risk from regulators and legislators who are ques-

tioning their fees and business practices, such as control over customer data, as well as listing restaurants on the apps without their permission. During the pandemic, cities such as Chicago imposed limits on marketing and delivery fees that the companies can charge to restaurants. Some cities and states are considering making those caps permanent.

BLOOMBERG

A fee change and software offering are an attempt to answer some of the biggest complaints about the Chicago-based online delivery platform

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“RESTAURANTS WANT MORE OPTIONS TO BUILD THEIR BRANDS ONLINE AND MAINTAIN A LOYAL BASE OF DINERS THROUGH THEIR OWN CHANNELS.” Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney

on those diners. Services such as Grubhub were marketed to restaurants as ways to reach new customers. But as those apps grew, existing customers began ordering on them, as well.

“It’s nothing special,” Dan Raskin, co-owner of Manny’s Deli in the South Loop, says of the new offering from Grubhub.

“This is offered by many companies at reasonable fees. When our diners order on Grubhub, they’re still getting all my data.”

BITING THE BULLET

Losing commissions from restaurants that opt for monthly subscription could cut into Grubhub’s revenue. Restaurants will pay a one-time $99 sign-up fee and $49 monthly, although Grubhub is waiving both fees through April 2022.

Now seems as good a time as any for the move. The company’s shareholders will vote June 10 on its merger with a European company, Just Eat Takeaway.

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5/14/21 3:28 PM

10 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

ga re gr

EDITORIAL

t’s hard to find anything good to say about nearly a year of remote learning.

For some kids, months of Zooming without in-class contact with both teachers and fellow students has had disastrous consequences and unintended effects—educational, social and emotional—that we are only just beginning to understand.

The fear, of course, is that our children have fallen woefully behind, and catching up could take months or years. What we know for sure is that we cannot afford another semester of remote learning. It’s asking too much of teachers, parents and, most important, our kids, who need to be back in the classroom for a panoply of reasons. And with the vaccine now widely available to virtually everyone who wants it, the rationales for continuing to keep children out of the classroom and away from their vaccine-eligible teachers grow thinner by the day.

That’s why we were thrilled when Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, made her surprise call May 13 for a full reopening of public schools by the fall.

“Conditions have changed,’’ Weingarten said. “We can and must reopen schools in the fall for in-person teaching, learning and support. And keep them open. Fully and safely for five days a week.’’

What we found less than thrilling was the Chicago Teachers Union’s rather tepid response, sowing yet more contentious uncertainty about whether it can or will be on board.

“President Weingarten is a national leader.

Our work is centered on Chicago, and Black and Brown families in Chicago are centered

WTTW NEWS

I

A tough lesson about remote learning

on justice and fairness. They will need more than vaccines to instill confidence in returning their children to school buildings,” including strong ventilation systems and safety protocols agreed to after engagement with “parents, students and educators” about how to best spend COVID relief funds flowing soon to the district, the CTU, a unit of Weingarten’s national organization, said in a statement to Crain’s.

No one argues that a full, five-day-a-week return to the classroom could be done safely without continuing many of the enhanced precautions that have already been put in place by Chicago Public Schools officials.

Keeping teachers and children safe is the top priority.

What is increasingly apparent is that children need the best chance to succeed. If there’s anything that the past year taught us, it’s that remote learning falls short on so many fronts.

What Weingarten is recognizing is pure and simple: The vaccines are working to drive infection rates down. Her comments came during a flurry of positive news about the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. and in Illinois in the past couple of weeks. Both the city and state are moving closer to full normalcy as infection rates

continue to fall locally and nationally. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention pulled back on mask mandates, announcing that those who have been vaccinated no longer need to wear masks in most settings—a stunning recognition of the success and pace at which the vaccines are working in our communities.

Even Lollapalooza is reportedly feeling giddy, for good reason. Of course, an outdoor music festival getting the green light to reopen this summer is not a benchmark for reopening schools fully. But it is a recognition of this: We have crossed a significant milestone in the fight against COVID-19.

And with reports that we are unlikely to reach herd immunity anytime soon, we are learning to live with the virus more successfully, as many scientists have expected for many months. But the future of Chicago and its recovery from a year that we would all like to forget depends so much on getting our schools back to functioning at full power.

We agree with the CTU that more work needs to be done to engage with families, especially in Black and Brown communities. The city needs to work harder to get the vaccine out to the neighborhoods where vaccine adoption rates are still low. But what the CTU needs to do is put forth a good-faith effort to work collaboratively with CPS and place the needs of children first, rather than turning the conversation over reopening into another opportunity to score a win over the administration.

Taking a cue from one of the largest national teachers unions and giving full-throated support to in-person learning this fall would be a nice place to start.

YOUR VIEW

M G n F p ri ch h in

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Assista

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Why the PRO Act would harm gig economy workers

A

s we take stock of all the change brought about by the global pandemic, there are some we hope never to see again and others that should be here to stay.

The increase in ways to earn and make ends meet when times get hard is one of those we need to maintain. The prevalence of the “gig economy” has been an economic lifeline for thousands of Illinois residents. When large employers cut jobs or people realized they needed more flexibility to keep up with children doing school from home, they turned to the gig economy. Instead of being forced to adhere to a rigid 9-to-5 job, this new model allows people to earn income on their own time, set their own hours and be their own boss.

It’s a model that fits these challenging economic times well. It gives students a chance to pursue a college degree with extra income they can make on the side.

It gives retirees the freedom to add some much-needed cushion to their Social Security checks. These types of jobs can help

Larry Ivory is president and CEO of the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce.

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

bridge income when between jobs, or they can help people earn extra money when times get tight or there’s a specific financial goal. That’s the beauty—they’re flexible.

Essentially, independent app-based work has increased something that’s cherished in the United States: freedom.

This has been a particularly important source of income for people in under-

served communities in Chicago—those who have been disproportionately impacted by skyrocketing unemployment.

But despite this, Congress is considering a move that could eliminate this source of income for thousands of Illinois drivers and deny them the flexibility on which they depend.

In many cases, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act—or PRO Act—would force independent workers for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and the like to be recategorized as employees, limiting the accommodating schedules that make these jobs so valuable in the first place. It would also take away flexible work options and limit workers’ ability to earn extra income.

If you talk to drivers, they’ll tell you this isn’t what they want. Almost 90 percent of Illinois app-based workers work less than 15 hours per week. Nearly three-quarters of drivers nationally want to remain independent, according to an independent poll from the blog Rideshare Guy. In another survey, 82 percent of respondents

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_20210517.indd 10

said that they would rather be considered an independent contractor than an employee, and 90 percent said their employment classification is a “good arrangement” for them.

Instead of trying to force old rules on a new economy, Congress should create rules for this new economy that pro-

Peo

ESSENTIALLY, INDEPENDENT APP-BASED WORK HAS INCREASED SOMETHING THAT’S CHERISHED IN THE UNITED STATES: FREEDOM. tect the independence and flexibility on which drivers depend, while providing access to benefits and protections all workers deserve.

Illinois lawmakers have wisely protected access to jobs and flexibility that gig workers in badly need. Congress should follow suit.

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.

5/14/21 3:26 PM

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 11

Crain’s wins top honors in two key journalism contests Crain’s Chicago Business has garnered several honors in two recent journalism awards programs.

The Chicago Headline Club on May 13 granted Crain’s its coveted General Excellence award in the non-daily category. Crain’s Aug. 27 Forum on Education—part of the publication’s ongoing monthly series exploring major public policy challenges facing the region—won honors for best education reporting in the non-daily category.

Several individual staffers were also singled out for special honors in the competition. Crain’s Digi-

n g ll

tg d

On May 11, Crain’s staffers learned they had received several honors in the annual Best in Business Awards sponsored by the Society for Advancing Business Editing & Writing at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Crain’s columnist Joe Cahill won top honors for commentary and opinion. Crain’s monthly Forum work won top data journalism honors for McGregor as well as contributing writers and editors Steven R. Strahler, David Mendell, Cassandra West and Bob Secter.

The Forum also won in SABEW’s innovation division, with McGregor and contributors Secter, Mendell and Alex Garcia sharing top honors.

In SABEW’s feature division, Ecker won an honorable mention, as did Pletz in the travel and transportation competition.

“I’m continually proud of this staff and the outstanding journalism we produce on a daily basis,” says Jim Kirk, group publisher and executive editor of Crain’s city business publications. “It is wonderful to see that others recognize it as well.‘’

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/ Joe Cahill columnist Assistant managing editor/digital Ann R. Weiler Deputy digital editor Todd J. Behme Digital design editor Jason McGregor Associate creative director Karen Freese Zane Copy chief Scott Williams Copy editor Robert Garcia Deputy digital editor/ Sarah Zimmerman audience and social media Forum editor Cassandra West Contributing editor Jan Parr Political columnist Greg Hinz Senior reporters Steve Daniels Alby Gallun John Pletz Reporters Danny Ecker Stephanie Goldberg Wendell Hutson Ally Marotti A.D. Quig Dennis Rodkin Steven R. Strahler Contributing photographer John R. Boehm Researcher Sophie H. Rodgers *** Director of digital strategy Frank Sennett Director of custom media Sarah Chow *** Production manager David Adair Account executives Claudia Hippel Christine Rozmanich Bridget Sevcik

n eo-

D N

tal Design Editor Jason McGregor won the best graphics award for his work on Chicago Transit Authority ridership coverage as well as his work on Crain’s Forum; Crain’s Senior Reporter John Pletz won best technology reporting; health care reporter Stephanie Goldberg won best in-depth reporting honors; real estate reporter Danny Ecker won for best in-depth reporting in a business magazine or newspaper; Crain’s contributors John R. Boehm and Zac Osgood won best photography honors; and Crain’s Editor Ann Dwyer won for best editorial writing.

Laura Warren Courtney Rush Amy Skarnulis People on the Move manager Debora Stein Events/marketing coordinator Lauren Jackson Project manager Joanna Metzger Marketing manager Jessica Dalka Digital designer Christine Balch Crain Communications Inc. Keith E. Crain Chairman KC Crain Chief executive officer Lexie Crain Armstrong Secretary Veebha Mehta

Mary Kay Crain Vice chairman Chris Crain Senior executive vice president Robert Recchia Chief financial officer Chief marketing officer

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5/14/21 3:26 PM

12 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Loop office building goes back on the market The owners of 200 W. Jackson start shopping the property again after a 2019 deal fell apart More than two years after a deal to sell the office building at 200 W. Jackson Blvd. fell apart, the owners of the Loop property are trying again.

A joint venture of Chicago-based White Oak Realty Partners and New York-based Angelo Gordon has hired the Chicago office of Cushman & Wakefield to sell the 29-story tower. The asking price for the 487,000-square-foot building is unclear, but sources familiar with the offering say bids are expected in the range of $150 million.

That would be in line with an agreement the owners reached in early 2019 to sell the building to New York Life Real Estate Investors, a sale that would have capitalized on rising rents and a rush of demand for downtown office space at the time. But that deal was never finalized, and the owners ultimately refinanced the property with an $88 million loan from Wells Fargo in May 2019, according to Cook County property records.

The White Oak-Angelo Gordon venture financed its $73.3 million purchase of the property in 2015 with a $71 million loan, according to property records, which would be put toward renovating and leasing up the building. Records show

that original loan amount was increased three times to an eventual high of $105.7 million in 2018. A Cushman marketing flyer says the owners spent more than $50 million on leasing commissions and upgrades to the building since 2015. It’s unclear whether there is any other debt on the property beyond the 2019 loan.

TRYING IT AGAIN

Now White Oak and Angelo Gordon are shopping the building again, against a very different backdrop than before. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed downtown office vacancy to an all-time high, weighed down landlords’ ability to increase rents, driven up the concessions and perks needed to lure tenants and raised questions about future demand for workspace as many companies plan to allow employees to work from home or remotely more frequently. Few downtown office buildings have traded since the public health crisis began 14 months ago, meaning the Jackson building will help reshape the market, measuring investor appetite for Loop office buildings.

But the property is now 94 percent leased, up from 85 percent when the owners reached the 2019 deal. Market research company Nielsen, which

COSTAR GROUP

BY DANNY ECKER

The downtown office building for sale at 200 W. Jackson Blvd. is currently 94 percent leased, up from last year. roughly tripled its footprint in the building in 2017 to 215,000 square feet as part of a consolidation of Chicago-area offices, reinforced its commitment in September when it announced it would move its consumer market research unit headquarters to the building from New York and add about 50 local jobs over a two-year period. The company’s lease for 44 percent of the building runs

through 2034 with no termination or contraction options, according to the Cushman flyer.

An Angelo Gordon spokesman declined to comment, and a spokesman for White Oak couldn’t be reached.

The landlords aren’t the only Loop office owners looking to cash out as COVID-related public restrictions ease and companies start calling their workers back to offices.

Cushman’s Chicago-based capital markets team is also listing a 25-story office building at 100 N. LaSalle St. for sale on behalf of Toronto-based BentallGreenOak. The Chicago office of Jones Lang LaSalle is marketing the 26-story building at 2 N. LaSalle St. to prospective buyers. Nearby, German investor GLL Real Estate has also hired JLL to sell the 18-story office building at 550 W. Adams St.

Forced sales in Aon-Willis merger benefit rival Gallagher

BY STEVE DANIELS Arthur J. Gallagher is a big beneficiary of European anti-trust regulators’ efforts to preserve competition among commercial insurance brokers.

The Rolling Meadows-based brokerage is paying $3.6 billion to acquire assets two London-based firms, Aon and Willis Towers Watson, are being required to divest in order to win approval from European Union anti-trust regulators for their $30 billion merger.

The jewel among the businesses Gallagher will assume is Willis’ reinsurance brokerage operation. The business of securing insurance for other insurers, often to share the financial risk tied to catastrophes like hurricanes and earthquakes, is dominated by Marsh McLennan, Aon and Willis. Gallagher has a reinsurance brokerage, but it is far smaller.

P012_CCB_20210517.indd 12

Now, Gallagher will be the world’s clear No. 3, both in reinsurance and in commercial insurance brokerage generally.

Once Aon’s acquisition of Willis is final, Aon will take over from New York-based Marsh as the world’s largest insurance broker.

Gallagher expects the deal to add $1.3 billion to a revenue base that last year was $6 billion. Reinsurance alone is projected to account for $750 million of that. The remainder comes from various specialty and retail brokerage operations Willis and Aon are being required to sell. The retail businesses are primarily in Europe.

After the deal closes, Gallagher expects 40 percent of its revenues to come from clients abroad versus 32 percent now.

Gallagher also will bring on 6,000 more employees in the U.S. and abroad. At the end of 2020, it employed more

than 33,000.

To help finance the deal—by far the largest Gallagher has ever done—the firm is issuing 9 million new shares with the potential for that to exceed 10 million if underwriter Morgan Stanley exercises the option to purchase more. That will increase Gallagher’s shares outstanding by about 5 percent, leading investors to bid down shares by 1.1 percent in late morning trading.

