Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

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Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Type advocacy group
Founded October 9, 1904
Headquarters Aon Center (Chicago)
Key people Jerry Roper, President
Area served Flag of the United States United States
Focus Non-profit dedicated to meeting the needs of its member companies through advocacy, education and building businesses by making member connections.
Slogan The unified business voice of greater Chicago.
Website Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Official Website

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization dedicated to making the Chicago region the most business friendly region of the United States. The Chamber is a voice at local, state and national levels for approximately 2,600 member companies and their 1.3 million employees. The Chamber is an organization that encourages job creation, works for a strong economy, aids in creating a more educated workforce and aims to help entrepreneurs succeed.

Chicagoland refers to the 6 most northeastern counties in Illinois: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will, as well as northwest Indiana.

Since its founding in 1904, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce has had an extensive history of meeting the needs of the business community in the region.

The Chamber is headed by Jerry Roper, its President and CEO, who is a national figure in the United States business community. Since 1993, he has been a outspoken advocate for business growth, job creation, entrepreneurship, and civic activity in Chicago and throughout the country.


Contents

[edit] Mission

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is committed to making the region the most business-friendly location in America and enhance its members’ success through aggressive programs of advocacy, member benefits and services, and actionable information.

[edit] Issues

Some issues the Chamber regularly advocates on behalf of include:[1]

  • TAXATION
    • A tax and regulatory climate that promotes and encourages private sector expansion and a competitive tax climate, and general structural reform of the tax system to reduce the reliance on property taxes to fund education and governmental entities.
    • A Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights at all levels of government to give all taxpayers fairness and equity when dealing with government on a contestable notice.


  • TRANSPORTATION
    • Coordinated efforts among the business community, local governments and our Congressional delegation to maximize federal funding for the region.


  • BUSINESS CLIMATE
    • Wage levels set by market forces and a reasonable minimum wage set by the federal government, keeping our region on par with competing states.


  • ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
    • Efforts to promote entrepreneurship and small and emerging businesses through the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center.
    • Promotion of international business investment and relocation on behalf of the region.


  • ENVIRONMENT
    • Strengthening energy infrastructure, reliability and affordability by supporting continued investment in generation, transmission and distribution systems, and promoting renewable energy resources and energy efficiency in order to create job opportunities, advance the competitive potential of Illinois, and enhance reliability and economic performance.


  • TECHNOLOGY & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
    • Investment to ensure all people have access to the resources of the Information Age so that companies in all industries and business sectors can have access to a skilled information technology labor force.


  • EDUCATION & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
    • Adequately funding elementary and secondary schools and diminishing the over-reliance on local property taxes.
    • Expanding the number of schools organized and operated to achieve high performance outcomes for students.


[edit] History of the Chamber

History: The Chamber is a direct lineal descendent of the Chicago Board of Trade which was founded in 1848. 1904 is the official founding date, for at this time, numerous groups were amalgamated to form the present Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber has played, and continues to play, a major role in the development of the business and civic life of the community. Its record of accomplishments is notable, reflecting with credit the efforts over many years of a continuous succession of articulate business and civic leaders, united by the common goal to make Chicago a better community in which to live, work, and engage in business:[2]


List of major achievements.

  • 1908 - the Chamber helps Northwestern University found its School of Commerce.
  • 1912 - the Chamber contributes to the creation and organization of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
  • 1920’s - the Chamber organizes the "Secret Six." This group became an internationally famous crime fighting body, and was headed by Chamber President Colonel Robert Isham Randolph. See Secret Six: Taking Down Al Capone.
  • 1940's - the Chamber conducts a series of surveys resulting in the ordinance that took the public schools out of politics and created the position of General Superintendent of Schools.
  • 1950: The Chamber conducted a successful Chicagoland Fair, Commerce and Industry Exposition in 1957, and an even more successful Chicago International Trade Fair of 1959 followed it. The latter brought Her Majesty, Elizabeth, Queen of the British Commonwealth, to Chicago as well as a giant U.S. Naval Flotilla. The trade fair added millions of dollars to 1959 Chicago business totals.
  • 1965: Mayor Richard J. Daley presented the Chamber with a 1965 Human Relations Commission Award for, "initiating and successfully carrying out unique programs with the business community to open up more and better job opportunities for minority group people."]
  • 1975: The Chamber organized a citizen's sponsoring committee, which raised $450,000 to educate the public about the essential need for the Regional Transportation Authority in 1974. The Chamber was also an active member in the successful passage of the six-county referendum that created the Regional Transportation Authority.
  • 1987 - the Chamber participates in the broad-based school reform coalition that led to the landmark School Reform Act of 1988.
  • 2001 – Chamber is vocal advocate for expansion of O’Hare International Airport to support the region’s business needs.
  • 2002 - the Chamber is awarded four-star accreditation by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its outstanding contribution to positive change in the community. The Chamber has earned the highest rating to date for any Chamber in the United States.
  • 2008 – the Chamber’s Chicagoland Entrepreneurship Center launches the Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund. Awarded top honors by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with five-star accreditation.


[edit] Programs and Alliances

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce has several affiliate entities, which it works closely with to support businesses in the region. Several include:

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Foundation: Every community needs the support and encouragement of individuals and organizations to enhance the welfare of society, the quality of life of its citizens and the success of its businesses.

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Foundation is an active participant in this process by funding, developing and administering a variety of programs aimed at both assisting the development of and encouraging excellence within the Chicago region's businesses and communities.

One of the programs that the Foundation has assisted in funding is the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (the CEC), often referred to as "the beacon for small and emerging businesses." The CEC is the only entity in the Chicago region dedicated to serving the more than 350,000 small and mid-sized businesses throughout the region.

The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC): The CEC is a nonprofit affiliate of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce that helps entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses build viable, sustainable, and profitable enterprises. The CEC is the place that unites minds with knowledge, ideas with reality, money with action. The CEC serves as a strategic partner to its clients, offering high-value advisory services to entrepreneurs that help them negotiate crucial early-business decisions. It connects entrepreneurs with the resources and advice they need to grow at different stages of their businesses, and helps them form strategic alliances that can become the backbone of their success.

disabilityworks: disabilityworks is and initiative of the Chamber designed to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities throughout Illinois by bringing together employers, people with disabilities, and disability/ employment service providers. In 2007 the program expanded to become a state wide initiative.

Innovate Now!: Innovate Now! is bringing together businesses, schools and local and statewide governments to create new strategies for business success in Chicagoland and throughout Illinois. Its goal is simple, but ambitious: it aims to enable and promote the knowledge and relationships that will form the foundation for ongoing business innovation and regional economic growth.