Goal

Regional Economic Development Cooperation

Strengthen Choose DuPage and DuPage County’s position as a regional partner in economic development through the Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership (GCEP).

Regional economic development cooperation is needed now more than ever to keep DuPage and the regional economy strong and prosperous. It is believed that as a region we must implement strategies that fuel our economic strength and in turn create a vibrant business climate that attracts and retains workers and businesses, grows our regional economy, and establishes the area as an attractive place to do business.

Choose DuPage joined GCEP because of this understanding and that a strong region means a strong DuPage. The board and staff also agree that it is important to continue to collaborate with partners, especially when addressing the impact of the pandemic on our economy and planning for a post-pandemic recovery. Through GCEP, the counties have made the following commitments, with the goal of facilitating activities that better take advantage of our shared opportunities and complement our unique interests. Partners agreed to:

  • Engage corporate, civic, and institutional partners to leverage our combined strengths and implement approved joint plans for the benefit of the region.
  • Enlist federal and state governments to play key roles as partners and funders of regional initiatives in coordination with existing agencies and activities.
  • Improve our inter-jurisdictional and inter agency communication to share all information as is necessary and prudent to create efficient and effective opportunities for collaboration.
  • Develop methods and resources for deliberate action that advances the region, with an emphasis on the needs of marginalized communities and the potential to enhance our global economic competitiveness.
  • Set the highest standards of professional conduct, trust, and integrity for ourselves, our staff, and our partners to maximize regional benefits for public expenditures.
  • Evaluate both the overall economic progress of the entire region as well as individual communities as we measure success.

Key Activities:

  • Collaborate with GCEP on global economic engagement initiatives that strengthen the visibility of the region, drive foreign direct investment, and support the establishment of a competitive “global identity.”
  • Work with GCEP’s research team on the regional asset mapping initiative in an effort to coordinate data sets and develop messaging for marketing the advantages of the region for business attraction (including FDI) and expansion.
  • Establish shared capacity for data and research to support economic development functions at the regional and county scale, including central analysts, common subscriptions, and reports; and coordinated responses for RFIs, on behalf of the region and individual sub-jurisdictions to represent all its assets.
  • Work within DuPage County and GCEP to target and align new economic development initiatives within industry sectors that are regional economic engines and attract talent, including life science, TD&L, manufacturing & food manufacturing, finance & fin tech, and business & professional services.
  • Work with DuPage County, GCEP, municipalities, and utility providers to identify areas where multi-level partnerships are needed to study and/or address specific issues related to economic development. Examples could include:
  • Addressing coordinated fiber installation, utility planning, transportation planning or county border issues.
  • Identifying new areas of opportunity for large scale development.
  • Joint studies on industry specific topics/issues relevant to the changing business climate (i.e., the changing nature of manufacturing and onshoring opportunities for the DuPage County region).