Shares of Aon dropped 0.7 percent on the news.

BIG STEP UP

Gallagher is a serial acquirer of insurance brokerages, but they tend to be small firms that bolster Gallagher’s presence in various markets or enable it to enter. CEO J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., 69, who has run the firm for 26 years, faces an integration test he’s never confronted, at least in terms of the scale.

VIMEO/LEOPARDO

Rolling Meadows-based Arthur J. Gallagher is paying $3.6 billion for global businesses, led by Willis Towers Watson’s reinsurance brokerage unit, in divestitures European regulators require for Aon and Willis to combine

Gallagher will be the world’s No. 3 in both reinsurance and commercial insurance brokerage.

In presentation slides prepared for investors, Gallagher says the “senior leadership teams” of the acquired businesses “have shown great enthusiasm to join Gallagher.”

That is key because insurance brokerage is a business that depends heavily on talent and relationships. One of the most

potent risks in an industry that otherwise is stable through various economic cycles is the defection of key relationship managers to competitors.

Gallagher expects the deal to close in this quarter. Aon expects to finalize the larger acquisition of Willis in the third quarter.

5/14/21 3:27 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 13

Fast 50 2021: The finalists

An alphabetical roll call of the companies that made the cut this year. Look for the ranked list in June.

Businesses grow—even in a pandemic. In fact, we had more applicants this year—122—than in the past few for our annual feature of the fastest-growing area companies.

Working with accounting firm Plante Moran, we had these ground rules for choosing the finalists: ◗ We considered only firms that have been in business at least since Dec. 31, 2015, and were located in the seven-county metro area. ◗ We excluded real estate investment trusts, regulated banks, real estate developers, utilities, holding companies, subsidiaries/divisions, franchises and nonprofit organizations. Small companies (those reporting less than $15 million in 2020 revenue) were likewise not considered. ◗ Another criterion: no more than one drop in revenue from 2015 to 2020.

Plante Moran examined financial documents provided by the applicants for the years 2015 and 2020.

The 50 companies are listed in alphabetical order. To find out which grew the fastest, look for a ranked list of the Crain’s Fast 50 online and in a special webcast June 11 and in the June 14 print issue.

CELEBRATE THE FAST 50

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5/13/21 6:16 PM

14 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

for t a run outs

Lightfoot by the numbers Lori Lightfoot’s first two years in office have been swamped by three crises at once: COVID-19, its economic impact, and unprecedented social unrest. Her handling of all three will be key to the success of the rest of her term.

CHANGE IN SALES TAX 2020 VS. 2019

CRIME

Cook and nearly all the collar counties saw their sales-tax revenue plummet in 2020, but Chicago’s fall was more drastic. They may not fully recover until 2022.

Chicago and other big cities saw a surge in certain violent crimes in 2021. Pre-pandemic, shootings and murders had been dropping here since 2017.

Homicide 2020 160 +22% 2021 195

Chicago -18.2% Suburban Cook County

Shooting 2020 2021

-4.4%

DuPage

-4.8%

Kane

-1.5%

Lake

-1.9%

McHenry

-2.3%

650 865

Motor vehicle thefts 2020 2021

2,649 3,054

Aggravated battery 2020 2021

Will

2.1%

Burglary 2020 2021

1,689 1,576 2,497 1,732

+33% +15% -7% -31%

CHICAGO AND COVID-19 1.28 million

Chicagoans who received at least one COVID vaccine dose

47.5%

Percentage of Chicago’s population receiving one dose

4.1 million 280,136 Cumulative tests

Cumulative cases

5,376

Cumulative deaths GETTY IMAGES

Note: COVID-19 data as of May 13 Sources: RTA, Chicago Police Department, city of Chicago

At the 2-year mark of her term, this may be Lori Lightfoot’s biggest obstacle LIGHTFOOT from Page 1 she declared. “What I interpret that to mean is that I don’t understand that my primary objective should be (to) only focus on supporting white businesses in the central business district, River North, South Loop and West Loop.”

The city must be about more than “making the same old, same old crowd rich,” added the mayor. “We starved” under prior mayors. “We have to see the city as something that includes neighborhoods south of Roosevelt Road and west of Ashland.”

The crowd cheered.

Less clear, however, is how the message was received in parts of the city where Lightfoot had previously touted economic development as not so much a zero-sum game but a balancing act in which the neighborhoods and the central business district are equally worthy of investment.

Indeed, the mayor struck a much different theme—that the city is working to bring employers back downtown—to an investors conference just days after her Bronzeville appearance.

So it goes as Chicago’s mayor approaches the second anniversary of her inauguration on May

P014-P015_CCB_20210517.indd 14

20. Always a fighter. And sometimes to a fault.

The job she won in 2019 was challenging enough, only to become exponentially more so with the onset of a global pandemic the following year.

Elected as a reform-minded non-politician by a populace weary of scandals a la Ed Burke, Mike Madigan and so on, Lightfoot’s experience in police oversight also looked attractive to many voters in the wake of the Laquan McDonald tragedy. Despite the hope that surrounded her inauguration, her first two years in office have been marked by wave after wave of crises, from COVID to the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder to policing controversies that have bubbled up on her own watch. Along the way, the trait that worked for her on the campaign trail—her reputation for frank talk—has complicated the task of governing. It’s a style that’s earned her her a share of admirers, to be sure, but she’s also made some powerful enemies.

She’s had successes—chiefly, her focus on equity in Invest South/West and other neighborhood-level initiatives, passing two tough city budgets and vaccinating much of the city against COVID.

But at the same time, she’s at odds with much of the rest of the political class—in Springfield, with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and even much of her own City Council.

And yet, even those relationships appear downright cordial compared to the discord with the Chicago Teachers Union.

Those multiple standoffs limit her ability to deliver results that count to voters. Meanwhile, turnover is rampant in her administration. Following national big city trends, violent crimes that were declining pre-COVID are headed back up. And a full economic recovery is uncertain.

As the prospect of a 2023 re-election bid emerges on the horizon, the question now is what Lightfoot must do next to mend fences with those she’s alienated, shine a spotlight on her very real accomplishments and fend off challengers, particularly from her progressive left flank. To an extraordinary degree, success will depend on the mayor herself—on her capacity to be politic if not necessarily a politician.

“The political nuance of how to get things done isn’t always evident to her,” says Bill Singer, a veteran City Hall figure who

CHICAGO’S CREDIT RATINGS Chicago’s fiscal house is still out of sorts, with ratings lingering just above junk.

Federal COVID relief dollars might help, but ratings agencies want to see the city get a handle on its long-term debt and pension issues.

Rating agency

As of May 2019

As of May 2021

S&P

BBB+ (Negative)

BBB+ (Negative)

Fitch

BBB- (Negative)

BBB- (Negative)

Kroll

A (Negative)

A (Negative)

Moody’s

Ba1 (Stable)

Ba1 (Negative)

Source: Crain’s reporting

has worked with every mayor for nearly a half-century and once ran as a reformer against Richard J. Daley. “I live here. I think she wants to do the right thing.

But often, it seems hard for her to get it done.”

“I think she’s done her best in a difficult time,” says Sylvia Puente, executive director of the Latino Policy Forum. “But her lack of political experience is clear.”

While some suggest that’s just Lightfoot’s take-no-prisoners style as a former federal prosecutor, others offer a gentler explanation. “She tends to follow her heart,” says one ranking insider who asked not to be

named. “That means she leaves things on the table.”

And others, like outgoing Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson, say Lightfoot is held to a double standard, like other African American female leaders are. Daley and Emanuel’s cursing and tough guy reputations were often seen as a sign of strength. “There’s more second-guessing and, to be honest, more personal attacks against her,” Jackson says.

So, setting aside style points— to the degree that they ever can be in the world of politics—how has Lightfoot performed so far in her first two years? The mayor herself declines to comment

5/14/21 4:09 PM

Th succ Like De with over spen go o cont vid A for c Rush That siven fortu disp patie ally a neve In Equi layin city’s Anse Chic one cina Latin An Inve ed re el-er spen com corri So tle ov attra in pr like J and good off, s vices “E abou leavi work tion Ligh Inve a ch Moo goin way,” Sout heal for e Sa CEO see cess.

Lig prog ably form bum Fo paig light susp tion and ings ed a and mov On Coun mon bette est, al Jo over up

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 15

HITS

get

aves

Chinice ld to other eaduel’s putasign secnest, ainst

nts— can —how o far mayment

GETTY IMAGES

,

The mayor can rightly claim successes in her first two years.

Like dealing with COVID-19.

Despite some head-butting with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and others over the speed and focus of relief spending and mitigations, Chicago outperformed its peers in its control of the virus, says Dr. David Ansell, senior vice president for community health equity at Rush University Medical Center.

That’s thanks to the mayor’s decisiveness. “While we did have, unfortunately, high mortality—and disproportionately (with) Black patients and communities—actually as an overall region, we were never overwhelmed,” he says.

Initiatives like the city’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team are laying groundwork to address the city’s massive health disparities, Ansell adds. About 1.25 million Chicagoans have gotten at least one vaccine dose so far, but vaccination rates among Black and Latino Chicagoans still lag.

Another key focus has been the Invest South/West plan, a targeted repackaging of some Emanuel-era programs and a pledge to spend $750 million to revitalize commercial life in 10 designated corridors.

So far, the city’s only spent a little over $70 million. But Invest has attracted four times that amount in private dollars from companies like JPMorgan Chase, BMO Harris and Starbucks. That “energy” is a good sign that her bet is paying off, says Metropolitan Family Services CEO Ric Estrada.

“Every mayor is concerned about middle-class white people leaving town,” says Estrada, who worked in the Daley administration and with Emanuel. While Lightfoot has to think broader, Invest and the mayor’s hiring of a chief equity officer, Candace Moore, “are two clear signals she’s going to go about it in a different way,” Estrada says. “If the West, South and Southwest sides aren’t healthy, then it’s more dangerous for everybody to live in this town.”

Says Chicago Urban League CEO Karen Freeman-Wilson, “I see some real evidence of success.”

Lightfoot has also made some progress on an issue that arguably made her mayor: ethics reform. But there have been speed bumps.

For instance, despite her campaign promise to “bring in the light,” her administration briefly suspended Freedom of Information Act requests, citing COVID, and held a series of secret meetings with aldermen that only ended after recordings were leaked and good-government groups moved to sue.

On the other hand, the City Council in Lightfoot’s first months adopted new rules that better defined conflicts of interest, broadened Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s auditing power over council committees, opened up the workers’ compensation

P014-P015_CCB_20210517.indd 15

program that 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke controlled, revamped the city’s tax-increment financing guidelines and limited the ability of aldermen to lobby non-Chicago governments. Lightfoot doesn’t get enough praise for that, says the man she installed as chairman of the council’s Committee on Finance, Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd.

Still, a big test is coming soon: whether Lightfoot will renew the term of Ferguson, whose office has freely criticized her administration’s performance.

Lightfoot also succeeded in easing a heavy city financial reliance on fines and fees, which often disproportionately hit lower-income people. Instead, she moved to limit such charges and in many cases give people more time to pay.

More controversial was a compromise “fair scheduling” ordinance. But a hike in the city’s minimum wage has caused relatively little stir.

MISSES

Relations with the Chicago Teachers Union never quite recovered from the time Emanuel dropped an F-bomb on then-CTU President Karen Lewis, setting the stage for a nasty teachers strike.

The CTU backed Preckwinkle over Lightfoot in the 2019 election. Tensions since only have escalated, with an 11-day school strike, a fight over electing the Board of Education and a raucous debate over in-person instruction during the pandemic.

Lightfoot’s move to back off certain campaign promises such as an elected board has only provoked the union. “The mayor really stumbled out of the gate” during contract negotiations, says CTU President Jesse Sharkey. She had “a complete misread of that dynamic.”

Now, on top of labor tensions and helping CPS families recover from a year of instability, Lightfoot will have to deal with the departure of Jackson, who admits she’s giving up her “dream job” because, in part, she’s “tired” of the fighting with the CTU. “We have to keep mayoral control, where at the end of the day, the buck stops with the mayor,” says Jackson.

Jackson by no means is the only one leaving. As of publication, the mayor is without permanent chief operating or risk officers. Nor are there permanent leaders in the procurement, fire, water, family and support services departments or at the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

Lightfoot only recently filled vacancies for her deputy mayor for public safety and corporation counsel, and she faces key tourism vacancies. She has also seen churn in her press office, had three different police superintendents and swapped City Council floor leaders in recent months.

The mayor blames COVID, in part. “This has been a very tough year, I think, on a lot of people.

We’re coming up to the two-year anniversary, and I think a lot of people are taking stock of where

LIGHTFOOT’S HITS AND MISSES HITS Accessibility and ethics: Community input

and ethics changes were top priorities.

Equitable investments: Invest South/West

and Housing Department initiatives are kicking into gear.

COVID response: The city acted quickly

on relief programs and is rolling out vaccines efficiently.

MISSES Public safety: Reforms to CPD have been

slow, and certain violent crimes are on the rise.

Springfield: Stinging defeats include a fire

pension bill and an empowered CTU. Talent and alliances: Vacancies in top

offices and shaky alliances across the political spectrum threaten the mayor’s agenda.

TBD JOHN R. BOEHM

for this assessment, but here’s a rundown based on the view of outsiders and insiders alike.

Budget and recovery: Fiscal issues that

have plagued the city continue, but her team hopes federal funds will help fuel recovery.

Big projects: The 78, Obama Presidential

Center, Lincoln Yards and a casino are still incomplete.

they are,” she recently said.

But Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, one of the mayor’s harshest critics, says the mayor’s losses can be chalked up to micromanaging and an attitude that she is the smartest person in the room.

“Believe me, I have conversations with the mayor about how to be a bridge builder,” says Ghian Foreman, a friend who served with Lightfoot on the Police Board he now heads. But consider her roots, Foreman adds. “Poor family, father lost his hearing, brother incarcerated. She went to top law schools. She’s short. Gay. All the things she had to fight her whole life. . . .She’s a fighter.” He doesn’t want her to change. Still, “halftime means you go back, you draw up some new plays, you adjust.”

One place adjustment clearly is needed is Springfield. Despite a big win in finally getting permission to build a casino—something her predecessors could only dream about—the mayor’s team constantly jostles with Pritzker’s.

With her friend John Cullerton no longer the Senate president, Lightfoot suffered a series of humiliating defeats, including being routed on a bill that will raise pensions for some firefighters at a difficult time, dropping plans for a tax hike she wanted for affordable housing and struggling to save her power on the school board.

The advice from such varied figures as House GOP Leader Jim Durkin and Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago: Reach out, personally.

“It’s about compromising and collaborating,” Feigenholtz puts it.

