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Even before that. Starting at Willow Road with Allstate, Astellas, CVS, etc. all the way up to Route 137 with Abbott, Abvie, and all the large healthcare companies north of there on Waukegan Road, that corridor along 294/94 is a high paying corporate powerhouse with numerous global headquarters companies and Americas regional headquarters of foreign companies. Given all the new large companies moving along that corridor, I am sure it is second only to Chicago as an employment center and far larger than the I88 corridor.
The relative stability of firms in northern Cook Co and throughout Lake Co stands in pretty sharp contrast to the disruption along 88. I interview quite a few folks that work in tech capacities that work for firms that have been powering the suburban employment for decades north of O'hare and far fewer that work in DuPage Co...
Even before that. Starting at Willow Road with Allstate, Astellas, CVS, etc. all the way up to Route 137 with Abbott, Abvie, and all the large healthcare companies north of there on Waukegan Road, that corridor along 294/94 is a high paying corporate powerhouse with numerous global headquarters companies and Americas regional headquarters of foreign companies. Given all the new large companies moving along that corridor, I am sure it is second only to Chicago as an employment center and far larger than the I88 corridor.
Companies with global or regional corporate headquarters along the I-88 Technology and Research Corridor in Chicago's western suburbs:
Ace Hardware
Acxiom
ADT Security
Alcatel-Lucent
Aldi
Allegis Group
Ambitech
APL Logistics
Blistex
BP Global
BMO Harris
CA Technologies
Cabot
Calamos Investments
Caterpillar
ConAgra Foods
Coskata
Devry
Dover
Eby-Brown
EMC
FTD Companies
First Alert
First Trust Portfolios
Hub Group
Hyundai Motors
Infosys
International
Invesco
Magnetrol
McCain Foods
McDonald's
MetLife
Microsoft
Millward Brown
Mitutoyo
Molex
Nalco Ecolab
Navistar
Newell Rubbermaid
Nicor
Nissan Motors
Oberweis Dairy
Patterson Medical
Portillos
PowerShares
Redbox
Reed Elsevier
RR Donnelley
SAP America
Sanford
Sara Lee
Smithfield Foods
SIRVA
Sun Coke Energy
Tellabs
Toyota Motors
Unilever
The above list is overwhelmingly comprised of Fortune 1000 companies and is not even close to comprehensive. These are just the household names I've come across since moving out west two years ago. They employ literally tens of thousands of people in corporate capacities and, along with literally hundreds more small- to medium-sized businesses, make up what is arguably the strongest corporate corridor in Chicagoland.
And they are still building and filling office space today.
Last edited by holl1ngsworth; 04-29-2015 at 08:02 PM..
Companies with global or regional corporate headquarters along the I-88 Technology and Research Corridor in Chicago's western suburbs:
Ace Hardware
Acxiom
ADT Security
Alcatel-Lucent
Aldi
Allegis Group
Ambitech
APL Logistics
Blistex
BP Global
BMO Harris
CA Technologies
Cabot
Calamos Investments
Caterpillar
ConAgra Foods
Coskata
Devry
Dover
Eby-Brown
EMC
FTD Companies
First Alert
First Trust Portfolios
Hub Group
Hyundai Motors
Infosys
International
Invesco
Magnetrol
McCain Foods
McDonald's
MetLife
Microsoft
Millward Brown
Mitutoyo
Molex
Nalco Ecolab
Navistar
Newell Rubbermaid
Nicor
Nissan Motors
Oberweis Dairy
Patterson Medical
Portillos
PowerShares
Redbox
Reed Elsevier
RR Donnelley
SAP America
Sanford
Sara Lee
Smithfield Foods
SIRVA
Sun Coke Energy
Tellabs
Toyota Motors
Unilever
The above list is overwhelmingly comprised of Fortune 1000 companies and is not even close to comprehensive. These are just the household names I've come across since moving out west two years ago. They employ literally tens of thousands of people in corporate capacities and, along with literally hundreds more small- to medium-sized businesses, make up what is arguably the strongest corporate corridor in Chicagoland.
And they are still building and filling office space today.
You're right about Sara Lee. Part of my list was aided by Wikipedia, which is evidently wrong. Their vacancy has since been filled by Sanford, makers of Sharpie, and Glanbia, makers of Optimum Nutrition and Isopure:
And yes, Fermilab is a physics research laboratory and particle accelerator run by the Department of Energy. Fermilab employs more than 1700 professionals.
