Crain's Chicago Business

GIVING GUIDE: Nonprofits prepare to navigate a post-pandemic world. PAGE 19

RESTAURANTS: How COVID changed lunch in the Loop. PAGE 3

CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM | MAY 24, 2021 | $3.50

Gallagher’s big leap to the big time

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

SUPPLIER DIVERSITY

Its pickup of Aon’s forced sales creates potent global No. 3

BY STEVE DANIELS

FOR MINORITY CONSTRUCTION FIRMS, A CATCH-22 Minority suppliers become ineligible for special city contracts if their average revenues surpass designated thresholds.

The city is reviewing these equity caps. PAGE 12

When Aon moved its Chicago headquarters to London nine years ago, the city appeared to be losing its stake in one of the world’s most stable and profitable industries—purchasing insurance on behalf of businesses. Few in the sector took solace in the continued presence of far smaller insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Now, after negotiating a $3.6 billion deal for some of the jewels that European regulators are forcing Aon to divest to win approval of its merger with London-based Willis Towers Watson, Gallagher is positioned to be nearly the heavyweight Aon was when it decamped.

CEO J. Patrick Gallagher Jr. Based in Rolling Meadows, 30 miles northwest of the towering Aon Center, Gallagher always has been the more unassuming of the two. It focuses more on midsize business clients rather than the Fortune 500 served by Aon. An ex-McKinseyite, Greg Case, leads Aon; Gallagher is managed as a de facto family business, albeit one minding Securities & Exchange Commission requirements. CEO J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., grandson See GALLAGHER on Page 62

Making pot-infused snacks tastier: Can it be done?

It’s a challenge Chicago, with its deep roots in the food biz, is well positioned to take on At a small food laboratory on the West Side, Chicago’s rich history in candymaking is mingling with its new role as a hub of the burgeoning cannabis industry.

That’s where food industry veteran Stephanie Gorecki and her colleagues are cooking up candies for their new employer, mari-

Cresco Labs gummies

oping more edible pot products as existing customers and newbies look for ways to get high other than smoking. Edibles made up about 21 percent of total weed sales last year, trailing smokable “flower” at 51 percent, according to Chicago-based Brightfield Group. But edibles are growing

JOHN R. BOEHM

BY JOHN PLETZ

juana company Cresco Labs.

On a recent afternoon, a machine squirted dark-red liquid into flexible molds, turning out nearly 150 gummies to be dusted with powdered sugar. Nearby is a rainbow-colored assortment of gummies that will hit the shelves in time for next month’s Pride celebrations.

Cresco and its rivals are devel-

See EDIBLES on Page 56

NEWSPAPER l VOL. 44, NO. 21 l COPYRIGHT 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

CHICAGO COMES BACK ‘I think we’ve got a ton of momentum.’

PAGE 4

REAL ESTATE A lush green composition on the bank of the river.

PAGE 63

2 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

“Y

In search of the vanishing political center

ou might think,” the president wrote later, “that for a political party that had just suffered two cycles of resounding defeat, the GOP strategy of pugnacious, all-out obstruction would carry big risks.”

But with a critical infrastructure and economic stimulus bill up for action, GOP leaders decided that, instead of backing something that might help the president politically, “If they fought a rearguard action, if they generated controversy and

WASHINGTON, D.C., OUGHT TO BE NAMED GRIDLOCKTOPIA. threw sand in the gears, they at least had a chance to energize their base and slow me and the Democrats down.”

No, Joe Biden hasn’t written a guest column about his big pending infrastructure bill, a bill that would be of invaluable help to transportation and logistics-focused metropolitan Chicago. Instead, those quotes come from the Chicagoan

I

who was president, Barack Obama, about his experience in trying to pass a big stimulus bill amid the depths of the subprime recession.

And the takeaway is that, 12 years later, nothing really has changed.

If there’s one thing this bitterly divided nation agrees on—other than that the other half is a bunch of stupid nitwits—is that Washington, D.C., really ought to be named Gridlocktopia. Presidents and legislative leaders come and go. Raw partisanship remains.

“Actually, it’s getting worse,” says Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Deerfield, a member of the House Problem Solver Caucus and a man whose politics jibe well with the largely centrist bent of most voters in his north suburban district. “We have to do something that addresses the concerns of the country.” Something beyond fighting and pointing fingers, that is.

Lots of people have written lots of words about this phenomenon lately. Among the causes: a hyperpartisan remap process that makes

GREG HINZ ON POLITICS

a God-given right to infect and kill anyone they want.

Lipinski would know something about such orthodoxy, from the other side. Though he’s a Democrat in the mold of generations of Southwest Siders before him, he has a conservative side, particularly on social issues. That lost him his job in the Democratic primary last year, making him sort of a man without a country, a more left version of where GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, is as he moves away from the GOP’s activist base.

Lipinski also happens to know something about transportation policy, having specialized in that area in the House.

Asked about Biden’s current $2 billion infrastructure plan—and a much smaller GOP alternative

that’s focused heavily on roads—he sees a chance they’ll work it out in Washington, perhaps keeping Biden’s emphasis on not only roads and bridges but electronic charging stations and trains, while taking out the “human infrastructure” spending that provokes Republicans.

“It’s possible. I would meet somewhere in the middle,” he says.

“I doubt it’s about to happen.”

I hope he’s wrong. If Chicago and Illinois are to compete in today’s world, we need a backbone that works, and that means a lot more than the roads the Southern lawmakers covet. After all, what’s the world coming to if you can’t count on a bunch of politicians to get together on a plan to allow all of them to cut lots of ribbons at election time?

How to silence swaths of Illinois voters

They’re refusing to wait for the full census data coming in mid-August. Instead, they’ll use other, older data we now know missed tens of thousands of us.

The full census data is late due to the pandemic, but we know from the overall population number the bureau released that Illinois didn’t lose as many people as had been projected. The American Community Survey data the bureau also publishes undercounted Illinoisans by anywhere between 41,877 and 140,687 people. If we want to easily forget 140,000 people, let’s just erase Naperville.

Actually, let’s not erase anyone. Everyone should count, and everyone should get the resources they deserve. They should have a say about schools and safety in their communities, what kinds of recreational facilities they have access to and much, EVERYONE COUNTS, AND EVERYONE much more.

Our elected officials did WILL NEED TO STAND UP. have dozens of hearings few people knew about.

Harmon kicked it off by saying he Don Harmon lives in Oak Park. wanted to give “a megaphone to They’re the real Illinois bosses, along with Gov. J.B. Pritzker. I can’t those who have been silenced.”

Welch has said he believes in “one forget them. person, one vote.” So how do we I created that hypothetical boss make that happen when they draw dream, though, to help you see districts that omit tens of thouwhat the real bosses are doing as they draw community districts and sands of us?

Like California, Oregon and decide how we’ll be represented Michigan mapmakers, Illinois offifor the next 10 years. cials could seek court permission Right now or very soon, you’ll to set aside dates in the constitube hearing about how they drew tion to wait for the census. Like our people and communities into Cook County, they could commit puzzle pieces because they had a to a two-step process, where they “constitutional obligation” to do so. You’ll hear how they held more draw a map now, based on community input, and then approve public meetings than ever before a final map, with census data, in to collect input from us. Does that August. justify wiping out people in Oak The people who are erased are Park, Hillside, Maywood and River likely to be people of color, who Forest? It shouldn’t. But that’s are less trustful of responding to what our politicians are doing to government surveys. But again, assure they keep their power.

f I were the boss of Illinois, I could draw a big red X over Hillside and a big red X over Oak Park. Just erase those communities off the face of the earth.

Then, we wouldn’t need to worry about the schools there, or the children in them, or the public safety or the hospitals. We could spend the money on street upkeep and sanitation, instead, in Maywood or River Forest. I like those town names better anyway. They sound so full of nature.

If I did that, I could just forget about the roughly 7,900 people in Hillside. I could just wipe away the 52,000 people of Oak Park. That’s OK, right? No one important lives there. Actually, plenty of important people live in both places. I’ve got friends there. Oh, yes, Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch lives in Hillside and Senate President

P002_CCB_20210524.indd 2

defeating your more extreme foe in the primary a bigger challenge than beating the other party in the November general election, the division of much of the media into cheering camps, and a slow decline in voter turnout—excepting 2020— that’s shifted the electoral paradigm from reaching to the middle to revving up the base.

But it’s now more than that.

The country’s partisan divide has morphed into “partisan identity,” says former Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago. “If you ‘give in’ to the other side, you’re not compromising on a policy issue; you’re a heretic.”

Lipinski’s right. Several downstate Republican lawmakers a few days ago wrote the Chicago Cubs and White Sox deploring decisions to reserve some seats for COVID-vaccinated patrons as “segregation . . . an infringement on liberties . . . (and) potential stigmatizing of Illinois based on medical status.” GOP orthodoxy these days is that Democrats and ball teams aren’t trying to save lives but just push around red-blooded Americans who have

you’ll hear officials say they had historic numbers of committee hearings.

“Too much has been made of what is going on in these committees, and not enough attention has been paid to what is going on in the community,” says Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois. Elected officials “understand better than any of us why this redistricting cycle is unlike any we’ve faced before.

“If they needed more time to do their jobs, they should have taken steps to secure it. If they need-

MADELEINE DOUBEK ON GOVERNMENT

ed more data, they should have assembled it—and told us what they were using. What they have done isn’t equity. What we will get won’t be equitable.”

And the community carving could last for 10 years. Tens of thousands of us count. And if tens of thousands come together like we did for civil rights last sum-

mer, we can change the future for ourselves and our communities.

Everyone counts, and everyone will need to stand up to be sure we get counted.

Madeleine Doubek is executive director of Change Illinois, a nonpartisan nonprofit that advocates for ethical and efficient government.

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N E W N A M E S A M E G R E AT S E R V I C E

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5/21/21 5:36 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 3

A turning point for the Pittsfield The troubled tower’s fate could be sealed any day

JOHN R. BOEHM

BY ALBY GALLUN

J.P. McIntyre is general manager at Luke’s Lobster, which recently reopened for the first time in more than a year.

WHAT COVID DID TO LUNCH The virus left a mark on downtown restaurants

OFFICE WORKERS RETURNING TO THE LOOP this summer will find a lunch scene transformed by a pandemic that shuttered some old favorites and forced others to reinvent themselves.

Some fast-casual joints are gone. Those that remain have changed their layouts and operations to focus on to-go orders. Full-service restaurants—at least the ones that survived— are watching tables slowly but surely fill up with business lunches, but revenue remains at a fraction of what it once was.

BY ALLY MAROTTI

The lack of downtown foot traffic over the last 14 months doomed such mainstays as Morton’s original State Street location, Lawry’s the Prime Rib, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Beacon Tavern and Trattoria No. 10. In the fast-casual realm, Pret-A-Manger closed its downtown locations, and two Amazon Go spots shuttered.

Others have yet to reopen. Petterino’s, which relies heavily on the theater crowd, has not See LUNCH on Page 61

“IT’S GOING TO TAKE AT LEAST ANOTHER YEAR, YEAR AND A HALF” FOR THE LUNCH BUSINESS TO FULLY RECOVER. Billy Lawless, owner, Gage Hospitality Group

Within days, a judge could decide the fate of the Pittsfield Building in the Loop.

Will she order it put up for sale?

Or will she allow its current owner, a Chinese-Canadian business mogul charged with securities fraud a few years ago, to hang onto the landmark tower?

“It’s impossible to tell,” says Monte Mann, an attorney engaged in an acrimonious court battle over the high-rise. “There are twists and turns at every hearing.

I really have no idea.”

Trying to predict the future of the Pittsfield and another prominent troubled property owned by the same investor—the huge vacant Motorola campus in Harvard—has become a fool’s errand in recent years amid legal disputes, failed turnaround plans and more recently, the intervention of Canadian prosecutors. Accusations of racism have added to the bitterness in the Pittsfield dispute.

Both properties could be facing turning points in the coming weeks. In Harvard, just south of the Wisconsin border, an investor group has agreed to take over the 325-acre Motorola property and turn it into a solar-powered data hub and technology center.

In Chicago, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Patrice Munzel BallReed will rule soon on a proposal to sell most of the space in the Pittsfield, which is in receivership See PITTSFIELD on Page 60

The asking price is only a suggestion now On average, homes are going for slightly more than 100% of what sellers want Before they walked into a Lincoln Square house that had just come on the market that day, @properties agent Meta Rose Torchia and her clients had their battle plan ready. The clients would take a look, and if they liked it, they’d let her know, at which point Torchia would dart home and write up their offer.

Shortly after they went inside, “I saw the look in their eyes when they came down the stairs and I knew,” Torchia says. It was go time.

P003_CCB_20210524.indd 3

Two hours later, an offer was in the hands of the agent who was representing the sellers of the four-bedroom house on Leland Avenue. It was for $800,000, about 3 percent over the sellers’ asking price of $774,500.

Going $25,500 over the asking price when the house hadn’t been on the market 24 hours yet was a sort of pre-emptive strike.

“They wouldn’t second-guess taking our offer,” Torchia says.

“They wouldn’t think they’re leaving money on the table. I was aggressive and my clients were aggressive, but we got the house.”

Welcome to Chicago’s rapid-fire real estate market in 2021, where real estate agents talk like boxing coaches and buyers who want to prevail in a low-inventory market follow their lead.

In April, houses in Chicago sold, on average, for slightly more than 100 percent of the asking price, according to monthly data released May 14 by the Chicago Association of Realtors, Midwest Real Estate Data and ShowingTime.

In some individual neighborhoods, the gap was bigger: In See ASKING PRICE on Page 61

JOHN R. BOEHM

BY DENNIS RODKIN

Agent Meta Rose Torchia’s clients paid $25,500 over the asking price for this Lincoln Square house.

5/21/21 5:13 PM

4 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

JOE CAHILL

CHICAGO COMES BACK

ON BUSINESS

branded drugs.

AbbVie turned its patent arsenal on would-be generic rivals, extracting settlement agreements that delay Humira knockoffs in the U.S. until 2023.

Extended patent protection meant prolonged monopoly pricing power. As the congressional report points out, AbbVie and Abbott raised Humira’s price 27 times since 2003, boosting the cost of an annual supply 470 percent to $77,586. At $22.2 billion last year, Humira sales accounted for 48 percent of AbbVie’s revenue.

Congressional investigators concluded that delaying generic competition for Humira will add $19 billion to U.S. health care costs between 2016 and 2023. The report says AbbVie also squeezed U.S. taxpayers by capitalizing on Medicare’s inability to negotiate drug prices. Investigators estimated Medicare would have saved $7 billion between 2010 and 2018 if it got the same Humira discounts negotiated by Department of Defense and Veterans Administration health plans.

The report points out that AbbVie also took advantage of “orphan drug” patents meant to encourage development of ABBVIE MAKES NO APOLOGIES remedies for rare diseases, even though Humira treats FOR ITS PATENT STRATEGY. common ailments ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to colitis and psoriasis. into question the legitimacy of Investigators connected Humira those protections at a time when prices and Gonzalez’ paycheck, public scrutiny of drug patents is noting that AbbVie executive intensifying. On top of longstandbonuses from 2015 to 2018 were ing public discontent over drug based partly on net revenues from prices, concerns that the cost of the drug. Gonzalez, who regularly patented COVID-19 vaccines will clears more than $20 million in ankeep poor countries from getting nual pay, pocketed bonuses worth enough doses to control the pan$14.8 million during those years. demic are fueling calls for patent AbbVie makes no apologies waivers. for its patent strategy. Gonzalez Drug patents are meant to spur has called the company’s tactics innovation by allowing inventors “pro-competitive” and pointed to reap the rewards of their ingenuity before copycats can compete out that courts upheld “the vast majority” of Humira patents. with them. Patents are not intendIn fact, AbbVie is using similar ed to create long-term monopolies tactics with cancer drug Imbruvithat drive up prices and line the ca, which it obtained in a 2015 acpockets of corporate executives. quisition. According to the report, AbbVie’s Humira patents had little AbbVie has filed for more than 150 to do with innovation and plenty patents on Imbruvica. to do with extending its monopoly But AbbVie’s stunning sucand enhancing its pricing power. cess with Humira has mobilized AbbVie didn’t invent Humira. It inherited the drug in a 2013 corpo- opposition to the tactics it hopes to replicate with Imbruvica. The rate spinoff from Abbott Laboracommittee report tells a story of tories, which got Humira in a 2001 massive patent and pricing abuses acquisition. Abbott and AbbVie by a central-casting corporate pursued patents covering matters villain. In response, high-ranking such as manufacturing processes members of Congress called on and other activities unrelated to the Federal Trade Commission to the basic formulation discovered investigate AbbVie’s actions. Outby others so many years ago. The rage over Humira also fuels molongest-lasting of those patent runs until 2037, more than 20 years mentum for legislation that would hurt drugmakers like AbbVie, after the foundational patent on such as patent reform, drug price the Humira compound expired in controls and price negotiation by 2016. Humira has been safe from Medicare. generic competition in the U.S. for Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be 18 years, far longer than the typical too successful.

6-12-year exclusivity period for

AbbVie’s defense of its No. 1 product has been a stunning success. Maybe too stunning.

The North Chicago-based drugmaker deployed hundreds of patents to block generic versions of Humira, the top-selling brandname drug in the world. In the process, AbbVie attracted attention from politicians and handed ammunition to proponents of patent reform and drug-price controls.

AbbVie took center stage as poster child for patent abuse and price gouging on May 18, when a congressional committee grilled CEO Richard Gonzalez. His appearance coincided with release of a committee staff report that excoriated AbbVie’s patent and pricing practices.

“AbbVie raised prices on Americans for one simple reason: greed,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

As it recounts AbbVie’s patent strategy, the report highlights vulnerabilities in the U.S. patent system that enable big drug companies to subvert the intended purpose of intellectual property protections. AbbVie’s tactics call

P004_CCB_20210524.indd 4

CRAIN’S FILE PHOTO

AbbVie is getting more than it bargained for

1871

‘I think we’ve got a ton of momentum’

Betsy Ziegler, CEO of tech hub 1871, talks about the future of innovation in Chicago and the role entrepreneurship will play in the post-COVID recovery

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.

This week we connect with Betsy Ziegler, CEO of 1871, one of Chicago’s leading tech hubs, to talk about startups, building an inclusive economy and the future of innovation for Chicago.

TODD CONNOR: Betsy, thanks for making the time. You’re at the forefront of Chicago’s entrepreneurship scene. What is the state of the startup economy here in Chicago?

BETSY ZIEGLER: I think we’ve got a ton of momentum; it hasn’t slowed even with the crises we’ve been through. Chicago’s an even better place to build a company now, particularly if you are female or in the category that sometimes is considered under-resourced or underestimated. For starters, we remain the place where the customers are.

We remain the place where the talent is. We remain the place that has a community culture and value system that rewards this idea that a win from one of us is a win for all of us. I think we are the place with more people jumping in than probably any other city to create opportunities for female, Black and Latinx founders.

EMILY DRAKE: I love hearing your optimism—something that I share. And I find it very interesting that startup activity has continued, maybe even accelerated. Given that, what role do you see 1871 and other entrepreneurship support organizations playing in this recovery? And has that role changed?

BZ: Well, we have to acknowledge the risks of a K-shaped recovery,

where certain parts our economy resume growth while others lag behind. Recovery will look different for people at the top of the K versus the bottom. Having said that, I think the answer to Chicago’s recovery is going to be entrepreneurship and innovation. If you just look at the data over the last three decades, excluding last year, the 40 million net new jobs that were created in the United States all came from small companies and from startups. If the startup engine is broken, the job creation engine is broken. That is a truism that gets proven every year and every decade. If we have a lot of people who need to get back to work, we need the startup engine to be running even stronger than it is now in order to spin out potential for jobs. Therefore, I think organizations like 1871, and the power and clarity of our mission, have never been more important.

TC: 1871—which I consider a home for so many reasons, including that it is where we started Bunker Labs—is, among other things, a physical space. We’re exploring this relationship of physical space in community, business and entrepreneurship. How do you see that relationship evolving?

BZ: Lynda Gratton wrote a great article, for which the data and the research is very clear, about the important role that proximity plays to driving innovation, particularly proximity to people who might think differently than you. So, if you look at a university, if you could put cross-discipline

faculty in places where they have the opportunity to bump into each other, the amount of productivity, innovation, cross-discipline research, co-authoring and co-course development dramatically increases. If you take that analogy and you extend it to 1871, the physical space in this context is important, but what’s more important is the experience you create to allow for that serendipity. We are in active conversations with 16 cities, 12 of which are global, in countries that range from the Philippines to Ireland to China to Saudi Arabia, to figure out how we connect, both in terms of 1871 the place and 1871 the experience, to expand a global network in such a way that we can literally advance the world forward.

ED: More optimism. We love to hear it, in balance with pragmatism. One of our favorite questions to ask is: “What’s getting easier?

What’s challenging?” That balance creates a sense of possibility, and it sounds like you’re most excited about the possibilities as we return to physical spaces.

BZ: You just need to look at the data of new business starts in this country, which is way up over previous years, to know that this is an excellent time to start a business.

If you look back at the companies that came out of the economic crisis or out of the first internet bust, it’s Airbnb, it’s Uber, it’s some of the most enduring and successful companies that showed up at that time. The same thing is gonna happen now. We fast forward 10 years, we’re going to look back and say: “Well, they built during COVID.” I also hope that we start to solve more of the problems that actually really matter. This is a point in time where we should challenge ourselves to solve some of these things that have been hanging out there for a long time, that we haven’t done. And it’s the entrepreneurs who will lead the way.

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6 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Nuke jobs in Illinois jobs are already disappearing Exelon’s six plants employ nearly 600 fewer than they did just three years ago as an auditor says the risk of further job loss is far lower than lawmakers feared The jobs already are going.

Perhaps Exelon’s most politically potent argument in Springfield as it seeks more ratepayer subsidies for its Illinois nuclear plants is the preservation of more than 1,000 union jobs at two facilities slated to close in the fall without state help. But hundreds of Exelon’s nuke workers in Illinois quietly have left or lost their jobs over the past three years as the company has throttled back costs.

Between 2017 and 2020, employment at Exelon-owned plants in Illinois declined by nearly 600, according to the audit performed at the request of Gov. J.B. Pritzker

by Cambridge-based Synapse Energy Economics. The average headcount per plant at the company’s six facilities in the state was 630, versus nearly 800 in 2017.

The report, when it was orig-

age number of workers per plant is due to the centralization of functions that used to be handled on-site. A little over 300 workers shifted to corporate in that time frame, the report said. Most of them were in engineering, design and project management.

But, even accounting for the shift of workers out of the plants, Exelon’s nuclear workforce in Illinois has dropped more than 12 percent in the last three years to 3,780.

SOFT LANDING

If the at-risk plants close, job losses could be mitigated by early-retirement offers, Synapse said in its report. More than one in five of Exelon’s nuke workers is 52 or older. With more than 50 workers needed to oversee the cleanup and restoration of the Dresden and Byron sites over the coming decades, coupled with a broad early-retirement offer and the EXELON’S NUCLEAR WORKFORCE IN transfer of some the two nukes’ ILLINOIS HAS DROPPED MORE THAN of younger workers to other sites, the net 12 PERCENT IN THE LAST THREE job loss from closYEARS TO 3,780. ing the two plants could be reduced to 413, according inally released in April, blacked to the auditor. out the employment numbers.

Exelon disputed Synapse’s But Exelon in recent days has per- analysis and said that it would mitted most of the report to be hire 500 new nuke workers if the made public. plants are subsidized and continThe two plants Exelon is set ue to operate. on shuttering—Dresden and ByIn negotiations with the Pritzron—together employed 1,276 ker administration and key lawpeople in 2020, according to the makers last week, Exelon reaudit. Combined employment quested more than $500 million at the two nukes topped 1,600 in in annual subsidies in order to 2017. keep its Illinois plants open, acSome of the decline in the aver- cording to sources. Capitol Fax

EXELON

BY STEVE DANIELS

Exelon’s Byron nuclear plant first reported the news. That would be more than double the $235 million per year that thenGov. Bruce Rauner signed into law in 2016 to preserve Exelon’s Clinton and Quad Cities plants.

In addition, Exelon now is hunting for subsidies for all four of its unsubsidized Illinois nukes, not just the two at imminent risk of shutdown.

“As we have said on several occasions, the same market forces that are forcing the retirement of our Byron and Dresden nuclear plants are affecting our Braidwood and LaSalle facilities,” an Exelon spokesman says.

“Without a policy solution that fixes inequities in the market, those plants are at imminent risk of early retirement. Exelon has recommended that proposed energy legislation include a longterm contract to support the continued operation of Dresden, Byron, Braidwood and LaSalle

based on the market price forecast provided by the governor’s consultant.”

Exelon envisions a contract— discussions are centering around either five or 10 years—in which ratepayers would be reimbursed if energy prices rise from today’s ultra-low levels over the course of the deal.

ENSURING PROFIT

The Synapse audit concluded that neither Braidwood nor LaSalle were at risk of losing money in the next five years while also recommending a modest subsidy of about $70 million annually for Dresden and Byron. Exelon and Synapse use different assumptions about the future of power prices, and Exelon also wants to build in a “risk premium” that would ensure profits of at least 10 percent at each plant, sources say.

As to the workforce cuts at

the plants, the spokesman says, “There is zero connection between safety at our nuclear facilities and recent staffing reductions, which were mostly the result of normal attrition and a successful effort to prudently reduce costs across the generation business while continuing to operate our plants at industry-leading performance levels.”

Exelon has announced plans to further cut costs in its power-generation business to help compensate for hundreds of millions in losses suffered when the company’s natural gas-fired plants in Texas failed to operate during the unusually frigid week in February when much of the state was blacked out for several days. Those cuts, which will mean the deferral of some capital projects that had been planned in Illinois, won’t mean job reductions, the spokesman says.

Is there room in Chicago for another hot dog chain?

BY ALLY MAROTTI

burgers, fries, ice cream and other options, saw same-store sales inHot dog chain Wienerschnitzel crease 16.8 percent last year.

