Insights

Chicago knows how to take on challenges and come out stronger on the other side. This is the city that reversed a river and fought through a great fire, a great recession, and a pandemic. That resolve is showing up again in new data. The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the University of Illinois Chicago recently polled small business owners about the direction of the economy, and two themes emerged from the results. The first […]

In a July 9 Chicago Tribune op-ed, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jack Lavin urged Chicago’s city leaders to focus on economic growth ahead of this summer’s budget discussions. In the piece, Lavin wrote that the coming budget debate “will follow a familiar script of cuts on one side and new taxes on the other.” But that debate, he continued, “will miss a central issue: growth.” According to Lavin, “Chicago must make growth […]

Recent sentiment data from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce points to a marked shift in mood across the region’s small business community. In a poll of small business owners conducted with the University of Illinois Chicago late last year, 70% said they expect the local economy to get worse over the coming year — a dramatic rise from the 43% who felt that way the year before. The concern extends to owners’ own books. Fewer […]

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is partnering with University of Illinois Chicago’s College of Business to launch a survey to uncover crucial trends among Chicagoland’s small business community. The Chamber’s annual State of Chicago Small Business Outlook provides a thorough, forward-looking source of information regarding the future of a crucial sector of our economy. “Small businesses play a vital role in creating jobs and anchoring communities in Chicagoland,” said Jack Lavin, President & Chief Executive Officer, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. […]