Last edited by holl1ngsworth; 04-29-2015 at 09:55 PM..
Companies with global or regional corporate headquarters along the I-88 Technology and Research Corridor in Chicago's western suburbs:
Ace Hardware
Acxiom
ADT Security
Alcatel-Lucent
Aldi
Allegis Group
Ambitech
APL Logistics
Blistex
BP Global
BMO Harris
CA Technologies
Cabot
Calamos Investments
Caterpillar
ConAgra Foods
Coskata
Devry
Dover
Eby-Brown
EMC
FTD Companies
First Alert
First Trust Portfolios
Hub Group
Hyundai Motors
Infosys
International
Invesco
Magnetrol
McCain Foods
McDonald's
MetLife
Microsoft
Millward Brown
Mitutoyo
Molex
Nalco Ecolab
Navistar
Newell Rubbermaid
Nicor
Nissan Motors
Oberweis Dairy
Patterson Medical
Portillos
PowerShares
Redbox
Reed Elsevier
RR Donnelley
SAP America
Sanford
Sara Lee
Smithfield Foods
SIRVA
Sun Coke Energy
Tellabs
Toyota Motors
Unilever
The above list is overwhelmingly comprised of Fortune 1000 companies and is not even close to comprehensive. These are just the household names I've come across since moving out west two years ago. They employ literally tens of thousands of people in corporate capacities and, along with literally hundreds more small- to medium-sized businesses, make up what is arguably the strongest corporate corridor in Chicagoland.
And they are still building and filling office space today.
The above list is overwhelmingly made up of smaller outposts of companies that are headquartered elsewhere or have their America's HQ elsewhere. Caterpillar global HQ is in Peoria. What is cited here is a small outpost. Nissan's Americas HQ is in Nashville. What is cited here is an smaller outpost. Same for many others on this list - Toyota Americas HQ is in Plano, TX; Hyundai is in Fountain Valley, CA, etc, etc, etc. This does not compare with the numerous global HQs along the 294/94 corridor like Allstate, Walgreens, Baxter, Abbott, Abvie, WW Grainger, Tenneco, CDW, Mondelez (formerly part of Kraft), Brunswick, Fortune Brands, WMS Industries, etc, etc, etc as well as the Americas HQs of many huge foreign companies like Takeda, Asstelas, Pactiv/Reynolds, Aon (Hewitt), Beam Suntory, etc, etc, etc. There are a fair number of "outposts" as well like GE Healthcare (global HQ in CT and Healthcare HQ outside Milwaukee), but more of the companies in the 294/94 corridor are either global HQs or Americas HQs and have been at their current location for a very long time. Of course there are major company HQs along 88 like McDs, BP, Navistar, but there just are not as many and do not generate the number of high paying jobs that the companies along 294/94 do.
Having lots of long standing relationships with folks that literally built up town like Oak Brook I really don't mean to diminish its significance but as businesses have shifted it is not the same kind of "corporate power center" it once was. There has been a major shift in the kinds of facilities that one finds in Oak Brook and the kind of staff that works in these facilities. While McDonalds has a very impressive campus as well as additional offices and data centers there are many other towns that have multiple campus type sites in Lake Co / northern Cook County. Sites in Oak Brook that once did have have the potential to be redeveloped for global HQ have largely shifted toward more "shared tenant" and mixed retail uses. From the perspective of the Village of Oak Brook and sales tax revenues this not a bad thing at all, as many of these sites do help the village coffers BUT it means that there are not as many of the kinds of opportunities that are associated with top level decision makers. The thing too is especially as these top level decisions are increasingly driven by the kinds of information gleaned from "big data" there is just not as much demand for folks with advanced information technology skills as there are at the HQ locations further north...
Similarly the campuses in Lisle / Naperville that once were home to rather high tech firms like AT&T, Bell Labs, Lucent /Alcatell, Molex and TellLabs have seen major consolidation / downsizing if not total shutdown / acquisition. To be sure, it is not all doom and gloom, as some firms have taken over the space but one should question if the kinds of firms are really going to move the region in the most promising technology directions. Case in point, the very high tech Lucent facility is now occupied by the heavy truck powertrain firm "Navistar" and the former site of Burroughs Computers is now home to a Universal Technical Institute school of diesel mechanics. The nearby former HQ of OfficeMax sits vacant and offices that once were so crowded with code jockeys for ATT that they had a three-story stack of mobil offices have been switched over to the the much lower paying back office operations of BMO-Harris bank...