“The level of interest and our has its eyes on Illinois and is looking to gain some ground in the customer profile in the Midwest is remarkable,” Milburn says state’s infamous hot dog scene.

The California-based chain, in a news release. “It is telling with 330 restaurants in 10 states, the number of franchise inquiis planning a Midwest expansion ries—and the vast underserved m a rk e t s — c o m i n g from the heartland of “THE LEVEL OF INTEREST AND OUR America. The lead-in CUSTOMER PROFILE IN THE MIDWEST is always the same: ‘There’s nothing like IS REMARKABLE.” Wienerschnitzel in our city—we need Ted Milburn, Wienerschnitzel one.’ ” Those could be and is on the hunt for franchisees. fighting words in a town like ChiWienerschnitzel’s hot dog cago, with such strong opinions menu has proven resilient during about what should and should the pandemic, says Ted Milburn, not be on a hot dog.

But restaurants that were heavdirector of franchise development. The chain, which serves ily dependent on drive-thrus

P006_CCB_20210524.indd 6

and take-out orders, like Wienerschnitzel always has been, have not suffered as devastatingly as full-service restaurants.

Affordable menu prices have also helped at Wienerschnitzel, Milburn tells Crain’s. Customers can buy a bundle of five hot dogs for $6.95.

“We get people in the drive-thru all the time that order 100 of them, and they take them home and stick them in their freezer,” he says. “It’s an affordable price point.”

The value was a draw during the Great Recession, as well, and helps carve out a certain niche for the chain. Wienerschnitzel is not necessarily competing with gourmet hot dog chains, Milburn says. “The chili cheese dog is really what we do. That is the primary sales driver,” he says.

TAURUSEMERALD/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

California-based fast-food player Wienerschnitzel aims to expand its 330-restaurant empire into the Midwest; look out, Portillo’s

Wienerschnitzel The chain also has not historically focused on walk-up locations in dense urban areas and has focused on the drive-thrus.

But Milburn says the company wouldn’t turn down a franchisee in Chicago that could find the right real estate.

Wienerschnitzel was founded in 1961 as a hot dog stand in Wilmington, Calif. Irvine, Calif.-based Garaldi Group, which also owns the Tastee Freez brand, is the parent company. The chain has some presence in Illinois, with a location in Champaign.

5/21/21 5:01 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 7

BY DANNY ECKER The developers that brought consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark to their Fulton Market District building have put the property up for sale, hoping to cash out with a hefty profit as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic wane and the former meatpacking district starts to regain its corporate allure.

A joint venture of Chicago-based Domus Group and Northbrook-based Barnett Capital has hired the Chicago office of brokerage Stan Johnson to sell the 97,302-square-foot building at 1133-1155 W. Fulton Market.

There is no asking price for the four-story building, where Kimberly-Clark, the Irving, Texas-based maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers, announced last month it would move its North American commercial center from Wisconsin to be closer to its retail partners.

Sources familiar with the offering say the property is expected to fetch bids of close to $70 million, or at least $700 per square foot.

A sale at that price would net a big windfall for Domus and Barnett, who paid $19.5 million in February 2019 for the former industrial building, according to Cook County records, and set out with a plan to turn it into a loft office building as a parade of companies were paying high rents to set up corporate offices in the gritty-turned-trendy corridor.

The owners inked a deal for all of the building’s office space that summer with co-working giant WeWork, then took out a $43.5 million loan in October 2019 from Fifth Third Bank to renovate the building and help build out WeWork’s space.

But things changed a few months into the pandemic, when WeWork bought out its lease and left Domus and Barnett looking for tenants.

Domus and Barnett modified the loan last October to reduce its balance to $27.7 million, property records show. Domus Managing Director Phillip Ciaccio says in a statement the owners made the move since they no longer needed the full loan to help fund WeWork’s buildout. Ciaccio declined to comment on whether the group took on more debt or other financing to help Kimberly-Clark build out its office.

HOT CORNER

Despite downtown office vacancy sitting at an all-time high and the rise of remote work casting doubt on office space demand, the developers have reason to believe they can get a high price for the property because of the sums paid for other Fulton Market office buildings anchored by publicly traded companies. Mondelez International’s new headquarters at 905 W. Fulton Market was sold last April for more than $86 million, a record high for a Chicago office building. In October, developer Sterling Bay sold Mc-

Cassandra West joins Crain’s as an assistant managing editor

Donald’s new headquarters at 110 N. Carpenter St. for close to $413 million, downtown’s biggest office building sale in two years.

Both of those deals illustrated investors’ appetite for newly built office buildings fully occupied by high-credit, long-term tenants that provided steady cash flow amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis.

Unlike the McDonald’s and Mondelez buildings, Domus and Barnett’s property still has all of its ground-floor retail space available, totaling about 9,000 square feet.

Terms of Kimberly-Clark’s lease are also unclear, and Stan Johnson Managing Director Brandon Duff declined to comment on those details. But the state of Illinois says last month that Kimberly-Clark is eligible for as much as $19 million in payroll tax credits over 10 years, depending on whether it maintains or expands the 250 promised new jobs it is bringing to the new location.

Duff, whose firm specializes in selling so-called net-lease properties that are occupied by single, long-term tenants, says he’s gotten a substantial initial response from prospective buyers. “The seller is just taking advantage of what’s been a strong market,” he says.

A Barnett Capital spokesman did not provide a comment.

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Veteran journalist has been editor of Crain’s Forum since June 2020

into all aspects of Crain’s news and feature offerings, from our daily online report to our weekly print publication to our podcast, The Daily Gist.”

West has worked in a variVeteran Chicago journal- ety of roles in Chicago media ist Cassandra West has joined throughout her career, most reCrain’s Chicago Business as an cently as a freelance writer and editor for publications assistant managing edand organizations initor for news features. cluding the Chicago West has been a Reporter, the Chicacontributing editor go Community Trust, at Crain’s since June Built in Chicago, the 2020, when she beChicago Foundation came editor of Crain’s for Women and the Forum, the publicaForest Preserve Fountion’s monthly series dation. She has also examining the region’s been an adjunct lecthorniest public policy Cassandra West turer at Northwestern challenges.

“Under Cassandra’s guid- University’s Medill School of ance, the Forum has grown to Journalism.

A graduate of Mount Holyoke become one of Crain’s signature features,” said Publisher College in South Hadley, Mass., and Executive Editor Jim Kirk. West started her journalism “Her thoughtful leadership of career in 1990 as a copy editor our writers and designers as and health section editor at the well as her in-depth engage- Chicago Sun-Times. In 1994, ment with the complex subjects she crossed over to the Chicago at the heart of the series have Tribune, where she was a staff elevated what was already a writer and an assistant news standout editorial offering. In editor, eventually becoming asher new role, we look forward sociate Tempo editor and secto bringing Cassandra’s insights tion editor of WomaNews.

P007_CCB_20210524.indd 7

5/21/21 3:35 PM

8 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Developer lands funds for Medical District housing

Elzie Higginbottom is moving forward with a new 161-unit ‘workforce housing’ apartment building in the Near West Side’s long-stalled Gateway project 2050 W. Ogden Ave., which will include one– and two-bedroom Chicago developer Elzie Higgin- “workforce housing” units geared bottom is forging ahead with a new toward medical workers, students apartment building in the Illinois and faculty who work within the Medical District after landing a IMD, the developer says.

An East Lake spokeswoman deconstruction loan to kick-start the clined to disclose the value of the long-delayed project.

Higginbottom’s East Lake Man- mortgage. But the financing is a agement development company key step forward for a project that has obtained financing to build a was mostly stagnant for a half-de161-unit residential property with- cade as its previous development in the Gateway, a mostly-vacant team, led by Chicago develop10-acre lot at the corner of Ogden er Jack Higgins, struggled to secure financial backing.

Higgins sold his stake DEVELOPERS HAVE EYED NEW in the venture early last to Higginbottom, RESIDENTIAL AND HOTEL PROJECTS year who obtained permits IN THE IMD IN RECENT YEARS AS THE in July to begin foundation work for the 11-stoHEALTH CARE SECTOR EXPANDS. ry residential building.

Now work is underand Damen avenues, the firm says way on the building, which is expected to be completed by May in a statement.

With the loan from the local office 2022, according to East Lake Presiof Carmel, Ind.-based Merchants dent Eileen Rhodes.

“The paucity of housing within Bank of Indiana, East Lake will move forward with development the IMD has been a missed opporof the Gateway Apartments at tunity for years,” Merchants Capital

PIEKARZ ASSOCIATES

BY DANNY ECKER

A rendering of the Gateway Apartments at 2050 W. Ogden Ave. Chicago Executive Vice President Lee Oller says in the statement.

“Securing this complex financing structure and finally bringing new, modern rental housing to the area is an incredible achievement for Merchants Capital and our development partners at East Lake Management & Development.”

BACKING IT UP

In addition to the construction loan, East Lake says in its statement that it received a Freddie Mac Forward Commitment for Permanent Financing, a program that allowed it to lock in an interest rate for long-term financing.

The program targets certain types

of affordable housing and gives developers the assurance that they’ll be able to pay off their construction loan when the project is completed.

While East Lake proceeds with the apartment project, Rhodes says the developer is still seeking financing for a six-story Hilton hotel it is planning for the site. East Lake also received a permit last summer to begin foundation work on that project.

Under Higgins’ leadership, the development venture built a pair of single-story retail buildings on the site that have been leased by retailers including Starbucks, Chipotle, AT&T, Jimmy John’s, Eye Q

Optique and Five Guys.

Developers have eyed new residential and hotel projects in the IMD in recent years as the health care sector expands.

Chicago developer John Murphy recently transformed part of the former Cook County Hospital into a 210-key Hyatt House and Hyatt Place hotel. The Gateway development site is also kitty-cornered from a site where Naperville-based developer Marquette is finishing work on a 272-unit apartment building it rehabbed at 1926 W. Harrison St. and preparing to develop a new 24-story, 280-unit apartment building next to it.

Agents sue Allstate over multiple violations of contract The National Association of Professional Allstate Agents has enlisted a prominent conservative attorney known best as the lawyer who won the Citizens United case The association representing Allstate agents today filed suit against the company, alleging a host of practices that are costing agents money and subjecting them to heavy-handed controls in violation of their contracts.

The National Association of Professional Allstate Agents’ breachof-contract lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, is being handled by prominent attorney James Bopp Jr., a conservative lawyer best known for representing Citizens United, the nonprofit that established campaign spending as a form of free speech under a highly controversial ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Bopp continues to represent conservative interests in fair-election and freedom-of-speech lawsuits and other matters.

He’s never before handled an insurance-industry case, he says.

“I like to use my legal talents to help people who need help and are treated unjustly,” he says. “This just screams out unjust.”

The complaint by NAPAA, as well as several former agents, alleges Allstate has interfered with

P008_CCB_20210524.indd 8

potential sales of agents’ book of business, costing them millions collectively. It alleges, too, that the Northbrook-based insurer is permitting independent agents to sell Allstate policies in areas already served by “captive” agents of Allstate, who can sell on behalf of no other carrier than Allstate. And it accuses the company of “poaching” new customers to whom agents have marketed by signing them up over the phone or online later, thereby sharply reducing the commissions paid to agents when those clients are “assigned” to them.

All of these alleged actions violate the contract Allstate has with its agents, according to the lawsuit.

A spokesman for Allstate didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit, in the works for months, reflects frustration agents have felt in recent years over increasingly heavy-handed treatment by the company. Allstate agents aren’t employees. They are technically considered independent contractors, responsible for paying their business costs, hiring staff, procuring health coverage and saving for their own re-

tirement. Allstate’s contract with them, though, does give the company control over many things they do and gives Allstate the ability to end the contract with individual agents for numerous reasons.

FIGHTING FOR NEW BUSINESS

Over the past few years, Allstate has reduced the commissions it pays agents when their customers renew their policies in favor of higher payouts for bringing in new customers. It’s priced policies it sells over the phone or online at 7 percent below what customers pay when they buy through an agent, making competing for new business more difficult for agents.

And Allstate is forcing agents to pay to use a company-wide phone system, which they say is an inappropriate form of control over their business. That also is a breach of contract, according to the lawsuit.

Allstate CEO Tom Wilson has said the changes to agent compensation, as well as the price differential between agent-sold and directly sold policies, are necessary to generate growth. Allstate is routinely the most profitable auto

BLOOMBERG

BY STEVE DANIELS

Tom Wilson insurer in the U.S., but its growth has badly lagged rivals Progressive and Geico.

Wilson’s “transformative growth” strategy, launched in late 2019, envisions an agent force more intent on finding new customers than servicing existing ones. As part of that, Allstate is recruiting new agents and allowing them to work from their homes rather than requiring them to establish the familiar agency offices dotting shopping centers and urban retail strips around the country.

This isn’t the first time NAPAA, whose members include more

than 1,000 of Allstate’s 10,000 agents, has tangled in court with Allstate. Earlier efforts backed by the association to reverse Allstate’s controversial late 1990s move to forcibly transform agents from employees to contractors petered out. It’s been years, though, since the relationship between agents and the company has been this antagonistic.

In Bopp, agents have an attorney with a higher profile than others they’ve employed and a track record of winning against deep-pocketed interests.

The lawsuit requests substantial damages for individual former agents whose sale proceeds from their businesses they say were dramatically reduced when Allstate would deny them the right to sell to buyers who should have been qualified under the contract.

It also asks for injunctions to halt the forced agent adoption of Allstate’s phone system, end the alleged practice of allowing independent agents to compete with Allstate agents in the same areas and stop reducing commissions when the company completes a sale largely put together by an agent.

“These agents want a good relationship with Allstate,” Bopp says.

“They’re looking to restore a mutually beneficial relationship.”

5/21/21 3:32 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 9

Shopping center exits foreclosure—after 8 years After running into trouble in the Great Recession, the previous owner of Algonquin Commons owed its lender $168 million; a California firm bought it for $33 million After being stuck in foreclosure for more than eight years, a big shopping center in northwest suburban Algonquin is a zombie no longer.

California investment firm Red Mountain Group has acquired Algonquin Commons, a 600,000-square-foot property that ran into financial trouble after the Great Recession, when its then-owner defaulted on about $110 million in debt. Red Mountain plans to launch a $30 million turnaround of the shopping center, good news for one of the biggest distressed properties in the Chicago area.

“I have never seen an asset of this high quality, this well located, with this strong of a tenant mix, with this amount of opportunity in my 30-year career,” Red Mountain CEO Michael H. Mugel says in a statement. “We are so very excited to be participating with the Algonquin community to bring an experience that very few communities will ever get the chance to enjoy.”

The property’s former owner and lenders wouldn’t describe Algon-

quin Commons so enthusiastically after battling over the property in court for so long. U.S. Bank filed a $110-million foreclosure suit against Algonquin Commons back in January 2013, several months after the property’s owner, Oak Brookbased Inland Real Estate, stopped making mortgage payments.

LONG SETTLEMENT

Another retail investor, New York-based DRA Advisors, inherited the troubled property through a 2016 takeover of Inland. But the foreclosure case dragged on several more years, rising to the Illinois Appellate Court. The two sides eventually reached a settlement, and DRA agreed to relinquish Algonquin Commons through a socalled deed-in-lieu of foreclosure earlier this month, according to Kane County property records.

The next day, a loan servicer in charge of the shopping center at 1504-229 S. Randall Road sold it to Red Mountain. The price: $33 million, just a fraction of the $168 million foreclosure judgment against the property approved by a judge, according to county property records and Bloomberg loan

COSTAR GROUP

BY ALBY GALLUN

Algonquin Commons at 1504-229 S. Randall Road. data. The price also is far less than the $154 million that Inland paid for the property in 2006.

A DRA executive did not respond to request for comment.

The retail real estate market hasn’t become any easier since the foreclosure case began in 2013.

E-commerce competition has cut into the sales of many brick-andmortar retailers, and the coronavirus pandemic and recession forced many to close stores or go out of business entirely. Though the economy is recovering and optimism is returning to the retail sector, the online shopping threat continues to grow.

But Red Mountain’s $63 million investment in the property reflects that heightened risk, and

it could pay off in a big way if the firm’s turnaround plan works. The Santa Ana-based company, which specializes in distressed properties, owns more than 4.7-millionsquare-feet of retail space in 18 states, according to its website.

Mugel has seen a lot of distressed properties since he founded Red Mountain 30 years ago, but Algonquin Commons stands out for its eight-year foreclosure case.

“It’s a situation I’ve never seen before,” Mugel says.

He has some space to fill at Algonquin Commons, which is about 75 percent occupied, according to the company’s website. Its tenants include Trader Joe’s, Nordstrom Rack, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Pottery Barn and Victoria’s Secret.

Ashley Furniture also recently signed a lease there, and Mugel is close to signing another lease with a “high-quality entertainment” tenant, he says. Restaurants at the property include On the Border, Bonefish Grill and Biaggi’s.

To energize the shopping center, Red Mountain plans to develop an indoor/outdoor covered entertainment area. Comprising more than an acre, the gathering area will be used for community social events, televised sporting events, outdoor movie nights, al fresco dining and other activities, according to Red Mountain.

“The experience will be so different that you’ll think it’s a completely different property,” Mugel says.

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5/21/21 9:34 AM

10 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Co Ou is

EDITORIAL

t’s finally happened: Shareholders have blessed the acquisition of Tribune Publishing by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital.

The Tribune shareholder vote, tabulated May 21, came after months of behindclosed-doors drama as well as quite public soapboxing by journalists employed in Tribune-owned newsrooms. Those journalists, along with a billionaire or two dragooned into service to counter Alden’s bid, were hoping to stave off what proved to be inevitable: the passage of their newsrooms into the hands of financiers who have earned a reputation for harsh cost-cutting at media properties ranging from the San Jose Mercury News to the Boston Herald.

In the end, shareholders accepted Alden’s $17.25-a-share offer for the two-thirds of Tribune shares that the New York-based hedge fund didn’t already own.

As the media business has grappled with the financial fallout of a painful transition from a print world to a digital one, Alden has found opportunity to scoop up stakes in roughly 200 U.S. newspapers. Along the way, it has laid off swaths of journalists and undercut the kind of local reporting that monitors the doings of the powerful and illuminates the sufferings of the unfortunate. Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan put it this way in 2018 after Alden announced a round of cutbacks at the Denver Post: The New York-based hedge fund is “one of the most ruthless of the corporate strip-miners seemingly intent on destroying local journalism.” And she wasn’t wrong.

Here in Chicago, Alden’s triumph clouds the future of the Chicago Tribune, which

AP IMAGES

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Alden’s win, Chicago’s loss

is not only one of the two dominant daily newspapers in the city but is in many ways the most important news organization in the Midwest. Don’t get us wrong—we view the Tribune as prime competition and relish every opportunity to duke it out with their staff as well as the Chicago Sun-Times and the myriad broadcast and niche publications that cover the Chicago area. But that, in a way, is the point: The competition for scoops and insights benefits all Chicagoans by surfacing information that those in power would prefer their constituents didn’t know, by showcasing opinions that challenge the status quo and

by shining a light in dark corners. If past is prologue, the biggest player in that competition is about to be diminished, perhaps significantly. And in the end, that benefits no one.

Chicago has always been a hub of hard-hitting journalism, dating back to the days when titles like the Chicago American and the Chicago Daily News scrapped with one another for readers and scoops.

Today, as some big cities face the prospect of a future with no daily newspaper at all, Chicago can take pride in the fact that it’s still home to two—a signifier, at least to some observers, that a city still deserves to

be thought of as world-class.

Journalism is an expensive enterprise. It costs money to chase leads that might not pan out, to cover local zoning or school board meetings that most people are too busy or disinterested to attend themselves, or to wait by the phone for an interview with an elected official or a real estate developer who may have a dozen reasons not to want to talk publicly about their day-today work.

Like any for-profit enterprise, a media business needs to make money for its owners. But if there’s anything media owners have learned since the turn of the 21st century, it’s that trying to produce news on the cheap is a losing game. Readers won’t pay for commodity news that they can get elsewhere for free, nor will advertisers want to place their brands next to it. That means survival depends on creating high-quality, unique content. And that can only be done by employing bona fide journalists.

Sadly, journalism doesn’t seem to be the game that Alden is really playing.

As Crain’s columnist Joe Cahill once explained, Tribune Publishing sports a large and growing cash stockpile—roughly $250 million at last count. The company also lacks a significant amount of debt, and it possesses other assets that could be sold for cash in the neighborhood of $30 million to $60 million. Barring a legal challenge to the acquisition, Alden would control all that cash. Whether it can keep the cash spigot flowing post-acquisition is another question. But for now, that quarter of a billion dollars may be all the comfort Alden needs as it contemplates its longer-term challenges.

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Waiving patent rights is not in patients’ best interests

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The Biden’s administration’s resident Joe Biden’s adsupport for India and South ministration is setting a Africa’s proposal before the dangerous standard by World Trade Organization to supporting a misguided protemporarily waive anti-COVID posal to waive intellectual propvaccine patents to boost its superty rights, supposedly to boost ply will fuel the development of COVID-19 vaccine production. counterfeit vaccines and weakThe biopharmaceutical inen the already strained global dustry is deeply concerned supply chain. The proposal will about the toll of the COVID-19 not increase the effective numoutbreak in India. Our compa- John Conrad is ber of COVID-19 vaccines in Innies are stepping up, providing president and dia and other countries. resources and donations to ex- CEO of the IlliThe manufacturing standards pand the production of critical nois Biotechnolto produce COVID-19 vaccines COVID-19 antiviral drugs and ogy Innovation needed medical supplies to Organization in are exceptionally complicated; it is unlike any other mansupport patients. Biopharma- Chicago. ufacturing process. To ensure ceutical manufacturers are fully committed to providing global access to patient safety and efficacy, only manuCOVID-19 vaccines. We have seen un- facturers with the proper facilities and precedented collaboration in our indus- training should produce the vaccine, try to achieve this goal, including more and they are. Allowing a temporary than 200 manufacturing and other part- waiver that permits compulsory licensing to allow a manufacturer to export nerships to date.

counterfeit vaccines will cause confu- ing up American infrastructure and creating jobs by handing over American sion and endanger public health.

For example, between 60,000 and innovations to countries looking to un80,000 children in Niger with fatal fal- dermine our leadership in biomedical ciparum malaria were treated with a discovery. It sets a dangerous precedent counterfeit vaccine containing incorrect for America to consent to strip away patactive pharmaceutical ingredients, re- ents on lifesaving COVID vaccines that sulting in more than 100 fatal infections.

Beyond the patients im- THE MANUFACTURING STANDARDS TO PRODUCE pacted, counterfeit drugs COVID-19 VACCINES ARE EXCEPTIONALLY erode public confidence in health care systems COMPLICATED; IT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER and the pharmaceutical industry. Vaccine hesitan- MANUFACTURING PROCESS. cy is a rampant threat that feeds off of the distribution of misinforma- cost businesses billions of dollars to tion. Allowing the production of vaccines develop and reward countries like Chifrom improper manufacturing facilities na with access to U.S. innovation for a further opens the door for antivaccine world pandemic.

This decision does nothing to address hacks to stoke the fear fueling vaccine hesthe real challenges to getting more shots itance.

Finally, the president’s decision flies in arms, including last-mile distribution in the face of his stated policy of build- and limited availability of raw materials.

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_20210524.indd 10

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.

5/21/21 2:47 PM

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 11

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

ComEd CEO: Our work here is necessary

I

n a recent column, Joe Cahill asserts that the Consumer & Climate First Act that has been introduced in Springfield is not good for consumers because it doesn’t require ComEd to compensate them as a result of its past conduct (“Pritzker lets ComEd get away with it,” May 6). What that bill and others do is require an audit of ComEd’s past work on the power grid, the idea being that we should first evaluate the work before we claim it was bad.

In contrast, Cahill’s column assumes that

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 Assistant managing editor/ Cassandra West news features

the work was bad, indeed unnecessary. Perhaps it’s time to examine that claim against the facts. For years, Crain’s has reported that formula rates have led to rate increases with insufficient regulatory oversight—a viewpoint with which we vehemently disagree. In none of those stories has Crain’s identified poles, cable or other equipment we should not have replaced, customers whose service we should not have connected, or cybersecurity or reliability-enhancing smart-grid technologies we should not have installed.

More than 4 million families and businesses depend on us to keep the power on through the toughest winters, the hottest summers and even pandemics. They know the difference between a highly reliable power grid and what we have seen in other parts of the country—and, honestly, the quality of service we had in northern Illinois

10 years ago. They know about the impact of climate change because they have seen more severe storms. They know that the reliable grid takes on more importance as they learn and work from home and plan for exponential growth in fleets of electric cars, trucks and buses. And they know about the need to invest in cybersecure systems because they read the headlines and have experienced cyberscams or data hacks in their own lives. These are the things we are working on at ComEd. We also are working hard to be a better company. People have every right to criticize our mistakes, but it is a big leap to conclude that our work has been unnecessary.

The women and men who work on our system are proud of their accomplishments, and they should be. ComEd in recent years has consistently delivered record reliabili-

ty and customer satisfaction while keeping customer bills flat with what they were in 2008. This month, ComEd reported topdecile industry performance for both the frequency and length of power outages in the first quarter of 2021. And still ComEd’s residential electricity cost is just 1.2 percent of our customers’ median household income—lower than any state but Utah.

About 10 years ago, more than 100 state legislators from both parties voted to improve electric service for customers and ensure that more of their energy comes from clean sources, while helping them save billions of dollars through energy efficiency. We have done that. But you don’t have to tell our customers that, because they already live it.

JOE DOMINGUEZ CEO, Commonwealth Edison

NOMINATION PROGRAMS

to honor any deserving colleague e

Deputy digital editor Todd J. Behme Digital design editor Jason McGregor Associate creative director Karen Freese Zane

2021

Copy chief Scott Williams Copy editor Robert Garcia Deputy digital editor/ Sarah Zimmerman audience and social media 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

MINORITIES IN COMMERCIAL BANKING NOMINATION DEADLINE: MAY 28 PUBLICATION DATE: JULY 19

Crain’s Notable Minorities in Commercial Banking feature will list minorities who are managing people and millions –if not billions– of dollars at some of Chicago’s largest commercial banking institutions.

