Mark your calendars. On January 17, 2019, the Economic Outlook conference – hosted by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business – will take place. The title of the conference is ‘Trade Wars, Deficits and Inflation: Rhetoric or Reality.’ Discussion participants include: Austan D. Goolsbee, Randall S. Kroszner, and Raghuram G. Rajan who will be talking about the state of the global economy and look at what might be happening for 2019. The event is being moderated by Bloomberg’s Global Economics and Policy Editor, Kathleen Hays.
Areas of discussion include: tax cuts, deregulation, America’s approach to China trade, growth, deficits, inflation, corporate profits and more.
Even if you still haven’t gotten all your Christmas gifts, there are some great last minute opportunities for Chicago Christmas shopping. Thankfully, someone else has done the work for us on Urban Matter’s webpage, which has the ultimate guide for last minute Christmas shoppers.
Struggling to think of the perfect gift for the one who has it all? Look no further (but book quickly!) than booking a Scenic ride in Chicago’s Santa’s “Sleigh.” The Chicago Helicopter Experience this year is offering “a one-of-a-kind opportunity to take flight over the city on a panoramic Holiday Lights Tour exploring Chicago’s best destinations from thousands of feet above.”
For those whose budget doesn’t quite extend that far, here is a list of 16 awesome holiday gifts you can purchase locally that won’t see you taking more than $100 out of your pocket: https://urbanmatter.com/chicago/holiday-gifts-under-100/
Christmas might be a good time to find out where you really came from; so look into 23 & Me’s $79 ancestry kit as a gift option too.
This year’s Leapfrog Group list of 118 America’s Highest Quality Hospitals features 7 from Illinois. Chicago has four:
Northwestern Memorial Hospital,
University of Chicago Medical Center,
Amita Health Saints Mary & Elizabeth Medical Center
Amita Health Resurrection Medical Center
To gain the results the following was measured: efficiency, management structure, patient safety and quality. Performances areas investigated were: infection prevention; limiting C-sections; using technology for improved care; leadership policies and practices.
Meanwhile,efforts are being made to enhance education in the state. According to a recent statement put out by JB Pritzker, a new committee has been put in place to bolster “the educational standards for every student in Illinois from kindergarten through 12th grade up through college.
The establishment of the new committee – Educational Success Transition Committee – was announced last month at the Genevieve Melody STEM Elementary School. CEO and co-Chair of Chicago Public Schools Janice Jackson said:
“We must acknowledge the fact that not every single student in every community has access to the same education. And we intend to fix that–not only in our city–but throughout the great state of Illinois.”
At the 2018 EY Strategic Growth Forum, the advice given to the invite-only annual conference for leading US-executive leaders was based on the following key elements:
Establish a purpose
Create a solid foundation
Contemplate the future
Customer prioritization.
Steve Costello summed up some more of the outcomes of the conference. He speaks about the advice given from jewelry designer Kendra Scott on the importance of setting up an advisory board. This is important, not necessarily for advice but to maintain a strong system of checks and balances. She advised:
“Report to them quarterly like a public company and have biannual planning meetings with them. We all have biases, so select balanced, deep thinkers who’ve known you a long time and can easily identify your blind spots.Like your best mentors, they’ll give you the perspective you don’t want to hear.”
co-founder of the organic baby food brand Once Upon a Farm Jennifer Garner advises using the business you establish to help fund causes dear to your heart. She explained:
“I’m in business because I’m sick of asking people for money. I … generate money by getting people to buy a product that helps them and can help someone else.” And she has proceeds of her company donated to the Ron Finley Project which provides healthy food and access to urban gardens in underserved LA communities.
Regarding stocks,it is anticipated that there will be a “modest recovery” next year mainly due to “pressure from higher interest rates and concerns about peaking earnings growth. Investing in smaller, domestically focused companies had been among the most popular strategies in 2018, as tariff tensions and a fiscal stimulus boost made them into safe havens.”
In fact, many economic experts anticipate a And in general, US economic growth is expected to be very small next year, with an even deeper drop in growth levels in the second quarter. Thankfully few believe that it is likely to result in a huge recession.
Illinois is increasingly moving toward solar power for its energy sources. The costs of the equipment used is significantly lower and the state of Illinois is so encouraging of the transition, that it offers many attractive incentives to move over.
