8/24/2001

CHICAGO – There was a palace that was a city!

Chicago has been proclaimed as the country’s hottest high-tech hotbed by two University of Minnesota professors, and the city is now reacting to the effects of these numbers.

“You know as well as I do, there have been conflicting numbers about high-tech workers,” said Dan Lyne of World Business Chicago. “What these numbers show is something that we’ve been, as a city, saying all along. Now that the convergence economy is happening, it’s given all business a chance to breathe into technology as a whole."

As the survey reflected all jobs high-tech in nature and not just those at tech companies, Lyne says it indicates what a truly diverse economy Chicago has.

“It reaches into law firms, accounting firms – a lot of different fields,” Lyne said. “It’s almost bigger than we thought. Chicago has such a broad and diverse economy that in the past, a lot of those numbers didn’t show up.”

And so, what will the city be able to do with this development, now that the news is out and a week old? One local public relations specialist says this will be another hook on which to begin to hang our hats.

“Let's assume that the numbers are representative,” said Bob Bregenzer of Tech Image. “I think that would be encouraging. It would be very encouraging for companies to relocate here. For companies who are located here, most of us are big supporters of the Chicago area anyway.”

However, Bregenzer called for more and more attention to studies like this in order to place Chicago at the top of the public’s high-tech consciousness.

“I don't think there's going to be one big announcement or light bulb going off in everyone's head at the same time,” he said. “Gradually, people have to become educated that there's a lot of opportunity in Chicago. [With] the Boeing move and now these raw numbers, people will say, ‘That's kind of interesting.’

"Over time, they're going to expand O'Hare, and people will say, ‘That’s kind of interesting.’ It’s an accumulation of all these things you read and see that will bring people gradually to become aware of Chicago [in a business sense].”

"I think that's a great study, and that's a study that needed to be around here back in the heyday," said Ted Martin of Martin Partners, a local executive recruiting firm. "I think it confirms what a lot of us have always known, which is if you talk about breadth and diversity of industry sectors, you can't get richer than Chicago."

But, Martin says, Chicago's biggest asset – its diversity – became its biggest nemesis as far as gaining recognition.

"It's harder to count, but it's here," Martin said. "You've just got to go digging for it."

And so, Lyne says, the data is in place, the word is out and now it’s time for Chicago to continue to get the word out.

“I think it’s great because the one thing that Chicago didn’t have is a sex appeal, and people are starting to realize that robust workforces and diverse economies with companies that make money and do well are sexy now. And that is when you start seeking the bodies that actually do the stuff, when you start seeing the tech-capable work force.”