Dennis Rodkin Steven R. Strahler Contributing photographer John R. Boehm Researcher Sophie H. Rodgers

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5/21/21 2:47 PM

12 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

KEEPING SCORE: Chicago’s city treasurer has devised a systematic way of evaluating firms. PAGE 13

Th

REAL ESTATE: New Sterling Bay executive says the industry is in dire need of diversification. PAGE 14

CRAIN’S CHICAGODIVERSITY BUSINESS SUPPLIER

IN PRACTICE: Here are some practical steps to get a supplier diversity program up and running. PAGE 16

Me equ

Rashod Johnson, CEO of Ardmore Roderick

JOHN R. BOEHM

Le Con cago the ker as a firm sity, as co The whic the c Pr 2019 such by th brok “I nicip matt of an a se she anot coun To firm requ

FOR MINORITY CONSTRUCTION FIRMS, A CATCH-22

Minority suppliers become ineligible for special city contracts if their average revenues surpass designated thresholds.

The city is reviewing these equity caps. BY JUDITH CROWN

F

or minority contractors, growth cuts both ways.

The city of Chicago aims to award a portion of contracts to firms whose owners are economically and socially disadvantaged. For construction projects, city procurement strives for a goal of awarding 26 percent to certified Minority Business Enterprises, or MBEs, and 6 percent to Women Business Enterprises—WBEs. But here's the rub: Minority suppliers are no longer eligible if their average revenues surpass certain designated thresholds. For construction firms, that’s revenue of $39.5 million averaged over five years and personal net worth of $2.4 million.

A group of Chicago-area minority firms in construction, engineering and related services

“IF YOU’RE REALLY INTERESTED IN GROWING WEALTH FOR MINORITY FIRMS, YOU CAN’T CAP IT.” Rashod Johnson, CEO, Ardmore Roderick

either have outgrown the caps, which vary by industry code, or are close to surpassing them. This puts those businesses in the awkward position of deciding whether to control revenues and stay small, compete with billion-dollar construction giants See CONTRACTORS on Page 14

SPONSORS

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 13

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

The city treasurer is keeping score

BY WENDELL HUTSON Less than a year after Melissa Conyears-Ervin was elected Chicago city treasurer, she created the Chicago City Treasurer Broker Dealer Diversity Scorecard as a way to measure a brokerage firm’s leadership efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion as well as corporate social responsibility.

The scorecard helps determine which firms will do business with the city.

Prior to her taking office in May 2019, Conyears-Ervin said no such diversity scorecard was used by the treasurer’s office to select brokerage firms.

“I don’t know any other municipality that is doing this. As a matter of fact, we have not heard of any other municipality that has a selection process such as this,” she says. Crain's could not find another such scorecard in the country.

To be considered, brokerage firms must complete an 11-page request for information, which

Conyears-Ervin says gives 70 percent weight to a firm’s structure, capabilities and compliance; 20 percent to diversity, equity and inclusion; and 10 percent to corporate social responsibility.

Of the 33 brokerage firms doing business this year with the treasurer’s office, 43 percent are minority-owned business enterprises, according to city data.

Those include five Black-owned, four Hispanic-owned, three veteran-owned and two women-owned firms.

“We had a firm contact us to ask why they did not make the (2021) list,” Conyears-Ervin says. “We went through a full discussion, and we were very pleased when the firm walked away and said, ‘Our goal is to make the list next year.’ For me, that’s what matters.”

‘DIVERSITY PAYS OFF’

Ten firms that did business in 2020 with the treasurer’s office were not chosen this year. And while a lack of diversity was not the sole reason, Conyears-Ervin

says diversity is an important factor in the selection process and the most common reason why firms are not rehired.

“Diversity pays off,” she says.

“Statistics show that organizations that are more diverse are organizations that make more money. I think it is very appropriate that we are talking about this scorecard when you look at recent awareness about systemic racism.”

One example: how much money is managed by white men in the financial-services industry.

“There’s about $69 trillion in assets under management nationally, and 98.7 percent is owned by white males,” Conyears-Ervin says.

“What I plan to do (as treasurer) is to bring more exposure to the financial-services industry and the systemic racism that occurs.”

The role of the Chicago treasurer’s office is to serve as custodian and manager of all cash and investments for the city, which totals $8 billion.

Conyears-Ervin also looks at

10X

WTTW NEWS

Melissa Conyears-Ervin has created a broker-dealer scorecard based on diversity, equity and inclusion to help choose which firms will do business with the city

City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin the percentage of women in key executive positions as she considers brokerage firms. She looks for women accounting for more than 30 percent of executive roles within the firm’s U.S. enterprise.

“We feel as though that’s a great threshold and that it’s achievable,” says Conyears-Ervin, the only elected official who’s a board member for all four city pension funds—police, fire, laborer and municipal. “It is a very serious weight (in the selection process).”

Two other areas she plans to focus on are access to capital and lending for minority-owned companies.

“I will continue to be relentless in the need to provide more exposure for Black- and Brownowned firms to be able to have access to these asset managers with our pension funds,” says Conyears-Ervin, adding that Chicago-based Ariel Investments is among the Black-owned firms that does business with her office.

“Sometimes you have to stand by yourself, but it’s important to stand for what you believe in,” Conyears-Ervin says. “I was born in Englewood, raised by a single mother on the West Side, and diversity is me.”

JOHN R. BOEHM

WHITE HOUSEHOLDS HAVE AN AVERAGE OF

MORE WEALTH

OUR COMMITMENT IS TO CLOSE THIS GAP. WHEN WE DO, EVERYONE BENEFITS.

THAN BLACK HOUSEHOLDS

AND 8X MORE

ch se se on vth ts

Join us us by contacting Daniel Tollefson at DTollefson@cct.org.

THAN LATINX HOUSEHOLDS, NATIONALLY

P012-P016_CCB_20210524.indd 13

$100

$10

$12

WHITE

BLACK

LATINX

5/21/21 3:51 PM

14 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

CONTRACTORS Continued from Page 12 such as Walsh Group or Turner Construction or avoid bidding on city jobs and private projects that adhere to city participation goals.

Companies with revenue in the range of $35 million to $40 million are, by any measure, still considered small businesses. Black entrepreneurs worry that once they graduate out of the programs, they won’t be called by the giant general contractors to meet participation goals. Their revenues could shrink, making them eligible again for certification and caught in a vicious cycle that doesn’t let them break out and post meaningful growth.

The issue has taken on greater resonance in the past year, with heightened awareness of systemic inequality, because the caps have the unintended consequence of tamping down wealth creation.

“If you’re really interested in growing wealth for minority firms, you can’t cap it,” says Rashod Johnson, CEO of engineering design and construction management firm Ardmore Roderick.

Participating in any of the local billion-dollar projects underway, such as Lincoln Yards or the 78, would provide minority-owned firms with opportunities for lucrative paydays and valuable experience on megaprojects. But once a minority firm outgrows the caps, general contractors wouldn’t use that company as a subcontractor as they wouldn’t get credit toward the goals.

Instead, they would view the minority firm as a competitor rather than a potential partner. Johnson, who worked at Walsh Group earlier in his career, doubts that there are even enough qualified minority- and women-owned firms in town that would enable the general contractor to meet participation goals on the megaprojects.

“The intent of the program is to grow minority- and female-owned

companies,” says Gina Adduci, an attorney with Chico & Nunes who specializes in government contracting and procurement law.

“But its impact is to keep these firms subservient.”

Change may be on the way. The city is formally reviewing its program, and contractors hope the thresholds will be raised, if not eliminated. “The city recognizes the concerns of MBEs and WBEs relating to the caps,” says a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Procurement Services.

GOOD-FAITH EFFORTS

The caps are a holdover from the early days of race- and gender-based programs, when $30 million was a lot of revenue for a minority firm. The city adopted its current standards in response to a 2003 court decision in a lawsuit brought by the Builders Association of Greater Chicago that alleged the city program violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

The city program for minority- and women-owned businesses doesn’t mandate supply chain set-asides, but contractors must make good-faith efforts to meet goals. Regular review of programs is accepted practice consistent with federal court decisions, the spokeswoman adds.

Other U.S. cities have programs to support minority- and woman-owned firms, but they are framed differently, Adduci says.

They may base their supplier diversity and inclusion programs on social disadvantage with higher caps and net worth limits or none at all—and ultimately are able to award substantial business to minority firms.

Chicago adheres to revenue guidelines established by the Small Business Administration for federal projects, which for general

contractors is $39.5 million averaged over five years. Separately, the city established a personal net worth limit of $2.4 million.

There are lower revenue limits for specialty contractors such as electricians and plumbers. For professional services such as engineering and architecture, the revenue cap is $41 million over three years with no net worth requirement.

For projects with U.S. Department of Transportation funds such as the expansion of O’Hare International Airport, the caps are more stringent: revenue of $26.29 million with a net worth limit of $1.32 million, though there are exceptions and variations.

Adduci suggests that the city is more cautious because of the Builders Association lawsuit.

“They find comfort in the cover of the SBA size standards,” she says.

A 100-YEAR HEAD START

The caps challenge contractors trying to figure out how much they can grow. They’re juggling different size standards from the city, county, state and federal programs, Adduci says.

“Even if you graduate out of the program, it doesn’t mean you’ll stay that way. You may fall off a cliff and you’re right back in the program,” she adds.

Contractors must make another choice: whether to keep money in the business so that their net worth stays within the limits. The net worth rules cause entrepreneurs to leave equity in their firms, Johnson says, which constrains building wealth. “You’re legislating the wealth gap—what I can leave to my children,” he says. Another risk: If business owners leave too much equity in their company, they may be at risk of being sued.

A contractor with net worth less than $2 million can’t build a $40 million building, says Wil-

“Those large firms had a 100-year head start on me,” says Cornelius Griggs, CEO of GMA Construction. bur Milhouse, founder and CEO of Milhouse Engineering & Construction. “He doesn’t have the wherewithal.”

Contractors that graduate from MBE/WBE status find themselves in competition against large and long-established firms such as Walsh Group, F.H. Paschen and Turner Construction. Engineering firms would face national giants such as Jacobs Engineering Group or AECOM. They’ve been in business for decades and have built relationships and enough intergenerational wealth to withstand the ups and downs of the economy.

In contrast, Chicago’s African American contractors are mostly first generation. “There aren’t many that are more than 30 years old,” Milhouse says. “Mine is 20

years old and I’m one of the older ones.”

Cornelius Griggs, founder and CEO of GMA Construction Group, adds, “Those large firms had a 100year head start on me.” He hopes to pass a robust GMA to his children that, like his white competitors, could carry big projects and also survive a recession.

Before launching his company, Griggs was a senior project manager and lead estimator at Walsh.

He started GMA in 2015 without an MBE certification, chasing small jobs, “low-hanging fruit,” as he puts it, that wouldn’t interest the big firms. After several years he added MBE status when projects came along that were too large to handle on his own but required minority business participation.

Sterling Bay exec’s goal: Help minority-owned businesses The newly hired director of growth and entrepreneurship says the commercial real estate industry is in dire need of diversification, especially when it comes to suppliers

BY WENDELL HUTSON A few things are undisputed when it comes to the local commercial real estate industry, says Hugh Williams, Sterling Bay’s new director of strategic growth and entrepreneurship: Most commercial real estate agents are white men, the biggest developments are done by non-minority-owned companies and not enough suppliers are Black and Brown.

Williams will head up the company’s strategic investments and partnerships with local, minority-owned businesses within the commercial real estate industry in the newly created position. He says he’ll achieve that by allocating resources including capital, mentorship opportunities and professional relationships

P012-P016_CCB_20210524.indd 14

to assist minority-owned businesses in developing self-sustaining operations and secure private-sector work.

CREATING ALLIANCES

The creation of the position comes at a time when Sterling Bay is looking to form more strategic alliances with minority-owned businesses.

“Sterling Bay is going to try and find a way to either invest in these companies or provide them with access to Sterling Bay’s infrastructure or leverage what services we have to help them grow. That means we could be a lender or investor in that company,” Williams says.

“I’ve never seen another Black industrial broker in Chicago,” Williams says. “And I can count on one

hand how many times I have come across a minority decision-maker.”

After a stint as a professional football player in Europe, Williams broke into real estate as a broker with Cushman & Wakefield, where he worked from 2000 to 2009 before joining Avison Young, where in 2009 he launched its first U.S. office in Chicago before leaving in 2017.

He also co-founded KWILL Capital Partners in 2019, a Chicago-based investment and financial consulting firm he still co-owns.

“Who you know still counts in America, and we (Black people) usually don’t know anyone in real estate who can help us get in,” says Williams. He hopes to change that through his role at Sterling Bay. Small– and minority-business owners need to break out of the

Hugh Williams, Sterling Bay’s new director of strategic growth and entrepreneurship. public sector and become in-demand providers for private-sector jobs, he says. “No business should want to be put in a box, which limits their ability to grow.”

Williams will continue as a principal at MK Asset Management, a

Chicago-based investment firm, an arrangement he says does not pose a conflict of interest. “The deals that we do and the nature of our business at MK is much different than the nature of Sterling Bay,” he says.

5/21/21 3:51 PM

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 15

“In three years, I won’t qualify.

Will I get kicked off, or grandfathered in?” Griggs says. “It may be hard for them to put me out of the contract, but maybe they don’t call me anymore for future contracts.”

Griggs’ solution is to diversify by opening offices, independent entities in Dallas, New York and Charlottesville, Va., that don’t have the same constraints.

JOHN R. BOEHM

THE ALLURE OF MEGAPROJECTS

More recently he’s teamed with Turner and Paschen to handle $2 billion to $3 billion of the O’Hare 21 expansion estimated at $8.5 billion over 10 years.

The city’s disparity study is conducted by Colette Holt & Associates, a specialist in MBE and WBE programs, “to ensure that the program remains legally defensible and administratively successful,” the city spokeswoman says. Holt is analyzing quantitative and qualitative data on possible race- or gender-based barriers to full and fair opportunities on city construction projects, the city spokeswoman says. It’s due to be completed this spring.

“The results will guide the city in updating its program, which is up for review later this year, and evaluating additional alternatives to support minority- and woman-owned businesses,” the spokeswoman says. Data gathering and analysis related to these caps are part of the work being done.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, says

that the caps constrain local minority developers and should be lifted. As a member of the City Council’s Committee on Contracting Oversight & Equity, he introduced an ordinance to eliminate the caps. Alternatively, he also supports raising the thresholds to $100 million in revenue and $10 million of net worth. He also plans to reintroduce an ordinance, following results of the disparity study, that would extend participation goals to 30 percent for minority firms and 10 percent for women.

“Just as minority firms are getting to the point that they can compete, we’re saying, ‘You’re done, you’re out,’ ” Villegas says. Lifting the caps also will increase competition because as minority firms gain more experience and capacity, they’ll be able to bid on larger projects in the $40 million-to-$50 million range, he adds.

Caps need to be more realistic, says Kendra Dinkins, CEO of Taylor Electric, an MBE and WBE electrical contractor that does work for venues such as Soldier Field and Navy Pier and maintains traffic signals for Cook County and the Illinois Department of Transportation. The caps don’t reflect the rise in labor and material costs, she says. With many subcontractors squeezed on prices that they can

charge, perhaps caps should be based on profitability rather than revenue. “The requirements aren’t built for you to succeed,” she says.

“They may potentially push contractors out of the program before they are ready.”

Minority contractors could benefit from megaprojects in the works: $6 billion for Lincoln Yards, $7 billion for the 78 and $8.5 billion at O’Hare. While Lincoln Yards is a private project, developer Sterling Bay in seeking city approvals agreed to meet or exceed city participation goals, says Keiana Barrett, director of diversity and strategic development at Sterling Bay. “If a contractor could get 10 percent or 20 percent of a megaproject, that would be a wealth builder,” Milhouse says.

Minority firms participating in these projects must be certified under city or county rules. The diversity component is overseen by the city Department of Planning & Development as diversity goals become a part of the contract, Adduci says. Contracts for city work are handled by the Procurement Department.

The city is starting to focus on minority participation for these development projects, which weren’t scrutinized as closely before, Adduci says. Mayor Lori

Lightfoot in March announced initiatives to support minorityand women-owned contractors, including a Vendor Impact Fund, which aims to offer capital access to contractors and vendors with diverse ownership, an initiative to pay small suppliers more promptly and enhanced reporting on how diverse firms are being used for city and non-city contracts.

There are only four or five African American contractors large enough to perform on a project such as Lincoln Yards, Griggs says. Adding up these company’s revenues would get to only about $500,000, he says. Compare that to mainstream competitors whose revenues range from $100 million to several billion.

If the city’s largest and most qualified minority-owned contractors are out of the program, it would be virtually impossible for the developers to meet their ambitious participation goals.

Sterling Bay is rooting for a change in the caps. “Undoubtedly, the city’s disparity study, in tandem with a forensic examination of the current thresholds on gross income and personal net worth of (minority- and women-owned suppliers), will serve to level the playing field, close the wealth gap and construct diverse talent pipelines,” Barrett says.

Investing in diverse businesses

pany, manalsh. hout asing t,” as erest rs he jects ge to uired tion.

For 170 years, Peoples Gas has served Chicagoans by safely and reliably delivering natural gas that heats homes, cooks meals, makes showers and baths warm, and powers job-creating industries. The energy is there when it’s needed.

s

As we plan for a bright, sustainable future, we’ve embarked on a long-term, citywide infrastructure rebuilding project called the System Modernization Program. We’re replacing 2,000 miles of leaky and antiquated iron pipes from the 1800s that are at the end of their lifespans. The new pipes we’re installing ensure safety, and prevent environmentally harmful leaks.

We’ve partnered with a diverse community of suppliers to complete this crucial work.

Here’s what that looks like: • $238 million in contracts awarded to businesses owned by minorities, women and veterans since 2016. This makes up 40% of the $600 million total that Peoples Gas spent with diverse suppliers.

• Additional planned spending of $51.5 million per year going forward.

• 1,200 direct, full-time jobs.

• 4,800 additional jobs created by a ripple effect across the Chicago economy.

• $1 billion in wages to local workers.

We are extremely proud to deliver energy and economic opportunity to every part of the Chicago community.

firm, not “The re of difrling

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16 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Here’s how to start a supplier-diversity program Practical steps for getting a plan off the ground and making it successful | BY HARRY HANEY WHAT ARE SOME COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT WHAT SUPPLIER DIVERSITY IS?

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO IMPLEMENTING A SUCCESSFUL SUPPLIER-DIVERSITY PROGRAM?

WHAT ARE SOME PRACTICAL STEPS I CAN TAKE TO START A SUPPLIERDIVERSITY PROGRAM?

HOW DO WE FIND DIVERSE SUPPLIERS?

At the top of the list is that using diverse suppliers will require compromising cost, service or quality. Done properly, organizations find these attributes can improve or at least maintain the current levels. Another myth is that supplier diversity is a handout or a social program: Businesses must still compete, innovate and be technology-savvy to win the opportunity.

What it’s not: finding and vetting suppliers who can meet your business requirements. Generally speaking, the most difficult part is preparing your own organization for success. This means having visible top-down support, securing cross-functional ownership of the process, communication and training for all stakeholders to understand their role in success.

A common thread in the most successful supplier-diversity programs is having the full support and commitment of the organization’s leadership; getting the necessary buy-in is critical. Establish your baseline spend with diverse suppliers—you’ll need this to track progress. Develop a plan for how to move forward. You’ll want to consider a range of topics from developing the business case, to how it will be integrated into the sourcing process, establishing tracking mechanisms, supplier development and more. You may want to start with a small pilot to help make the case and establish some “quick wins” that can be leveraged for growth.

This is actually the easy part, although there are clearly some industries that attract greater participation from diverse suppliers than others. There is a tremendous ecosystem around supplier diversity that helps organizations connect with diverse suppliers. This includes organizations such as but not limited to Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, Disability IN and Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. Another approach is to use an e-procurement platform with diverse suppliers.

Leverage your existing relationships: With diverse suppliers, how could they grow? Can they refer other diverse suppliers? For non-diverse suppliers: Ask them about their supplier diversity program. What can you learn from them about their own program or potentially those of other customers without compromising confidential information? Publicize your supplier diversity efforts—this will attract diverse suppliers.

WHAT’S A COMMON MISTAKE COMPANIES MAKE IN STARTING A SUPPLIER-DIVERSITY PROGRAM?

Unfortunately, it is a mistake made with a range of programs—not just supplier diversity—and that is failure to do the hard work of organizational change management. There is a paradox here—the fastest way to go far is go slow. It takes time to educate stakeholders and secure their commitment—and it is not a “once and done” proposition. It is an ongoing process of communication to maintain alignment toward the goals.

HOW CAN I MEASURE HOW OUR PROGRAM IS WORKING?

In many respects this is also very similar to how you measure performance of your non-diverse supplier base: scoring how well they meet the cost, service, quality and capacity needs of your organization. Beyond this, though, you should consider such things as growth and share of spend with diverse suppliers by category, how are the suppliers contributing to innovation, sales growth, risk mitigation, etc.

WHAT IF YOU ARE AN EMPLOYEE OF A COMPANY THAT DOESN’T HAVE A SUPPLIER-DIVERSITY PROGRAM AND ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO MANDATE ONE?

Even starting with top-down support, successful supplier-diversity programs, like any worthwhile change, take time to implement.

There is much you can do, but it will likely take a little longer. A few good places to start: w If you are in a position to, establish your baseline spend with diverse suppliers now. Many organizations have some spend with diverse suppliers even absent a formal program. You’ll need this to chart your progress, and examining the suppliers and categories will provide ideas for possible expansion. w Recruit like-minded colleagues in various departments who could be able to help. w Look for opportunities to share how a more diverse-supplier base will help the organization reach its goals. w Look for small opportunities to expand usage of diverse suppliers to generate wins. The idea is to eventually secure the leadership support through a groundswell of interest and commitment within the organization created by successful proofs of concept and a steady drumbeat of messaging.

JOHN R. BOEHM

Harry Haney is director of the Supply Chain & Sustainability Center at Loyola University Chicago.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 17

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

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

ACCOUNTING / CONSULTING

ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN

CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

LAW

NON-PROFIT

RSM US LLP, Chicago

Wight & Company, Chicago

ARCO/Murray, Downers Grove

Laner Muchin, Ltd., Chicago

Mikva Challenge, Chicago

RSM US LLP is pleased to announce that Art Pesavento has joined the firm as a business development director.

Art is an experienced business developer having held senior growth roles at several financial institutions including most recently, Santander Bank. In his role, Art will be responsible for developing audit, tax, and consulting engagements and building relationships with professionals in the manufacturing, distribution, food, and business services industries.

Griselda Monsivais, PE, CFM, LEED GA, has joined Wight & Company’s Transportation and Infrastructure team as Director of Transportation and Water Resources. Her expertise in water resources and hydraulics facilitates planning of complex infrastructure improvements including interchange and roadway reconstruction, bridge replacement/ rehabilitation, and road planning improvements. She is passionate about sharing her experiences as a woman in this field and is a soughtafter speaker and mentor.

ARCO/Murray is pleased to announce the promotion of Rachel Husting to Director of Preconstruction. In her new role, Husting will be leading the preconstruction group’s operations and training new team members.

“Over the past few years, Rachel has distinguished herself as a leader through her front-end efforts with new and existing clients. We are excited for her to continue growing the team’s capabilities while creating more raving fans in the process,” says Bill Krol, principal at ARCO/Murray.

Andy Goldberg has been named Managing Partner of Laner Muchin.

Andy serves clients by resolving complex employee relations issues in matters of reasonable accommodations under various national disability laws, compliance with sick day/leave laws, hiring strategies in light of the many laws governing information an employer may consider, negotiating collective bargaining agreements, presenting arbitrations, responding to union grievances and appearing before the National Labor Relations Board.

Carla Rubalcava joined Mikva Challenge as Managing Director of IL Programs where she will set the vision and direction for Mikva Illinois’ youth-facing programs, elevate the work of the youth program facilitators, and oversee Mikva’s school-based classroom initiatives.

Carla held previous roles at Harold Washington College, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Association for Child Development, Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), and Holy Trinity High School.

CONSTRUCTION

ACCOUNTING / CONSULTING Treacy & Company, Chicago Treacy & Company welcomes Francesco Fazio as Senior Partner and Innovation Practice Lead. Francesco brings 20+ years of experience and has a passion for innovation and exceptional client service. As the lead of Treacy & Company’s Innovation practice, Francesco will help clients develop innovations that improve customer value, accelerate profitable growth, and establish market leadership.

Mortenson, Chicago

LAW

An 18-year veteran of Mortenson, Sheryl Van Anne was promoted to General Manager of its Chicago office overseeing the business development, marketing, design phase, and virtual design & construction teams. She will also continue providing strategic oversight for Mortenson’s work in the higher education market. Over the past two decades, Van Anne has delivered numerous large-scale, complex projects in the Chicago area totaling over $500 Million.

Laner Muchin, Ltd., Chicago

CONSTRUCTION ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN

Mortenson, Chicago

DLR Group, Chicago

Mortenson is pleased to announce the addition of Kathy Johnson as Workforce Development Manager in our Chicago office. With over 20 years of experience, Kathy will lead Mortenson’s efforts to plan, coordinate and execute projectbased workforce development initiatives and programs for members of the community seeking to develop construction and building trades careers. Most recently, Kathy served as a Supervisor of Workforce Programs with the City of Chicago Department of Family Services.

Renowned international designer Kenneth Turner, AIA, has joined DLR Group to establish a tall buildings practice.

Turner will work from DLR Group’s Chicago office and collaborate with design teams in a variety of client sectors to design and deliver solutions for clients in the United States and internationally.

Turner is recognized globally for his expertise in tall building design within urban design and the delivery of award-winning office, hospitality, mixed-use, and residential buildings.

ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN Kahler Slater, Chicago / Milwaukee

CONSTRUCTION

Kahler Slater is pleased to announce the addition of Chris Jann as National Business Development Director supporting the Higher Education market. In his role, Jann will develop client relationships, guide strategic pursuits, and advance Kahler Slater’s expansion within higher education.