One of the most popular solar markets today in Illinois are those that are in conjunction with farmers. In these cases, the farmers benefit too. They lease the solar companies some of their property which is used to cultivate solar energy and they get money for this as it is in place of crop growing.
The agrarians are needed to facilitate this process as they are the ones lining up the solar panels in the most efficient way to absorb the sun’s rays. The energy then gets transported to the closest power substation, being absorbed into the power supply. Ultimately this is a good business deal for landowners and solar companies.
Within Chicago itself, a recent statement given by the Sierra Club promised that they will be conjoining into a “new community coalition working to move Chicago to a 100 percent clean, renewable energy future. The Club’s Ready for 100 Action Campaign organizer Krya Woods added:
“The Ready for 100 Chicago Collective stands ready to advocate for bold policy that will bring the greatest economic, environmental, and social benefit to communities across Chicago. A new energy economy can create jobs, save money through energy efficiency and phasing out fossil fuel, and empower our residents to participate in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of strategies that will most effectively address our communities’ needs. We are here to address how we power this city and who has power in this city.”
The establishment of a fourth transition committee has been announced by J. B. Pritzker as an advisory board on matters of civil rights. To be known as the Committee on Equality, Equity and Opportunity, Marca Brista, Marty Castro and Kim Hunt will take equal responsibility for guiding the committee in the capacity as co-chairs of the 25 members. They are all currently involved in related endeavors (Access Living; Casa Central and Pride Action Tank).
According to Lt. Gov-elect Juliana Stratton, the committee’s role is to really listen “to the communities across Illinois who haven’t been heard or who’ve experienced systemic disinvestment.” She should know. Being the country’s first Democratic Lieutenant Governor-elect in the 2018 election as well as the first ever black woman to be elected to that position in Illinois, Stratton couldn’t be more apt for her work on this committee. She added:
“The Committee on Equality, Equity and Opportunity will tackle civil rights issues in our state and work to ensure Illinois can protect children and families from dangerous policies from the federal government.”
In this video, a panel of individuals (from the music-business scene based in Chicago) discuss the current state of the music business scene in the region, past, present and future.
Industrious (a co-working firm) will be opening its largest location in Chicago. The address is the 10th floor of 500 W. Madison Street and the space is 46,500 square feet. It is due to open in the summer of 2019. In addition, Novel Coworking is also opening – at a River North building spanning 50,400 square feet offering private offices, suites and co-working spaces at W. Superior Street.
And that’s not all. Google is developing its presence in Chicago with a second building right near its current one in Fulton Market. This will open in the fall of next year at Carpenter and Lake Streets and will measure 100,000 square feet. At the same time, Facebook is planning on moving 250,000+ square feet of space in a 35-story office tower in the area as well.
Last month, $205 million was raised in funding by technology companies in Chicago. This trend began back in August when $199 million raised and September figures was $182 million. Here we take a look at industries that are making these impacts.
A new initiative in Illinois is being launched for self-driving car technology. A human driver will have to sit in the car in case of emergencies but there will be a robot chauffeur “driving” the car. This new technology is however likely to seriously reduce traffic fatalities.
Another technology firm making an impact in Chicago is Rooam which is due to open before the end of the year. The company – which recently purchased Tally – gives users the ability to pay for food and drinks at various eateries via an app.
Fall in Chicago always looks good but now it’s also looking quite attractive for those in the real estate industry. According to a recent report from a local consulting firm Tracy Cross & Associates, new home sales were 3% higher this September than last. There was a decline however, but that was in the median price of new homes – a drop to under $350,000 in Q2 2018 and Q3 2018.
Tracy Cross’ EVP Erik Doresching explains this as being “from builders trying to gain some momentum [who were attempting to reverse a rather sluggish beginning to 2018, when year-over-year sales were down seven percent.”
Nationwide however, Chicago isn’t faring so well. In 2017 it was ranked 42 (out of 79 largest real estate markets) but this year it dropped to 49. Perhaps more noteworthy and concerning is that in 2016 it came in at Number 19.
Still, within the Chicago real estate industry there is some good news. For a mere $1, lots are available for purchase within the city. 4,000 of these are up for offer – spaces currently owned by the city throughout the South, Southwest and West. Thanks to the Chicago Large Lots Program (established by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015), 2,000 lots have already been sold which are being utilized to “create new social spaces and to grow flowers and vegetables.”
