Tourism, visitors, and fiscal impacts on a local economy in the Calumet area

dersanderson

The Calumet area at the Illinois/Indiana border is rich in world class prairie and savanna habitats, the best trail network in the region, a stretch of the 1000 mile Lake Michigan National Recreation (lake kayaking) Trail, the Pullman National Monument, the A. Philip Randolph Museum, some great microbreweries, music festivals, the best windsurfing in the region, the Little Calumet River Water Trail, a stretch of the 500 mile Grand Illinois Trail, and its intersection with the 4600 mile coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail, and the most biologically diverse BioBlitz site yet found in Illinois…..yet….you probably haven’t experienced any of these features….but you will, someday soon. And when you come down to the Calumet area, you will spend some money, and the area and its residents will benefit. That’s what eco/cultural-tourism is all about.

Ders Anderson is the Greenways Director at Openlands. He’s worked in the Calumet area on a variety of projects for over 20 years. As Greenways Director, he has developed and implemented plans related to water trails, bike/ped trails, as well as creek and river protection and restoration, throughout the Chicago Wilderness region.

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For disability accommodations please contact Christiana Kinder, (312) 996-8700 or christia@uic.edu.

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Revitalizing neighborhoods and creating jobs through high-impact initiatives

daviddoig

CNI is a not-for-profit community development corporation focused on mixed-use real estate developments on Chicago’s Far South Side and is a Community Development Entity investing New Market Tax Credits in high impact neighborhood projects.  Chicago neighborhood initiatives was formed in 2010 to coordinate resources, economic development and neighborhood revitalization efforts in chicagoland’s low-to-moderate income neighborhoods.

CNI seeks to revitalize neighborhoods and create jobs by developing high impact projects, providing financial resources to entrepreneurs and sustaining long-term community partnerships. Doig  has leads CNI and its partner US Bank in the development of Pullman Park, a 200-acre mixed-use redevelopment of a former Ryerson Steel site.  

David Doig is a seasoned professional in community development, real estate, finance, and government. Doig is President of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI). In over twenty years of living and working in the city of Chicago, David Doig has become an expert on how cities and neighborhoods work.  From real estate development to government finance, Doig has provided leadership and expertise at all levels. Doig graduated from Wheaton College and received a master’s degree in social science, with an emphasis on urban policy, from the University of Chicago.

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For disability accommodations please contact Christiana Kinder, (312) 996-8700 or christia@uic.edu.

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How the Illinois International Port District can make a SPLASH: Jobs, development, and innovation!

claytonharrisiii

This talk will focus on the five-year strategic plan for the Illinois International Port District and how the plan is designed to bring viability back to the Port with a focus on E.R.I.C. strategies (economic and environmental, recreational, industrial, and conservation).

Clayton Harris III and the Illinois International Port District are committed to developing and maintaining a world-class port that operates as a modern, strategically driven facility and is focused on generating and expanding economic activity and employment for the benefit of the City of Chicago and State of Illinois. Clayton was formerly the Director of Government Affairs for the Midwest United States with CH2M HILL, a global engineering design/build consulting firm with over 26,000 employees and on every continent.

After earning his Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Technology and while working at the Pentagon in Combat Systems Engineering in the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization Clayton decided to attend law school full time while continuing to work full time. Once he graduated from Howard University’s School of Law he moved to Chicago to become a Cook County Assistant States’ Attorney.  Subsequent to ascending from Appeals, through traffic and narcotics to Special Prosecutions, Clayton was tapped by Mayor Richard M. Daley to help work his legislative agenda in Springfield.  There, aptly so, he focused on crime, environment and labor.

In 2006 the State of Illinois asked Clayton to be the chief of staff for the Illinois Department of Transportation. Clayton’s previous experience at the Chicago Department of Transportation and in aerospace at ARPA was the right combination for IDOT, which was in need of a visionary leader who understood Earthly transportation issues yet had the stellar ideas to manage the complexities of this particular state agency.

Based on this success Clayton was once again wooed to come work in a larger capacity, this time the Governor’s office called and placed him over all state infrastructure as the Deputy Chief of Staff where he oversaw and managed every capital agency in the state. In addition to the work that Clayton engages in professionally, academically he enjoys lecturing at the University of Chicago which he has done for the past seven years, where he teaches Process and Policy in State and local government specifically focusing on Illinois and Chicago in the school of Public Policy.