Jann is an accomplished and proven leader in the industry and will significantly impact Kahler Slater’s continued growth by combining his experience with the firm’s deep portfolio of higher education design.

Northern Builders, Inc., Schiller Park Northern Builders, Inc. is pleased to announce the hiring of Stephanie L. Lauk as Director of Accounting.

In her role, Stephanie is responsible for the oversight and administration of Northern’s corporate and real estate accounting operations including cash management, forecasting, and financial reporting. Stephanie brings over 20 years of diverse accounting experience to Northern’s team.

FINANCIAL SERVICES Millennium Trust Company, Oak Brook Millennium Trust Company, LLC, a leading provider of retirement and institutional services, announced the appointment of Karyn DeFalco to the position of Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). DeFalco joins Millennium Trust after serving as Vice President, Human Resources at Echo Global Logistics. As the Company continues to expand its portfolio of innovative, client-centered solutions, DeFalco will prioritize building out its product and technology talent.

INVESTMENT BANKING CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, LLC, Oak Brook Ian Sylvan joins CLA as a managing director in the investment banking practice. He has more than 30 years of M&A advisory, investment banking, financing, and related transaction experience.

Sylvan works with privately held and financial sponsor-owned companies to assist in determining and executing the appropriate transaction solution to meet their objectives; including the completion of transactions such as outright sales, recapitalizations and acquisitions.

To order frames or plaques of profiles contact Lauren Melesio at lmelesio@crain.com or 212-210-0707

Laner Muchin has elected Jeff Fowler as Co-Chair of the Firm’s Litigation Group. After serving as a soldier, a policeman, and beginning his law career at an international firm, Jeff joined Laner Muchin in 1994, concentrating on litigation of labor and employment matters. Jeff focuses on dispute resolution in federal and state trial and appellate courts and administrative agencies. Jeff is active in community and bar groups and currently serves as President-Elect of the Christian Legal Society.

NON-PROFIT UCAN, Chicago Aurora Stevenson has joined the UCAN Governing Board and was named chair of the Board’s Program Committee. Stevenson, who previously served as a member of UCAN’s Advisory Board, is an Illinois licensed attorney and counsel for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. She is part of a legal team that advises leadership and corporate partners about contract transactions and new business involving vendors, life insurance, vision and disability products.

LAW

REAL ESTATE

Laner Muchin, Ltd., Chicago

ML Realty Partners, Itasca

Laner Muchin has elected Jennifer Naber as Member of the Firm’s Executive Committee and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Litigation Group.

Jennifer joined the Firm in 1997 and counsels clients on various employment-related matters. She concentrates her practice in federal and state employment litigation. Jennifer has extensive experience litigating complex wage and hour claims and Illinois BIPA class actions. She also regularly handles matters before the EEOC, the IDHR, and the U.S. and Illinois DOL.

Doug Wood joined ML Realty Partners as Project Manager. He will focus on construction and development support for ML Realty Partners.

Mr. Wood was previously employed with International Quality Contracting and W.B. Olson, Inc. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from University of Illinois.

TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

MARKETING Popular Pays, Chicago Popular Pays is thrilled to welcome Griffin Caprio as their first Chief Product Officer. While overseeing both product and engineering, Caprio is charged with realizing the vision of the Popular Pays platform and delivering a modern advertising solution for marketers.

With over twelve years of experience leading project and engineering teams, the addition of Caprio to the Popular Pays executive team is a foundational step for the company’s 2021 growth plans.

Meridian Group International, Deerfield Meridian Group International, a leading global information technology services and equipment leasing company, announced the appointment of Tim DeLisle as President of Meridian IT, North America. As President, Tim will provide outcome-driven leadership to position Meridian IT at the forefront of the information technology services industry. He will focus on developing strategies to advance the company’s mission of solving its clients’ toughest challenges and continue to lead the Global Program efforts for the company.

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RunDate 5/24/21

Together, we’ll build Chicago back stronger than before.

Make a gift online today at LIVEUNITEDchicago.org/Recovery-March

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 19

GIVING GUIDE NONPROFITS NAVIGATE A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD

Nonprofit organizations had a big challenge during the pandemic and lockdown: how to keep in touch with donors. In this special section, we discuss the creative ways many found to make sure they weren’t forgotten—and discovered some truths about donors along the way. Post-pandemic, nonprofits will still need support. Crain’s Content Studio provides you with the intel to make sure dollars you donate generate the greatest impact while also fitting your organization’s giving goals.

INSIDE: Donors hate phone calls, right? Think again. Page 20

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SPONSORED CONTENT + Post-pandemic, nonprofits still need support, Page 22 + Showcasing opportunities for corporate partnerships and individual giving: United Way of Metro Chicago, Page 18 Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Page 24 DuPage Senior Citizens Council, Page 26 GameChangers Foundation, Page 28 Genesys Works Chicago, Page 30 Greater Chicago Food Depository, Page 32 Les Turner ALS Foundation, Page 34 Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, Page 36 The Night Ministry, Page 38 Northern Illinois Food Bank, Page 40 Special Olympics Illinois, Page 42 The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Page 44 City Year Chicago, Page 45 Haymarket Center, Page 46 Invest for Kids Chicago, Page 47 Mikva Challenge, Page 48 Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, Page 49 North Shore Exchange, Page 50 Rosecrance Health Network, Page 51 Salvation Army Metropolitan Division, Page 52 Thresholds, Page 53 Women’s Business Development Center, Page 54

5/20/21 2:41 PM

20 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

A musical phone call from Illinois Philharmonic violinist Anna Carlson “reminded us what we had been missing in the form of classical music,” says IPO donor Jim Holland, shown at a gala with his wife, Stacy.

O

ne weekday in December, Jim Holland was reading an email when the phone rang. The caller introduced herself as Anna Carlson, violinist with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, an organization that Holland and his wife, Stacy, have supported for years. When Carlson told Holland that she wanted to play some music for him, “I called Stacy and said, ‘You better get in here,’ ” says Holland, the former mayor of Frankfort.

Carlson played two musical selections, accompanying each with a few words about the piece. The IPOgram, as the orchestra calls the musical offerings, “made us think about what we had been missing in the form of live classical music,” says Jim Holland. “It reinforced our support for (the organization) and reminded us that they’re still out there,” Stacy Holland says. Both agree it was a “wonderful experience” that brought warmth into their home during the bleak days of the pandemic.

The pandemic handed more than a few challenges to nonprofits, one of which was staying in touch with donors even as shelter-at-home orders made that difficult, if not impossible. Many organizations devised novel ways to keep the connection alive; many reached out to donors with no overt fundraising ask.

Along the way, nonprofits learned a thing or two about the people who support them: Donors welcome meaningful phone calls. They open snail mail. They’re a bit weary of email for email’s sake; purposeful communiques are another story. They want to know more about clients and are curious about nonprofits’ employees, too. Read on for a list of lessons learned and how nonprofits will use that information when the world returns to normal.

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FOX VALLEY VOLKSWAGEN

ILLINOIS PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

ILLINOIS PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

LESSONS LEARNED

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The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra sent musical “IPOgrams” to donors; violinist Anna Carlson played some Brahms for Jim and Stacy Holland.

Fox Valley Volkswagen donated loaner cars to nurses at Lurie Children’s Hospital; the dealership supports Cal’s Angels, a nonprofit that assists children with cancer and their families.

Chicago Children’s Choir found texts far more effective than email during the pandemic, and will it continue by sending six to 10 texts a year to select donors, says Amy Tinucci, chief development officer.

Mental-health awareness nonprofit NAMI-Chicago is sticking with postal mail after seeing less engagement with social media and email outreach.

Photo explor $600,0 donor forma

THEY WELCOME PERSONAL CONNECTIONS

PHONE CALLS AREN’T INTRUSIVE

DONORS WELCOME A TEXT OR TWO

POSTAL MAIL CAN REALLY DELIVER

Stacey Wahlberg, executive director at Cal’s Angels, a nonprofit that supports children with cancer and their families, called about 50 donors during the pandemic. “I just wanted to know how they were doing,” she says, noting that many supporters own businesses that employ hundreds of people. “I think it showed (donors) that it’s not all about us.”

One recipient was Emir Abinion, who owns a Fox Valley auto dealership that employs 200 people. COVID shutdowns forced him to lay off 70 percent of his staff in March 2020. He also had 100 loaner cars, which he was still paying for, sitting idle. Abinion and his staff were in a meeting to decide what to do with the loaners when he got a call from Wahlberg.

“The last thing I expected was a call from a nonprofit asking how we were doing,” says Abinion, who supports Cal’s Angels by donating money and a car to be auctioned at the yearly fundraiser. “I really appreciated that.” The call also solved the loaner-car problem.

Abinion lent 40 cars, covering all expenses including gas and insurance, to nurses working at Cal’s Angels partner hospitals.

Chicago Children’s Choir management hesitated before launching a text-to-give campaign during the pandemic, worried that donors would find the texts intrusive. On the contrary, text-to-give performed much better than email in soliciting donations. “It truly was a way to get through to people,” says Amy Tinucci, chief development officer.

The texting began during CCC’s virtual gala in October.

Messaging on the virtual platform was limited, so the organization got the idea to text information, for instance news of a $20,000 matching grant. The gala, which was free to attend, netted almost $900,000.

Encouraged by that success, the choir launched an experimental text-to-give campaign on Giving Tuesday in December. The organization sent texts to 6,000 people and raised $2,500 for an average of 42 cents raised per sent text. For comparison’s sake, an email sent to 18,000 people raised $3,500, an average of 19 cents per sent email. Contributed revenue, including individual donations, accounted for 76 percent of the choir’s $5 million annual operating expenses, Tinucci says.

She plans to keep sending texts, about six to 10 a year, to dispense information about events and concerts. The texts will supplement email, and text recipients will have the ability to opt out, Tinucci says.

Overall, “it’s been a pleasant surprise,” she says.

For the last two or three years, executives at mentalhealth awareness nonprofit NAMI-Chicago have waffled on whether to continue postal mailings to donors. “We have always prioritized warm touches like phone calls, postal mail and handwritten notes,” says Rachel Bhagwat, director of growth and engagement.

Bhagwat says that individual donations account for about 15 percent of the organization’s $4.1 million annual operating expenses.

The pandemic made the decision for them. NAMI-Chicago had seen less engagement with social media and email outreach, Bhagwat says. She also sensed a need to continue the “almost counterculture” approach of postal mail during the pandemic. “People are inundated with social media and email all day long,” she says.

“That handwritten note feels intentional and personal in a way that email doesn’t.” The organization sent 200 handwritten cards to volunteers and nearly 1,000 copies of its annual report during the pandemic.

In the future, it will continue to mail notices of special events, for instance the gala and its annual NAMIWalks event, as well as the annual report and annual appeal. “We were close to taking those virtual,” Bhagwat says. “We will not do that.”

DO WIL WO

The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra got the IPOgrams idea from a musician during a meeting with representatives from the musicians’ union, says Christina Salerno, executive director at IPO. Musicians sent the first batch to donors at the $1,000 and above level. For Valentine’s Day, IPO marketed the phone calls as musical greeting cards, selling them for suggested $25 donations. All told, they’ve made about 120 calls.

“People just loved the phone calls, and the musicians liked talking to someone,” Salerno says. The IPOgrams will continue in some fashion because they’re effective: “It’s quick, it’s unexpected and it’s a great way to stay in front of people and tell them they matter and we’re thinking about them,” Salerno says.

Joffrey Ballet also connected dancers with donors when the pandemic forced a pause in performances. “The most important thing was to keep (donors) sticky,” says Chris Jabin, interim chief development officer. “We wanted them to know we are still a part of their lives.” As part of Joffrey’s new Company Artist Partnership Program, designed to give artists an opportunity to enhance their professional development skills, company members wrote thank-you notes and called select donors. Artists also signed masks made out of leftover fabric from its new “Nutcracker” production and mailed them to select donors. “They got a little bit of history,” Jabin says.

The personal touch was “very effective,” with Jabin reporting that Joffrey’s $12 million Crisis Stabilization Fund passed $10.8 million during the pandemic. He’d like the calls and notes to continue post-pandemic but says that might prove challenging as pandemic restrictions ease and dancers’ schedules fill up.

5/20/21 2:39 PM

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What nonprofits learned during the pandemic. Donors said yes to texts, postal mail and even phone calls as organizations strived to keep relationships thriving during lockdowns. | BY LISA BERTAGNOLI

Photos of Shedd penguin Wellington exploring the empty aquarium generated $600,000 in contributions from first-time donors, prompting Shedd to launch a more formal peer-to-peer fundraising program.

Thresholds employee Emily Bugg and her husband used the $5,000 nonrefundable catering deposit from their COVID-canceled wedding to buy 200 Thanksgiving meals for Thresholds clients.

After School Matters’ Inside Look video series helped expose the organization to donors outside the greater Chicago area.

When Big Shoulders Fund’s weekly email told donors that its clients needed food, they responded with meal deliveries from local restaurants.

Chicago Public Library Foundation’s Associate Board, composed of young professionals, launched the inaugural Read-A-Thon, which raised north of $60,000 and attracted 428 participants.

DONORS CAN AND WILL SPREAD THE WORD

EMPLOYEES MATTER

PHILANTHROPY CAN TRANSCEND GEOGRAPHY

DONORS CRAVE INFORMATION

YOUNG DONORS CAN WORK WONDERS

Big Shoulders Fund, a nonprofit that provides scholarships, academic and operational support to under-resourced Catholic schools in the Chicago area, has enjoyed support in the form of mentoring and tutoring in addition to financial support.

When COVID-19 shut down schools, “donors wanted information quickly,” says Josh Hale, CEO. What started with a single emailed photo and request for help turned into a weekly Saturday email detailing what was going on with students, plus ways donors could help. Hale sent the first emails to board members, then expanded it to a broader donor base.

One result of the email: food delivered by small restaurants to Big Shoulders Fund students who needed food.

The program, seeded by a $100,000 donation from Carol Lavin Bernick, delivered food from local restaurants to students, thus supporting two groups adversely affected by the pandemic. Another couple responded with a $1 million challenge grant when the email mentioned a need for school supplies, PPE, food, technology devices and emergency financial assistance.

To make up for lost mentoring time, volunteers recorded videos of themselves reading and taught virtual art, music and history classes for students. Hale plans to continue the email communications even as pandemic restrictions ease. “It became clear during the pandemic that sharing needs results in people wanting to do more,” he says.

Chicago Public Library Foundation’s Associate Board, composed of young professionals, launched the library’s first Read-A-Thon during the pandemic when its annual Night in the Stacks event couldn’t take place. The contest this spring, which ran from April 5 to May 21, raised $63,000 as of late April through 602 donations.

The goal was 300 participants; 428 people signed up, says Brenda Langstraat, CEO. The Read-A-Thon was so successful that it will become an annual or biennial event.

Along similar lines, the 13-member Young Professionals Board at Children’s Home & Aid had been in a rebuilding phase pre-pandemic, says Tara Harper, senior director of institutional relations, equity and inclusion. The group’s first event, a virtual trivia night in February, attracted 80 participants and raised nearly $4,000.

“We see this board as a critical part of everything we do going forward,” Harper says.

The board will host a networking event after Children’s Home & Aid’s June 8 virtual event, titled “Breaking Barriers.

Centering Families. Transforming Systems.” During the pandemic, the group met monthly of its own volition. “This generation is focused on movement-building,” Harper says.

“They will really have a powerful voice.”

During lockdowns, Shedd Aquarium saw great success with social media, which included videos of Wellington, Shedd’s oldest penguin, exploring the empty aquarium.

“Audiences were in need of this source of hope and joy,” says Gina Rodriguez, chief development officer. Pandemic-induced closures cost the aquarium about $25 million in earned revenue, which accounts for 70 percent of its $75 million annual budget.

Wellington’s explorations sparked $2 million in donations to Shedd’s annual operations through a minifundraising campaign. The surprise: 1,100 donations, averaging $545 each for a total of $600,000, came from new donors, a result of existing donors sharing posts of Wellington.

“We were really excited about that because it highlighted a new avenue of giving,” Rodriguez says.

To encourage peer-to-peer fundraising, Shedd dedicated space on its website to empower donors and supporters to share “really personal” stories to their networks about what the aquarium has meant to them, for instance a first field trip for them or their children.

To expand the concept, the aquarium is launching a pilot online community called Surge, which will present opportunities for supporters to stay connected with the aquarium, including ways to take action for the environment and giving mechanisms such as peer-to-peer fundraising. “The effect will compound year over year into the future,” Rodriguez says, resulting in a new revenue stream for the aquarium.

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Before the pandemic, Thresholds, a Chicago organization that helps people with mental illness and substance-abuse conditions, profiled clients to project the organization’s mission and effectiveness. Turns out donors were just as interested in Thresholds’ staffers.

That became clear when Emily Bugg, a Thresholds outreach counselor, and her husband used a $5,000 nonrefundable wedding catering deposit—due to COVID, they got married at City Hall—to buy Thanksgiving meals for 200 Thresholds clients. “She turned a pandemic disappointment into something hopeful,” says Emily Moen, vice president of public relations and marketing. Thresholds’ social media post about Bugg’s donation gained so much attention that Planters Peanuts profiled her in its alternative Super Bowl ad campaign and donated $100,000 to Thresholds.

The story, which sparked features in newspapers around the country, helped Thresholds attract new supporters, Moen says. In the week after the story hit, the organization had 50 first-time donors giving a total of $6,000, compared with 17 newcomers giving a total of $1,000 during the same period in 2019. Thresholds has since profiled employees who work in outreach to the homeless, and it plans more “day in the life” stories on its staffers as life returns to normal. “It’s a way donors can see themselves in our work,” Moen says.

After School Matters provides after-school and summer programs for Chicago-area teens. Still, during the pandemic, virtual programming introduced the nonprofit to potential donors outside that geographical sphere. Its Inside Look video series featured After School Matters teens in an open-house setting. During one program, teens taught viewers how to sign “Welcome.

We’re glad you’re here” in American Sign Language.

Some 50 people attended each video screening, by invitation from an existing ASM volunteer or donor. “Friends and supporters who might have bragged about After School Matters logistically never had a chance to make an introduction to people outside the area,” says Steven Berry, chief advancement officer. “Removing geography lets people dive in and see the action.”

One-quarter of those invited lived outside the Chicago area, Berry says. He calls the videos a donor cultivation tool rather than a direct fundraising method and says the organization will use and expand video post-pandemic. Videos can be used for mock interviews and workshops with corporate partners and offer ASM teens experiences outside the Chicago area. The events were recorded and allow ASM to continue to provide access to programs outside of Chicago by building a digital library.

“This was an awesome opportunity for donors and prospects to see our program and for teens to see people from across the city, suburbs and country who are invested in them,” Berry says. “Teens were heartened to see how much people care.”

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SPONSORED CONTENT

POST-PANDEMIC, NONPROFITS STILL NEED SUPPORT How Individuals and Organizations Can Help

A

fter surviving one of the most challenging years in recent memory, nonprofits are emerging from the pandemic with key learnings plus new goals and strategies to accomplish their missions amidst today’s new normal.

Giving Guide contributors shared their organizations’ goals and wish lists with Crain’s Content Studio. Please take a moment to read and consider how you—as an individual, company or other group—can make a difference.

ANN & ROBERT H. LURIE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO

GENESYS WORKS CHICAGO

Lesson learned in 2020: In a year of challenges, the strength of Lurie Children’s was tested and proved. We learned to adapt, make changes efficiently and provide outstanding care to our patients in a safe environment.

Lesson learned in 2020: Teaching students the technical and professional skills necessary to succeed in a corporate environment is more critical than ever. As Chicago looks to become an inclusive tech leader, the need for workers with digital skills grows.

Goal for 2021: To strive for better outcomes for our patients; more efficient operations; better integration of equity, diversity and inclusion; and greater impact on child health across communities.

Goal for 2021: To ensure that talented students from across our city are equipped to meet this challenge.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: As fundraising efforts continue to change, we need consistent support. We invite supporters to make a monthly commitment to patients at luriechildrens.org/monthlygift.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Visionary corporate partners who will help us grow until every interested CPS senior has an internship seat.

THE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS

GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY

Lesson learned in 2020: As the pandemic shifted us from in-person events to virtual programs, we were able to connect experts from anywhere in the world with audiences in Chicago and beyond. These digital advances will be key to reaching new audiences and thriving in our second century.

Goal for 2021: Funds raised in 2021 will ensure the success of the Council’s digital transformation and our efforts to expand the public dialogue about critical global issues.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Financial contributions will be key to ensuring the Council thrives. Visit thechicagocouncil.org/donate.

Lesson learned in 2020: Despite the considerable short- and long-term challenges, Chicagoans are deeply and tirelessly committed to helping their neighbors in need of food assistance.

Goal for 2021: Continue strengthening the emergency food system with more investments and new partnerships in the months to come.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Donations and volunteers. Learn more at chicagosfoodbank.org.

CITY YEAR CHICAGO

HAYMARKET CENTER

Lesson learned in 2020: Our AmeriCorps members demonstrated ingenuity, finding new ways to engage and support students academically, socially and emotionally. We’ll use these new approaches and ways to leverage technology as we return fully to in-person learning.

Lesson learned in 2020: The extent to which substance use disorder treatment is considered secondary by our health systems compared to other medical conditions. Overdose deaths increased by an astonishing 32.6 percent in Illinois in 2020, but prevention and treatment were not prioritized for funding.

Goal for 2021: Deepen our impact by helping students recover from the loss of instructional time over the past year.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Financial contributions that will allow us to invest in the training we provide our AmeriCorps members and expand the number of CPS schools we can partner with.

DUPAGE SENIOR CITIZENS COUNCIL Lesson learned in 2020: The number of seniors needing basic services for daily living is far greater than previously thought. The pandemic helped identify seniors who are food insecure and socially isolated.

Goal for 2021: Improve and expand immediate access to care.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Advocates to join us in fighting the stigma attached to substance use disorder and an increased and dependable funding stream.

INVEST FOR KIDS CHICAGO Lesson learned in 2020: Our donors and volunteers rose to the occasion so that we were able to raise as much money as in years past.

Goal for 2021: To continue to implement services to the 40 percent increase in older adults needing assistance as they struggle with mental health, loneliness and food insecurity.

Goal for 2021: Amplify our impact by providing organizations with the tools they need to transform the lives of young people.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Win-win partnerships with individuals and organizations so we can help take away the worry older adults have and help them remain in their own homes.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Raise approximately $1.75 million. We’ll rely upon the generosity of our generous individual and corporate donors to help us meet this need.

GAMECHANGERS FOUNDATION

LES TURNER ALS FOUNDATION

Lesson learned in 2020: The film’s message and Foundation’s mission are more relevant than ever.

Lesson learned in 2020: Mission first. Regardless of unexpected changes, consider those you serve first.

Incorporate their voices and set your priorities accordingly.

A goal for 2021: Expand our grants and scholarships to benefit West Side youth.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Expand our donor base and attract corporate and family office contributions.

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Goal for 2021: Increase access to new clinical therapies and educational tools for people living with ALS. What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Resources to ensure more clinical trials and basic scientific research is done to help bring us closer to a world free of ALS.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

MERCY HOME FOR BOYS & GIRLS

ROSECRANCE HEALTH NETWORK

Lesson learned in 2020: The pandemic dramatically underscored the need to coordinate tangible assistance to the families of the youth in our care, many of whom were struggling even prior to the pandemic.

Lesson learned in 2020: We offered continuous service, even at our residential campuses, to the families and individuals who sought our help.

Goal for 2021: To contribute to the health and well-being of individuals, families, schools and communities.

Goal for 2021: To continue to provide the support that allowed our youth and families to achieve their goals, especially as the economic fallout will continue to impact many significantly.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Support for the Rosecrance Kinley Fund that helps families facing financial barriers to seeking behavioral health care.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Financial donations remain key in enabling us to direct the most appropriate support to help each family heal and succeed.

MIKVA CHALLENGE

SALVATION ARMY METROPOLITAN DIVISION

Lesson learned in 2020: Youth need to be heard to help us dream bigger, act bolder and improve our shared communities. We convened youth leaders to give input on decisions affecting Chicago’s COVID-19 response. By engaging youth in civic policy-making, we witnessed power in their vision of a more just and equitable future.

Lesson learned in 2020: We were able to provide food, shelter and emergency financial assistance to those seeking support.

Goal for 2021: To reach more students with youth-centered programming that combines civic engagement, education, leadership development and advocacy.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: People can help by making a tax-deductible donation.

Goal for 2021: Continue meeting the needs of those affected by pandemic poverty across Chicagoland, Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: The tremendous generosity of our communities as we once again ask them to help ensure that our most vulnerable neighbors have access to nutritious food, safe shelter and hope.

NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES OF CHICAGO

SPECIAL OLYMPICS ILLINOIS

Lesson learned in 2020: Always be prepared to assist individuals and communities in need—often in unexpected ways.

Lesson learned in 2020: How to pivot from creating hundreds of public-facing events into a virtual machine that, starting in March of 2020, began offering workout opportunities for athletes via digital platforms Zoom, Facebook Live, YouTube and Twitch.

Goal for 2021: To develop neighborhoods of choice capable of supporting a thriving and diverse middle class. We envision a multiplier effect in which homeowners shop at local businesses, enjoy local parks and make use of other available amenities.

2021:Provide virtual opportunities for athletes who can’t Goal for 2021: attend events in person, which will allow more athletes then ever from across the state to engage in our activities.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: As the athletes return to the field of play, each dollar puts these athletes a step closer to experiencing the transformative power and joy of sport.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: People and organizations with expertise in impact measurement, and institutions willing to donate ad space and resources to bolster outreach efforts.

THE NIGHT MINISTRY

THRESHOLDS

Lesson learned in 2020: The resiliency and generosity of The Night Ministry community. We’ve seen time and again how we all rise to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic while taking care of each other.

Lesson learned in 2020: The generosity of our donors, the tenacity of our staff and the resilience of our clients.

Goal for 2021: To continue to meet the needs of Chicagoans experiencing homelessness or poverty with innovative and responsive programs that provide solutions to the complex and evolving challenges they face.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Ongoing financial support as well as help in elevating the profile of The Night Ministry’s work by sharing news about our work with your professional and personal networks.