Business leaders are tactful when asked for their assessment, with Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce chief Jack Lavin repeatedly using the word “challenges” to describe Lightfoot’s performance. That word certainly applies to the biggest problem facing the mayor and her city:

Lightfoot with former Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner at a City Council meeting. violent crime rates, a woe Lightfoot inherited but one that has become worse on her watch.

Criminal justice reform advocates say Lightfoot and her police department have been too slow to implement the consent decree governing police operations, to create a civilian oversight board and to provide sufficient funding for violence-prevention efforts.

Sniping from the other direction is the Fraternal Order of Police, which loudly asserts Lightfoot does not back the men and women in blue. In the middle is a scared citizenry—on every side of town.

Lightfoot points to COVID’s impact on crime around the country and to a recent improvement in the homicide clearance rate. But the overall numbers are brutal: Murders so far are up 22 percent this year, and the number of shooting incidents is up 33 percent. That’s led to considerable second-guessing over her decision to fire police chief Eddie Johnson—for lying to her about a personal matter—and bring in David Brown from Dallas.

The mayor has butted heads with criminal justice stakeholders, including Preckwinkle, for more than a year over how to solve the problem. Preckwinkle says it’s not about locking offenders up or moving them through court, but improved relationships between the police and residents.

“Unfortunately,” Preckwinkle recently sniped, “that’s been the mayor’s standard operating procedure: Blame others.”

TOMORROW

Lightfoot faces three especially big challenges going forward: enacting criminal justice reform while preserving peace, balancing her budget as extra federal help ends and rebuilding the city’s economy and especially its economic heart, downtown, postCOVID. All three are linked. And ac-

complishing all three will require tact, collaboration and cooperation among competing interests.

For instance, police will have difficulty doing their job without community buy-in and trust—in other words, proper oversight. At the same time, even some Black aldermen like Anthony Beale, 9th, have pushed for a greater police presence, not fewer cops on the street as calls come from other aldermen to “defund” police.

Lightfoot balanced her first two budgets without drawing down the city’s reserves or taking a pension payment holiday, as some wanted. Groups like the watchdog Civic Federation praised that. She did toy with expensive “scoop and toss” borrowing that would kick costs into the future but mostly relented after federal COVID relief arrived.

That money will stop soon, leaving Chicago to rely on its own resources as it continues to climb the four-year, $1 billion ramp to funding pensions at the actuarily required level. That could require big property tax increases at a difficult time unless revenues from the casino or other sources roll in as the city hopes.

As for downtown, home to 600,000 jobs at last count, more than half of the total in the entire city, some signs of a return to a new normalcy have popped up. Lightfoot’s administration is cautiously rolling out reopening plans, but no one yet knows how big or permanent the pandemic flight to remote and suburban locales will be, and reversing that trend will be affected by tax and crime rates.

Bottom line, “I saw Daley firsthand and how he would blow up at his Cabinet,” says Estrada.

“People were able to tolerate that because they knew he cared about the city.

“I don’t know what (Lightfoot’s) legacy is going to be. I give her grace, given the tough hand she was dealt.”

It’s up to Lightfoot.

5/14/21 4:09 PM

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

DESIGN / CONSTRUCTION

INFORMATION / DATA TECHNOLOGY

LAW

REAL ESTATE

Crowe LLP, Chicago

Burns & McDonnell, Chicago

Bitwise Inc., Chicago

Benesch Law, Chicago

Newsweb LLC, Chicago

Crowe, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm in the U.S. with offices around the world, would like to announce the hiring of directors in Denver consulting services.

Chris Denver named accounting advisory managing director, will manage delivery teams for technical accounting issues, internal audits, SOX, corporate governance, and SEC compliance.

Hannan Jim Hannan named accounting advisory managing director, will focus on thought leadership, service delivery and business development, transformation and automation, and robotics process automation (RPA), as well as internal audit, SOC, and SEC compliance solutions.

Edward Chiem joins Burns & McDonnell in Chicago to support food and consumer products/manufacturing projects nationwide.

With nearly 10 years of experience designing process control and automation systems, Edward has successfully led projects ranging from equipment upgrades to the integration of new production and packaging facilities. Throughout his career, he has been integral in the modernization and upgrade of controls systems to help improve manufacturing productivity and reliability.

Bitwise is pleased to announce the appointment of Ankur Gupta as Chief Executive Officer of Bitwise Inc., a Chicago based technology consulting and services company.

Bitwise specializes in data-driven business transformation solutions with niche data and analytics modernization offerings. Ankur joined Bitwise in 2016 as EVP of Sales and Marketing. As CEO, he will focus on leading a thriving global consulting business in architecting its next phase of profitable growth.

Lee Muench has joined Benesch as Of Counsel in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. A skilled and passionate litigator, Lee focuses his practice on complex commercial Muench litigation and internal investigations. His substantive experience includes breach of contract, corporate governance litigation, business torts, and securities litigation.

Injune Park has joined Benesch as an Associate Park in the firm’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group. Injune has experience in both public and private mergers and acquisitions, private equity and other general corporate transactions and governance matters.

Howard Shayne has been named Chief Operating Officer of Newsweb LLC (f/k/a Newsweb Corporation) and will work closely with Newsweb’s CEO and senior management in its real estate division to acquire, manage, and develop a diverse portfolio of real estate holdings throughout the country. He joined Newsweb LLC seven years ago serving as Assistant Vice President, Real Estate and has over 16 years of corporate and real estate experience.

ACCOUNTING / CONSULTING Plante Moran, Chicago Andy Basney, CPA, MST, has joined Plante Moran as a partner in its tax practice. With more than 20 years of public accounting experience, he’ll assist clients with tax compliance and planning for individual income tax, trust tax, partnership tax, gift tax, and estate tax. Andy is dedicated to providing clients with practical, comprehensive, and timely guidance to assist in identifying and strategically planning for complex tax issues.

FINANCIAL CONSULTING

Special Olympics Illinois, Chicago

Industry expert Rebecca R. DeMarb expands Development Specialists, Inc. (“DSI”) leadership. DeMarb is launching a new office for DSI as a new Senior Managing Director in Madison, Wisconsin to expand geographic presence and provide additional expertise in financial reorganization.

DeMarb is widely recognized for her legal expertise in representing scores of companies throughout Wisconsin in financial workouts, reorganizations, receiverships, and bankruptcy proceedings.

Special Olympics Illinois is proud to announce Steve Hamman, President of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL), to its Board of Directors.

Steve extends the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois mission of providing health & wellness in the state of Illinois, including those with intellectual disabilities. A value very true to Special Olympics Illinois’ own strategic plan. Steve continues a long & storied tradition of senior officers of BCBSIL residing on the Special Olympics Illinois Board.

HEALTH CARE Alden Management Services, Chicago

CONSTRUCTION KONE Americas, Chicago KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, announced Renia Coleman has joined the organization as Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) for KONE Americas.

In this role, Renia will oversee, guide and drive a culture of inclusion, belonging and diversity promotion across the organization. She will also focus on developing and driving key partnerships internally and externally.

CONSULTING Lexico, Chicago / Milwaukee Curt Galusha joins Lexico as VP of Transformation Strategy.

Helping our clients successfully navigate their transformation journeys, Curt will provide strategic oversight of solutions to help ensure leadership alignment and engagement success. Curt has extensive US and Global expertise at the CXO level where he has integrated digital, marketing, innovation and emerging technology to drive growth and align global teams.

INSURANCE

Development Specialists, Inc., Madison / Chicago

Alden Management Services announces the promotion of Derek Smart, CPA to Chief Financial Officer. With more than a decade of leadership experience at Alden Management Services, Smart’s extensive finance and accounting knowledge will allow him to direct all fiscal functions of the organization, ensure compliance with accounting principles, and assist in the development of strategies to achieve short and long term financial goals.

Smart is a CPA, and earned a degree in commerce from DePaul University.

PRIVATE EQUITY Mesirow, Chicago Bradley Karelitz recently joined Mesirow Private Equity as Senior Vice President, responsible for business development and fundraising for the firm’s products, including primary partnership investments, secondary investments and coinvestments. Prior to Mesirow, Brad held relationship management and business development roles at HarbourVest and Columbia Threadneedle Investments. This new role will extend Mesirow Private Equity’s footprint in the global institutional marketplace.

INSURANCE BROKERAGE

HEALTH CARE

FutureVault, Chicago / Toronto FutureVault, a digital vault platform for institutions and enterprises, has appointed John Shackleton, former OpenText CEO, as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer. Shackleton has more than 30 years of technology and document management experience. As former President and CEO of OpenText Corporation (NASDAQ/TSX: OTEX), he led the company’s growth from $60 million to $1.3 billion in revenue, resulting in the company becoming a leading provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM).

TRANSPORTATION HNTB Corporation, Chicago

Alim Insurance Brokerage, Evanston Alim Insurance Brokerage, a growing risk management and insurance brokerage, is excited to welcome Chris Ishida to their team as Chief Administrative Officer. Chris will be leading the restructure of office policy and management systems. He will be taking over administrative activities and assisting in overseeing customer services to improve efficiency and accelerate business growth.

Chris brings more than 10 years of administrative and customer service expertise to Alim Insurance.

TECHNOLOGY

REAL ESTATE Industrial Outdoor Ventures, Schaumburg John Kraft has been named Manager of Construction & Properties at Industrial Outdoor Ventures. He will oversee asset integration, property level capital projects and operations. He previously served as a Project Manager with Bulley & Andrews’ Education and Institutional division.

HNTB Corporation named Albert Sosa, PE, Chicago office leader.

Sosa is an industry veteran with 25 years of leadership in transportation and infrastructure. Sosa has supported multiple HNTB project teams throughout the country on transit, toll road, aviation and construction services projects, experience that affords him a multi-discipline perspective on infrastructure solutions.

Sosa most recently served as program director in Florida. He also served as Miami office leader for two years.

Cigna, Chicago Lars Heemskerk has rejoined Cigna as Vice President of Select Sales for the Midwest markets.

An experienced benefits professional, Lars is responsible for executing local market sales strategy to drive Cigna’s membership growth for companies with fewer than 500 employees. Lars leads a team in delivering consultative solutions to address client and customer needs including differentiated funding solutions, customized benefit plans, health & wellness strategies and personalized customer service.

NON-PROFIT TRAVEL / LEISURE

Chicago Scholars, Chicago Leading youth development nonprofit Chicago Scholars recently announced Jeffery Beckham, Jr. as its new CEO. Following his leadership as Interim CEO since December 2020, Beckham will continue to empower Chicago’s academically ambitious first-generation and low-income students in his new role as the organization celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. After an executive search conducted by Koya Partners, the Chicago Scholars Board of Directors unanimously selected Beckham for the role.

Rush Street Interactive, Chicago REAL ESTATE Industrial Outdoor Ventures, Schaumburg Nate King has joined IOV as Acquisitions Associate and will be in charge of channel sourcing strategy, acquisition analysis and due diligence. He is a recent graduate of Illinois State University.

Ms. Lauren Seiler joins Rush Street Interactive as the new Associate Vice President of Investor Relations and Development.

She brings to RSI over 17 years of diversified Wall Street experience, with 12 of those years being gaming centric. She is a long-time industry specialist with an in-depth knowledge of iGaming and sports wagering and brings extensive relationships within the buy and sell-side investor communities to the organization. In her new role, she will lead RSI’s Investor Relations efforts.

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 17

CRAIN’S LIST

GAINS AND LOSSES

CHICAGO’S LARGEST PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES Ranked by 2020 revenue.

2020 rank Company

1

1

Top executive(s)

WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE INC. Deerfield; WBA; 847-315-2500 WalgreensBootsAlliance.com

Stefano Pessina, Executive chairman, Rosalind Brewer, CEO

2020 revenue 2020 net income (millions); (millions); % change from % change from 2019 2019

$139,537.0 2.0%

2 3 4

3

ARCHER-DANIELS-MIDLAND CO. Chicago; ADM; 312-634-8100; ADM.com

Juan R. Luciano $64,355.0 Chairman, president, CEO -0.5%

2

BOEING CO. Chicago; BA; 312-544-2000; Boeing.com

David L. Calhoun President, CEO

9

ABBVIE INC. North Chicago; ABBV; 847-932-7900 AbbVie.com

5

5

6

4

7 8

$456.0 -88.5%

2020 profit margin

0.30%

Market cap (millions) 12/31/2020 1-year change

Employees worldwide (FTE); 1-year change

$34,532.7 -34%

277,000 -3.5%

Primary industry

Drugstores, mail-order pharmaceuticals

On average, the 136 companies on this list saw revenue fall by 1.9% from 2019.

20 COMPANIES WITH THE LARGEST INCREASE IN REVENUE FROM 2019 337.4%

Rush Street Interactive GoHealth

62.6%

Oak Street Health

58.6%

Grubhub

38.7%

AbbVie

37.7%

Cboe Global Markets

37.3%

Option Care Health

31.3%

Sprout Social

29.4%

Paylocity Holding

20.0%

Morningstar

17.9%

Conagra Brands

15.9%

Echo Global Logistics

14.9%

Azek

13.2%

Broadwind

11.4%

$1,772.0 28.5%

2.80%

$28,047.6 8.7%

38,332 0.6%

Agricultural products

$58,158.0 -24.0%

-$11,873.0 NM

NM

$120,843.0 -34%

141,000 -12.5%

Aerospace, defense

Richard A. Gonzalez Chairman, CEO

$45,804.0 37.7%

$4,616.0 -41.4%

10.10%

$189,171.0 44.4%

47,000 56.7%

Pharmaceuticals, medical products

ALLSTATE CORP. Northbrook; ALL; 847-402-5000 Allstate.com

Thomas J. Wilson II Chairman, president, CEO

$44,791.0 0.3%

$5,576.0 15.0%

12.40%

$33,426.2 -8.2%

42,010 -8.7%

Property, casualty, and life insurance

CATERPILLAR INC. Deerfield; CAT; 224-551-4000 Caterpillar.com

D. James Umpleby III Chairman, CEO

$41,748.0 -22.4%

$2,998.0 -50.8%

7.20%

$98,883.9 21.2%

97,300 -4.9%

Construction and mining machinery

7

DEERE & CO. Moline; DE; 309-765-8000; Deere.com

John C. May II Chairman, CEO

$35,540.0 -9.5%

$2,751.0 -15.4%

7.70%

$84,309.9 55.3%

69,634 -5.2%

Construction and farm machinery

Camping World Holdings

11.3%

10

ABBOTT LABORATORIES Abbott Park; ABT; 224-667-6100 Abbott.com

Miles White, Executive chairman, Robert B. Ford, President, CEO

$34,608.0 8.5%

$4,495.0 21.9%

13%

$187,600.0 21.8%

109,000 1.9%

Pharmaceuticals, medical products

Envestnet

10.9%

9

Coeur Mining

10.4%

8

EXELON CORP. Chicago; EXC; 800-483-3220 ExelonCorp.com

Christopher M. Crane President, CEO

$33,039.0 -4.1%

$1,963.0 -33.1%

5.90%

$41,188.7 -7.1%

32,340 -1.1%

Electricity supplier

10

12

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC. Chicago; MDLZ; 847-943-4000 MondelezInternational.com