Personally these things don't bother me too much, but I know that the kinds of workers that are employed in an area absolutely does impact a broad range of local policies. When folks talk about "Austin not being like the rest of Texas" that is generally understood to be a positive factor that shows the educated workforce that powers the tech companies in the area also prefer a broader range of food, entertainment, cultural activities and even housing / lifestyles than the rather more narrow workforce in most of the rest of the state that still has roots in oil fields, cattle/ agriculture and more traditionally blue collar fields...
The above list is overwhelmingly made up of smaller outposts of companies that are headquartered elsewhere or have their America's HQ elsewhere. Caterpillar global HQ is in Peoria. What is cited here is a small outpost. Nissan's Americas HQ is in Nashville. What is cited here is an smaller outpost. Same for many others on this list - Toyota Americas HQ is in Plano, TX; Hyundai is in Fountain Valley, CA, etc, etc, etc. This does not compare with the numerous global HQs along the 294/94 corridor like Allstate, Walgreens, Baxter, Abbott, Abvie, WW Grainger, Tenneco, CDW, Mondelez (formerly part of Kraft), Brunswick, Fortune Brands, WMS Industries, etc, etc, etc as well as the Americas HQs of many huge foreign companies like Takeda, Asstelas, Pactiv/Reynolds, Aon (Hewitt), Beam Suntory, etc, etc, etc. There are a fair number of "outposts" as well like GE Healthcare (global HQ in CT and Healthcare HQ outside Milwaukee), but more of the companies in the 294/94 corridor are either global HQs or Americas HQs and have been at their current location for a very long time. Of course there are major company HQs along 88 like McDs, BP, Navistar, but there just are not as many and do not generate the number of high paying jobs that the companies along 294/94 do.
Etc, etc, etc?
Toyota and Lexus have the Midwest headquarters of their financial service corporations situated off 88. Hyundai America has a 342,000 square-foot office complex in Aurora. The design and engineering of Caterpillar's medium- and large-wheel loaders happens at a massive office and assembly compound in Montgomery. None are short on white collar jobs and none could be categorized as "small outposts." And you want to talk number of local jobs?
McDonalds, Navistar, Nicor, Nalco, Alcatel-Lucent, and BP America alone employ roughly 15,000 professionals locally. And those six hardly scratch the surface of companies with global or national headquarters out west: Molex, Tellabs, Aldi US, "etc, etc, etc." Every company on that list has an office on 88 that employs at least a few hundred professionals, many have upwards of 1000 or more. They are nationally if not globally significant businesses and their employees are highly paid professionals.
I don't even remember how this argument started... Chet trolling?... but both corridors are national powerhouses. The Lake County portion of your corridor and the DuPage portion of the western corridor typically have the lowest corporate vacancy rates in suburban Chicagoland. If either suffers its not a suburban regional problem, its a state problem. Can we agree that Illinois should do more to court and keep businesses?
Last edited by holl1ngsworth; 04-30-2015 at 10:15 AM..
I find that my west-suburban neighbors work all over the place, and definitely not concentrated along I-88. But the Loop, Schaumburg, and Naperville seem to be the most popular locations for people I talk to. We also have a lot of medical professionals from CDH/Northwestern and other area hospitals.
I know that the gross employment numbers are higher along I-94 in Lake County than along I-88 in DuPage, but that does not take away from the fact that there are still a LOT of jobs along I-88 and deeper in to suburbs like Naperville. And the corporate park in northern Downers Grove near I-355 is about to expand as companies take a pass on dated buildings in Oak Brook and look further west:
A quote from that late 2013 article: Overall vacancy was 24.4 percent in the Chicago suburbs during the second quarter and 20.7 percent in the western suburbs, according to Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. But Mr. Ward said those numbers paint an incomplete picture. “We're thinking that a good chunk of that inventory is going to be categorized by corporations as functionally obsolete,” Mr. Ward said. “There is a lot of inventory in the suburbs, but what our corporate customers are telling us is that the existing inventory is not suitable for their needs going forward.”
Last edited by Lookout Kid; 04-30-2015 at 09:37 AM..
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