NORTH SHORE EXCHANGE Lesson learned in 2020: We were still able to give away $192,000 to Chicagoland charities in spite of significant business loss, and remain laser-focused on our goal of being a major contributor to alleviating the trauma of poverty in Chicagoland.

Goal for 2021: To grow our business 10 percent, and to give back at least $500,000 to Chicagoland charities that serve the poor.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Your designer consignments.

Goal for 2020: We want to get back to work, face-toface, with our clients. We learned that in-person, out-inthe-community services really do work.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: We need to continue to work toward policy changes that will promote a strong, well-funded mental health safety net for our state.

UNITED WAY OF METRO CHICAGO Lesson learned in 2020: As co-creators of the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund, we saw the importance of responding to immediate community needs, and understand the powerful impact of a coordinated, placed-based approach.

Goal for 2020: Individuals and families in every zip code deserve the same opportunities for success. We believe in a dual approach to make this possible—meeting our neighbors’ basic needs and working alongside community leaders to build stronger, more equitable neighborhoods.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Financial donations or gifts of time through our virtual volunteer opportunities.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK

WOMEN’S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Lesson learned in 2020: The possibilities are endless when we come together through partnerships and innovation to provide food and resources to our neighbors in need.

Lesson learned in 2020: While we all acknowledge the value of working together as a community in all aspects of life, since March 2020, we’ve truly learned what that means!

Goal for 2021: To reach more of our neighbors who need food but aren’t accessing our services for a multitude of reasons— stigma, shame, lack of awareness, lack of access, to name a few.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Support to help us continue providing food to our neighbors in need, while we develop creative ways to reach those who are underserved.

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Goal for 2021: To collaborate with other business support organizations to leverage our collective strengths and economic impact.

What’s needed to accomplish that goal: Public and private sector grant sponsors that can continue to play a vital role in fostering and fortifying these productive alliances.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit For the highest-quality care close to home, visit one of our 13 outpatient centers, 11 partner hospitals and five primary care locations.

Help Others Shop our Feel Good Gifts guide to help provide critical support for the patients and programs at Lurie Children’s. You can browse the gift guide at luriechildrens.org/feelgoodgifts.

Explore As a nonprofit medical center, we depend on your generosity to deliver the very best care, support patients and their families and discover lifesaving cures and treatments. Explore all the ways to get involved— including volunteering or hosting a fundraiser—at luriechildrens.org/getinvolved.

WHAT WE DO Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago provides superior pediatric care in a setting that offers the latest benefits and innovations in medical technology, research and family-friendly design. As the largest pediatric provider in the region, kids and their families are at the center of all we do.

Promoting the health and well-being of children and adolescents beyond the hospital walls is a critical part of our mission. All communityfocused initiatives at Lurie Children’s are led by the Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities. One of its top priorities is to address the root causes of health disparities, including systemic racism, poverty, poor access to health care, housing insecurity, food insecurity, unemployment, violence and an unsafe physical environment. The Magoon Institute also facilitates community-engaged outreach and research initiatives to advance and implement evidence-informed child and adolescent health programs and practices.

Lurie Children’s relies on philanthropic funding to deliver programs and services for children and families. Founded in 1987, the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation is a charitable tax-exempt organization that works to advance the mission of the hospital.

Donate As a nonprofit medical center, we rely on donors to give kids access to the very best care. There are many ways to support Lurie Children’s including a making a onetime donation, becoming a monthly giver or making a corporate gift.

Join Volunteer board and committee members are a critical part of our mission and the success of our fundraising initiatives, each made up of philanthropically-minded individuals dedicated to improving the lives of children.

Join one of our esteemed boards to make a difference for kids.

Share Share your experience or lend your support by connecting with us on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter at @LurieChildrens.

EVENTS AND FUNDRAISING

Corporate teams face off in field day activities at Lurie Children’s Corporate Cup, while raising funds for Lurie Children’s. It’s not just fun and games, but an afternoon where community impact meets corporate teambuilding; this year’s event is scheduled for Oct. 7.

Corporate and civic leaders, golfers and community members gather each year for the Pro-Amateur Golf Championship, hosted by the Founders’ Board of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Since its inception in 1961, the event has raised more than $20 million for Lurie Children’s. This years’ event will take place Aug. 30 at the Onwentsia Club.

FUNDING SOURCES Individual

50% 30% 19% 1%

Corporate Private foundations and estates Other

FAST FACTS

ADDRESS 225 E. Chicago Ave. Chicago, IL, 60611

5,600 employees

2020 revenue: $72 million

Founded in 1882

BOARD

LEADERSHIP

PHONE 312-227-4000

Matthew M. Davis, MD, MAPP

Santhanam Suresh, MD, MBA

Elizabeth J. Perlman, MD

John Walkup, MD

Marleta Reynolds, MD

Derek S. Wheeler, MD, MMM, MBA

Brian Stahulak, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC Michelle Stephenson, DNP, RN, NEA-BC

WEBSITE luriechildrens.org

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Thomas P. Shanley, MD President & CEO

Roxanne Martino Chair - Medical Center Board

Grant Stirling, PhD

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HOW YOU CAN HELP Partner Businesses and organizations can make a tremendous difference to seniors by becoming donation partners and/or volunteer partners.

Donate Our services are funded by grants, corporate and individual donations. Without these donations, the services our seniors rely on are impacted. Eighty-two percent of your donation directly funds these services.

WHAT WE DO Sadly, one in four seniors live alone and half of the seniors living alone lack the financial resources for their basic needs, including having a nutritious meal.

But even beyond worrying about having enough food, many seniors living alone also suffer from social isolation. And since COVID-19, social isolation has increased for seniors. For some older adults, they may go days without any human contact at all.

Advocate Seniors are often forgotten. By helping us advocate for services for seniors, we can bring awareness to the need and funding to support the seniors these services impact.

Volunteer We offer a variety of flexible and rewarding volunteer opportunities to fit any schedule or age.

EVENTS AND FUNDRAISING

Since 1975, we’ve been providing vital services including home-delivered meals (Meals On Wheels), friendly visits and phone calls, wellbeing checks and other services to help keep older adults safe, connected and loved.

We rely on volunteers and donors to help us keep our commitment to the seniors who need our help.

We are a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit volunteerdriven organization and a proud member of the Meals on Wheels America (MOWA). When you donate to DSCC, 82 percent of your donation goes directly to seniors in DuPage and Kane counties.

The Dancing With The Starz fundraising event (shown prepandemic) pairs local celebrities with professional dancers in a dance competition. The event features a live auction, raffles, dinner and top entertainment.

Please join us as a volunteer, donor or advocate so we can continue to promote the ability of older adults to live their lives in dignity and care for the seniors in our communities who need our help.

Aging is a part of everyone’s life. Because of our partners, we can help seniors stay in their homes and feel remembered and loved.

The annual Wine and Craft Beer Tasting fundraiser (photo from 2019) features local wines and craft beers along with a silent auction, interactive games, great food and entertainment.

FUNDING SOURCES Federal/state programs

76% 6% 5% 4% 4% 4% 1%

Program donations Community donations Individuals In-kind revenue and other Other grants Events

FAST FACTS

ADDRESS 1900 Springer Dr. Lombard, IL 60148

46 employees (14 full-time)

Founded in 1975

LEADERSHIP Tasha Samuels Development Ann-Margaret Luciano Volunteer Services

PHONE 630-620-0804

WEBSITE dupageseniorcouncil.org

2020 revenue: $6.6 million

Tracy Halunka Community Programs Health & Wellness Marylin Krolak Executive Director

Chad Harry Client Enrollment

Marge Dunning Social Isolation Intergenerational Services Nicole Pica-Barnes Social Media Pet Care Services Kristin Leicht, RD, LDN, MBA Paul Betlinski, CPA Scan to learn more or to get involved.

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We take the worry out of growing older.

Caring for seniors in DuPage and surrounding counties since 1975.

Home Delivered Meals Health & Wellness Education Well-Being Checks Pet Care & Food Assistance Yard Clean Ups

Minor Home Repairs Contractor Referrals Friendly Visits Friendly Phone Calls Intergenerational Activities

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Individual and Companywide Volunteer & Partnership Opportunities Available.

DuPageSeniorCouncil.org 630-620-0804 DSCC BLEED MARKS Crains Ad Options[1] cmyk 2.indd 1 P022-P054_CCB_20210524 - GIVING GUIDE.indd 27

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C WHAT WE DO In the turbulent mid-1960s, Winnetka’s New Trier High School (an all-white team) squared off against CPS powerhouse Marshall High School (an all-Black team) in two consecutive basketball supersectionals, with a trip to the state finals on the line each time. Fifty years later, the teams came back together—reuniting to break bread while watching 8mm game film that was rescued from an attic.

The historic reunion became the subject of the documentary film GameChangers, and the inspiration behind the GameChangers Foundation, which the players started to give back to the game and their communities. Since its 2018 inception, the Foundation has hosted several fundraising events and awarded over $80,000 to students and organizations that continue to change the game.

Two All-Staters — in 1965 (left) and reunited 50 years later.

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit Go to gamechangers.film to watch the two-minute trailer and the 77-minute sports documentary film.

See how sports can break down barriers and hear what these players think about divisiveness and unity.

Explore Visit the website to see the grant winners, read the press about the film and foundation, and learn about

the annual summer essay contest.

Join Join us as we build bridges between communities and navigate issues like racial justice and equity.

Freeze-frame from the 8mm game film that was rescued from an attic.

Donate Contribute so we can expand our GameChanger Grants program, and continue to recognize achievers while helping Chicago’s West Side youth.

Original players in a 2016 roundtable discussion.

FAST FACTS

ADDRESS 630 W. Dundee Rd., Suite 400 Northbrook, IL 60062

1 employee

2020 revenue: $40,000

Founded in 2018

BOARD

LEADERSHIP

Nathaniel Byrd Marshall H.S.‘65 Ed Jamieson New Trier H.S.‘65

PHONE 847-910-3491

WEBSITE gamechangers.film/foundation

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Jeff Mowery

Joe Dondanville Executive Director & Filmmaker

Tom Anderson Founder & Corporate Sponsor New Trier H.S.‘66

Chet Coppock, 1948-2019 New Trier H.S.‘66 GameChangers narrator Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame

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HELP US SUPPORT

CHICAGO’S WEST SIDE YOUTH

GIVING CHALLENGE:

Our inaugural corporate sponsor, Digital Check, donated $25,000 this spring and committed another $25,000 to match corporate and family office contributions in 2021.

Please look at the page to the left to learn how we use film, basketball, and grants to change the game.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP

WHAT WE DO Genesys Works provides pathways to career success for high school students in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences and impactful relationships.

Students start their journeys by completing eight weeks of rigorous training, gaining marketready technical skills in information technology, business operations or computer science, as well as professional skills.

Once students successfully complete their skills training course, they are matched to paid, yearlong internships at partner companies. Our “earn and learn” approach offers 20-hour work weeks while in school, further developing and refining student skills while providing highly valued services to their host companies.

Visit Check out genesysworks.org/chicago to see how we create career pathways and opportunities for youth from Chicago’s underserved communities while simultaneously helping employers fill critical talent gaps within their companies.

Help Others Our ability to impact student lives is limited only by the number of meaningful work opportunities by partner companies. Visit our website or contact Joseph Tollefson at jtollefson@genesysworks.org to discuss hiring an intern.

Explore Discover why companies like Accenture, CME Group, KPMG and TransUnion hire Genesys Works Chicago interns to increase staff productivity and improve employee engagement.

Donate A gift to Genesys Works enables us to train and place more economically disadvantaged youths into meaningful corporate internships. After participating in our program, students’ lives are forever changed.

Join Our annual charity golf outing takes place on Aug. 23 at the Medinah Country Club. Visit rebrand.ly/GWCgolf for more information.

Share Connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to learn how our approach can drive business success and provides equitable access to meaningful careers for young people who live in underserved communities and face barriers to sustained economic opportunity.

EVENTS AND FUNDRAISING

While students are working at their internships, they also receive more than 60 hours of guidance, counseling and planning relative to their future career path. Examples of supports in this area include college selection and applications, certification training and placement, and financial aid assistance.

Prime TSR employees prepare for a great day on the golf course to support Genesys Works’ young professionals. This year’s golf and networking event takes place Aug. 23 at Medinah Country Club.

Genesys Works participants receive guidance and support for five years after high school graduation as they navigate their future career paths, including academic, social and financial obstacles that too often serve as a barrier to sustained career success.

Genesys Works is a proven model that significantly impacts students and has a profound effect on their families, communities, companies and society at large.

Genesys Works Associate Board members (from left) Molly Ryanmiller, Moji Akinde and Meghan MacFadden at the February 2020 Cocktails & Conversations event. The series explores critical topics in workforce development, education and other issues facing Chicago’s youth.

FUNDING SOURCES 74% 15% 6% 5%

Programs Grants Events Contributions

FAST FACTS

13 employees

2020 revenue: $3.1 million

LEADERSHIP

BOARD

ADDRESS 180 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 600 Chicago, IL 60601

Kenneth Shogren Board Secretary

PHONE 312-525-9995

WEBSITE genesysworks.org/chicago

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Kim Nicholas Executive Director

Founded in 2010

Tom Nolan Board Chair

David Drummond

Ryan Libel

Kelly Geary

Paul Maranville

Jim Hart

Alan Mather

Ola Bolton

Adam Hecktman

Karen Nicosia

Paul Corning

Darryl Henry

Mike Palumbo

Josh Davidson

Philip Jacob

Manish Patel

Samir Desai

Odalys Lara

Jim Steinback

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“Genesys Works has propelled me to greater opportunity. My story is 10-fold, 30-fold, 50-fold in my neighborhood. It’s not just a small group of people that are feeling this impact. It’s important to present opportunities and let people know ‘I believe in you’.”

- Dream, Class 11 Young Professional

THANK YOU TO OUR 2020-2021 CORPORATE PARTNERS

0

OUR IMPACT IN CHICAGO:

100% HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE

98% STUDENTS OF COLOR

79%

OF OUR ALUMNI MAKE AT LEAST $35K BY AGE 25

$10M+

IN WAGES PAID DIRECTLY TO STUDENTS ON THE SOUTH AND WEST SIDES

GENESYSWORKS.ORG/CHICAGO • 180 NORTH WABASH AVE, SUITE 600, CHICAGO, IL 60601

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HOW YOU CAN HELP Donate Financial donations allow us to distribute healthy food to people in need and invest in programs to address the root causes of hunger. During these challenging times, financial support gives us the greatest flexibility to adapt and meet the rising need. Every dollar donated can help us provide the equivalent of three meals for our neighbors in need. Donate at chicagosfoodbank.org/ donate.

WHAT WE DO The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago’s food bank, believes a healthy community starts with food. We are at the center of a network of more than 700 partner organizations and programs working to bring food, dignity and hope to our neighbors across Chicago and Cook County. The Food Depository addresses the root causes of hunger with job training, advocacy and other innovative solutions. We are a proud member of Feeding America—the national network of food banks. By working to help those most in need go from hungry to hopeful, we truly become a Greater Chicago.

Volunteer Volunteers play a critical role in everything we do.

In-person opportunities are available to repack food

in our warehouse, deliver summer meals to children, staff mobile distributions and more. Sign up at chicagosfoodbank.org/volunteer.

Help others Start a virtual food drive with your family, friends or coworkers to help us purchase our most needed foods.

Get started today at chicagosfoodbank.org/fooddrive.

Share Connect with the Food Depository on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram to share our stories and find ways to take action. Find us @fooddepository.

EVENTS AND FUNDRAISING

During the pandemic, the Food Depository has served more food to more people than at any other time in our 42-year history. Many of our neighbors in Chicago and throughout Cook County have struggled to afford food for the first time. At various points during the ongoing crisis, the Food Depository has distributed more than double the amount of food throughout our network. We continue to serve a heightened need.

The crisis isn’t over. Though the economy is improving, the recovery is unequal, particularly among our neighbors in lower-income Black and Brown communities. The Food Depository’s response during the pandemic has been focused on equity. To that end, we’ve allocated nearly $5 million in grants to our partners, the vast majority of which has gone to high priority communities. We’ll need the continued support of our generous donors to meet the increased need and to make the emergency food system more equitable for years to come. Learn more at chicagosfoodbank.org.

As part of our response, volunteers are needed to pack food for those affected by COVID-19. This food is distributed to our community partners and programs throughout Cook County to serve our neighbors in need. Sign up to volunteer at chicagosfoodbank.org/volunteer.

Since March 2020, the Food Depository and our community partners have been responding to the increased need caused by the coronavirus pandemic. We need the continued support of the community to meet the heightened need. See how you can help: chicagosfoodbank.org/get-involved.

FUNDING SOURCES 57% 25% 12% 4% 2%

Individuals Corporations and foundations Government grants and fees Special events Agencies

FAST FACTS

230 employees

LEADERSHIP ADDRESS 4100 W. Ann Lurie Place Chicago, IL 60632

PHONE 773-247-3663

WEBSITE chicagosfoodbank.org bancodealimentoschicago.org

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2020 revenue: $94 million

Joan Chow Chief Marketing Officer

Jill Rahman Chief Operating Officer

Sheila Creghin VP - Operations

Nicole Robinson Chief Partnership & Programs Officer

Joni Duncan VP - People & Culture

Kate R. Maehr Executive Director & CEO

Founded in 1979

BOARD Monica Brown Moss, Chair Marc Paulhus, Vice Chair

Jill Zimmerman Chief Philanthropy Officer

Dennis James Chief Financial Officer

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MORE THAN EVER, OUR CHILDREN NEED US. Because of COVID-19, hunger has more than doubled. And children are particularly at risk; one in three households with children is facing hunger. As job loss and the continued economic downturn push more people to the end of their resources, many families are having to choose between paying bills or buying food.

In four decades of feeding our community, we have never faced a need so great.

WE NEED YOU. DONATE NOW chicagosfoodbank.org/givenow

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit Visit our website – lesturnerals.org – to see the many ways you can make an impact against this devastating disease. Participate in events, create a fundraiser, help fund cutting-edge ALS research, or volunteer as a part of our Les Turner ALS family.

Explore From current clinical trials at our Lois Insolia ALS Clinic at Northwestern Medicine to educational webinars on topics ranging from genetics and ALS to respiratory health, we ensure that people impacted by ALS have access to the most promising therapies.

WHAT WE DO Founded in 1977, the Les Turner ALS Foundation is a leader in comprehensive ALS care and one of the longest-serving ALS groups in the country.

Our mission is to provide the most comprehensive care and support to people living with ALS and their families so they can confidently navigate the disease, and advance scientific research for the prevention, treatment and cure of ALS.

Join Take part in special events for our ALS community and supporters, including our Strike Out ALS 5K and 1 Mile Walk, Run and Roll in July and our ALS Walk for Life in September. Visit our website to learn more!

Help Others The progression of ALS can mean tomorrow is often worse than today. You can help make sure people living with ALS are supported every step of the way, with the most up-to-date resources at their fingertips.

Donate Your donations are critical to funding essential support services for people living with ALS and their loved ones and to advance scientific research into the causes, treatments and cures for ALS. Share Your voice is a powerful tool in spreading awareness about ALS. Find us on social media and share why you want to see a world free of ALS.

EVENTS AND FUNDRAISING

We take an individualized approach to ensure that each person living with the disease receives the best quality of care and access to the most promising therapies.

Our Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine is led by the most well-respected and successful clinicians and researchers in the field, advancing vital care and research in pursuit of life-enhancing treatments and a cure.

As one of the Les Turner ALS Foundation’s signature events, the Strike Out ALS 5k and 1 Mile Run, Walk & Roll offers all athletes at any skill level the opportunity to compete for those who can’t. This year’s event will take place virtually in July.

ALS Walk for Life participants begin their trek along Chicago’s lakefront before finishing at Soldier Field. As one of the country’s largest ALS gatherings, thousands of walkers form teams in support of people living with ALS to celebrate and honor their lives. This year’s event will take place on Sept. 18 at Soldier Field, with virtual options available.

FUNDING SOURCES Contributions

62% 25% 12% 1%

Events Grants Investments

FAST FACTS

ADDRESS 5550 W. Touhy Ave., Suite 302 Skokie, IL 60077-3254

15 employees

BOARD

LEADERSHIP

PHONE 847-679-3311

WEBSITE lesturnerals.org

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Thomas F. Boleky Vice Chair

Janene Jonas Secretary

John M. Coleman, III, MD Vice Chair

Erin Reardon Cohn Treasurer

Robin Fern Vice Chair Andrea Pauls Backman CEO

Founded in 1977

2020 revenue: $3.5 million

Ken Hoffman Board Chair

Joel A. Schechter Vice Chair

Harvey Gaffen Chair Emeritus

Jodi M. Harris Joshua P. Newsome Diana Pisone Mary Lou Pisone Phillip Schwarz

Matthew Brown

Sarvesh Soi

Deborah Crockett

Melissa Wilder

Bonny J. Gaffen

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7 In fact, on average we take over 20,000 breaths a day. This is not the case for

people living with ALS. The disease causes weakness in many muscles in the body, including those involved in breathing and swallowing. Respiratory problems are among the most common causes of death for people with ALS.

Honor and recognize the resiliency of individuals living with ALS and support scientific research and treatments that will lead to a worldfree of ALS.

LESTURNERALS.ORG

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#TakeABreath

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit We continue to restrict visits in order to keep our youth and our community safe during the pandemic.

But we anticipate the time when we will resume tours.

Until then, you can view a virtual tour of our home at mercyhome.org/our-homes.

that provide support or experience to help our young people learn, grow and succeed.

Explore Learn more about our work with kids in crisis on our website, mercyhome.org. There you’ll also read stories about our young people’s triumphs and find information and resources about topics like trauma, abuse, mental health and more.

WHAT WE DO Since 1887, Chicago’s Mercy Home for Boys & Girls has transformed the lives of abused and at-risk young people by giving them a safe place to live, healing from emotional trauma, life skills, education, career exploration and encouragement from dedicated youth-care professionals.

Donate Mercy Home is 99.4 percent privately funded and relies on the generosity of individuals and organizations to give kids full-time care, healing and opportunity. To donate, please visit mercyhome.org/givingguide.

Share Help us get the word out to others who can get involved.

Visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/mercyhome, on Twitter @mercyhome and on Instagram @mercyhome.

Join Our programs are supported by several volunteer boards who bring their business and professional experiences to the work of advancing our mission to help kids. Learn more at mercyhome.org/leadership.

Through its support of children and families, Mercy Home helps more than 1,400 people annually.

Help Others We offer a variety of opportunities for involvement, whether as volunteers, mentors, tutors or as businesses

Young people come to Mercy Home from environments marked by challenges that include abuse, neglect, abandonment, housing instability, poverty, community violence and more. With the help of donors throughout the United States, the organization gives these children a loving home and round-the-clock care. Mercy Home’s expert staff provides kids with therapeutic, academic and vocational resources so that they may heal from the wounds of their pasts and build success for their futures.

EVENTS AND FUNDRAISING

I

The Home continues to nurture these young people’s growth and success—even after they leave its full-time care—through its Community Care program, which offers a lifelong connection to an extended Mercy Home family and coordinates any continued support services needed. Additionally, Mercy Home’s Friends First mentoring program brings together adult volunteers who act as role models for at-risk youth living in the community beyond the Home. Mercy Home is 99.4 percent privately funded and operates at two locations: a home for boys in the West Loop and a home for girls in the Beverly Morgan Park community.

Golf in the city! Gather your foursome for a great day at Beverly Country Club, one of Chicago’s most historic courses, while raising funds for kids at Mercy Home for Boys & Girls.

Join us for the 11th annual Mercy Home Golf Classic on Aug. 16. Enjoy lunch in the afternoon, cocktails and dinner following golf. For details, visit mercyhome.org/golf-event.

Mercy Homes’ Leader Council, a group of preeminent women in the business and civic arenas, celebrates the academic achievements of Mercy Home’s graduates at the annual Graduates’ Luncheon. This year’s event will be held entirely online at 11:45 a.m. on June 8. Visit mercyhome.org/ graduates-luncheon-event for details.

FUNDING SOURCES Contributions

80% 7% 6% 5% 2%

Programs Events Grants Other

FAST FACTS

ADDRESS 1140 W. Jackson Blvd.

Chicago, IL 60607

299 employees

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Founded in 1887

LEADERSHIP

Cheryl Murphy CFO, VP - Finance, Human Resources & Facilities

PHONE 877-637-2955

WEBSITE mercyhome.org

2020 revenue: $40 million

Steve Snyder CIO, VP - Information Technology

Joe Wronka VP - Advancement

Tom Gilardi VP - Youth Programs

Emily Neal VP - Organizational Development & Clinical Operations

Liz Kuhn Tomka VP - Education & Career Resources

Rev. L. Scott Donahue President & CEO

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M

B w

T n

I

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Investment Opportunity: Unlimited Growth Potential Meliya loves math and wants to be a doctor.

But she grew up in an abusive household, so schoolwork was the furthest thing from her mind.

Then Meliya came to Mercy Home. She got the care she needed to heal, and the education she needed to succeed.

Invest in bright futures for children like Meliya.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP Support Your financial generosity provides housing for homeless youth and pregnant and parenting young mothers and their children; free basic health care to individuals unable to access it elsewhere; and compassionate, nonjudgmental relationships that bring hope and change lives. Visit thenightministry.org/support-us.

WHAT WE DO The Night Ministry is a Chicago-based nonprofit whose mission is to provide housing, health care, and human connection to young people and adults struggling with homelessness or poverty. Every year, The Night Ministry touches the lives of nearly 6,000 members of the Chicago community who have nowhere else to go. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have continued to provide essential services and resources, including vaccinations, to Chicago’s homeless and poor—members of our community who have been particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus and its impact on our economy and society.

Our health outreach bus features a specially designed nurse’s office and brings free basic medical care, HIV testing, meals, hygiene supplies, supportive services and a sense of community to Chicago neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty and homelessness and limited health care resources. Our street medicine program visits individuals who have the most difficulty accessing traditional services across the city, addressing immediate health and survival needs and linking them to resources such as housing.