Dirk Van de Put Chairman, CEO

$26,581.0 2.8%

$3,555.0 -9.5%

13.40%

$83,621.6 5.4%

79,000 -1.3%

Snacks, beverages, packaged meals

11

13

KRAFT HEINZ CO. Chicago; KHC; 412-456-5700 KraftHeinzCompany.com

Miguel Patricio CEO

$26,185.0 4.8%

$356.0 -81.6%

1.40%

$42,376.2 8%

38,000 2.7%

Food processing

12

11

US FOODS HOLDING CORP. Rosemont; USFD; 847-720-8000 USFoods.com

Pietro Satriano Chairman, CEO

$22,885.0 -11.8%

-$226.0 NM

NM

$7,356.5 -20%

26,000 -7.1%

Food distribution

13

14

MCDONALD’S CORP. Chicago; MCD; 630-623-3000 McDonalds.com

Christopher J. Kempczinski President, CEO

$19,207.8 -10.1%

$4,730.5 -21.5%

24.60%

$159,886.0 7.3%

200,000 -2.4%

Fast-food restaurants

14

15

CDW CORP. Lincolnshire; CDW; 847-465-6000 CDW.com

Christine A. Leahy President, CEO

$18,467.5 2.4%

$788.5 7.0%

4.30%

$18,844.4 -8.2%

10,000 1%

IT products and services

15 16

16

JONES LANG LASALLE INC. Chicago; JLL; 312-782-5800; US.JLL.com

Christian Ulbrich $16,589.9 Chairman, president, CEO -7.7%

$402.5 -24.8%

2.40%

$7,611.8 -15.2%

90,800 -2.8%

Commercial real estate

17

TENNECO INC. Lake Forest; TEN; 847-482-5000 Tenneco.com

Brian J. Kesseler CEO

$15,379.0 -11.9%

-$1,521.0 NM

NM

$863.2 -18.5%

73,000 -6.4%

Auto parts and equipment

17 18

6

UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. Chicago; UAL; 872-825-4000; United.com

J. Scott Kirby CEO

$15,355.0 -64.5%

-$7,069.0 NM

NM

$12,585.4 -43.5%

74,400 -22.5%

Airline

19

DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES Riverwoods; DFS; 224-405-0900 Discover.com

Roger C. Hochschild President, CEO

$12,953.0 -7.4%

$1,141.0 -61.4%

8.80%

$27,747.1 4.4%

17,600 2.3%

Credit card issuer

19 20

18

ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC. Glenview; ITW; 847-724-7500; ITW.com

E. Scott Santi Chairman, CEO

$12,574.0 -10.9%

$2,109.0 -16.3%

16.80%

$64,532.2 11.8%

43,000 -4.4%

Industrial machinery

21

W.W. GRAINGER INC. Lake Forest; GWW; 847-535-1000 Grainger.com

D.G. Macpherson Chairman, CEO

$11,797.0 2.7%

$695.0 -18.1%

5.90%

$21,914.8 20.2%

22,450 -8.6%

Industrial supply

21

22

BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. Deerfield; BAX; 224-948-2000 Baxter.com

José E. Almeida Chairman, president, CEO

$11,673.0 2.7%

$1,102.0 10.1%

9.40%

$40,981.1 -4%

50,000 0%

Medical products and services

22 23

20

LKQ CORP. Chicago; LKQ; 312-621-1950; LKQCorp.com

Dominick Zarcone President, CEO

$11,628.8 -7.0%

$638.4 18.0%

5.50%

$10,725.1 -2%

44,000 -13.7%

Recycled auto parts

25

CONAGRA BRANDS INC. Chicago; CAG; 312-549-5000 ConagraBrands.com

Sean M. Connolly President, CEO

$11,054.4 15.9%

$840.1 23.9%

7.60%

$17,713.7 6.3%

16,500 -8.3%

Packaged foods

24

24

CNA FINANCIAL CORP. Chicago; CNA; 312-822-5000 CNA.com

Dino E. Robusto Chairman, CEO

$10,808.0 0.4%

$690.0 -31.0%

6.40%

$10,573.3 -13.1%

5,800 -1.7%

Property and casualty insurance

25

26

UNIVAR SOLUTIONS INC. Downers Grove; UNVR; 331-777-6000 Univar.com

David C. Jukes President, CEO

$8,265.0 -11.0%

$52.9 NM

0.60%

$3,214.6 -21.4%

9,457 -8.2%

Chemical and ingredient distributor

P017-P022_CCB_20210517.indd 17

Perdoceo Education

9.5%

Vericity

9.3%

Lifeway Foods

8.9%

20 COMPANIES WITH THE LARGEST DECREASE IN REVENUE FROM 2019 -16.8%

Ulta Beauty

-18.6%

BankFinancial

-19.1%

Stericycle

-21.1%

Tribune Publishing

-22.3%

Manitex International

-22.4%

Caterpillar

-23.0%

Ryerson Holding

-24.0%

Boeing

-26.2%

Accel Entertainment

-28.9%

Potbelly

-33.3%

Navistar International

-33.7%

Perma-Pipe International Holdings

-34.2%

A.M. Castle

-34.7%

SP Plus

-36.1%

Groupon

-48.2%

Equity Commonwealth

-52.8%

FreightCar America

-53.7%

Assertio Holdings

-58.8%

Hyatt Hotels

-64.5%

United Airlines Holdings

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence

5/14/21 7:57 AM

18 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

JOB CREATORS On average, the 136 companies on this list saw employment fall 4.1% from 2019.

20 FIRMS WITH THE LARGEST INCREASE IN WORLDWIDE EMPLOYEES FROM 2019 56.7%

AbbVie

34.9%

FreightCar America

22.7%

Cboe Global Markets Morningstar

18.4%

Paylocity Holding

18.0%

OneSpan

16.9%

Enova International

16.9%

Perdoceo Education

16.0%

Sprout Social

12.4%

Brunswick

12.1%

Fortune Brands Home & Security

11.4%

Ingredion

9.1%

Littelfuse

8.0%

Lawson Products

7.9%

Zebra Technologies

7.3%

Reynolds Consumer Products

6.9%

Kemper

6.7%

CTS

6.1%

Motorola Solutions

5.9%

Northern Trust

5.6%

20 FIRMS WITH THE LARGEST DECREASE IN WORLDWIDE EMPLOYEES FROM 2019 -12.9%

ACCO Brands

-13.2%

Ventas

-13.3%

Ryerson Holding

-13.7%

LKQ

-14.5%

Ulta Beauty

-15.0%

AAR

-16.5%

Atkore

-17.6%

Knowles

-20.3%

Perma-Pipe International Holdings

-20.6%

Manitex International

-22.0%

A.M. Castle

-22.5%

United Airlines Holdings

-24.6%

Stericycle

-30.4%

Tribune Publishing

-32.7%

Hyatt Hotels

-34.5%

Groupon

-46.1%

SP Plus

-47.6%

Adtalem Global Education

-68.8% -78.4%

Gogo Assertio Holdings

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence

P017-P022_CCB_20210517.indd 18

CRAIN’S LIST CHICAGO’S LARGEST PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES Ranked by 2020 revenue 2020 rank Company

Top executive(s)

2020 revenue 2020 net income (millions); (millions); % change from % change from 2019 2019

2020 profit margin

Market cap (millions) 12/31/2020 1-year change

Employees worldwide (FTE); 1-year change

Primary industry

26

28

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD PLC Chicago; CWK; 312-470-1800 CushmanWakefield.com

Brett W. White Executive chairman, CEO

$7,843.7 -10.4%

-$220.5 NM

NM

$3,286.8 -26.6%

50,000 -5.7%

Commercial real estate

53

27

23

NAVISTAR INTERNATIONAL CORP. Lisle; NAV; 331-332-5000 Navistar.com

Persio V. Lisboa, President, CEO, Troy Clarke, Executive chairman

$7,503.0 -33.3%

-$347.0 NM

NM

$4,378.5 52.5%

12,100 -9%

Trucks and buses

54

28

29

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC. Chicago; MSI; 847-576-5000 MotorolaSolutions.com

Gregory Q. Brown Chairman, CEO

$7,414.0 -6.0%

$949.0 9.3%

12.80%

$28,829.1 4.4%

18,000 5.9%

Communications equipment

29

31

OLD REPUBLIC INTERNATIONAL CORP. Chicago; ORI; 312-346-8100 OldRepublic.com

Craig R. Smiddy President, CEO

$7,166.0 -3.9%

$558.6 -47.1%

7.80%

$5,912.4 -11.4%

9,000 0%

Insurance holding company

30

55 56 57

32

ARTHUR J. GALLAGHER & CO. Rolling Meadows; AJG; 630-773-3800 AJG.com

J. Patrick Gallagher Jr. Chairman, president, CEO

$7,003.6 -2.7%

$818.8 22.4%

11.70%

$23,792.2 33.9%

32,401 -2.5%

Insurance brokerage

31

33

DOVER CORP. Downers Grove; DOV; 630-541-1540 DoverCorporation.com

Richard J. Tobin President, CEO

$6,683.8 -6.3%

$683.5 0.8%

10.20%

$18,193.0 8.7%

23,000 -4.2%

Industrial products manufacturing

32

34

PACKAGING CORP. OF AMERICA Lake Forest; PKG; 847-482-3000 PackagingCorp.com

Mark W. Kowlzan Chairman, CEO

$6,658.2 -4.4%

$461.0 -33.8%

6.90%

$12,985.7 23.4%

15,200 -1.9%

Paper packaging

33

35

NORTHERN TRUST CORP. Chicago; NTRS; 312-630-6000 NorthernTrust.com

Michael G. O’Grady Chairman, president, CEO

$6,301.1 -8.6%

$1,209.3 -19.0%

19.20%

$19,384.4 -13.9%

20,900 5.6%

Commercial banks

34

30

ULTA BEAUTY INC. Bolingbrook; ULTA; 630-410-4800 Ulta.com

Mary N. Dillon CEO

$6,152.0 -16.8%

$175.8 -75.1%

2.90%

$16,178.2 11.8%

26,500 -14.5%

Beauty products retailer

35

38

FORTUNE BRANDS HOME & SECURITY INC. Deerfield; FBHS; 847-484-4400 FBHS.com

Nicholas I. Fink CEO

$6,090.3 5.7%

$553.1 28.1%

9.10%

$11,909.0 31%

27,505 11.4%

Homebuilding products

36

37

INGREDION INC. Westchester; INGR; 708-551-2600 Ingredion.com

James P. Zallie President, CEO

$5,987.0 -3.6%

$348.0 -15.7%

5.80%

$5,270.1 -15.1%

12,000 9.1%

Food and ingredient processor

37

43

CAMPING WORLD HOLDINGS INC. Lincolnshire; CWH; 847-808-3000 CampingWorld.com

Marcus A. Lemonis Chairman, CEO

$5,446.6 11.3%

$122.3 NM

2.20%

$1,113.8 102.1%

11,427 -0.7%

RVs and camping gear

65

38 39

40

TELEPHONE AND DATA SYSTEMS INC. Chicago; TDS; 312-630-1900; TDSInc.com

LeRoy T. Carlson Jr. President, CEO

$5,225.0 0.9%

$226.0 86.8%

4.30%

$2,123.0 -27.2%

9,200 -2.1%

Telecommunication services

66

41

KEMPER CORP. Chicago; KMPR; 312-661-4600 Kemper.com

Joseph P. Lacher Jr. President, CEO

$5,205.7 3.3%

$409.9 -22.8%

7.90%

$5,025.3 -2.7%

9,500 6.7%

Insurance and financial services

40

44

CME GROUP INC. Chicago; CME; 312-930-3310 CMEGroup.com

Terrence A. Duffy Chairman, CEO

$4,883.6 0.3%

$2,105.2 -0.5%

43.10%

$65,354.2 -9.1%

4,370 0.2%

Security and commodity brokers

41 42

36

R.R. DONNELLEY & SONS CO. Chicago; RRD; 630-963-9494; RRD.com

Daniel L. Knotts President, CEO

$4,766.3 -12.9%

$98.5 NM

2.10%

$161.4 -42.4%

33,000 -9.3%

Commercial printing

Michael King CEO

$4,689.0 -9.7%

-$27.0 NM

NM

$3,213.6 NA

14,600 NA

Food and beverage packaging

58

59

60 61 62

63

64

67

68

43

39

NISOURCE INC. Merrillville; NI; 877-647-5990 NiSource.com

Joseph J. Hamrock President, CEO

$4,681.7 -10.1%

-$17.6 NM

NM

$8,790.9 -15.5%

7,345 -12.2%

Natural gas and electric utility

69 70 71

44

47

ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORP. Lincolnshire; ZBRA; 847-370-2317 Zebra.com

Anders Gustafsson CEO

$4,448.0 -0.8%

$504.0 -7.4%

11.30%

$20,491.1 48.8%

8,800 7.3%

Printers and scanners

72

45

48

TREEHOUSE FOODS INC. Oak Brook; THS; 708-483-1300 TreeHouseFoods.com

Steven T. Oakland President, CEO

$4,349.7 1.4%

$13.8 NM

0.30%

$2,401.1 -11.9%

10,900 0.9%

Private-label food processing

73

46

49

BRUNSWICK CORP. Mettawa; BC; 847-735-4700 Brunswick.com

David M. Foulkes CEO

$4,347.5 5.8%

$372.7 NM

8.60%

$5,972.8 22.1%

14,382 12.1%

Boating and leisure products

47

45

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS INC. Deerfield; CF; 847-405-2400 CFIndustries.com

W. Anthony Will President, CEO

$4,124.0 -10.2%

$317.0 -35.7%

7.70%

$8,280.7 -20.2%

2,985 -0.5%

Agricultural chemicals

48

50

UNITED STATES CELLULAR CORP. Chicago; USM; 773-399-8900 USCellular.com

Laurent C. Therivel President, CEO

$4,037.0 0.4%

$229.0 80.3%

5.70%

$2,640.4 -15.4%

5,300 -3.6%

Telecommunication services

49

51

VENTAS INC. Chicago; VTR; 877-483-6827 VentasREIT.com

Debra A. Cafaro Chairman, CEO

$3,795.4 -2.0%

$439.1 1.4%

11.60%

$18,369.0 -14.6%

448 -13.2%

Real estate investment trust

50

52

HUB GROUP INC. Oak Brook; HUBG; 630-271-3600 HubGroup.com

David P. Yeager Chairman, CEO

$3,495.6 -4.7%

$73.6 -31.4%

2.10%

$1,946.9 11.5%

5,000 0%

Global intermodal transportation

78 79

51

46

RYERSON HOLDING CORP. Chicago; RYI; 312-292-5000 Ryerson.com

Edward J. Lehner President, CEO

$3,466.6 -23.0%

-$65.8 NM

NM

$519.9 16.3%

3,900 -13.3%

Metal processing and distribution

80

52

60

CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS INC. Chicago; CBOE; 312-786-5600 CBOE.com

