Alliance Newsletter
Alliance Newsletter

Update

Join Us for the Sixth Annual Summit on Regional Competitiveness
Transformative investments are happening in our mega-region. Hear first-hand from decision-makers in the private sector, government, and academia, and have your questions answered at this year's invitation-only Summit on Regional Competitiveness.
As a valued Alliance shareholder, you received an email from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago with the registration link on September.  To be resent the registration link, please contact Kelly O’Brien at kobrien@allianceRD.org
This year, the 8:00am-2:30pm program has many highlights and not-to-be-missed presentations by:
  • OECD
  • Foxconn Technology Group
  • Rexnord Corporation
  • U.S. Steel Corporation
  • Higher Education Leaders
  • and more
Confirmed speakers include:
  • Todd Adams, Rexnord Corporation
  • Bryan Albrecht, Gateway Technical College
  • Jeremiah P. Boyle,  Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
  • Jonathan Delagrave, Racine County, Wisconsin
  • Anne Edmunds, ManPowerGroup
  • Charles Evans, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
  • Deborah Ford, University of Wisconsin-Parkside
  • Karen Freeman-Wilson, City of Gary, Indiana
  • Paul Jones, Alliance for Regional Development
  • Rebekah Kowalski, Right Management, ManPowerGroup
  • Michael Lovell, Marquette University
  • Karen Maguire, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
  • Mark Mone, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  • Kelly O'Brien, Alliance for Regional Development
  • Violet Sistovaris, NIPSCO/NiSource
  • R. Carter Smith, Spartanburg Economic Futures Group
  • Jenny Trick,  Racine County Economic Development Corporation
  • Paul Vercher, United States Steel Corporation
  • Joseph Von Nessen, University of South Carolina
  • Louis Woo, Foxconn Technology Group
This is an invitation-only event and you must personally respond to the electronic invitation.  It cannot be forwarded  or transferred. For information on how to be added to the guest list and if you would like others in your network to be invited, please contact Shalora Jasper at sjasper@alliancerd.org.
Job Growth in the Mega-Region
CLICK TO ENLARGE
CLICK TO ENLARGE
The Alliance would like to thank the Indiana University Northwest School of Business & Economics staff, Dr. Bala Arshanapalli and Dr. Micah Pollak, for providing the graphs showing job growth and change in employment during the months of May 2018 - August 2018, in the United States and our mega-region.

Graph 1:
Data pulled from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Current Employment Statistics (CES), per thousands of workers, seasonally adjusted, indicate that the mega-region job growth has mostly mirrored that of the United States except during the month of August, when the mega-region's employment fell slightly.

Graph 2:
The second graph shows the change in employment for the entire time period (April to August 2018) broken down by MSA regions within the Mega region. Much of the job growth (in terms of numbers) was in the Chicago MSA, but some of the strongest growth (in terms of percentage) was in the Gary, IN MSA (+1.37%) and Kankakee, IL MSA (+3.95%)
Alliance Workforce Initiative
Today, the transportation, distribution and logistics (TDL) industry, is experiencing an exciting new phase of growth with the advent of the eCommerce industry.  It is however, being held back by the inability to fill thousands of open positions across the 21 counties represented by the Alliance for Regional Development.
Employers across all the major modes of transportation and warehousing struggle to attract employees to this industry or retain them, which is a huge pity. TDL is one of the most rewarding and gratifying industries in which to work. No two days are ever the same and the potential to rise to the top of the organization is there for everyone, including people who started off stacking boxes or driving a truck, just ask senior managers at FedEx or UPS!
As part of a solution to turn this situation around, the Alliance has teamed up with 21CC Education, a learning and development company based out of Chicago, The Hague (Netherlands), Mumbai and Bangkok. 21CC creates e-learning and mobile learning content for the TDL industry and hosts this on its own Amazon Cloud based learning management system (LMS). 
Content is presented in a compelling way, which includes gamification. Tough topics such as dangerous goods are presented through interactive games. 
The Alliance, 21CC and Manpower will be hosting a series of breakfast meetings across the 21 counties to showcase this unique solution.
If you are interested in hosting a breakfast meeting or know of any organizations that would benefit from this content, please e-mail Alliance President and CEO, Kelly O'Brien, at kobrien@alliancerd.org.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
To explore sponsorship opportunities, we invite you to visit our Sponsorship page, download our Sponsorship Opportunities PDF, or  contact Kelly O'Brien at 312-602-5148 or kobrien@alliancerd.org.
Alliance Transportation Team Celebrates Success
The 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project was a part of the Alliance Transportation Agenda.
On October 1st,  we celebrated the recent U.S. Department of Transportation $132 million INFRA grant award for the 75th Street Corridor Improvement and Argo Connection projects. This federal investment completes the project's $474 million funding need. These three construction and two design projects will modernize the region's rail infrastructure to increase local and national reliability and efficiency.
This is important because Chicago is number one in rail and its also the number one bottleneck in the U.S. rail network. Each day, nearly 500 freight trains - with over 37,000 railcars - and 760 passenger trains pass through the region, moving the goods and people that power the national economy. Chicago has remained the busiest rail hub in the nation with 35% of U.S. freight rail traffic and 46% of all intermodal traffic beginning, ending, or traveling through the city and the mega-region.
The Alliance congratulates CREATE and is a proud partner. The Alliance also acknowledges the important leadership provided by board member Joe Szabo, Executive Director, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and Transportation Team Manager, Steve Schlickman.
Elected Officials and Dignitaries doing the Official Ground Breaking Ceremony
Alliance Board Member Joe Szabo, Executive Director, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP); and Kelly O'Brien, President & CEO, Alliance for Regional Development
Elaine Chao, Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation; and Kelly O'Brien, President & CEO, Alliance for Regional Development
The Alliance Board of Directors
Chairman of the Board:      
Paul W. Jones             
Chairman (Retired), A.O. Smith Corporation
Deborah L. Ford
Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Michael G. Hahn         
Executive Director, Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
Greg Hummel                       
Partner, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Thomas Keon
Chancellor, Purdue University Northwest
William J. Lowe                  
Chancellor, Indiana University Northwest
Michael Pagano
Dean, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago
David Ryan                        
Executive Director, Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce
David Ritter
Partner, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP
Mark Rust 
Managing Partner, Chicago Office, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP
Joseph C. Szabo             
Executive Director, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
Tyson R. Warner               
Executive Director, Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission
 Kelly A. O’Brien                    
President & CEO, Alliance for Regional Development
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