Melissa Harris' Chicago Confidential
Paris bound
Former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity director Warren Ribley will be leading a delegation of business leaders to Paris in early December.
They'll be co-presenting, with members of the prestigious Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a draft of an in-depth study of the tri-state economy and how to improve it. Chicago is the first U.S. city to participate in this kind of study; although more than 25 other cities worldwide have done so.
"They benchmark us against the top 90 global metro regions," said Lance Pressl, president of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Foundation, who has been coordinating the effort and will travel to Paris. "So for example, we rank 13th among the top 90 in productivity. But when you look at average annual growth in productivity, we rank 48th. Because we're large, we're already ahead of the game, but other areas are growing faster in productivity than we are. That's just a big red flag."
Also on the trip: Howard Tullman, CEO of the Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy; Rick Murray, president of Edelman Chicago; Bryan Cave partner Gregory Hummel; Michael McMurray, chief operating officer of Globetrotters Engineering; Jerry Weber, president of the College of Lake County; Peter Creticos, president of the Institute for Work and the Economy; immigration lawyer Kevin Aiston; University of Illinois Professor Geoffrey Hewings; Shannon Doepke of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce; Kelly O'Brien, who advises the chamber's foundation; and leaders from Wisconsin and northwest Indiana.