Edward T. Tilly Chairman, president, CEO

$3,427.1 37.3%

$468.2 24.9%

13.70%

$10,060.9 -24.3%

1,010 22.7%

Options exchange

81

New PACTIV EVERGREEN INC. Lake Forest; PTVE; 847-482-2000 Pactiv.com

5/14/21 7:57 AM

74 75 76

77

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 19

BOTTOM LINE

2020 rank Company

Top executive(s)

2020 revenue 2020 net income (millions); (millions); % change from % change from 2019 2019

2020 profit margin

20 COMPANIES WITH THE LARGEST INCREASE IN NET INCOME FROM 2019

Market cap (millions) 12/31/2020 1-year change

Employees worldwide (FTE); 1-year change

Primary industry

eal

53

54

REYNOLDS CONSUMER PRODUCTS INC. Lake Forest; REYN; 800-879-5067 ReynoldsConsumerProducts.com

Lance Mitchell President, CEO

$3,263.0 7.6%

$363.0 61.3%

11.10%

$6,299.4 NA

5,450 6.9%

Household products

uses

54

62

OPTION CARE HEALTH INC. Bannockburn; OPCH; 866-827-8203 OptionCareHealth.com

John C. Rademacher President, CEO

$3,032.6 31.3%

-$8.1 NM

NM

$2,920.9 10.9%

5,499 0.1%

Medical in-home infusion services

55 56 57

57

APTARGROUP INC. Crystal Lake; ATR; 815-477-0424; Aptar.com

Stephan B. Tanda President, CEO

$2,929.3 2.4%

$214.0 -11.6%

7.30%

$8,859.9 19.9%

13,000 -7.1%

Dispensing products

56

HILL-ROM HOLDINGS INC. Chicago; HRC; 312-819-7200; HillRom.com

John P. Groetelaars President, CEO

$2,881.0 -0.9%

$223.0 46.5%

7.70%

$6,545.7 -13.6%

10,000 0%

Maker of medical equipment

59

TRANSUNION Chicago; TRU; 312-985-2000 TransUnion.com

Christopher A. Cartwright President, CEO

$2,716.6 2.3%

$343.2 -1.1%

12.60%

$18,881.6 17.1%

8,200 2.5%

Credit information services

58

53

STERICYCLE INC. Bannockburn; SRCL; 847-367-5910 Stericycle.com

Cindy J. Miller President, CEO

$2,675.5 -19.1%

-$57.3 NM

NM

$6,347.3 9.2%

14,700 -24.6%

Medical waste disposal services

EQUITY RESIDENTIAL Chicago; EQR; 312-474-1300 EquityApartments.com

Mark J. Parrell President, CEO

$2,571.7 -4.8%

$913.6 -5.8%

35.50%

ons

ding

Enova International

932.0%

R1 RCM

875.8%

Lawson Products

86.8%

U.S. Cellular

80.3%

Perdoceo Education

77.6%

CDK Global

67.3%

Reynolds Consumer Products

61.3%

Oil-Dri

49.9%

Morningstar

47.1% 46.5%

55

THE MIDDLEBY CORP. Elgin; MIDD; 847-741-3300; Middleby.com

Timothy J. FitzGerald CEO

$2,513.3 -15.1%

$207.3 -41.1%

8.20%

$7,169.5 16.6%

9,289 -5%

Food-service equipment

64

ECHO GLOBAL LOGISTICS INC. Chicago; ECHO; 800-354-7993; Echo.com

Doug Waggoner Chairman, CEO

$2,511.5 14.9%

$15.8 6.6%

0.60%

$713.6 26.3%

2,593 2.1%

Logistics

Hill-Rom Holdings

61

IDEX CORP. Northbrook; IEX; 847-498-7070 IDEXCorp.com

Eric Ashleman President, CEO

$2,351.6 -5.7%

$377.8 -11.2%

16.10%

cts

60 61 62

$15,080.6 15.3%

7,075 -4.9%

Industrial machinery

66

AAR CORP. Wood Dale; AIR; 630-227-2000 AARCorp.com

John M. Holmes III President, CEO

$2,072.0 1.0%

$4.4 -41.3%

0.20%

$1,264.3 -18.5%

4,800 -15%

Aviation services

g

63

Heritage-Crystal Clean John B. Sanfilippo & Son

HYATT HOTELS CORP. Chicago; H; 312-750-1234 Hyatt.com

Thomas J. Pritzker Executive chairman Mark S. Hoplamazian President, CEO

$2,066.0 -58.8%

-$703.0 NM

NM

CDK GLOBAL INC. Hoffman Estates; CDK; 847-397-1700 CDKGlobal.com

Brian M. Krzanich President, CEO

$1,960.1 2.4%

$207.5 67.3%

10.60%

WINTRUST FINANCIAL CORP. Rosemont; WTFC; 847-939-9000 Wintrust.com

Edward J. Wehmer CEO

$1,897.2 5.9%

$293.0 -17.6%

15.40%

STEPAN CO. Northfield; SCL; 847-446-7500 Stepan.com

F. Quinn Stepan Jr. Chairman, CEO

$1,869.8 0.6%

$126.8 22.9%

6.80%

ing

Real estate investment trust

64

42

65

70

66

74

67

71

68

81

GRUBHUB INC. Chicago; GRUB; 877-585-7878 Grubhub.com

Matthew M. Maloney CEO

$1,820.0 38.7%

-$155.9 NM

NM

$6,888.9 54.9%

2,841 4.7%

Online food ordering

69 70 71

69

ATKORE INC. Harvey; ATKR; 708-339-1610; Atkore.com

William E. Waltz Jr. President, CEO

$1,765.4 -7.9%

$152.3 9.5%

8.60%

$1,955.2 2.5%

3,256 -16.5%

Electrical products manufacturer

68

JOHN BEAN TECHNOLOGIES CORP. Chicago; JBT; 312-861-5900; JBTC.com

Brian A. Deck President, CEO

$1,727.8 -11.2%

$108.8 -15.7%

6.30%

$3,613.0 1.3%

6,200 -3.1%

Food processing, air transportation

67

ACCO BRANDS CORP. Lake Zurich; ACCO; 847-541-9500 ACCOBrands.com

Boris Y. Elisman Chairman, president, CEO

$1,655.2 -15.4%

$62.0 -41.9%

3.70%

$798.5 -12%

6,100 -12.9%

Office products

72

73

CENTURY ALUMINUM CO. Chicago; CENX; 312-696-3101 CenturyAluminum.com

Michael A. Bless President, CEO

$1,605.1 -12.6%

-$123.3 NM

NM

$987.0 47.8%

2,078 -0%

Aluminum products

73

75

ALLSCRIPTS HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS INC. Chicago; MDRX 800-334-8534; Allscripts.com

Paul M. Black CEO

$1,502.7 -8.0%

$700.4 NM

46.60%

$2,281.3 43.2%

8,400 -12.5%

Health care IT

74 75 76

78

LITTELFUSE INC. David W. Heinzmann Chicago; LFUS; 773-628-1000; Littelfuse.com President, CEO

$1,445.7 -3.9%

$130.0 -6.5%

9%

$6,207.3 33.2%

12,200 8%

Circuit protection devices

63

GROUPON INC. Aaron Z. Cooper Chicago; GRPN; 312-334-1579; Groupon.com Interim CEO

$1,416.9 -36.1%

-$287.9 NM

NM

$1,094.7 -18.9%

4,159 -34.5%

Deals website

85

MORNINGSTAR INC. Chicago; MORN; 312-696-6000 Morningstar.com

Kunal Kapoor, CEO, Joseph D. Mansueto, Executive chairman

$1,389.5 17.9%

$223.6 47.1%

16.10%

$9,918.8 53.1%

7,979 18.4%

Investment research

77

79

IAA INC. Westchester; IAA; 708-492-7000 IAAI.com

John W. Kett President, CEO

$1,384.9 -3.6%

$194.8 0.8%

14.10%

$8,737.6 39.1%

3,622 -3.7%

Vehicle auction software and services

77

SUNCOKE ENERGY INC. Lisle; SXC; 630-824-1000; SunCoke.com

Michael G. Rippey President, CEO

$1,333.0 -16.7%

$3.7 NM

0.30%

$360.0 -33.4%

1,133 -3.2%

modal n

78 79

84

R1 RCM INC. Chicago; RCM; 312-324-7820 R1RCM.com

Joseph G. Flanagan President, CEO

$1,270.8 7.1%

$117.1 875.8%

9.20%

$2,802.2 91.3%

19,600 -5.5%

sing on

80

80

GATX CORP. Chicago; GATX; 312-621-6200 GATX.com

Brian A. Kenney Chairman, president, CEO

$1,209.2 0.6%

$151.3 -28.4%

12.50%

$2,909.8 0.1%

1,904 -12.1%

Rail transportation services

ange

81

83

FEDERAL SIGNAL CORP. Oak Brook; FSS; 630-954-2000 FederalSignal.com

Jennifer L. Sherman President, CEO

$1,130.8 -7.4%

$96.2 -11.3%

8.50%

$2,007.6 2.9%

3,500 -2.8%

Safety and security systems

ping

ca-

d ices

comrs

verg

nd

food

cts

ca-

ust

P017-P022_CCB_20210517.indd 19

$7,512.3 -18.5%

37,000 -32.7%

Hospitality

$6,307.3 -5%

9,000 0%

Software for vehicle dealerships

$3,521.0 -13%

5,230 3.4%

Commercial banks

$2,680.1 16.3%

2,293 0.4%

Specialty chemicals

109.3%

Telephone and Data Systems

59

g

2,600 -3.7%

264.2%

CMC Materials

58

$22,067.2 -26.6%

613.5%

Lifeway Foods

Methode Electronics Archer-DanielsMidland Fortune Brands Home & Security

42.7% 37.1% 34.7% 28.5% 28.1%

Cboe Global Markets

24.9%

Conagra Brands

23.9%

20 COMPANIES WITH THE LARGEST DECREASE IN NET INCOME FROM 2019 -29.5%

Old Second Bancorp

-31.0%

CNA Financial

-31.4%

Hub Group

-33.1%

Exelon

-33.8%

Packaging Corp. of America

-34.3%

Byline Bancorp

-35.7%

CF Industries Holdings

-41.1%

Middleby

-41.3%

AAR

-41.4%

AbbVie

-41.9%

ACCO Brands

-46.0%

First Midwest Bancorp

-47.1%

Old Republic International

-50.8%

Caterpillar

-55.0%

Retail Properties of America

Metallurgical coke

-61.4%

Discover Financial Services

Hospital debt collector

-75.1%

Ulta Beauty

-81.6%

Kraft Heinz

-86.6%

Knowles

-88.5%

Walgreens Boots Alliance

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence

5/13/21 6:07 PM

20 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

w WOMAN UP Women-led companies on our list generated $174.47 billion in 2020 revenue, or 17.8% of the revenue on the entire list.

CRAIN’S LIST CHICAGO’S LARGEST PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES Ranked by 2020 revenue 2020 rank Company

Top executive(s)

2020 revenue 2020 net income (millions); (millions); % change from % change from 2019 2019

2020 profit margin

Market cap (millions) 12/31/2020 1-year change

Employees worldwide (FTE); 1-year change

Primary industry

82

88

CMC MATERIALS INC. Aurora; CCMP; 630-375-6631 CMCMaterials.com

David H. Li President, CEO

$1,116.3 7.6%

$142.8 264.2%

12.80%

$4,400.0 5.2%

2,082 1.7%

Semiconductor equipment

11

83

89

EQUITY LIFESTYLE PROPERTIES INC. Chicago; ELS; 312-279-1400 EquityLifestyleProperties.com

Marguerite M. Nader President, CEO

$1,091.4 5.2%

$228.3 -18.2%

20.90%

$11,545.8 -9.9%

4,000 -4.8%

Real estate investment trust

11

84 85

76

SP PLUS CORP. Chicago; SP; 312-274-2000; SPPlus.com

G. Marc Baumann President, CEO

$1,086.9 -34.7%

-$172.8 NM

NM

$665.6 -29.4%

10,400 -46.1%

Parking facilities management

11

86

ENOVA INTERNATIONAL INC. Chicago; ENVA; 312-568-4200 Enova.com

David A. Fisher CEO

$1,083.7 -7.8%

$377.8 932.0%

34.90%

$883.4 8.7%

1,549 16.9%

Online financial services

86

82

ADTALEM GLOBAL EDUCATION INC. Chicago; ATGE; 312-651-1400 Adtalem.com

Lisa W. Wardell Chairman, president, CEO

$1,052.0 3.8%

-$85.3 NM

NM

$1,768.5 -6.3%

3,971 -47.6%

Postsecondary education

87 88

91

METHODE ELECTRONICS INC. Chicago; MEI; 708-867-6777; Methode.com

Donald W. Duda President, CEO

$1,023.9 2.4%

$123.4 34.7%

12.10%

$2,959.9 102.8%

6,044 -2.3%

Electronic connectors

94

ENVESTNET INC. Chicago; ENV; 312-827-2800 Envestnet.com

Bill Crager CEO

$998.2 10.9%

-$3.1 NM

NM

$4,439.5 21.5%

4,250 1.4%

Investment management

90

RLI CORP. Peoria; RLI; 309-692-1000; RLICorp.com

Jonathan E. Michael Chairman, CEO

$983.6 -2.0%

$157.1 -18.0%

16%

$4,692.5 16.3%

869 -2.8%

Specialty insurance

New THE AZEK CO. Chicago; AZEK; 877-275-2935; AzekCo.com

Jesse Singh President, CEO

$899.3 13.2%

-$122.2 NM

NM

$5,945.8 NA

1,663 NA

Building products

No. 86 Lisa W. Wardell Chairman, president and CEO, Adtalem Global Education

89 90 91

DONNELLEY FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS INC. Chicago; DFIN; 800-823-5304 DFINSolutions.com

Daniel N. Leib President, CEO

$894.5 2.3%

-$25.9 NM

NM

$566.4 57.7%

NA NA

Communications, data, analytics services

No. 104 Ellen R. Gordon Chairman and CEO, Tootsie Roll Industries

92

Michael Pykosz CEO

$882.8 58.6%

-$188.0 NM

NM

$14,729.1 NA

3,200 NA

Health care services

No. 130 Julie Smolyansky President and CEO, Lifeway Foods

93 94

Jeffrey T. Sanfilippo Chairman, CEO

$880.1 0.4%

$54.1 37.1%

6.10%

$900.6 -13.4%

1,370 -6.8%

Nuts, snacks, candy, bulk foods

Clint Jones CEO

$877.4 62.6%

-$44.3 NM

NM

$1,149.9 NA

3,067 NA

Health insurance technology

FEMALE LEADERSHIP ON OUR LIST No. 1 Rosalind Brewer CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance No. 14 Christine A. Leahy President and CEO, CDW No. 34 Mary N. Dillon CEO, Ulta Beauty No. 49 Debra A. Cafaro Chairman and CEO, Ventas No. 58 Cindy J. Miller President and CEO, Stericycle No. 81 Jennifer L. Sherman President and CEO, Federal Signal No. 83 Marguerite M. Nader President and CEO, Equity LifeStyle Properties

Source: Crain’s list

w PAYING OUT 84.2% is the average 5-year total shareholder return for companies on this list.

