Why Export?

How Exports are Fueling the U.S. Recovery

Exports represent a staggering 54% of GDP growth in the top 100 metropolitan areas in the United States. Traded sectors are key to high-quality economic growth. One tradable export job is the equivalent to three local jobs, and there are 5,690 jobs created per $1 billion in exports. While the United States’ middle-class consumption has remained relatively steady since 2000 and is projected to remain stagnant, countries such as India and China are going to exponential growth in middle-class consumption. Continue reading

Current Economic Environment in DuPage County

Below is a recap of the presentation Economic Development Director, Bryan Gay, gave at Powering the Future, where the region’s economic development leaders discussed the current and future economic state of their respective counties. Presentations offered insight on future development projects, priorities and policies impacting the electrical trades in Chicagoland. Continue reading

Illinois Route 390 Construction Update

Project Overview

The first phase of the Western Access O’Hare project includes building the new Illinois Route 390. The Illinois Route 390 Project scheduled to be complete by 2017 is improving the existing portion of Illinois Route 390, formerly known as the Elgin O’Hare Expressway, from Lake Street (U.S. Route 20) to I-290 and extending Illinois Route 390 east to Illinois Route 83 along the current Thorndale Avenue with bridges and frontage roads to accommodate local traffic. Continue reading

Elmhurst Road Interchange Project at I-90

Project Overview

In 2015, work continues to build the new Elmhurst Road Interchange on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90). The Illinois Tollway will complete the reconstruction of the existing ramps and construction of a new bridge to carry Elmhurst Road traffic over the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) and then begin work to reconstruct and widen Elmhurst Road. Continue reading

Western Suburbs Voted One of the Best Places to Start a Business in Illinois

Mentoring and helping others come naturally to the people around Chicago.

So says Nick Rosa, founder and a managing director of Sandbox Industries, an incubator turned venture capital firm. Since founding Sandbox in Chicago in 2003, Rosa has worked with numerous entrepreneurs, and he’s not sure if it’s the tough Illinois winters that bring people together, but there’s an ethos of supporting others without a “what’s in it for me” attitude, he said. Continue reading

I-290 Interchange Project Update

As part of the Western Access O’Hare project, the Illinois Tollway is completely rebuilding the I-290 Interchange at Illinois Route 390, formerly known as the Elgin O’Hare Expressway. Scheduled to be complete by the end of 2017, the I-290 Interchange Project is estimated at approximately $440 million and will include 17 ramps and 15 new bridges in the interchange area between Meacham/Medinah Road and Prospect Avenue and will create direct access with free-flow traffic movements to and from Illinois Route 390 in all directions.

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Hamilton Partners Aids in New Downers Grove Commute Option

Employees at the Esplanade office complex will have a new Downers Grove commute option that began April 6, thanks to the collaborative efforts of Metra, Pace, the Regional Transportation Authority, Transportation Management Association (TMA) of Lake Cook and other partners. On April 6, 2015 Pace began operations on Route 465 Belmont Station – Esplanade, offering four morning and three evening trips between the Esplanade and the Belmont Station on Metra’s BNSF Line. Continue reading