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World Business Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Grants

2018 (2 years)
$400,000

Chaired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, World Business Chicago (WBC) is a not-for-profit economic development organization that fosters private sector growth and jobs through the advancement of business-friendly environments in the Chicago metropolitan region. As a partnership between the city, civic leaders, and the business community, WBC is strategically located to play a leadership role in helping the private and public sectors to develop policies and practices that can foster regional growth. WBC pursues the dual objectives of improving Chicago’s economic performance while working to include the region’s diverse communities as participants in and beneficiaries of this growth. This general operating support grant is made in recognition of the range of programs that WBC operates that further these goals, as well as its ongoing mobilization of civic leaders to pursue inclusive economic growth.

2017 ( 2 months)
$250,000

World Business Chicago is a public-private, non-profit partnership that promotes Chicago as a leading global city. In December 2017, World Business Chicago is organizing a summit of North American Mayors on Climate with representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Visiting mayors will commit publicly to significantly reducing their cities’ greenhouse gas emissions and discuss specific carbon reduction initiatives. The Summit, which will be held in Chicago, contributes to the global conversation about addressing climate change by highlighting the role and responsibilities of local municipalities in helping their respective nations achieve the emission reduction targets outlined in the Paris Agreement.

2015 (2 years)
$400,000

Chaired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, World Business Chicago (WBC) is a not-for-profit economic development organization that fosters private sector growth and jobs through the advancement of
business-friendly environments in the region. A partnership among the city, civic leaders, and the
business community, WBC guides implementation of the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs (the Plan), a broad civic effort that since 2012 has fostered regional growth and job creation, with the goals to improve substantially Chicago's performance in the global economy and to ensure that the benefits of this growth accrue to the region's diverse communities. Renewal of funding provides operating support for the Plan as it embarks upon the next stage of its work.

2014 (2 years)
$300,000

World Business Chicago (WBC) is a not-for-profit economic development organization that fosters private sector growth and jobs by advancing business-friendly environments in the region. Support is provided to WBC to launch the Chicago Regional Export Partnership, led by the seven northeastern Illinois counties and the City of Chicago, to increase exports by small-to-medium enterprises from the Chicago region. The Partnership will identify firms with high export potential and provide them with individualized export market information and analyses, and assist with business plan development to help streamline export opportunities.

2012 (3 years)
$450,000

World Business Chicago--Chicago’s not-for-profit economic development corporation--enhances Chicago’s economy through the growth of the private sector by coordinating the city’s business retention and attraction efforts, raising Chicago’s profile as a premier global business destination, and serving as a resource for companies. At Mayor Emanuel’s request, building on work previously supported by the Foundation, WBC created the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs, the basis of a coordinated effort to assess the Chicago region’s economy and help it expand at a faster rate. World Business Chicago will use this grant to manage the implementation of the Plan’s key strategies and maintain and monitor its progress.