BEST 5-YEAR SHAREHOLDER RETURN R1 RCM 650.6% Zebra Technologies 451.8% Paylocity Holding 407.8% Navistar International 397.3% Coeur Mining 317.3% Deere 290.3% Broadwind 281.3% Enova International 274.7% CMC Materials 270.0% TransUnion 263.8% Perdoceo Education 247.9% Arthur J. Gallagher 240.2% CDW 232.0% Caterpillar 211.2% Grubhub 206.9% Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence

P017-P022_CCB_20210517.indd 20

96

New OAK STREET HEALTH INC. Chicago; OSH; 312-733-9730 OakStreetHealth.com 95

JOHN B. SANFILIPPO & SON INC. Elgin; JBSS; 847-289-1800; JBSSInc.com

New GOHEALTH INC. Chicago; GOCO; 312-386-8200 GoHealth.com

95

93

HURON CONSULTING GROUP INC. Chicago; HURN; 312-583-8700 HuronConsultingGroup.com

James H. Roth CEO

$871.0 -9.8%

-$23.8 NM

NM

$1,270.8 -14.9%

3,807 1.5%

Management consulting

96

97

FIRST MIDWEST BANCORP INC. Chicago; FMBI; 630-875-7463 FirstMidwest.com

Michael L. Scudder Chairman, CEO

$792.0 -8.1%

$107.9 -46.0%

13.60%

$1,819.7 -28.2%

2,074 -2.3%

Commercial banks

97 98 99

102 COEUR MINING INC. Chicago; CDE; 312-489-5800; Coeur.com

Mitchell J. Krebs President, CEO

$785.5 10.4%

$25.6 NM

3.30%

$2,522.6 29.8%

1,959 -9.1%

Precious metals mining

11 11 11

11

11

11

12 12 12 12

12

12 12

98

KNOWLES CORP. Itasca; KN; 630-250-5100; Knowles.com

Jeffrey S. Niew President, CEO

$764.3 -10.6%

$6.6 -86.6%

0.90%

$1,689.5 -12.7%

7,000 -17.6%

Micro-acoustic solutions

92

TRIBUNE PUBLISHING CO. Chicago; TPCO; 312-222-9100 TribPub.com

Terry Jimenez President, CEO

$746.3 -21.1%

-$39.0 NM

NM

$500.5 5.6%

2,865 -30.4%

Newspapers, niche publications

100

104 PERDOCEO EDUCATION CORP. Schaumburg; PRDO; 847-781-3600 PerdoceoEd.com

Todd S. Nelson Chairman, president, CEO

$687.3 9.5%

$124.3 77.6%

18.10%

$875.1 -32.4%

3,625 16%

Educational services

101

100 HEIDRICK & STRUGGLES INTERNATIONAL INC. Chicago; HSII; 312-496-1200; Heidrick.com

Krishnan Rajagopalan President, CEO

$629.4 -13.3%

-$37.7 NM

NM

$568.8 -8.7%

1,563 -12.2%

Executive search firm

102

110 PAYLOCITY HOLDING CORP. Schaumburg; PCTY; 847-463-3200 Paylocity.com

Steve R. Beauchamp CEO

$561.3 20.0%

$64.5 19.8%

11.50%

$11,169.7 72.8%

3,600 18%

Online payroll and human services

103 104 105

105 CARS.COM INC. Chicago; CARS; 312-601-5000; Cars.com

T. Alex Vetter President, CEO

$547.5 -9.8%

-$817.1 NM

NM

$761.5 -6.7%

1,500 0%

Online automotive marketplace

107 TOOTSIE ROLL INDUSTRIES INC. Chicago; TR; 773-838-3400; Tootsie.com

Ellen R. Gordon Chairman, CEO

$471.1 -10.6%

$59.0 -9.1%

12.50%

$1,949.2 -13.2%

2,000 0%

Candy maker

112 FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST INC. Chicago; FR; 312-344-4300 FirstIndustrial.com

Peter E. Baccile President, CEO

$448.0 5.2%

$196.0 -17.9%

43.70%

$5,436.9 3.2%

153 -1.3%

Real estate investment trust

13

106

108 RETAIL PROPERTIES OF AMERICA INC. Oak Brook; RPAI; 630-634-4200 RPAI.com

Steven Grimes CEO

$430.0 -10.7%

$14.6 -55.0%

3.40%

$1,826.6 -36%

214 -0.5%

Real estate investment trust

13

107

New GCM GROSVENOR Chicago; GCMG; 312-506-6500 GCMGrosvenor.com

Michael J. Sacks Chairman, CEO

$430.0 3.3%

$7.5 0.0%

1.70%

$531.7 NA

492 NA

Alternative asset manager

108

109 CTS CORP. Lisle; CTS; 630-577-8800 CTSCorp.com

Kieran M. O’Sullivan Chairman, president, CEO

$424.1 -9.6%

$34.7 -4.0%

8.20%

$1,107.8 13.2%

3,786 6.1%

Electronic components

13 13

109

111 HERITAGE-CRYSTAL CLEAN INC. Elgin; HCCI; 847-836-5670 Crystal-Clean.com

Brian J. Recatto President, CEO

$406.0 -8.7%

$11.9 42.7%

2.90%

$505.5 -30.5%

1,246 -8.2%

Environmental cleaning parts and services

110

106 A.M. CASTLE & CO. Oak Brook; CTAM; 847-455-7111 CastleMetals.com

Marec E. Edgar President, CEO

$368.3 -34.2%

-$40.7 NM

NM

$22.4 272.1%

681 -22%

Metal products distribution

5/13/21 6:07 PM

12

12

12

13

13

13

Includ the se year o NM: N

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 21

SIZING UP

2020 rank Company

Top executive(s)

2020 revenue 2020 net income (millions); (millions); % change from % change from 2019 2019

2020 profit margin

TOP 30 COMPANIES BY MARKET CAPITALIZATION AS OF DEC. 31 (billions)

Market cap (millions) 12/31/2020 1-year change

Employees worldwide (FTE); 1-year change

$459.7 -1.5%

1,910 7.9%

Repair and maintenance supplies distributor

$965.0 -5.4%

770 5.5%

Slot machine provider

$596.1 -20.2%

918 -8.3%

Personal, business and commercial banking

Primary industry

AbbVie

111

115 LAWSON PRODUCTS INC. Chicago; LAWS; 773-304-5050 LawsonProducts.com

Michael G. Decata President, CEO

$351.6 -5.2%

$15.1 109.3%

4.30%

112

113 ACCEL ENTERTAINMENT INC. Burr Ridge; ACEL; 630-280-6144 AccelEntertainment.com

Andrew H. Rubenstein President, CEO

$316.4 -26.2%

-$13.0 NM

NM

113

116 BYLINE BANCORP INC. Chicago; BY; 773-244-7000 BylineBank.com

Roberto R. Herencia Executive chairman Alberto J. Paracchini President, CEO

$301.3 -6.0%

$37.5 -34.3%

12.40%

114 115 116

114 POTBELLY CORP. Chicago; PBPB; 312-951-0600; Potbelly.com

Robert D. Wright President, CEO

$291.3 -28.9%

-$65.4 NM

NM

$106.5 6.9%

5,500 -8.3%

Restaurant chain

118 OIL-DRI CORP. OF AMERICA Chicago; ODC; 312-321-1515; OilDri.com

Daniel S. Jaffee Chairman, president, CEO

$283.2 2.2%

$18.9 49.9%

6.70%

$254.5 -7.8%

803 0.2%

Absorbent products

Deere

117 SIGMATRON INTERNATIONAL INC. Elk Grove Village; SGMA; 847-956-8000 SigmaTronIntl.com

Gary R. Fairhead Chairman, president, CEO

$281.0 -3.3%

$0.4 NM

0.20%

$19.9 16.4%

3,065 -1.3%

Electronics manufacturing

Mondelez International

117

New RUSH STREET INTERACTIVE Chicago; RSI; 312-915-2815 RushStreetInteractive.com

Gregory Carlin CEO

$278.5 337.4%

-$0.6 NM

NM

$969.8 NA

264 NA

Casinos and gaming

CME Group

119 CAMBIUM NETWORKS CORP. Rolling Meadows; CMBM; 888-863-5250 CambiumNetworks.com

Atul Bhatnagar President, CEO

$278.5 4.3%

$18.6 NM

6.70%

ducts

118

$646.6 188.7%

512 -3.9%

ons, s

119

New WHOLE EARTH BRANDS INC. Chicago; FREE; 312-840-6000; WholeEarthBrands.com

Albert Manzone CEO

$275.5 1.2%

-$42.6 NM

NM

$418.9 NA

583 NA

$269.7 -12.7%

-$250.0 NM

NM

$821.0 45.5%

348 -68.8%

In-aircraft connectivity services

120 ONESPAN INC. Scott Clements Chicago; OSPN; 312-766-4001; OneSpan.com President, CEO

$215.7 -14.9%

-$5.5 NM

NM

$837.8 22.5%

870 16.9%

Cybersecurity products

124 BROADWIND INC. Cicero; BWEN; 708-780-4800; BWEN.com

Eric B. Blashford President, CEO

$198.5 11.4%

-$1.5 NM

NM

$134.3 393.8%

512 -1.7%

Wind energy

123 MANITEX INTERNATIONAL INC. Bridgeview; MNTX; 708-430-7500 ManitexInternational.com

Stoyan Filipov CEO

$167.5 -22.3%

-$13.6 NM

NM

$102.1 -12.9%

475 -20.6%

Lifting equipment

124

125 RICHARDSON ELECTRONICS LTD. LaFox; RELL; 630-208-2200 RELL.com

Edward J. Richardson Chairman, president, CEO

$155.9 -6.5%

-$1.8 NM

NM

125 126

127 VERICITY INC. Chicago; VERY; 312-379-2397; Vericity.com

James E. Hohmann CEO

$147.8 9.3%

-$25.0 NM

126 OLD SECOND BANCORP INC. Aurora; OSBC; 630-892-0202 OldSecond.com

James L. Eccher President, CEO

$141.7 -6.4%

127

131 SPROUT SOCIAL INC. Chicago; SPT; 866-878-3231 SproutSocial.com

Justyn R. Howard CEO

128

121 FREIGHTCAR AMERICA INC. Chicago; RAIL; 312-928-0850 FreightCarAmerica.com

or

ust

ies

ial

y

oods

nce

120 121 122 123

99

$189.17 Abbott Laboratories $187.60 McDonald’s $159.89

Wireless communications equipment Packaged foods

Boeing $120.84 Caterpillar $98.88

$84.31

$83.6

$65.35 Illinois Tool Works $64.53 Kraft Heinz $42.38 Exelon

GOGO INC. Oakleigh B. Thorne Chicago; GOGO; 312-517-5000; GogoAir.com President, CEO

$41.19 Baxter International $40.98 Walgreens Boots Alliance $35.53 Allstate $33.43

$62.2 -15.9%

394 3.7%

Electron tubes and power semiconductors

Motorola Solutions

NM

$148.9 -20.5%

421 -4.1%

Life insurance

Archer-Daniels-Midland

$27.8 -29.5%

19.60%

$296.5 -26.4%

533 -0.4%

Commercial banks

Discover Financial Services

$132.9 29.4%

-$31.7 NM

NM

$2,403.8 212.8%

700 12.4%

Social media management software

Arthur J. Gallagher

James R. Meyer President, CEO

$108.4 -52.8%

-$84.4 NM

NM

$37.4 42.2%

669 34.9%

Railroad equipment

129

122 ASSERTIO HOLDINGS INC. Lake Forest; ASRT; 224-419-7106 Assertio.com

Daniel A. Peisert President, CEO

$106.3 -53.7%

-$28.1 NM

NM

$38.3 -62%

27 -78.4%

Pharmaceuticals

130

132 LIFEWAY FOODS INC. Morton Grove; LWAY; 847-967-1010 LifewayKefir.com

Julie Smolyansky President, CEO

$102.0 8.9%

$3.2 613.5%

3.20%

$84.4 169.6%

316 2.9%

Probiotic beverages and snacks

131

New SURGALIGN HOLDINGS INC. Deerfield; SRGA; 224-303-4651 Surgalign.com

Terry Rich President, CEO

$101.7 -13.3%

-$33.8 NM

NM

$175.1 NA

197 NA

Health care supplies

132

129 PERMA-PIPE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS INC. Niles; PPIH; 847-966-2235; PermaPipe.com

David J. Mansfield President, CEO

$84.7 -33.7%

-$7.6 NM

NM

$49.7 -34.1%

504 -20.3%

Piping systems, filtration, cooling

ust

133

133 PCTEL INC. Bloomingdale; PCTI; 630-372-6800 PCTel.com

David A. Neumann CEO

$77.5 -14.5%

$3.4 -8.9%

4.40%

$120.1 -21.1%

326 -1.5%

Wireless communications equipment

ust

134

New KINGSWAY FINANCIAL SERVICES INC. Itasca; KFS; 847-700-9100 Kingsway-Financial.com

John T. Fitzgerald President, CEO

$69.0 1.1%

-$6.7 NM

NM

$103.2 NA

239 NA

Property and casualty insurance

Dover

135 136

128 EQUITY COMMONWEALTH Chicago; EQC; 312-646-2800; EQCRE.com

David A. Helfand President, CEO

$66.3 -48.2%

$451.3 -8.4%

680.90%

$3,315.2 -17.2%

28 0%

Real estate investment trust

Conagra Brands

134 BANKFINANCIAL CORP. Burr Ridge; BFIN; 800-894-6900 BankFinancial.com

F. Morgan Gasior CEO

$58.2 -18.6%

$9.2 -21.5%

15.70%

$129.8 -35.5%

209 -5%

Bank holding company

Ulta Beauty

als

c

tions

rch

l and es

moace

set

al s

$28.05

$23.79 Equity Residential $22.07 W.W. Grainger $21.91

$20.49 Northern Trust $19.38 TransUnion $18.88 CDW $18.84

Data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, with additional research by Sophie Rodgers (sophie.rodgers@crain.com)

WANT THE FULL EXCEL VERSION OF THIS LIST — AND EVERY LIST? BECOME A DATA MEMBER: CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM/DATA-LISTS

P017-P022_CCB_20210517.indd 21

$27.75

Zebra Technologies

Includes public companies in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake (Ill.), Lake (Ind.), McHenry and Will counties with annual revenue of more than $50 million and a market listing. Deere & Co. and RLI Corp. are outside the seven-county area, but Crain’s makes exceptions for them because of their size. All financial figures are from the most recent 10-Ks, unless otherwise noted. Revenues and profits correspond to the fiscal year of each company. Acquired companies are included provided they filed a 2020 10-K. Net income refers to net profits, including extraordinary adjustments and discounted operations. NA: Not available.