ADDRESS 1735 N. Ashland Ave. Suite 2000 Chicago, IL 60622

In-Kind Donations Hunger is a major challenge for the individuals and families served by The Night Ministry. You can help by providing sack suppers and gift cards to grocery stores

The Night Ministry is providing health care, resources and supportive services at select CTA stations during late-night hours to assist members of Chicago’s homeless population seeking shelter on the trains.

Foundations

42% 22% 19% 6% 5% 3% 2% 1%

Individuals Government Other Corporate Bequests Congregations Special Events

142 employees

LEADERSHIP

BOARD

Claudia L. Beals, MD

Alicia Pond

Dave Berger

Dana Ringer

James King Vice Chair

Michael V. Borromeo

Kristen Rothenberg

Dan Alter Treasurer

Rev. Shawna Bowman

Sonesh Shah

Bradley Caldwell

Dr. Garland ThomasMcDavid

Mini Datta Secretary

Paul W. Hamann President & CEO

Kiantae A. Bowles Board Chair

Founded in 1976

2020 revenue: $9.8 million

Gordon Addington

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Corporate Involvement Partnering with The Night Ministry sends a message to employees, customers and the community about your dedication to assisting people in need. For corporate sponsorship or support opportunities, contact Heather Nash, senior director of foundation and corporate philanthropy, at 773-506-6029 or heather@ thenightministry.org.

FUNDING SOURCES

PHONE 773-784-9000

WEBSITE thenightministry.org

Serve and Learn This is an opportunity for your employees to engage in a service project, virtually or at your office, that will help the individuals and families we serve while learning about our mission. Contact Miranda Dean, resource coordinator, at 773-506-6022 or miranda@ thenightministry.org.

WHAT’S NEW

The Night Ministry is protecting Chicagoans experiencing homelessness or poverty against COVID-19 by offering vaccinations to those whom we serve in our youth housing programs and on the streets.

The Night Ministry’s six youth housing programs provide safe and supportive living environments for youth from all backgrounds who face multiple challenges. Ranging from overnight shelter to long-term housing, they include the only shelter in Chicago to reserve beds for pregnant and parenting young mothers as young as 14, and a new program that helps stabilize homeless young adults in their own apartments.

FAST FACTS

Volunteer Individual and group volunteers help us fulfill our mission by providing essentials such as meals and supportive relationships to the individuals we serve on the streets and in our youth housing programs.

Visit thenightministry.org/get-involved or email volunteering@thenightministry.org.

and fast food restaurants. Find out more about our current in-kind needs at thenightministry.org/wish-list.

Bennett Applegate Jr. Barbara Baran

William A. Goldstein Carol Hogan Norman Jeddeloh Terrence McMahon Don J. Mizerk

Dennis Thorn Ted Tomaras Mark Warren Sumedha Sharma Kellogg Board Fellow

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The pandemic has created challenges.

WE HAVE MET THEM. HOUSING

HEALTH CARE

HUMAN CONNECTION

COVID-19 has not stopped THE NIGHT MINISTRY from serving Chicagoans struggling with homelessness or poverty.

Our impact since the pandemic began:

• 514 young people and 36 of their children provided with safe, supportive housing

• 233 visits to the emergency room prevented, saving the public health system nearly $216,000 in ER costs

• 43,000 meals served to individuals who would have otherwise gone hungry

• 450 community members experiencing

homelessness vaccinated against COVID-19

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FIND OUT MORE AT

www.thenightministry.org

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit Sign up to evaluate, repack and distribute food during a volunteer shift at our centers in Geneva, Park City, Rockford and Joliet. We have shifts for individuals and groups. These are great team-building activities for companies, organizations and families. Ages 8 and up are welcome.

Explore Go to solvehungertoday.org/gethelp and use our interactive map to help a neighbor, co-worker, friend or family member get the food they need from nearby food pantries and food distributions. You can also volunteer, donate or discover other ways to get involved.

WHAT WE DO Our vision at Northern Illinois Food Bank is for everyone in Northern Illinois to have the food they need to thrive. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and proud member of Feeding America, we serve our neighbors in 13 counties with dignity, equity and convenience, providing 250,000 meals a day. We bring together manufacturers, local and corporate grocers, area farmers, corporations, foundations and individuals who donate food and funding, and each week nearly 1,000 volunteers help us evaluate, repack and distribute food. We also proudly partner with more than 900 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and youth and senior feeding programs to provide nutritious food and resources. Our distribution centers are located in Geneva, Park City, Rockford and Joliet.

Join Serve on an event-planning committee or the Executive Women’s Council. Join us in advocating for and raising awareness of food insecurity initiatives. Sign up for our Advocacy Alerts and become a Food Bank Social Media Ambassador.

Help Others Get involved with the Food Bank to ensure everyone in Northern Illinois has the food they need to thrive.

Our programs include mobile market pantries and food distribution pop-ups, My Pantry Express (a convenient, discreet way to access free groceries online), children’s summer and backpack nutrition programs, SNAP application and other resources assistance, Mobile Rx programs, and Winnebago Community Market food distributions in Rockford.

Donate Give to the Food Bank. Every $1 donated helps provide $8 in groceries for our neighbors. A total of 97 percent of all resources goes directly to feeding programs.

The Food Bank has received top ratings from Charity Navigator since 2003, is a Better Business Bureauaccredited charity and was awarded the Platinum Seal of Transparency from Guidestar.

Share Spread the word about how we help our neighbors access the food they need. Share with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

EVENTS AND FUNDRAISING

The 22nd Hunger Scramble Golf Outing sold out quickly last year as Northern Illinois Food Bank supporters/golf enthusiasts were eager to escape their homes for some outdoor fun and exercise. Join us on Aug. 24 at the scenic Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton for our 2021 competitive event offering two rounds of tee times. Sponsorships still available.

Runners cross the finish line during the 2021 Fight Hunger 5K/10K on April 17 at Cantigny Park. This year, runners and walkers could participate either virtually or in person. Gold sponsors included Aldi, Optimum Nutrition, Tate and Lyle, Taylor Bruce Design Partnership, Think! and U.S. Foods.

FUNDING SOURCES Unrestricted contributions

58% 15% 14% 11% 2%

Temporarily restricted for programs Government funding and grants Program service fees Other

FAST FACTS

ADDRESS 273 Dearborn Court Geneva, IL 60134

160 employees

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Julie Yurko President & CEO

Founded in 1983

BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

LEADERSHIP

PHONE 630-443-6910

WEBSITE solvehungertoday.org

2020 revenue: $183.3 million

Chris White Chief Operations Officer

Dirk Locascio Chair

Maeven Sipes Chief Philanthropy Officer

Douglas Eckrote Vice Chair

Jennifer Riippi Chief People Officer

William Connell Treasurer

Molly Vanderloo Chief Financial Officer

Stacey Barsema Secretary

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Today is our day to help solve hunger!

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Northern Illinois Food Bank believes everyone in Northern Illinois should have the food they need to thrive. So let’s help our neighbors get the food they need.

Go to SolveHungerToday.org to make an impact by donating, volunteering or getting involved.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit Experience the power of sport first-hand by attending a Special Olympics Illinois event near you. Visit soill.org for a current calendar of events.

Donate Help get one more athlete off of the sidelines and onto the field of play by donating online at soill.org/donate or by calling 1-800-394-0562.

Help Others Help someone reveal their inner champion by volunteering your time at a local competition. The gift of your time can help transform lives.

Join Special Olympics Illinois meets Better Business Bureau standards for charity accountability and for the last three years has attained the coveted Charity Navigator 4-star rating.

WHAT WE DO Special Olympics is a global movement that unleashes the human spirit every day through the transformative power and joy of sport. Through programming in sports, health, education, leadership and community building, Special Olympics is creating a new world of inclusion— building a culture that accepts and welcomes every single person, regardless of ability or disability.

EVENTS AND FUNDRAISING

Special Olympics Illinois offers sports training and competitions year-round in 18 Olympicstyle sports. Currently, the statewide program serves more than 23,100 athletes with intellectual disabilities and over 13,000 young athletes ages 2-7 with and without intellectual disabilities.

Through sports, our athletes celebrate their abilities, not their disabilities. Their world opens with acceptance and understanding, while becoming confident and empowered by their accomplishments. They make new friends, joining the most inclusive community on the planet—a global community that’s growing every day.

Experience courage, inspiration and joy through Special Olympics athletes at the annual Inspire Greatness Gala, set for Oct. 23 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

We’ve returned to in-person competition! Learn more about these events and volunteer opportunities at soill.org.

More than 65,000 rubber ducks race through the Chicago River as part of the annual Chicago Ducky Derby fundraiser. This year’s event will take place Aug. 5.

FAST FACTS

70 employees

2020 revenue: $13 million (in-kind $1.8 million)

LEADERSHIP

Kim Riddering Chief Operating Officer

ADDRESS 820 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 330 Chicago, IL 60607

Chris Winston Chief Marketing Officer Cindy Villafuerte Chief Financial & Diversity Officer

PHONE 773-278-2178

Valerie Day Chief Development Officer WEBSITE soill.org

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Dave Breen President & CEO

FUNDING SOURCES Allocation Rate: 80%

Karen Wilson Board Chair

Founded in 1968 Special Olympics Inc.; 1977 Special Olympics Illinois Inc.

BOARD Brook Klawitter Vice Chair Karen Atwood Immediate Past Chair Jim Pieper Treasurer Terry Wheat Secretary

Tom Cox Board Governance & Membership Chair Kristin Achterhof Wheeler Coleman Jenny Fortner Steve Hamman Terrence J. Hancock Rep. Frances Hurley Scott Paddock Robert G. Reiter Jr. Eileen Sethna

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YOUR SUPPORT MAKES US STRONGER Make Special Olympics Illinois Your Charity of Choice Your support helps to provide more than 23,100 athletes with over 200 events, free of charge, where they can showcase their abilities.

START A DUCKY DERBY TEAM

BE A PART OF THE Inspire Greatness

GALA AUGUST 5 - CHICAGODUCKYDERBY.COM

OCTOBER 23 - Hyatt Regency Chicago

Contact Chris Winston at 312.315.6185 or cwinston@soill.org

www.soill.org Special Olympics Illinois is the only entity in Illinois accredited by Special Olympics, Inc. and authorized by license to use the Special Olympics™ trademark and logo. Any other entity that identifies itself as a “Special Olympics” organization in Illinois is not accredited by Special Olympics, Inc.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit More information about the Council is available at thechicagocouncil.org/support.

Explore Explore ideas that will shape the global future by visiting our website and watching a digital program, listening to our podcast or reading expert commentary and analysis.

WHAT WE DO ADDRESS 180 N. Stetson Ave., Suite 1400 Chicago, IL 60601

PHONE 312-726-3860

WEBSITE thechicagocouncil.org

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit organization that provides insight on critical global issues, advances policy solutions and fosters dialogue about what is happening in the world and why it matters to people in Chicago, the United States and around the globe.

Organizations and individuals who support the Council believe, as we do, that an informed, engaged public with access to fact-based and balanced views on global issues helps to ensure effective U.S. engagement and supports a more inclusive, equitable and secure world.

Join Join the Council as a member to increase your global understanding and cultural intelligence, connect with other members who share your interest in the world, and expand your personal and professional networks—all while supporting our mission.

65 employees

Share Help us elevate fact-based and balanced views on global issues by sharing our content. Follow the Council on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube, or subscribe to our weekly email updates at thechicagocouncil.org/ subscribe.

Help Others Those who support the Council make it possible for us to offer inclusive access to our programming and content for those who do not have the means to join or donate.

LEADERSHIP Ivo H. Daalder President John R. Ettelson Board Chair

FAST FACTS

Donate As a nonprofit, the Council relies on generous funding from members, donors, foundations and corporate partners to fulfill our mission.

The Council’s annual Global Leadership Awards Dinner (hosted virtually in 2020) honors distinguished individuals for their outstanding achievements in the realms of international relations, global thought leadership and philanthropy.

2020 revenue: $12 million

Founded in 1922

Fact-based.

Balanced.

Nonpartisan.

We believe access to fact-based and balanced views helps support a more inclusive, equitable, and secure world.

Learn how you can support the Council’s nonpartisan efforts to provide insight on critical global issues, advance policy solutions, and foster dialogue about what is happening in the world and why it matters. www.thechicagocouncil.org/support

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SPONSORED CONTENT

WHAT WE DO

ADDRESS 36 S. Wabash Ave. Suite 1300 Chicago, IL 60603

PHONE 312-464-9899

WEBSITE cityyearchicago.org/ chicago

City Year Chicago is committed to the belief that every student has the right to achieve academic success no matter what zip code they may live in. Many students lack access to learning environments and resources they need to thrive in school and in life, due to systemic inequities that disproportionately affect students of color and students growing up in low-income households.

Through a highly committed team of AmeriCorps members serving as caring near-peer mentors and advocates for students in 31 Chicago Public Schools, City Year Chicago is in school, all day, every day, providing a holistic, integrated approach to further students’ social, emotional and academic development.

Research confirms what many educators have long known: Learning happens through relationships, and

they’re foundational for our AmeriCorps members to support students. Our student success coaches work with educators to help create a welcoming school environment, which is essential for whole school improvement. Some ways we do this include schoolwide events, lunchtime clubs, and Whole School Greeting, where AmeriCorps members greet students and faculty as they enter the school building, sending a clear message of joy and belonging.

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit Please visit City Year Chicago (cityyear.org/chicago) to learn more about the impact of our work, learn how to become a sponsor or to become a donor.

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LEADERSHIP Myetie Hamilton Executive Director and VP

Schools partnering with City Year are up to three times more likely to improve proficiency rates in math, two times more likely to improve on state English assessments, and 92 percent of school staff agree that City Year AmeriCorps members help to foster a positive learning environment for their students.

City Year Chicago’s ongoing commitment to advancing students’ learning is the “why” behind our critical work.

City Year AmeriCorps members at Chicago’s Cloud Gate sculputure, aka “The Bean.”

FAST FACTS

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58 employees

Founded in 1994

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP

WHAT WE DO

ADDRESS 932 W. Washington Blvd.

Chicago, IL 60607

PHONE 312-226-7984

WEBSITE hcenter.org

Haymarket Center is Chicago’s largest and most comprehensive provider of substance use disorder and mental health treatment services, serving 12,000 individuals per year. We provide every level of substance-use care to adults age 18 and over, including withdrawal management (detoxification); residential and outpatient treatment; and recovery homes—and a vast array of supportive services. Our clients come from every area of Illinois, but primarily from Chicago’s most highly-stressed communities. All patients can access care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of ability to pay.

FAST FACTS

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304 employees

LEADERSHIP

Visit Learn more about Haymarket Center by visiting our website at hcenter.org.

Dan Lustig, PsyD, CAADC, COPD II President & CEO

Join Receive updates and announcements by joining our mailing list.

The Honorable Lee A. Daniels Board Chair

Help Others Our Leadership Council welcomes members who want to help expand our reach and advance our mission.

Karen Kissel Sr. EVP Kenyatta Cathey VP - Clinical Services

Jeffrey Collord VP - Operations Sarah English VP - Development Jesse Taylor VP - Facility & Business Services Michael Baldinger Medical Director

Donate Financial donations can be made at hcenter.org or by mail. Donations support access to treatment and support services regardless of ability to pay.

Share Amplify our message by sharing our impact on social media. Look for us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

The annual Father Mac Appreciation Award Luncheon celebrates Haymarket Center partners who help advance the organization’s mission. At the 2019 luncheon are (from left) The Honorable Lee A. Daniels, board chair; Dr. Susan Rose, board vice chair; Peter O’Brien, Kennedy Forum Illinois board president; State Rep. Deb Conroy; and Dr. Dan Lustig, Haymarket Center president and CEO. The event will return in 2022 as an evening gala.

2020 revenue: $30 million

Founded in 1975

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP

LEADERSHIP

Visit To learn more about Invest For Kids and to register for the 13th annual Invest For Kids Conference on Nov. 4—Chicago’s premier investable ideas event—please visit investforkidschicago.org.

WHAT WE DO

ADDRESS 875 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 3400 Chicago, IL 60611

EMAIL info@ifkchicago.com

WEBSITE investforkidschicago.org

Invest For Kids is dedicated to supporting high-impact organizations that serve Chicago-area youth from under-resourced communities.

Since 2009, we have invested in nearly 70 organizations committed to transforming the lives of young people.

To accomplish our mission, Invest For Kids hosts an annual investment conference where industry professionals share their best ideas. Since the costs associated with the conference are underwritten by our cofounders, 100 percent of the proceeds are directly donated to the carefully selected nonprofits.

5 employees

FAST FACTS

INVEST FOR KIDS

Ben Kovler Co-Founder

Katie Hurley Wales Executive Director

Ron Levin Co-Founder

Barbara Wolf Director - Giving

Join To join our growing list of volunteers and supporters (both individual and corporate), and to join our mailing list, please contact Executive Director Katie Hurley Wales at katie@ifkchicago.com.

Donate Tax-deductible financial donations can be made online through our website or mailed to our office address. To discuss the impact and benefits of corporate partnership, please contact our Executive Director Katie Hurley Wales at katie@ifkchicago.com.

Share Connect and share with us on social media, including Facebook and LinkedIn.

Invest For Kids’ annual conference is Chicago’s premier investable ideas event. The 13th annual conference will take place Nov. 4 and 100 percent of the proceeds will support organizations serving Chicago-area youth.

2020 revenue: $1.6 million

Founded in 2009

Invest For Kids hosts an annual investment conference where industry professionals share their best ideas, and 100% of proceeds are donated to organiza�ons that serve Chicago area youth from under-resourced communi�es.

SAVE THE DATE 13th Annual

Chicago’s Premier Investable Ideas Conference November 4, 2021 70

80,000+

organiza�ons supported

children impacted

$200,000

$16M

average grant amount

INVEST IN KIDS BUILD THE FUTURE investforkidschicago.org

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dollars raised

100%

of dollars raised invested in Chicago's youth

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit Visit our website (mikvachallenge. org) to learn more about our programs, impact and process.

WHAT WE DO

ADDRESS 200 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1000 Chicago, IL 60604

PHONE 312-863-6340

WEBSITE mikvachallenge.org

Mikva Challenge is a youth development and civic education organization focused on preparing youth to be informed, empowered, active citizens and community leaders who will promote a just and equitable society. Established in Chicago in 1997, the nonpartisan, national organization is named in honor of the late American politician, federal judge, lawyer and law professor Abner J. Mikva and his wife, educator Zoe Mikva. Driven by the belief that policy makers will make more informed decisions if they incorporate youth voices, Mikva Challenge’s three core program areas focus on youth community problemsolving, youth electoral participation and youth policy-making. Mikva Challenge knows that democracy is people taking action—speaking, engaging, learning, listening. It clears a path for young people to be involved and to develop confidence and habits that will serve them— and the world they share—all their lives.

FAST FACTS

LEADERSHIP Verneé Green Executive Director

Peter Barber Advisory Board Chair

Carla Rubalcava Managing Director - Programs

Jamie Dillon Director - Development

Join Join our mailing list (bit.ly/ MikvaMailing) to learn about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, and stay up-to-date on youth leadership initiatives. Together, we can help young people lead our democracy.

Donate Become a Mikva donor. Contribute online (mikvachallenge.org/donate) or send cash and check donations to our office, 200 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1000, Chicago, IL 60604.

Share Connect with us on social media!

Follow @MikvaChallenge on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

You can also find us on LinkedIn.

30 employees

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was a special guest at the 2019 Mikva Challenge spring benefit. The annual event brings together Chicago’s civic, philanthropic and business community to recognize youth voice and leadership. For details about this year’s event, please visit bit.ly/MikvaILBenefit2021.

2020 revenue: $5.3 million

Founded in 1998

Democracy is a verb.

Join us in making our democracy better by supporting and empowering the young people who are are shaping it.

Mikva youth are 6x more likely to volunteer in elections and be civically engaged Mikva alumni vote 4x more than their peers nationally 8 in 10 adult leaders are more likely to include youth in policymaking and community improvement after participating in Mikva programs

Be a donor today! mikvachallenge.org/donate

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SPONSORED CONTENT

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

WHAT WE DO

ADDRESS 1279 N. Milwaukee Ave., 4th Floor Chicago, IL 60622

PHONE 773-329-4111

Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago (NHS) was created to fight redlining and improve distressed neighborhoods. Our teams work with communities on the city’s south and west sides to revitalize neighborhoods and increase affordable housing for working-class families.

Since 1975, we have recognized the impact of race, income and social status on a person’s housing security.

NHS works to correct the inequities and end the exploitative practices that create housing insecurity.

Our work is directly focused on fostering racial equality and helping to close the racial wealth gap. Our goals are to ensure individuals are able to attain safe and sustainable housing, and, to provide a foundation for economic stability in neighborhoods of choice.

WEBSITE nhschicago.org

By supporting NHS, you are helping to create opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities.

68 employees

FAST FACTS

Visit Find NHS online, at our neighborhood hubs and partner neighborhood offices to learn about our services.

Help Others Donate your talents in housing, marketing and communications or nonprofit administration.

Explore Investigate all the ways we help homeowners buy, fix and keep their homes at nhschicago.org/contact.

Donate Contribute online at nhschicago.org/donate or to @NHSChicago via PayPal or Venmo.

Cash and check donations can also be sent to our central office at 1279 N. Milwaukee Ave., 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60622.

Join Our growing list of volunteers, supporters, and corporate and community partners help deliver the dream of homeownership.

Share Follow @NHSChicago on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can also find us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

LEADERSHIP Anthony E. Simpkins President & CEO

Robin Coffey Chief Credit Officer

Robert V. McGee Board Chair

Kate Fenner-Lux Director - Resource Development

Donna Clarke Chief Operating Officer

Linda Greene Director - NHS Redevelopment Corp.

Beyond housing, NHS also supplies PPE, meals and important information related to mortgage and rental grants to Chicago residents.

2020 revenue: $5.2 million

Founded in 1975

You Make Our Work Possible.

Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, Inc. (NHS) is driven by the belief that homeownership is essential to strengthening households and communities.

NHS advocates for working families and revitalizes communities through community building, real estate development, mortgage lending, homeownership education and housing policy.

We create opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their neighborhoods.

We do this by

Educating and preparing new homeowners for success

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Lending to help people buy, fix and keep their homes

Sustaining home ownership through foreclosure prevention services

• • • Preserving, rehabbing and investing in housing

Building powerful and enduring community partnerships

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit Shop our three luxury resale boutiques, along with a curated selection of our featured finds online at northshoreexchange.org.

WHAT WE DO ADDRESS 372 Hazel Ave. Glencoe, IL 60022 900 North Michigan Shops, Level Four Chicago, IL 60611 Westfield Old Orchard Skokie Blvd. & Old Orchard Rd. Skokie, IL 60077

PHONE Glencoe 847-835-0026 Chicago 312-374-3055 Skokie 847-410-7337

North Shore Exchange is luxury on a mission. We’re Chicagoland’s only nonprofit luxury designer consignment boutique featuring the very best in guaranteed authentic luxury and contemporary women’s designer fashion, men’s designer accessories, and a curated collection of upscale furniture and home décor where every purchase gives back.

We specialize in luxury brands like Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Prada and YSL, plus contemporary brands like DVF, Theory, Stuart Weitzman and more. Every consignment, donation and purchase supports charities serving Chicagoland children and families in need.

WEBSITE northshoreexchange.org

FAST FACTS

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22 employees

Explore Visit our website to browse our latest designer fashion and home consignment arrivals, learn more about selling with us, catch up on our latest news, and subscribe to our VIP list.

Join Want a fun way to give back?

We are actively seeking new volunteers in a variety of roles. Share your time, talent and skills, meet like-minded people, and help make a difference right here in Chicago. Visit us online to learn more and get involved.

LEADERSHIP Help Others Shopping, consigning and donating with North Shore Exchange helps feed the hungry, house the homeless, provide critically-needed medical care for the most vulnerable Chicagoans, and so much more.

Consign Consigning with us is easy and rewarding. We pay competitive rates—up to 90 percent—and as a small business, we can give your items the spotlight they deserve. While you’re earning cash fast, we’ll donate our profits to charity.

Learn more about how to sell with us on our website.

Share Follow us on Facebook and on Instagram and subscribe to our VIP list at northshoreexchange.org.

2020 revenue: $2.1 million (FY 2020)

Wendy Serrino Founder, Board Chair

Martha Kirtley Director - Fashion & Consignor Relations

Susan Sholl VP Isabelle Goossen Treasurer Sheilah Burnham Secretary

Emily Merjan Director - Home Décor Franco Lim Director Information Technology

From left: Margo Koval, past chair philanthropy committee; Wendy Serrino, founder and board chair; Susan Sholl, VP and Director - Furniture.

Founded in 2013

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SPONSORED CONTENT

LEADERSHIP

HOW YOU CAN HELP

WHAT WE DO

ADDRESS 1021 N. Mulford Rd. (headquarters) Rockford, IL 61107

Founded in 1916, Rosecrance is a national leader in behavioral health services. Our comprehensive substance use and mental health services help accelerate progress and create a roadmap that goes beyond initial treatment, because that’s the key to long-term success.

PHONE 815-387-5636

WEBSITE rosecrance.org

Rosecrance Griffin Wiliamson Campus

FAST FACTS

Visit Contact us to tour our treatment sites, including our teen and adult behavioral health residential campuses and our recovery residence in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. We have committed, compassionate staff waiting to meet you.

Explore Visit our website, rosecrance.org, to learn more about our vibrant, robust treatment options ranging from residential to outpatient programs for both adolescents and adults with mental health or substance use disorders. Currently offering virtual services for outpatient and continuing care including our parent support group, Parent Café.

Join Consider making a difference by joining The Rosecrance Foundation Chicago Board. For more information contact Anne Boccignone at 815-387-5636.

1,268 employees

For substance use and mental health treatment in the Midwest, there’s only one choice: Rosecrance. Our unmatched legacy as a proven behavioral health care leader is a source of hope and strength to those we serve.