NM: Not measurable.

ts

$28.83

Ventas $18.37

$18.19

$17.71

$16.18 IDEX $15.08 Oak Street Health $14.73 Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence

5/13/21 6:07 PM

22 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

CRAIN’S LIST INDEX A A.M. Castle & Co.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 AAR Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Abbott Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 AbbVie Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Accel Entertainment Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ACCO Brands Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Adtalem Global Education Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Allstate Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 AptarGroup Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Assertio Holdings Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Atkore Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 AZEK Co., The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 B BankFinancial Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Baxter International Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Boeing Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Broadwind Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Brunswick Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Byline Bancorp Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 C Cambium Networks Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Camping World Holdings Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Cars.com Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Caterpillar Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Cboe Global Markets Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 CDK Global Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 CDW Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Century Aluminum Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 CF Industries Holdings Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 CMC Materials Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 CME Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 CNA Financial Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Coeur Mining Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Conagra Brands Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 CTS Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Cushman & Wakefield plc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

D Deere & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Discover Financial Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Dover Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 E Echo Global Logistics Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Enova International Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Envestnet Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Equity Commonwealth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Equity Residential. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Exelon Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 F Federal Signal Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 First Midwest Bancorp Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 FreightCar America Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 G GATX Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 GCM Grosvenor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Gogo Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 GoHealth Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Groupon Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Grubhub Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 H Heidrick & Struggles International Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Hub Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Huron Consulting Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Hyatt Hotels Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 I IAA Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 IDEX Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Illinois Tool Works Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Ingredion Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 J John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

John Bean Technologies Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 K Kemper Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Kingsway Financial Services Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Knowles Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Kraft Heinz Co.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 L Lawson Products Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Lifeway Foods Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Littelfuse Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 LKQ Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 M Manitex International Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 McDonald’s Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Methode Electronics Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Middleby Corp., The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Mondelez International Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Morningstar Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Motorola Solutions Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 N Navistar International Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 NiSource Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Northern Trust Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 O Oak Street Health Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Oil-Dri Corp. of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Old Republic International Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Old Second Bancorp Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 OneSpan Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Option Care Health Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 P Packaging Corp. of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Pactiv Evergreen Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Paylocity Holding Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 PCTEL Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Perdoceo Education Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Perma-Pipe International Holdings Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Potbelly Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

R R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 R1 RCM Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Retail Properties of America Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Reynolds Consumer Products Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Richardson Electronics Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 RLI Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Rush Street Interactive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Ryerson Holding Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 S SigmaTron International Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 SP Plus Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Sprout Social Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Stepan Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Stericycle Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 SunCoke Energy Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Surgalign Holdings Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 T Telephone and Data Systems Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Tenneco Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 TransUnion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 TreeHouse Foods Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Tribune Publishing Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 U Ulta Beauty Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 United Airlines Holdings Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 United States Cellular Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Univar Solutions Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 US Foods Holding Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 V Ventas Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Vericity Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 W W.W. Grainger Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Whole Earth Brands Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Wintrust Financial Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Z Zebra Technologies Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

CRAIN’S WEBCAST

Panelists

Heading back to the office?

Chicago leaders share their perspectives on what we can expect

Bob Clark Executive Chairman & Founder Clayco

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Tuesday, May 25 | 1-2 p.m.

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24 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

CLASSIFIEDS

æ`ÛiÀÌ Ã } -iVÌ

.

To place your listing, contact Claudia Hippel at 312-659-0076 or email claudia.hippel@crain.com www.chicagobusiness.com/classifieds

A COMPELLING CASE

SHRINKING BOTTOM LINE

Aging baby boomers and a COVID-induced slowdown in new supply gives Ventas confidence in future demand for its senior housing properties.

Profits from Ventas’ owned and operated senior housing facilities fell by nearly 43 percent year over year in the first quarter.

SENIOR HOUSING CONSTRUCTION STARTS (UNITS) 15,000

BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP

LOANS

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MULTI-FAMILY REAL ESTATE LOANS $500,000 to $5,000,000 Great Rates and Efficient Closing Times DEVON BANK CALL 773-423-2527 CHICAGO • ORLAND PARK • BRIDGEVIEW MEMBER FDIC. EQUAL HOUSING LENDER.

U.S. 80+ POPULATION 20 million

2,784 in Q1 2021 12,000

Projections

19.5 million 15

NET OPERATING INCOME, SHOP

20000000

$200

$96.6 million

15000000

150

9,000 10000000

10

100

6,000

20000000

5000000

5

3,000

15000000

50 0

0

’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20

0

’11 ’13 ’15 ’17 ’19 ’21 ’23 ’25 ’27 ’29

Sources: National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development

OUR READERS ARE 125% MORE LIKELY TO INFLUENCE OFFICE SPACE DECISIONS

Find your next corporate tenant or leaser.

Connect with Claudia Hippel at claudia.hippel@crain.com for more information.

P024_CCB_20210517.indd 24

15000

15000

0

10000000 200

2019

2020

’21

Source: Ventas 5000000

150

COVID shook senior living, but Ventas is all in 12000

9000

VENTAS from Page 3 nearly half of its net operating in6000 come might finally be on the road to recovery. But some industry experts and analysts 3000 warn COVID has not only stiffened the headwinds owners of senior housing 0 were facing before the pandemic, it has also cast congregate living in a harsh light that might diminish some of the demand the company is counting on. That could mean a slow-going comeback for Ventas if fallout from the past year lingers.

“I don’t believe, looking at senior housing fundamentals, that you’re going to see some V-shape (recovery) in metrics. It’s going to be a slow drag in the muck,” says Kenneth Leon, research director at investment research firm CFRA. “That raises questions about why they continue to have a strategy with such a high bet on senior housing.”

Ventas has had one big reason to wager heavily on owning and operating 439 senior housing properties, known as its “SHOP” portfolio: Their customer base is on track for explosive growth.

The number of Americans ages 80 and older—the target users of independent and assisted living facilities—is due to rise by 17.5 percent between 2020 and 2025 to more than 15 million people.

After that, it’s projected to spike to nearly 20 million people by 2030 as baby boomers—the oldest of which are 75 today—become the target.

The thesis for Ventas and its peer health care REITs, Toledo, Oh.-based Welltower and Denver-based Healthpeak Properties, has long been that growth in demand from those prospective customers will outpace the also fast-growing new supply nationwide.

CRAWLING OUT OF THE HOLE

COVID hasn’t changed those demographic trends, but it has put Ventas in a hole. SHOP occupancy was 78 percent as of April 30, down from 87 percent when the pandemic began, according to company regulatory filings.

Net operating income in that portfolio was $97 million during

12000

9000 the first quarter, down 42.5 per- covery is well underway.

“The pace and slope of that cent year over year.

New COVID-related expenses recovery is still uncertain, but 6000 and rising labor costs at senior we’re seeing strong demand and housing facilities may make it we find that to be very encourag3000 harder for Ventas to bounce back ing,” Hutchens says. from those drop-offs and also water down some of0 the expectBACKUP PLAN ed upside in the years ahead, In case that recovery is slowsays Leon. That’s one likely rea- er than they’d hope, Ventas has son Healthpeak is selling off up at least dipped its toes deepto $4 billion in senior housing as- er into life sciences, a sector it sets and putting more of its eggs first entered five years ago. The in medical offices and properties company last fall paid $1 bilfor pharmaceutical researchers, lion for a three-building, nearly for example. “Smart money is 800,000-square-foot life sciences not moving into senior housing,” campus in south San FrancisLeon says. co and followed that with a $272 But higher costs are only part million deal for a two-building of the challenge for senior hous- life science portfolio anchored ing owners. COVID outbreaks as- by Johns Hopkins Medicine adsociated with congregate senior jacent to the university’s medical living properties and the isola- campus. tion many residents experienced But that segment of Ventas’ during the pandemic could business accounts for just 9 permake people more hesitant to cent of its bottom line. While the enter or put elderly relatives into company today has more money such facilities in the future, says earmarked for new development Beth Mace, chief economist for the National Investment Center for “I DON’T BELIEVE . . . THAT YOU’RE Senior Housing & Care, GOING TO SEE SOME V-SHAPE a nonprofit industry organization.

(RECOVERY) IN METRICS.” “There’s been great reputational risk as- Kenneth Leon, research director, CFRA sociated with COVID,” Mace says. “We saw negative in life sciences than senior housheadlines from a lot of press, ing, Hutchens would not directly and that has penetrated peoples’ address whether the company views on the sector. I think the expects its research and innovasector needs to work collectively tion arm to account for a signifito talk about the benefits and at- cantly larger portion of its profits tributes of it.” in years ahead.

Justin Hutchens, a former Life sciences is difficult to get Healthpeak executive who took into quickly because there are over as Ventas’ executive vice only a few mature biotech and president of senior housing at pharmaceutical markets in the the beginning of the pandemic, country with enough demand to is quick to point out the perks merit developing or owning big of senior housing communities lab buildings, says Kevin Brown, and says Ventas is just as bullish an analyst who covers REITs for today about the sector as it was Chicago-based investment rebefore the pandemic. search firm Morningstar. But He cites an expected slow- growing that arm of the business down in new supply—construc- and reducing its reliance on setion starts on new senior hous- nior housing could help mitigate ing facilities nationwide during future risk for Ventas, “so if anthe first quarter sunk to their other pandemic happens five, lowest mark in a decade—and a 10 or 20 years from now, they’re jump in move-ins and inquiries not left in a situation where their from prospective residents over entire company sees a 20-30 perthe past few months back to pre- cent decline in (net operating inCOVID levels as signals that a re- come),” Brown says.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 25

Why the push for COVID-19 vaccine patent waivers worries drugmakers patients in other countries. The drug eventually fell short in clinical trials.

AbbVie referred questions to trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which opposes the waiver.

APPROVAL FUNDING

Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office in March released a report showing that the U.S. spent about $162 million to get Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir approved to treat COVID-19. However, the funding didn’t result in government patent rights since “federally-supported research did not generate new inventions,” the report says.

“What COVID has made people realize is the existing system of making and distributing pharmaceutical products, PPE, ventilators, medical diagnostics, testing—all the things we need to address a pandemic—that the intellectual property system is not working well to satisfy those worldwide needs,” says Joshua Sarnoff, a law professor at DePaul University. “Some of that is a lack of sufficient production.

Some of it has to do with hoarding.”

Some industry observers say waiving IP protections for COVID vaccines could open the door to discussions about expanding ac-

JOHN R. BOEHM

do you stop?”

The waiver, which could tempoIn the long run, suspension rarily enable manufacturers to byof COVID vaccine patents could pass patents and produce vaccines embolden advocates to push for created by COVID-19 drugmakers, waivers on other patented treat- requires unanimous support from ments, diagnostic tools and per- the 164-member World Trade Orsonal protective equipment. Such ganization. Some other developed waivers could threaten drugmak- countries like Germany appear ers’ profits, lessening their appe- unlikely to back the proposal. tite for the investments needed to But experts wonder if the Biden develop new treatments that save administration’s support might signal a sea change toward giving lives and ease suffering.

“It’s very easy for the mind to the government more power over wander to other medical situa- companies’ patent rights.

“We must make vaccines, testtions that are widespread in nature and it makes you wonder, are ing and treatments accessible evthey important enough to make erywhere if we are going to crush governments consider waiving the virus anywhere,” wrote 10 senpatent rights in the future,” says ators—nine Democrats plus independent Bernie Sand“WHAT IF SOMEBODY CAME UP WITH ers—in an April letter to President Joe Biden.

Versions of the debate THE MIRACLE CURE FOR CANCER? tend to surface during . . .ONCE YOU START GOING DOWN public health crises— the AIDS epidemic THAT SLOPE, WHERE DO YOU STOP?” from to the anthrax attacks following 9/11. And this Mark Remus, partner, Brinks Gilson & Lione isn’t the first time patent Mark Remus, partner and chair rights have come up in relation to of the Litigation Practice Group the COVID-19 pandemic.

Early last year, the Financial at intellectual property law firm Brinks Gilson & Lione. “What if Times reported that North Chicasomebody came up with the mir- go-based AbbVie was waiving patacle cure for cancer? . . .Once you ent rights for its HIV drug Kaletra, start going down that slope, where which was used to treat COVID-19 DRUGMAKERS from Page 3

COVID-19 patent waivers will require unanimous support from the World Trade Organization. cess to ventilators or diagnostic testing, for example. North Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories, which has poured money into developing a series of COVID tests since the pandemic started, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the potential waiver.

A big concern for many companies, particularly as it relates to mRNA vaccine technology, is that transferring trade secrets now could lead them to lose com-

petitive advantages in the future, industry experts say. That could influence pharmaceutical companies’ “long-term strategies in the marketplace, as well as patenting strategies,” Remus says.

“Companies may be disinclined to file patents and instead seek to protect their technology through trade secrets,” he warns. “That way they’re not disclosing something and having it given away for free at the discretion of the government.”

‘Juggernaut’ Chicago law firm Kirkland & Ellis logs a record-breaking 2020 KIRKLAND from Page 1 times what it had 15 years ago, and it’s not stopping there.

Kirkland’s revenue gain in 2020 alone would put it among the top 100 U.S. law firms. Law firms of its ilk are benefiting from an anxious flight to quality. Profits per partner for the 100 largest were up 13 percent in last year versus 5 percent in 2019, according to the American Lawyer.

For Ballis, 51, size poses a challenge that informs all other challenges, ahead of an inevitable shift in the business cycle and a continuing industry shakeout, akin to what happened in accounting,

cruiter. “The non-equity partner engine is astounding.”

Kirkland used to be known as a litigation shop, representing BP in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the NFL and GM in other high-profile cases.

FILLING THE RANKS

Just eight years ago, it had more litigators than transactional attorneys. Since then, the number of corporate attorneys has more than doubled, leaving the firm with an almost 2-to-1 corporate-to-litigation ratio, according to Leopard Solutions. Kirkland points out it remains supreme in litigation.

During this year’s first “THE NON-EQUITY PARTNER ENGINE quarter, Kirkland advised issuers on more IS ASTOUNDING.” U.S. initial public offerings than any othMark Jungers, industry recruiter er law firm, with a 13 percent dollar-volume market share, according to Dealeading to a few megafirms.

Kirkland has staked much of its logic. Worldwide, Kirkland hangrowth on attracting star perform- dled more than twice as many ers from other firms, and Ballis— IPOs—65—as did other Chicago himself a “lateral” hire—has spo- law firms combined, according ken of feeding the beast: having to PitchBook.

The bonanza owes much to rainmakers make enough rain to Kirkland’s decision decades cover the firm’s huge nut. ago to pursue the nascent field of private equity, staring with “THEY HAVE AN ARMY” Another way Kirkland gets to First Chicago Venture Capital, $6.2 million in profits per partner which spawned Madison Dearis through a concept called lever- born Partners and GTCR and its age—with battalions of lawyers further offspring, Thoma Bravo. beneath the superstars making, Today, Kirkland also represents say, $600,000 while billing up to names like Blackstone Group, 3,000 hours a year at $1,000 an KKR and Carlyle Group, as well as clients on the other side of hour. Do the math.

“And they have an army of these transactions.

For Kirkland, private equity is people, and nobody else has that,” says Mark Jungers, an industry re- a serial killer, starting with fund

P025_CCB_20210517.indd 25

formation. Funds buy and sell companies. Some go public, others go bankrupt. Many deal in intellectual property. Kirkland has a crack at business every step of the way—it ranks No. 1 in bankruptcy work.

A further tailwind is the explosion of private firms going public through SPACs, or already-listed special purpose acquisition companies. Since the start of 2019, Kirkland leads all law firms in SPAC M&A advising. SPAC IPO volume during the first quarter topped all of 2020’s, according to Bloomberg.

Thus, it’s no accident that Ballis, like Hammes, got to the top of Kirkland as a private-equity guy. Ballis moved from Sidley Austin in 2005. He declined to comment.

“He saw that our practice was expanding,” says Jack Levin, 85, a Kirkland partner who did the firm’s first PE deals. “Jon Ballis these days is working very, very hard to continue to expand.”

Texas provides a snapshot.

Since opening its first Texas office in 2014—and its third in Austin recently—Kirkland now has 300 lawyers in the state doing more M&A work with Texas-based companies than the next two firms combined, it says.

Hammes “took a really, really great law firm and turned it into a behemoth, a juggernaut,” in part by exercising unwritten unilateral hiring authority that, while coldly efficient, could blindside other partners, according to Jungers.

Hammes, who co-founded a legal tech SPAC after retiring from Kirkland, declined to comment.

TAKING THE RED LINE Kirkland & Ellis dominates other Chicago law firms in M&A work and IPOs, led by private-equity clients.

2021 GLOBAL M&A DEAL COUNT

2021 GLOBAL IPO DEAL COUNT

Kirkland & Ellis

Kirkland & Ellis 140

65

McDermott Will & Emery 60

Sidley Austin 10

Sidley Austin

Baker & McKenzie 9

50 Baker & McKenzie 27

Winston & Strawn 5

Mayer Brown 25

Schiff Hardin 2

Winston & Strawn 18

McDermott Will & Emery 2

Locke Lord 12

Locke Lord 2

Katten 6

Mayer Brown 1

Source: PitchBook

Levin says Kirkland still has work to do “from a social standpoint,” i.e., diversity among the ranks.

Ballis is viewed by Kirkland partners past and present as more empathetic than Hammes—though one says Hammes mellowed—and a better internal communicator, a key trait during COVID and in an era when the way personnel decisions are handled can trump their economic impact.

“He doesn’t need to take over a room,” says Brian Boorstein, a former private-equity client of Kirkland. “He’s got that ‘it’ factor

Note: First quarter 2021

you don’t learn in a book.”

Ballis played basketball at Highland Park High School and majored in government, minored in international relations and was a fraternity treasurer at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

As Kirkland grows, the odds of partner conflict will grow, too.

Millennials, or whoever comes after them, might not be so content slaving away for a measly 600 grand per annum for a long shot at real riches as an equity partner.

Ballis will need that fraternity management experience.

5/14/21 4:16 PM

26 MAY 17, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

How much Illinois ratepayer support will be enough for ComEd parent Exelon?

EXELON from Page 3

nearly five times what Pritzker is offering—an amount based on an committee to testify on Pritzker’s independent audit the governor wide-ranging energy legislation, commissioned of Exelon’s nuwhich would provide $70 million clear plants—and well above the a year in ratepayer subsidies for $235 million Rauner signed into law in 2016. the two plants.

The 2016 subsidy adds about CEO Chris Crane has said that’s not nearly enough. So how much $2 a month on average to electric is enough? The company contin- bills throughout the state. A $353 ues to dodge that question. The million subsidy would tack on only hint Crane has given came nearly $3 more.

Asked whether the New Jersey in a May 5 earnings call with analysts when he pointed to a recent subsidy is what Exelon wants in decision in New Jersey to subsi- Illinois, a spokesman didn’t respond directly. “(Pritzker’s) prodize nukes there.

“If you take a look at what hap- posal was based on a flawed analpened in New Jersey last week, ysis from a consultant whose work has twice been rejected by New Jersey “EXELON . . . REFUSES TO EVEN APPEAR policymakers who, when faced with the BEFORE COMMITTEES LIKE THIS ONE same circumstances, concluded that TO ANSWER TO THE PEOPLE.” saving that state’s Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell nuclear plants would cost consumers far the (state) concluded that the less than trying to replace them financial challenges faced by nu- with other clean energy sources. clear plants there justified a max- We stand ready to work with polimum (subsidy) of $10 per mega- icymakers and all stakeholders on policy changes that will move us watt-hour,” Crane said.

Applying that level of support to toward a zero-carbon future at the Dresden and Byron would entail lowest cost to consumers.”

The Pritzker administration increases in electricity rates sufficient to generate $353 million in says the company needs to come annual revenue based on the two clean. “If Exelon is going to come plants’ 2019 production. That’s to the General Assembly and rate-

payers asking for more money than what independent experts say they need, then they will need to justify that ask in a public forum,” spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh says. “The governor is not interested in repeating the sins of the past, and it’s insulting to taxpayers that Exelon would use this tired playbook and expect the same result.”

At the May 11 hearing before the House Energy and Environment Committee, Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell called Exelon out publicly. “Exelon . . . refuses to even appear before committees like this one to answer to the people of Illinois. They were invited to attend this committee today, and they declined.”

The Exelon spokesman didn’t say why the company refused the invitation, but responded, “Exelon has provided detailed economic data on the nuclear plants to any policymaker who has requested it; we have met with and provided information to all stakeholders who have proposed legislation and have taken part in numerous energy working groups and meetings with policymakers, including the governor’s office. In addition, we have agreed to waive confidentiality so that the unredacted (independent audit) can be made public.”

The intense game of chicken

over the future of Exelon’s nukes is by far the thorniest issue confronting lawmakers and Pritzker, who want passage by the end of the month of wide-ranging legislation to put the state on a path to a carbon-free power-generation industry within the next 30 years.

LEVERAGE

Exelon’s leverage is considerable. It has stated repeatedly that premature closure of nukes, which don’t emit carbon, would set the state back years in reaching its climate goals. In addition, the two plants employ well over 1,000 union workers. Loss of their property taxes would deal a massive blow to the revenues of Morris in Grundy County and municipalities outside Rockford that benefit from the Byron plant.

Crane dismissed Pritzker’s proposal to charge operators of coal– and natural gas-fired plants for the carbon they emit. Mitchell has said that will raise wholesale energy prices, helping to reduce the need for direct subsidies to Exelon. That won’t happen, Crane said. Instead, out-of-state power plants will sell into Illinois without paying the tax.

“It’s difficult for a single state that is an island surrounded by other states without the same policy not to have leakage coming in,” he told analysts.

Exelon’s hardball tactics are putting Pritzker and lawmakers in a bind. Pritzker’s proposal calls for doubling what ratepayers currently shell out to foster new renewable energy development in the state. If the carbon tax is adopted and does succeed in raising energy prices, that will increase electric bills all the more. Keeping a lid on Exelon’s bailout is key to keeping costs from escalating beyond a level that’s politically acceptable.

Time is running out as well.

Meetings of various parties, including the governor’s staff, now are becoming more frequent in hopes of synthesizing a flurry of broad proposals into a single bill.

Exelon has adopted a low profile in the discussions, participating behind the scenes but largely demurring from public pronouncements other than the criticism of Pritzker’s plan. That’s no surprise given Exelon-owned Commonwealth Edison’s admissions last year that it repeatedly schemed over the past decade to win favor in Springfield by giving no-work contracts to cronies of then-House Speaker Michael Madigan.

But there’s no sidestepping the state’s largest power company when attempting to remake the energy landscape in Illinois. Pritzker’s big green ambitions depend in large part on Exelon.

2021

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P026_CCB_20210517.indd 26

5/14/21 4:15 PM

NEWSCOM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 17, 2021 27

RT1 trucks are assembled and tested in April as the Rivian plant in Normal gears up to open in the coming weeks. Rivian is preparing to manufacture electric trucks and SUVs in the former Mitsubishi facility.

Rivian and Lion electric vehicle factories make Illinois a potential hub ELECTRIC from Page 1 powertrains over the next decade or two, states are racing to stake their claims to electric vehicle manufacturing and the jobs it will create.

So far, established automakers are primarily concentrating production in Michigan, Tennessee, Indiana and South Carolina. Newcomers such as Tesla and Lucid have chosen Nevada, Texas and Arizona.

Illinois beat out Texas and Michigan for the Lion plant, a sign of the state’s competitiveness in the industry. If it can lure a flock of electric vehicle parts suppliers, Illinois will hang on to its role as one of about a dozen states that account for most U.S. auto production, preserving a key source of high-paying manufacturing employment as well as advanced technical jobs.

“Illinois has both a strong manufacturing history and increasingly strong digital and artificial-intelligence capabilities, which will be relevant. Argonne is a central battery-tech center,” says Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program whose work has focused on the nation’s technology clusters.

“Clearly there are possibilities for Illinois here.”

The state ranks ninth in U.S. auto production, just behind South Carolina and ahead of Texas, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. Automakers, including Ford in Chicago and Stellantis in Belvidere, employ about 36,000 in Illinois.

An additional 36,000 work at auto parts makers in the state, according to the Illinois Manufacturing Association.

Illinois also is home to heavy-equipment makers Cater-

pillar and Deere. Both are moving toward electric-powered vehicles, as is Illinois-based truck and bus maker Navistar, which has agreed to be acquired by Volkswagen.

Navistar won’t be making electric vehicles in Illinois, but its engineering design teams are based in Lisle.

Foxconn has said it will decide this year whether to make electric vehicles at a plant just over the Illinois border in Racine, Wic., a possibility highlighted by the Taiwanese tech manufacturing giant’s May 13 announcement of a partnership with EV startup Fisker.

‘CULTURE OF MANUFACTURING’

Lion Electric CEO Marc Bédard says the Montreal-based company chose Illinois in part because of the state’s location and talent base, even though Illinois’ $7.9 million incentive package wasn’t the highest.

“There is a very rich culture of manufacturing in Illinois,” Bédard says. “People know how to manufacture things. Having labor that has a lot of knowledge in manufacturing trucks and buses, that was one of the boxes on our list that Illinois checked.”

Illinois already has more than 5,000 workers in the electric transportation industry—about 3,500 of them in the Chicago area, according to a study last month commissioned by the trade group Advanced Energy Economy. The study, which was completed before the Lion announcement, predicts the work force will nearly double by 2024 to 9,500 workers.

“There is a lot of precision manufacturing already in Illinois that sets the state up to get more than its fair share,” says Phil Jordan, a vice president at BW Research Partnership and lead author of the report.

The study identified more than 500 Illinois companies connected to

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electric vehicles, including established suppliers such as NTN Bearing, which has offices and plants in Mount Prospect, Schiller Park, Elgin and Macomb.

Yet the state’s electric-vehicle hopes depend largely on the success of startups Lion and Irvine, Calif.-based Rivian, which are likely to face competition from larger manufacturers. Bolstering the prospects of both companies are deals to build vehicles for Amazon.

“They’re not all going to make it,” says Kristin Dziczek, head of research at the Center for Automotive Research. “A lot depends on how well the startups manage their ramp-up to full-scale operation.”

Lion plans to hire about 800 workers for the Joliet plant, which will begin production late next year, but it also plans to hire engineers here. Headcount could reach 1,400 in five or six years, Bédard says. Rivian has more than 1,000 workers in Normal and expects headcount there to top 2,500 by year-end.

Another key to Illinois’ prospects in electric vehicle manufacturing will be attracting a network of parts suppliers for the assembly plants.

Suppliers often cluster around auto factories, bringing more jobs. However, electric vehicle production requires far fewer parts and an estimated 30 percent less labor than traditional vehicle manufacturing.

That poses a threat to Illinois’ existing automotive employment base and makes success in electric vehicles even more important to the state’s economic future.

“I think there are going to be a lot of good suppliers in Illinois that probably are not in Illinois right now but will decide to go to Illinois in the next couple of years,” Bédard says.

At the heart of electric vehicles are advanced batteries powerful

WHERE VEHICLES GET MADE Illinois looks to extend its current auto manufacturing base into electric vehicles.

States ranked by percentage of U.S. auto production.

U.S. auto production share Michigan

20.5%

Indiana

12.6%

Kentucky

10.8%

Alabama

9.0%

Ohio

8.7%

Missouri

6.7%

Tennessee

6.1%

South Carolina

4.9%

Illinois

4.8%

Texas

4.6%

Mississippi

4.0%

All Others

7.4%

Source: Center for Automotive Research

enough to propel them for hundreds of miles without recharging.

So far, Illinois doesn’t have a large battery factory. AllCell Technologies, a battery company in Broadview that spun out of the Illinois Institute of Technology, employs about 50 people, according to the Advanced Energy Economy report.

Argonne employs about 150 people working on energy technology. Three battery-related startups have spun out of Argonne, but none is based here.

“We have the pieces of the puzzle that should lead to an ecosystem developing,” says Venkat Srinivasan, deputy director of Argonne’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research. “The money is here and the universities are here. Now we’re seeing the third leg of the stool— companies. If we can nurture this, it spurs itself. But it’s going to take

some care and doing before it gets there.”

Bédard says Argonne was a selling point for Lion, which “will probably do some batteries in Illinois at some point.”

In the meantime, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he’s “been in direct conversations with battery manufacturers and their suppliers” about setting up shop in Illinois.

Pritzker, who made clean energy a focus of his economic-development plan, says the state is dedicating $90 million from its proceeds from a pollution settlement with Volkswagen and $70 million in capital-improvement funds toward the electric-vehicle industry.

“We think there are thousands of jobs we can attract,” Pritzker says. “We have a long way to go, but we’re getting the attention of electric-vehicle manufacturers. We have momentum.”

Vol. 44, No. 20 – 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.

5/14/21 4:05 PM

Together we’re building healthier communities.

BMO and Rush are joining forces to help make our neighborhoods stronger and our community healthier. We’re announcing a $10 million donation to create the new Rush BMO Institute for Health Equity to ensure zero barriers to inclusion for communities across Chicago.

Learn more about the Rush BMO Institute for Health Equity at bmo.com/rush

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