You have the power to provide that hope.

Last year, Rosecrance committed more than $4 million to reduce financial barriers to care, and provided direct charity care support to nearly 500 families. Help us to offer hope and the best opportunity for lasting recovery with a gift to The Rosecrance Foundation.

ROSECRANCE.ORG

Help Others Whether you’re concerned about the behavioral health of yourself or a loved one, it’s important to equip yourself with resources and education. Rosecrance is here to help.

David Gomel, PhD President & CEO Rosecrance Health Network

Donate Donations help expand Rosecrance programs and reduce financial barriers for families seeking treatment. Please help us continue to provide help, hope and the best opportunity for lasting recovery to even more families by making donations at rosecrance.org/give or by contacting Anne Boccignone at 815-387-5636.

Judi Jobe Chief Administrative Officer

Share Connect with us at facebook. com/lifeswaiting and Twitter @ rosecrancenews for a closer look at what goes on at Rosecrance. From stories of recovery to program and event highlights, our social media goal is to connect with you and remind everyone #Lifeswaiting.

45,736 clients served in FY2020

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED LEADERS IN TREATING SUBSTANCE USE AND MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS.

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Dr. Tom Wright Chief Medical Officer Rosecrance Health Network

Janis Waddell Chief Marketing Officer Anne Boccignone Executive Director - The Rosecrance Foundation Carlene Cardosi Regional President Rosecrance, Inc Dr. Adrienne Adams Medical Director Rosecrance Griffin Williamson Campus Dr. Ray Garcia Medical Director Rosecrance Harrison Campus

Founded in 1916

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit You can visit any of our community centers to access services, make donations or volunteer.

Find a list of 29 locations throughout the greater Chicagoland, northern Illinois and northwest Indiana areas at salarmychicago.org.

WHAT WE DO

ADDRESS 5040 N. Pulaski Rd. Chicago, IL 60630

PHONE 773-725-1100

WEBSITE salarmychicago.org

The Salvation Army’s mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division is the largest direct provider of social services in Chicagoland, and is a critical safety net for those in need. We serve more than one million people every year throughout Chicago, northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. In partnership with our generous donors and dedicated volunteers, we battle homelessness, hunger, human trafficking, violence, substance abuse, hopelessness and more—all with the goal of Doing the Most Good.

FAST FACTS

884 employees

Join Our advisory board, junior board and special event committees are always looking for new members. We also have openings in our program advisory committees (communications, social services, finance, etc.).

LEADERSHIP Lt. Col. Lonneal Richardson Divisional Commander

Capt. Xavier Montenegro Divisional Program Secretary

Lt. Col. Patty Richardson Divisional Director - Women’s Ministries & Officer Development Secretary

Capt. Heather Montenegro Divisional Youth Secretary & Divisional Candidates Secretary

Maj. Enrique Azuaje General Secretary & Adult Ministries Coordinator

Maj. Beverly Gates Divisional Business Secretary

Maj. Nancy Azuaje Women’s Ministries Secretary

Envoy Scott Hurula Men’s Ministries Secretary

Help Others Visit our website to learn more about volunteer opportunities and to start the registration process. We especially seek volunteers who can help with job skills mentoring, emergency disaster services, health fair event support and Red Kettle bell ringers.

Donate Financial gifts can be made on our website, with all donations staying local. To donate clothing, food, school supplies and other items, call 773-205-3502. To provide holiday gifts for children in need through our Angel Tree program, visit theangelgivingtree.com.

The annual Hope “Fore” Kids golf classic at the Glen Club raises money for Salvation Army youth programs and shelter for families in crisis. This year’s event will be Sept. 7; visit salarmychicago.org/ golf for details.

2020 revenue: $121 million

Founded in 1865 in London, expanded to Chicago in 1885.

Serving your neighborhood before, during, and after the pandemic.

www.salarmychicago.org

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5/18/21 12:31 PM

SPONSORED CONTENT

WHAT WE DO

ADDRESS 4101 N. Ravenswood Ave. Chicago, IL 60613

PHONE 773-572-5500

Thresholds provides innovative behavioral and primary health care that promotes empowerment, well-being and full participation in community life. Through unwavering community-based engagement, support and advocacy, Thresholds provides home, health and hope to more than 8,000 youth and adults with serious mental illnesses and substance-use conditions every year. With locations in five counties, the agency provides sizable coverage throughout Illinois with housing, employment, education, physical and mental health care, peer supports, and a state-ofthe-art research and training center.

Few, if any, agencies in the country have more experience than Thresholds in providing supportive services to people with serious mental illness and co-occurring disorders. Founded in 1959, Thresholds is one of the largest providers of community mental health services in Illinois. The agency has 33 unique programs that employ 186 clinical teams, operating out of 97 sites (including more than 80 residential locations) throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.

WEBSITE thresholds.org

FAST FACTS

1,174 employees

53

HOW YOU CAN HELP

LEADERSHIP

Visit Learn more about Thresholds by visiting our website thresholds.org.

Mark Ishaug CEO

Al Shoreibah CFO

Join We welcome new members to our board of directors as well as our junior board.

Debbie Pavick Chief Clinical Officer

Brent Peterson Chief Development Officer

Mark Furlong COO

Peggy Flaherty SVP

Donate Financial donations can be made via our website thresholds. org. We also accept donations of toiletries, blankets and other personal items at any of our Chicago-area locations.

Chris Noone Chief Talent Officer

Debra Howard-Frye SVP

Heather O’Donnell SVP - Public Policy

Eileen Niccolai VP

Share Share our social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Thresholds’ 2021 Gala - The Power of Recovery featured veteran broadcaster and mental health advocate Jane Pauley (not pictured) and ABC 7 news anchor Cheryl Burton (left). The virtual gala celebrated Thresholds’ accomplishments of the past year and honored its supporters.

2020 revenue: $98 million

Founded in 1959

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5/18/21 12:31 PM

54

SPONSORED CONTENT

LEADERSHIP

HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit Check out our website and social media to learn more about our advisory services, procurement opportunities, and access to capital and WBE certification programs.

ADDRESS 8 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 400 Chicago, IL 60603

Join Participate in our business cohorts, workshops and events.

Help Others Offer your knowledge and subject matter expertise to our clients.

WEBSITE wbdc.org

WHAT WE DO The mission of the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) is to support and accelerate business development and growth, targeting women and serving all diverse business owners, in order to strengthen their participation in, and impact on, the economy.

P022-P054_CCB_20210524 - GIVING GUIDE.indd 54

Debra Jennings-Johnson Board Chair

Explore Discover the many opportunities we offer to fuel economic growth.

PHONE 312-853-3477

FAST FACTS

Emilia DiMenco President, CEO

Donate Make donations to fund our programs, services, and events and sponsor women business owners seeking to become a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) certified by the WBDC on behalf of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

Share Connect with us on social media to help spread awareness about our programs, services and events.

38 employees

2020 revenue: $6.1 million

WBDC’s annual Midwest Regional Conference, held in Chicago, brings together women business owners and community, corporate, and government partners for a day of inspiration, information, connecting, and business opportunities. In 2021, this will be a virtual event.

Founded in 1986

5/18/21 12:31 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 55

Ipsos is shrinking its footprint as it embraces a hybrid workplace with employees working from the office less frequently—a shift that’s expected to be commonplace

BY DANNY ECKER Global market research firm Ipsos is shrinking its Chicago office footprint but recommitting to downtown, embracing a post-COVID-19 future of employees and clients using workspace differently than they used to.

In one of a handful of recent downtown deals signed as companies start calling workers back to offices, the Paris-based firm has inked a lease for nearly 60,000 square feet at the Franklin at 222 W. Adams St. in the Loop, Ipsos confirmed. The firm plans to relocate its downtown office early next year from its longtime space at 222 S. Riverside, where it is exercising a termination option on its lease for 77,100 square feet.

It’s the type of move that’s expected to be commonplace as the effects of the pandemic wane: Companies still want offices downtown, but many say they need less space after adjusting to operations with remote workers over the past 14 months.

Some expect employees will not be in the office as frequently and are looking at their rented workspace as a hub for collaboration, rather than clusters of desks for individual work.

Ipsos had been looking to consolidate its local staff into a new office to integrate workers from local business units it had acquired from rivals, says Ipsos President and Chief Client Officer Claire Hanlon, “and the pandemic basically allowed us to (accelerate) the speed at which we could do that.”

Instead of building out desk space at its new office to accommodate all of the company’s nearly 400 Chicago-based workers, Ipsos is planning more “social spaces” with its smaller overall footprint and “user experience lab” areas where it will work with clients, Hanlon says. “We’re just going to organize the space that’s there a little differently, so that we can have collaboration that supports the value of being in person, as well as team members that won’t necessarily be in the office at the same time.”

That approach is good news for downtown office landlords worried about companies abandoning office space altogether. But it also reinforces a harsh reality that demand for space may have shrunk for good even as owners grapple with the highest downtown office vacancy rate on record, according to data from brokerage CBRE. Hanlon says Ipsos looked at several buildings but settled on the Franklin because of its location and amenities. “All of the stuff that we’re looking to have as part of our employee and client environment— this building allowed us to make that happen more simply,” she says.

Hanlon declines to share financial terms of the lease for the company’s largest U.S. office but says the building’s owner, New York-based Tishman Speyer, was “very willing to work with us—that helped a lot.”

The lease for the 11th floor in the 60-story tower is a win for Tishman Speyer, which is backfilling space vacated last year by West Monroe

P055_CCB_20210524.indd 55

Partners when the consulting firm moved to 311 W. Monroe St. A Tishman Speyer spokesman declines to comment.

On the losing end of the deal is the real estate unit of Deutsche Bank, which has owned the 35-story office building at 222 S. Riverside—known as the Fifth Third Center—since 2014. Ipsos, which picked up the office location on the building’s fourth and fifth floors through its 2011 acquisition of market research rival Synovate, is one of the largest tenants

today in the 1.2 million-square-foot building. The property is 87 percent leased, according to real estate information company CoStar Group.

A Deutsche Bank spokesperson declines to comment.

Downtown office leasing activity has started to show signs of life during the second quarter after a year in which most companies avoided making new commitments to workspace. Companies including consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark, Lactalis Heritage Dairy, Im-

pact Networking and furniture designer Teknion have all signed new or expanded leases in recent weeks.

But tenants during the pandemic have been steadily moving out of more office space than they’ve occupied. Net absorption, which measures the change in the amount of space leased and occupied compared with the previous period, fell nearly 627,000 square feet downtown during the first quarter, according to CBRE. That was the biggest loss of demand since first-quarter 2010, when the downtown market lost more than 700,000 square feet of tenants—the most CBRE has ever tracked for a single quarter.

COSTAR GROUP

Market research firm moving to Loop tower

The Franklin at 222 W. Adams St.

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5/21/21 8:46 AM

PHOTOS BY JOHN R. BOEHM

56 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Food industry veteran Stephanie Gorecki, head of innovation at Cresco Labs on the West Side, says, “For us, it’s a food-formulation process. It’s identical to any mainstream (consumer packaged goods) company.”

Marijuana companies tapping Chicago’s candy experts to make edibles EDIBLES from Page 1 faster. Brightfield expects them to grow 20 percent annually through 2025, compared with 15 percent for flower.

Edibles, which range from chocolates and gummies to hard candies and mints, are critical to projections that the U.S. marijuana industry will more than double to $41 billion in sales by 2026.

“Who doesn’t like gummies and chocolates,” asks Tom Adams, CEO of Global Go Analytics, a cannabis data and consulting firm in Carmel Valley, Calif. “The world’s not making any more smokers.

There’s a significant portion of users who are not going to inhale.”

It’s another step in the evolution of cannabis from an illicit backwater to a mainstream consumer-products business. Weed companies are racing to develop new products and brand names while food, alcohol and other consumer-products giants are on the sidelines. For now, established packaged foods companies like Chicago-based Mondelez International, maker of Oreo cookies, Cadbury chocolates and other treats, are still leery of a business that’s been legalized by many states but not the federal government.

That buys pot companies time to figure out how to make edibles tasty enough to compete with the candies consumers are used to. To get the flavors right, they’re tapping Chicago’s deep pool of expertise in candy, food and consumer products. The city has long been

P056_CCB_20210524.indd 56

a center of candymaking, with names such as Mars, Wrigley and Brach’s. Chicago factories produce such sweets as Tootsie Roll, Lemonheads and Snickers.

Gorecki, who leads Cresco’s 10-person R&D staff, came from Chicago food ingredient maker Newly Weds Foods. Megan Coffey, a former pastry chef who runs the Cresco’s R&D lab, came from Victus Ars, a boutique candy developer in Chicago. Food scientist Adriana Yepez previously worked at energy-bar maker RxBar and Edlong Flavors, a dairy-flavor specialist in Elk Grove Village.

Their lab is at the Hatchery, which rents space to food companies big and small, in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood.

The smell of fruit from a batch of gummies hangs in the air of the small test kitchen.

“For us, it’s a food-formulation process,” Gorecki says. “It’s identical to any mainstream (consumer packaged goods) company.”

It’s as if Willy Wonka won a cannabis license—except there’s no weed. State regulations require that THC, the chemical that gives weed its high, stays at Cresco’s licensed processing facility in Joliet.

So the lab uses a synthetic flavoring that mimics the pungent taste and smell of marijuana.

Hiding or offsetting that distinct flavor takes considerable effort.

Turmeric and ginger, lemon balm, chocolate, vanilla and a host of other ingredients help food scientists get the desired colors and tastes. “The fat in cocoa butter is wonderful for masking flavors,”

TAKING A BIGGER BITE Edibles, from gummies to chocolates, are forecast to take a bigger share of the cannabis market in the next few years.

EDIBLES SHARE OF U.S. CANNABIS SALES 25.8% 21.0%

22.6% 23.5%

24.2% 25.0%

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Note: 2021 to 2025 are projections.

Source: Brightfield Group

Gorecki says. Cresco was an early player in edibles, signing on Chicago pastry chef Mindy Segal for a high-profile line of gummies, chocolates and other treats. Now the company is broadening its product lineup to appeal to different types of users, doubling the number of brands in the past year to eight. The strategy is straight out of the consumer packaged-goods playbook.

MULTIPLE BRANDS

“People are using (the products) to relax, to sleep, for wellness and focus,” says Cory Rothschild, Cresco’s head of marketing, who joined the company from Gatorade, another Chicago consumer brand. “You need more than one brand to address all these needs.”

One Cresco offering, Wonder, is

aimed at attracting new users, who are going to be key to the longterm growth of the industry as recreational-use markets mature.

“New consumers do prefer edibles significantly more than other categories of cannabis products,” says Matt Zehner, an analyst at Brightfield.

To win new customers, companies will have to reassure users whose only experience with edible marijuana was of the DIY variety.

Getting the proper dosage of THC is crucial. In the early days of medical and adult-use marijuana sales, companies focused on giving customers the most bang for their buck. Most products had 10 milligrams of THC. Now they’re focusing on entry-level amounts of 1, 2 or 3 milligrams, adopting the mantra of “start low and slow.”

The holy grail for weed companies is to make the product more like alcohol, which is why companies such as Cresco and others also are looking at cannabis-infused drinks. Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries making and selling drinks in Illinois from Cann, a California-based company. Curaleaf, which recently acquired Chicago-based Grassroots, launched Select Squeeze, a line of flavored THC concentrates that can be added to water.

“It’s about expanding the universe,” says Matt Darin, regional president for Wakefield, Mass.based Curaleaf. “There are millions of residents who don’t want to smoke products, and maybe vapes and edibles haven’t resonated.

A beverage, which everyone is accustomed to, (is) a natural fit.”

5/21/21 4:10 PM

SPONSORED CONTENT

BUSINESS SUCCESS THROUGH ESG

Strategies For Long-Term Profitability

In today’s rapidly changing business climate, a robust environmental, social and governance (ESG) program can open up access to large pools of capital, build a stronger corporate brand and promote sustainable long-term growth benefiting companies and investors alike. Three Chicago-area executives involved with ESG shared their thoughts with Crain’s Content Studio on why a successful ESG strategy matters now more than ever.

How is your organization involved with ESG? Cristina DeMento: As a valuesdriven business, NGE’s ESG efforts inform virtually every aspect of our relationship with our people, our clients and our communities. We view it as our responsibility to have a positive impact on all of those groups over the longterm. Our environmental footprint strategy seeks to address greenhouse gas emissions and waste across our operations through more efficient energy consumption, environmentally friendly policies and reducing the waste we send to landfills. Our efforts earned a gold rating for the American Legal Industry Sustainability Standard assessment. Through education and opportunity, we’ve cultivated a culture that strives to encourage everyone to come to work as their authentic self. We achieved Mansfield Rule certification, which recognizes law firms for meeting external diversity and inclusion advancement goals related to hiring and retention. Committed to the holistic well-being of our people, we instituted innovative family benefits, including homecare resources for aging relatives, identity theft protection services and stress-management guidance. We’re governed at all levels by our commitment to operational excellence, high professional and ethical standards, and responsible business practices.

Ted Hamilton: Elkay has focused on ESG for decades. We’ve always supported social change—by advocating for healthy hydration in schools and pure, filtered public drinking water, designing innovative

stream. This made Elkay’s sustainability more visible to the public. With the recent introduction of bottle fillers and beverage dispensers for home, office and hospitality settings, we’ve extended sustainability into even more environments.

Stacey Sargent: ESG is a valuable and recognizable framework that can be leveraged to help our clients incorporate their preferences about the companies they’d like to own in their portfolios. The best client conversations start with a discussion of the “hows” rather than the “whats.” In that context, we see our role as translating their preferences into actionable and informed investment decisions. We monitor companies that score highly on sustainability and governance goals, as well as the more traditional investing frameworks.

What types of ESG issues are important to your customers/ clients?

Sargent: While every client viewpoint is unique, we’ve encountered worries about the impact of carbon emissions by large corporations, the treatment of employees in manufacturing and distribution facilities, inclusion policies and data collection practices to name a few. Often a particular component of ESG will stand out as more important to our client than the others, due to a personal experience, a value system that does not fit a specific definition, or perhaps strong feelings of family members. This is why conversations with our clients and internal reflection on their part are essential to our process.

CRISTINA DEMENTO Partner Neal Gerber Eisenberg cdemento@nge.com 312-269-5273

customers, communities and the planet? These are all crucial issues that individuals and companies should all care about. Since “being in business forever” is one of our core values, we’re committed to protecting the planet and natural resources that make that possible. In today’s world, current and prospective employees want to align

TED HAMILTON President - Elkay Plumbing Elkay Manufacturing Co. ted.hamilton@elkay.com 630-575-4742

themselves with companies that have an underlying purpose and that positively impact the world. They care about our philanthropy and volunteering.

DeMento: I work with many growth companies and their investors.

Starting from the earliest stage, these companies face pressure from investors

ADA-compliant products and making strategic donations. Cradle-to-cradle products matter when people remodel their kitchens. We’re proud that the stainless-steel sinks at the heart of our business are made from one of the world’s most recycled materials.

These became 100 percent recyclable when we replaced sound-deadening spray with removable pads. Our quartz sinks will be 100 percent recyclable by 2023. Our ezH2O water bottle filling stations launched during the bottled water craze, immediately reducing single-use plastics in our global waste

To learn more about our efforts, please visit: www.nge.com/CSRreport

P057_059_CCB_20210524.indd 57

to identify and retain a diverse board and management team, adopt antiharassment and inclusion policies, and incorporate sustainability as part of their branding and marketing efforts.

One topic currently receiving a lot of attention in the venture capital community is the lack of funding being directed to companies led by women

From our nationally recognized sustainability efforts to our legacy of providing access to justice for the less fortune through our pro bono program, we are proud to serve as a catalyst for positive change in the communities where we live and work.

—TED HAMILTON, ELKAY MANUFACTURING CO.

Hamilton: In addition to the “number of bottles saved,” our customers ask us to report on our investment in employee development, health, safety, diversity, inclusion, equity efforts and the environmental impact of manufacturing. Customers want to know, are we good to our people? Do we protect employees and treat them equitably? Do we protect the planet?

From a governance standpoint, do we behave honorably and run our business soundly and ethically? Do we take a long view toward employees,

CCO/Partner Chicago Capital ssargent@chi-cap.com 312-429-2335

Making the world a better place.

As a values-driven business, we are committed to fully integrating ESG into both our culture and our client service. Whether it’s evaluating our clients’ investments to ensure the alignment with their business objectives or counseling on compliance with regard to various local and national regulations, we value the opportunity to work in concert with our clients to build a better future for everyone.

“. . . EMPLOYEES WANT TO ALIGN THEMSELVES WITH COMPANIES THAT HAVE AN UNDERLYING PURPOSE AND THAT POSITIVELY IMPACT THE WORLD.”

STACEY SARGENT

5/17/21 3:42 PM

BUSINESS SUCCESS THROUGH ESG

Strategies For Long-Term Profitability and people of color. We’ve seen many efforts to address this by our clients, including new funds forming to invest specifically in companies founded by women and other underrepresented groups. Public companies face similar pressures, and third-party ratings agencies now focus on evaluating these companies’ performance on everything from carbon emissions to community relations to policy influence.

What are some common components of an ESG strategy?

Hamilton: Our ESG strategy focuses on business operations and global touchpoints. Social components include fair labor practices, safety programs and policies. We want employees to spend many years with us, so we pay competitive, equitable wages and invest in people and local communities.

We treat employees, customers and suppliers well, making it easy to build successful long-term relationships with us. Our products are safe and solve consumer concerns. For example, besides providing healthy hydration post-pandemic, Elkay’s hands-free bottle fillers, drinking fountains and faucets eliminate high-touch public surfaces. Our operations have a low ecological impact, with some products reducing environmental plastics generated by other firms. We’re working toward circular economy strategies to reduce our long-term product footprint. Though privately

held, we manage board composition, succession, independent directors and formal committees like a public firm.

The most critical governance issues often come down to solid values and training people to make ethical business decisions.

Sargent: We seek out investment opportunities where environmental, sustainability and governance goals improve outcomes for company stakeholders. A great example of this is our investment in Kornit Digital, where sustainable practices in their dyeing process reduces waste, improves the cost of production and increases shareholder returns on investment.

In what ways does an ESG strategy add value to an organization?

DeMento: A strong ESG strategy can benefit an organization by enhancing brand reputation and customer engagement, and by helping recruit and retain employees. Some investors think commitment to an ESG strategy can also help mitigate environmental, social and governance risks, which can be very costly and damaging to address after the fact. While these benefits are often intangible and harder to quantify than the return on some other investments, there are studies showing that companies that prioritize ESG perform better over time. This, together with the increased focus investors are placing on ESG, shows that “doing

good” can co-exist with—and be a critical component of—”doing well.”

We’ve definitely found this to be true at our firm. We’re a stronger organization because of the diverse opinions and people represented.

Hamilton: Having a solid ESG strategy is essential in today’s world. Many of our global customers ask us to report on our approach to ESG-related issues, share our policies and practices, and establish targets and identify our progress toward these goals over time. As part of our customers’ supply chain, we’re accountable for our ethical business practices and have a sound approach to our impacts on people and the environment. Increasingly, we’re asked

we’ve taken an honest, critical look at where there might be systemic equity issues we can address. My advice?

Don’t get too hung up on being perfect.

What’s important is looking at your gaps honestly and taking proactive steps to reduce them.

What steps can organizations take to ensure diversity and inclusion (DEI) from recruiting to hiring to performance management?

How can organizations ensure that day-to-day business behaviors align with their governance policies?

Sargent: Organizations committed to DEI should actively pursue diversity through their recruitment and hiring process, with full support from management at all levels. The

Hamilton: Education is the single most powerful tool that we have as business leaders to ensure that day-today business behaviors align with our cultural expectations and governance policies. Every employee should be

“ . . . THERE ARE STUDIES SHOWING THAT COMPANIES THAT PRIORITIZE ESG PERFORM BETTER OVER TIME.” —CRISTINA DEMENTO, NEAL GERBER EISENBERG to report on the practices of our partners within our supply chain. The expectation is that we’re reaching down to another tier of our supply chain and guaranteeing that good ESG practices are in place.

Sargent: Incorporating an ESG framework from the earliest conversations about investment preferences and risk tolerance allows us to allocate capital in the most clear and transparent way on behalf of our clients. It gives us a common language

Water, cooler.

That’s

©2021 ELKAY MANUFACTURING COMPANY

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P057_059_CCB_20210524.indd 58

and a framework that helps us better understand how our clients wish to express their interests and preferences in the companies that they own. Many of the companies we invest in also seek to incorporate these practices in an effort to respond to their customers.

most successful companies are able to differentiate themselves from their competition by embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive workplace where all individuals feel welcome and valued.

It’s critical that companies examine how internal business practices and activities can accommodate and amplify different voices and life experiences.

DeMento: Our firm casts a broad net when recruiting for open positions.

We typically work with one or more search firms, emphasizing our desire for a diverse candidate pool and our involvement in Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule program. Through our affiliations with organizations committed to inclusion in the legal profession—affinity bar organizations, the Chicago Committee and the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law—we also identify candidates from underrepresented groups. To mitigate the effect of unconscious biases on our attorneys, we’ve implemented a competency-based system for associate progression—identifying partners to oversee the equitable distribution of assignments among associates, and providing targeted opportunities and training to attorneys throughout their careers. DEI is also a standing agenda item at every executive committee meeting and is addressed at firm meetings and through regular firm programming.

Hamilton: To ensure the success of DEI, senior leaders—and most notably the CEO—must be on board, visible and vocal about it, putting success metrics in place and reporting on them quarterly. For example, they should look to increase diverse hiring by measuring how many diverse candidates are being recruited and presented to hiring managers, and how many diverse hires they’re making. It’s important to measure your diversity of talent and put a strategy in place to reduce gaps. We’re not perfect, but this past year has shown us all that we’re living in an imperfect world. At Elkay,

made aware of the policies in place.

Regular training intervals should be established to remind people of ESGrelated laws, the company’s policies and how these align with its cultural expectations and values. Having some mechanism for formally recording employees’ acknowledgment of those policies—rather than just ‘checking the box”—also helps send home the message that this is a serious business expectation.

Sargent: Turning a plan into action takes persistence, patience and responsiveness. At Chicago Capital we benefit from being a small company where conversations about not only what we’re doing but also how we’re doing it can happen spontaneously and without judgement.

We invest in companies that focus on transparency—organizations that make their expectations of employees clear and transparent, while allowing ample opportunities for feedback and adjustment. These are steps that companies can take to see their governance policies acted out day to day.

How can organizations drive improvements via ESG performance?

Hamilton: What gets measured gets changed, which means the most important thing a company can do is establish formal targets for those ESG levers that their stakeholders care about. They should then make sure their employees know about the new targets, which will help ensure that people take an ESG-minded approach to their jobs and reporting on their achievements. Organizations can accomplish this by linking their ESG targets to the business’s overall strategic scorecard, or making ESG targets part of every leader’s performance goals.

Either way, it’s important to set clear improvement targets, then make it clear that everyone is responsible for meeting their individual sustainability, social impact and governance expectations.

5/17/21 3:39 PM

SPONSORED CONTENT Sargent: Good performance with regards to ESG goals can fall victim to shifting definitions of what’s “sustainable” and what it means to be “good.” When it comes to our investment decisions, we look for companies and operators with longterm, durable visions that we believe will accrue outsized benefits to all stakeholders. When a business sets its goals with long-term, positive outcomes in mind for its customers, employees, shareholders and the broader public, they’re at once making decisions with a mind toward economic value and sustainability.

How important is tracking and validating ESG data—and how is it best accomplished?

Sargent: Analysis is only as good as the data; however, tracking and validating ESG data can be a tall order given the incentives that companies have to produce short-term results.

One approach is to collect data through market-based incentives and targets, like the cap-and-trade programs currently working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in several U.S. states.

This type of approach encourages businesses to collect and track the relevant data, while also imposing a cost on the environmental damage that results from their business. In the end, customers will decide what’s important to them and businesses will respond.

Hamilton: Reporting is critical to improving the ESG matters your stakeholders care about. At Elkay, a cross-functional team works on ESG. Through stakeholder research, they determine what ESG issues matter to employees, customers and shareholders.

Because the issues change over time—for example, as DEI becomes more important to stakeholders—the research should be cyclical. Once we know what stakeholders care about, the team measures our current standing, sets targets and determines how we’ll measure progress. Typically, the business functions closest to specific metrics are responsible for reporting on them. This year, we began using the model of the robust and systematic Global Reporting Initiative—an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human rights and corruption.

The team learned a lot about getting the organization aligned through this effort.

We’re now finalizing the report and will undoubtedly refine our tracking and reporting methods based on these learnings. For public companies seeking funding through investment partners that track ESG, third-party auditing may be recommended.

Over the last few years, have attitudes about the value of ESG changed?

DeMento: Absolutely. When I started practicing law, there was an almostsingular focus on the bottom line, and only a niche group of companies and

investors were interested in issues like sustainability and social impact.

Now ESG is a buzzword in marketing and pitch materials everywhere. We regularly see potential investors asking funds for their ESG policies before they commit capital, and funds will often require portfolio companies to adopt policies and provide reporting metrics in these areas as a condition to investing. Trade organizations are responding in kind, and some, like the National Venture Capital Association, are developing model policies and procedures for use by their members.

Companies also seem increasingly willing to engage on ESG issues.

The pandemic and social unrest of the last year have helped bring this into focus, as many business leaders have reacted publicly to the upheaval with frank discussions about racial inequality and public health in a way that would have been hard to imagine a few years ago.

Sargent: As a consumer, I’m more aware of the sustainability of the companies I interact with regularly and where I spend my money. I believe that more broadly as a society, we’ve come to realize the detrimental effects of short-term thinking, as well as the enormity of the challenge ahead of us to attain durable and long-lasting sustainability in private sector business practices across all sectors.

Hamilton: Attitudes about ESG have definitely shifted over the past few years. You see this change in everything from statements about climate change in the recent Crain’s roundtable to the changing purpose and role of corporations in our society to the elevated expectations of employees and consumers, who increasingly prefer to do business with companies doing good in the world. Companies that ignore these shifts in societal expectations do so at their peril.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS CRISTINA DEMENTO is a partner in the corporate and securities practice group at Neal Gerber Eisenberg, one of the largest single-office law firms in the nation. She focuses on complex business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, equity investments, venture capital and private equity transactions, restructurings and joint ventures. A graduate of Duke University and New York University School of Law, she has been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America and is recognized by The Legal 500 for Middle Market M&A. She also co-chairs the firm’s Women’s Network Leadership Initiative.

TED HAMILTON is president of Elkay Plumbing, a division of Elkay Manufacturing Co., a Downers Grove-based, 101-year-old manufacturing firm with more than 3,000 employees and 17 locations worldwide. A shareholder and fifth generation member of Elkay’s founding family, he joined the company in 1992 working in increasingly responsible positions before assuming his current role in 2017.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University, an MBA from DePaul University and has completed the Executive Development Program at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

STACEY SARGENT is a partner at Chicago Capital, an SEC-Registered Investment Advisor founded on the principle of putting clients first. She co-founded the firm in 2018 after working in the investment business since 1995. Previously, she held management and administrative roles with William Blair, Olde Discount Brokerage and Howe Barnes. She has a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Certified Financial Planner (CFP). She is a member of the CFA Society of Chicago.

for business success—both from a commercial standpoint and with respect to recruiting. Companies will need to perform well and tell their ESG success stories to attract and retain the best talent. In addition, business returns will follow ESG performance as consumer expectations and the

reporting demands of the investment community continue to focus on evidence-based ESG reporting.

Sargent: In our opinion, this is one of the most important points about ESG investing. Unlocking hidden value from ESG is something we’re keen on.

Consequently, finding companies that are strong operators but that may not necessarily be recognized for their ESG practices—due to their size, or inability to broadcast their sustainability record—are ideal investments for our clients who hope to harvest the sustainability dividend.

What’s the future outlook for ESG, including for investors seeking above-benchmark returns?

DeMento: ESG investing seems here to stay in one form or another.

Demand for socially responsible investments continues to increase, and prominent institutional investors are leading the charge. A push by the current administration for “green” investments and technologies and other policy changes could help spur further investment in these areas.

At the same time, compliance costs and disclosure obligations are likely to increase as regulatory oversight increases. The SEC, for example, recently announced its focus on climate-related disclosures and even created a climate and ESG task force to identify ESG-related misconduct.

The push for more disclosure is also likely to come from investors who desire better metrics to help them quantify and evaluate the return on ESG initiatives.

Hamilton: I predict that ESG will continue to be a springboard

“TURNING A PLAN INTO ACTION TAKES PERSISTENCE, PATIENCE AND RESPONSIVENESS.” — STACEY SARGENT, CHICAGO CAPITAL

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The 38-story Pittsfield Building, which is in receivership after years of neglect, needs a massive makeover.

Redo of troubled tower reaches a turning point PITTSFIELD from Page 3 after years of neglect. It needs a massive makeover. Completed in 1927, the 38-story high-rise at 55 E. Washington St. is “one of Chicago’s finest 1920s-era skyscrapers, built during the decade when the city’s distinctive tower-pierced downtown skyline first began to take shape,” according to a 2001 report recommending a landmark designation for the property.

Both properties caught the eye of Xiao Hua “Edward” Gong, a Chinese businessman based in Toronto. He bought the Motorola campus in 2016 and the Pittsfield in 2017. Gong also bought the Holiday Inn Express in Rosemont in 2017, renaming it the Edward Hotel Chicago. Now closed, the hotel is on the market.

Canadian prosecutors entered the story in late 2017, filing money laundering and securities fraud charges against Gong.

Working through the U.S. Department of Justice, they then imposed a restraining order on the properties, effectively freezing them—a major obstacle to any potential plan to redevelop them.

But earlier this year, prosecutors lifted the restraining order on Gong’s space in the Pittsfield.

He owns all but nine floors in the building; Chicago-based landlord Marc Realty owns apartments on floors 13 through 21.

By the time of Gong’s acquisition, the Pittsfield already was in bad shape, with the city filing a lawsuit over its condition in mid2017. Courtney Jones, who was appointed the building’s receiver in January 2020, has overseen a major renovation of its exterior and interior, recently receiving Ball-Reed’s approval to be reimbursed for about $4.5 million in rehab costs.

Jones recently filed a motion to sell Gong’s space, with the support of Marc and the city. Originally built as an office tower, the Pittsfield has attracted interest over the past decade from residential and hotel developers.

But rather than approving the sale motion, the judge decided to give Gong a chance to retain his ownership stake in the Pittsfield— if he can come up with a credible turnaround plan for the building.

Gong’s proposal is due May 24.

“We were surprised that that judge gave him another chance, given that he lost control of the property more than a year ago and does not seem to have the financial ability to bring his portion of the building into compliance,” says Mann, who represents Marc Realty in the city’s lawsuit.

“He’s had enough of an opportunity to do this, and he’s never come through.”

STATUS UNCLEAR

are totally ridiculous and meritless and have nothing to do with” Marc’s position, says Mann, a partner at Chicago-based Novack & Macey.

An executive at Marc, a potential buyer of Gong’s space, declines to comment.

Out in Harvard, meanwhile, Canadian prosecutors have not lifted the restraining order on the Motorola property, a sprawling 1.5 million-square-foot campus at 2001 N. Division St. that the cellphone maker closed in 2003.

The U.S. Marshals Service is overseeing the sale of the property on behalf of the Canadian authorities.

Vancouver-based startup Green Data Center Real Estate has signed a contract to buy the complex with plans to convert about 400,000 square feet of the space into a data center and turn the rest into a technology center—office or industrial space leased to tech-oriented businesses.

Green Data is teaming up on the project with Solar Alliance, another Vancouver company that develops solar projects.

To power the data center, So-

Gong’s attorney in the Pittsfield case declines to comment. Gong has denied the criminal charges against him, but the status of the case is unclear. A spokesman for Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General did not respond to a request for a comment.

Marc and Jones have clashed many times in court, with Marc questioning Jones’ spending and stewardship of the property.

Marc also opposed his appointment as receiver. Jones, “WE WERE SURPRISED THAT THAT JUDGE who is African GAVE (GONG) ANOTHER CHANCE.” American, sees a racial motive be- Monte Mann, attorney representing Marc Realty hind Marc’s adversarial stance, saying he has lar Alliance would install solar received harsh scrutiny that no panels on top of the building and on the ground, says Green white receiver would ever face.

“I don’t think it’s coincidental Data CEO Jason Bak. He plans that I am the first Black receiver to seek financial assistance from of a downtown building,” Jones the state for the project but has says. “White men in this space yet to submit a formal plan to have been given these opportu- state officials.

Considering how many ideas nities with less of a background for the property—including than myself.”

Mann denies any racial moti- converting it into a water park vation in the case. He says Marc and a prison—have come and opposed Jones’ appointment in gone, local officials are naturalpart because he lacked upfront ly skeptical about whether the financing to pay for all the nec- two firms will be able to pull off essary renovation work on the such an ambitious—and unproven—idea. They’ll know more in building.

“The accusations of race as a mid-July, when the sale to Green contributing factor in this case Data is scheduled to close.

5/21/21 4:18 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 61

How the pandemic has changed Chicago’s downtown lunch restaurants announced a reopening date. Ditto Rosebud Prime on Dearborn Street.

A thriving midday restaurant business fuels the vitality of Chicago’s central business district.

For some Loop workers, business lunches are so fundamental to their jobs that restaurant reopenings helped dictate their return to the office. That co-dependency goes both ways: Many downtown restaurants rely on a steady flow of lunch diners. At the Gage on Michigan Avenue, for example, lunch comprised 65 to 75 percent of business pre-pandemic. Lunch generated about 40 percent of revenue at the Dearborn at Dearborn and Randolph streets.

Getting workers back in offices is key to restaurant reopenings.

Human occupancy in downtown offices in April was only at 16 percent of normal, according to a report from the Chicago Loop Alliance.

“That’s not enough to support all of the restaurants that used to be here,” says Loop Alliance President and CEO Michael Edwards. He predicts that office occupancy will be up to 50 percent by July as companies encourage workers to return.

Loop restaurant operators say it

restaurants, which plan to add more hours as foot traffic picks up.

But Lawless says business is only at about 25 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The busiest days are the weekends, when people come downtown to the Art Institute of Chicago or Millennium Park.

HOPEFUL SIGNS

Restaurant closures helped boost the retail vacancy rate in the Loop to about 15 percent, up from 12 to 13 percent pre-pandemic, says Doug Renner, managing director and broker at Baum Realty Group. But he sees hopeful signs.

“Many tenants have made it through,” Renner says, adding that more restaurants are hunting for space as workers migrate back downtown.

However, many eateries don’t plan to open until late this year or early 2022. Deal structures have changed, too. Landlords are more willing to offer potential tenants rent abatements and other inducements. More fast-casual, grab-and-go types are coming into the Loop seeking smaller spaces, he says.

Restaurateurs expect strong demand for to-go orders to outlast the pandemic. Illinois required restaurants to close indoor dining for more than five months throughout the pandemic, NATIONALLY, RESTAURANT DIGITAL and consumers have been trained to order to-go. NaORDERS GREW 124 PERCENT IN tionally, restaurant digital orders grew 124 percent THE YEAR THAT ENDED IN MARCH, in the year that ended in March, according to marACCORDING TO MARKET RESEARCH ket research firm NPD Group.

FIRM NPD GROUP. Luke’s Lobster on Lawill take time for their lunch busi- Salle Street near Randolph Street reopened in mid-May for the first ness to fully recover.

“It’s going to take at least anoth- time in 430 days, says general er year, year and a half,” says Billy manager J.P. McIntyre. The lobster Lawless, owner of the Gage Hos- roll spot now sells food to go on pitality Group, which owns three four third-party delivery apps plus restaurants in and around down- its website. Pre-pandemic, Luke’s Lobster was on Postmates only. town.

“That’s a big change,” McInThe Gage restaurant on Michigan Avenue is open seven days a tyre says. “It just reflects meeting week for lunch and dinner. That’s consumers where they are posta contrast to other downtown COVID.”

JOHN R. BOEHM

LUNCH from Page 3

Luke’s Lobster now sells food to go on four third-party delivery apps plus its website. Pre-pandemic, the Loop restaurant was on Postmates only.

A few blocks away from Luke’s Lobster, the former Wells Street Market food hall was replaced by lunch spot Kitchen United Mix, which focuses on to-go orders.

Seating is limited, and customers are meant to order ahead online.

Another fast-casual lunch spot, Fare, closed both of its locations permanently during COVID. Those two outposts were in food halls, which suffered along with other shared spaces. Now, as Fare plans a Loop expansion, it is also investing in a digital ordering system.

CHANGES

Even traditional business lunch spots are embracing delivery.

The 80-year-old Gene & Georgetti’s never worked with a third-party delivery platform before the pandemic. Now the River

North steakhouse sends group orders of sandwiches and salads to nearby office buildings. Workers fed up with solitary meals at home are turning lunchtime into a social event once they return to the office, says third-generation owner Michelle Durpetti. “It’s the return to enjoying meals together.”

Sit-down restaurants like Gene & Georgetti’s, having made a series of changes to stay afloat during the pandemic, are ready to accommodate carry-out orders. Besides delivery, Gene & Georgetti’s added a lighter lunch menu—including sandwiches, which Durpetti says sell “like hotcakes,” especially to those groups eating in the office— and a coffee window it will continue to operate through midafternoon.

Durpetti also says longtime customers are starting to return for

business lunches. The same holds true at other spots that have been eking by without their core customers for so long. The Dearborn reopened on March 10 and is at about 45 percent of 2019 revenue, says co-owner Clodagh Lawless, sister of the Gage owner.

Regular Patrick Donley was there the day Lawless reopened.

The vice president of business development at Power Construction had business lunches at the Dearborn and other spots three times a week pre-pandemic. He says lunches with prospective clients were vital to landing new construction contracts.

“You’re just able to get a better feel for what opportunities are there and how you can maybe influence the decision of you getting selected,” he says. “It’s just really difficult to do that on Zoom.”

Homes are selling for the asking price and beyond—a sign the market is on fire The gap between asking and selling prices has rarely been both Avondale on the North Side more than a few percentage points and Greater Grand Crossing and in the past five years thanks to Auburn Gresham on the South Side, perpetually low inventory, but for the average sale price for a house sale prices to surpass asking prices is rare. In the two years prior to was about 107 percent of asking.

In Lincoln Square, where Tor- April 2020, according to CAR data, chia’s clients closed on their pur- sellers never averaged more than chase in April, houses sold at just 97 percent of their asking price, but the line climbed steadily toward “IT’S ALMOST FREE MONEY NOW. WITH 100 percent from time the curLOW INTEREST RATES, YOU CAN JUSTIFY the rent housing boom launched in June.

PAYING MORE.” As with so many Grahm Bailey, agent, @properties things in today’s real estate market, this over 101 percent of the asking phenomenon is the result of super-low interest rates, which make price, on average.

This data is for houses. Condos bidding up cheap.

Interest rates have hovered at and townhouses, tracked separately, sold for about 98 percent of or below 3 percent so far this year and are likely, but not guaranteed, their asking price.

ASKING PRICE from Page 3

P061_CCB_20210524.indd 61

to be higher in the future. This suggests that buyers who pay over the asking price now are still paying less than they would a year from now at higher interest rates, says Grahm Bailey, an @properties agent.

“It’s almost free money now,” Bailey says. “With low interest rates, you can justify paying more.”

So far this year, he’s represented 19 buyers, 13 of whom paid more than the asking price.

By the same time in 2019, Bailey says, he had just two buyers go over the asking price. The comparison is to 2019 because 2020 was such an unusual time.

If buyers were upping the ante in big steps, averaging 10 or 20 percent over asking prices, it might be time to worry that a bubble is nigh, and bubbles collapse.

But Bailey, Torchia and others note that sales are averaging just a

few percentage points over asking prices, pushing the envelope only incrementally.

APPRAISALS

Another good sign: Appraisals are backing up these over-the-ask prices, which means lenders support them with loans. There is no solid data available on how many home purchase contracts die because they don’t appraise out. But the proof that many do appraise out is in the fact that, on average, Chicago houses sold in April for more than their asking price.

In part, it’s a response to a fast-rising market where even an expert real estate agent may not know how much above recent comparable sales the bullish market will go.

“You’re better off pricing it low and letting the market take it up,” says Michael Harvey, a ReMax

Properties agent, “than pricing it too high and scaring everyone away.”

Even foreclosure investors, who are usually looking for rock-bottom deals, may be bidding up more than they used to. Harvey represented a two-bedroom bungalow on Prairie Avenue in Grand Crossing, a recent foreclosure.

He put it on the market April 14 at $89,900, and three days later it was under contract to an investor who, according to Harvey, plans to rehab and resell it. The investor paid $120,000, or 33 percent over the asking price.

The buyer’s logic, Harvey says, is that while the rehab is being done, prices will continue to rise, or at least not drop. When the time comes to either sell or rent the rehabbed house, the market should absorb the rehabber’s higher purchase price, he says.

5/21/21 4:18 PM

62 MAY 24, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Deal vaults local player Gallagher to the next level. Now comes the hard part.

Aon or Willis. Today, it’s practically impregnable to acquisition givof the eponymous founder who en regulators’ antitrust concerns, launched the firm nearly a centu- which led to Gallagher’s deal for ry ago, has run the place for three the Aon-Willis assets.

“Isn’t it amazing what a little decades. Multiple Gallaghers and extended family have senior posi- company in Chicago can do in 100 tions and are paid millions collec- years?” CEO Gallagher exclaims in an interview. tively.

With success comes pressure Yet the company, after Aon’s merger with the world’s third-larg- and scrutiny, however. The comest insurance broker Willis and the pany won’t be sneaking up on forthcoming acquisitions, will as- anyone anymore, and stumbles sume Willis’ position as the global will be more magnified.

The CEO says the company’s No. 3. Gallagher’s stock price since Aon announced the Willis deal in unusual culture won’t change. It March 2020 has risen 54 percent, will remain the industry’s most more than Aon’s 42 percent and the active acquirer of the thousands of 37 percent gain posted by No. 1 bro- small, often family-owned insurance brokerages around “THIS IS A NEAR-TRANSFORMATIVE the U.S. Gallagher does 50 to 60 such deals every TRANSACTION FOR GALLAGHER. IT year—an average of one week. Last year, an “off” MAKES THEM A MORE FORMIDABLE ayear for dealmaking as businesses spent months COMPETITOR.” wrestling with the panTim Cunningham, Optis Partners demic’s effects, Gallagher still acquired 27 firms, ker Marsh McLennan. Gallagher’s adding a collective $251 million in market valuation exceeds 28 times annualized revenue, according to its projected 2021 earnings. Aon’s is an SEC filing.

Gallaghers will continue to proat 22 times earnings, and Marsh is liferate throughout the company. at 24.

In other words, Wall Street cur- Tom Gallagher, Pat’s brother, is rently believes Gallagher is win- president of global property and ning the insurance wars. Fifteen casualty brokerage. He cleared years ago, Gallagher looked like a $4.1 million in total compensation choice takeover target for Marsh, last year, according to Gallagher’s GALLAGHER from Page 1

proxy. Pat’s 42-year-old son, Patrick M. Gallagher, heads brokerage for the Americas and has been with the company his entire career. His comp last year: $1.7 million. Pat’s sister made $949,000 as head of a specialty unit. Two other sons of Pat combined to make more than $1.2 million. All told, various Gallaghers other than the CEO cleared more than $8 million.

Pat Gallagher’s 2020 compensation totaled more than $11 million.

‘BENEVOLENT NEPOTISM’

The CEO makes no apologies; indeed, the family’s involvement is an asset, he says. “We’ve made a very nice business picking from the family tree,” he says. “It’s benevolent nepotism. People care more when it’s their family.”

Gallagher now is 69. He has no plans to pass the baton soon. “I’m healthy. I don’t think I’m short on energy, and I love the business.”

The board has a succession plan, he says, though he won’t disclose it. When the time comes, will another Gallagher assume his spot atop the firm? “The board will do its job as it should,” Gallagher says. “It won’t be driven by last name.”

On the immediate horizon, Gallagher must integrate what is by far the largest acquisition he’s ever done once it closes, which is

expected within weeks. The prize of the assets the firm is buying is Willis’ reinsurance brokerage unit. The business of procuring insurance on behalf of other insurers—critical for covering big-money risks like catastrophes, as well as emerging ones like cyberthreats—is dominated by the big three. Gallagher’s been a reinsurance player, but adding the Willis team makes it part of a virtual oligopoly. Keeping that team intact is the most important part of the integration.

Gallagher has no doubts; the cultures mesh, he says. “Like us, they’re fighting above their weight class.”

Other of Willis’ assets Gallagher is buying will accelerate the company’s position in Europe by at least five years, the CEO says.

The deal will increase the firm’s global workforce by a third to 40,000 from 30,000. In the Chicago area, Gallagher employs 3,000, with 1,700 of those in Rolling Meadows.

Greater scale should provide Gallagher increased entree into the upper echelons of the top corporate clients whose insurance needs mainly are handled today

by Marsh, Aon or Willis. Gallagher says his firm is fully capable of meeting the wide variety of needs for the General Motors of the world. But he acknowledg-

es breaking into those ranks has been challenging.

With just two white-shoe firms remaining once Aon gobbles Willis, many of those corporations are likely to invite Gallagher to vie for the business when they periodically put it out to bid.

“This is a near-transformative transaction for Gallagher,” says Tim Cunningham, longtime consultant to the insurance brokerage industry at Chicago-based Optis Partners. “It makes them a more formidable competitor. (Corporate) risk managers like choice.”

When Gallagher calls his industry “the greatest business on the planet,” that’s only slight hyperbole. It’s a cash machine, fixed costs are manageable and people are the most important assets. Insurance brokerage is remarkably resilient no matter the economic climate. Last year—unlike any other in recent history—Gallagher’s revenue dipped less than 3 percent, to $7 billion. That was mainly due to lower investment income.

Commissions and fees actually rose 6 percent. Pretax margins were more than 12 percent.

“We’re earned the right to be in this position,” Gallagher says.

But he disputes that his firm is ensconced due to scale. “If you don’t keep earning it, you’ll get taken out. We shouldn’t even stop and take a breath.”

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • MAY 24, 2021 63

This house is in the city—no, seriously FROM HER DECK, Kathleen O’Donnell looks out over layers of lush green gardens to a river, where she often spots eagles flying, fish jumping and kayakers drifting along in the current.

Then if she cranes her head a little to the left, she sees the CTA Brown Line clattering past.

“I have both the wild and the urban,” says O’Donnell, an architect whose home in Ravenswood Gardens is a rarity: It has its own river frontage, including a paddle-up dock, on the North Branch.

Over the past 15 years, O’Donnell has transformed both the building, a classic red brick two-flat that she turned into a single-family home with a green roof and walls of rear windows, and the landscape, now a verdant sweep between the house and the water.

O’Donnell plans to downsize out of the four-bedroom, roughly 3,500-square-foot house on Virginia Avenue. She’s listed it at $1.65 million with Annie Coleman of Livingroom Realty.

MORE PHOTOS ONLINE: ChicagoBusiness.com/residential-real-estate

HOW TO CONTACT CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS EDITORIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312-649-5200 CUSTOMER SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877-812-1590 ADVERTISING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312-649-5492

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VHTSTUDIOS PHOTOS

The home and its gardens, a layered composition on the bank of the Chicago River’s North Branch, are the work of an architect with an interest in sustainability and nature. It’s for sale at $1.65 million. BY DENNIS RODKIN

Vol. 44, No. 21 – Crain’s Chicago Business (ISSN 0149-6956) is published weekly, except for the last week in December, at 150 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60601-3806. $3.50 a copy, $169 a year. Outside the United States, add $50 a year for surface mail. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, Ill. Postmaster: Send address changes to Crain’s Chicago Business, PO Box 433282, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9688. Four weeks’ notice required for change of address. © Entire contents copyright 2021 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

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