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For disability accommodations please contact Christiana Kinder, (312) 996-8700 or christia@uic.edu.

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GCI takes on Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship

03-07-17-blog

There are many seemingly intractable, multi-sectoral and complex challenges facing our communities that present many opportunities for innovative policy responses and action. As governments continue to reduce their involvement in direct service provision, a focus on innovative approaches to addressing challenging and complex social problems has become imperative.

For Spring Semester 2017, the Great Cities Institute’s (GCI) Real Time Chicago lecture series is focused on the notions of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

On February 8th, Marc J. Lane, of The Law Offices of Marc J. Lane, P.C., and Vice Chair of the Cook County Commission on Social Innovation opened the series with an overview of his work at the state and county level to promote mission-driven ventures as the solution to many vexing social problems. Then on February 22nd, Claudia Alcantara of the Empresarias del Futuro program at Muejeres Latinas en Acción shared her organization’s strategy for empowering women to open small businesses and create wealth for their communities.

This Wednesday, March 8th, the conversation on social innovation continues as we host Clayton Harris III. He serves as the executive director of the Illinois International Port District and will discuss the five-year strategic plan to bring viability back to the port with a focus on economic, environmental, recreational, industrial, and conservation strategies (E.R.I.C.).

March 15, GCI will host David Doig, president of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, where he will discuss the creation of CNI in 2010 to coordinate resources, economic development and neighborhood revitalization efforts for Chicagoland’s low-to-moderate income neighborhoods.

April 5, Ders Anderson, Greenways Director of Openlands, will speak on job creation surrounding Lake Calumet.

To finish the series, on April 12, Mark Yates, Vice President of Social Enterprise, will be focusing on job programming at the Safer Foundation to reduce recidivism.

As part of GCI’s work on economic development, this lecture series will translate into programmatic work to foster a diverse ecosystem of entrepreneurial activity focused on how social innovation and social entrepreneurship can address some of the country’s major economic and social challenges.

Real Time Chicago lectures begin at 12 noon in the GCI Conference Room, 4th floor of CUPPA Hall. A light lunch will be provided.

Housing Market Data in Cook County, Chicago and its Neighborhoods – November 2016 Update

Authors
Matthew D. Wilson

Abstract
In 2016, issues of affordable and accessible housing permeate the national debate on housing. While national housing policy has made strides towards making quality housing attainable for all, the current state of the housing and mortgage market require innovative policy solutions. This report was prepared for a Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) roundtable discussion with Chicagoland housing leaders and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin’s staff regarding the development of national housing policy. This report highlights that Chicago and the Chicagoland region reflect many of the national housing issues regarding affordabililty and access, and through a sptial analysis, demonstrates geographic disparities.

Full Text (PDF) »

Screening of Count Me In by Ines Sommer

countmeinflyer
Great Cities Institute is hosting a screening of Count Me In – a documentary about participatory budgeting (PB) here in Chicago. PB is a democratic process by which citizens decide how to spend public money.  To date, over $25 million have been allocated to fund projects across the city. The documentary follows PB stakeholders across Chicago as they work through the PB process. Join us for a viewing of the film, followed by a panel discussion with filmmaker Ines Sommer and lead PB researcher Thea Crum as they answer your questions about one of the most exciting innovations in citizen empowerment.

Date: Friday, March 3
Time: 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Location: Great Cities Institute conference room – CUPPA Hall (412 S. Peoria), 4th Floor
Documentary info: http://www.countmeinmovie.com/
Light refreshments to be served

Please direct any inquiries to Ryan at rwilso36@uic.edu.

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A LinkedIn for Chicago’s youth? Yolobe looks to connect kids with opportunities

Yolobe co-founder David Douglas (right) speaks to Schurz High School students as part of a pilot program to test Yolobe in Chicago, February 17, 2017. (Jim Young / Chicago Tribune)

Yolobe co-founder David Douglas (right) speaks to Schurz High School students as part of a pilot program to test Yolobe in Chicago, February 17, 2017. (Jim Young / Chicago Tribune)

Findings from a UIC Great Cities Institute report on youth joblessness in Chicago are cited in a Chicago Tribune article about Yolobe, is a new social media app that features jobs and training opportunities for teens.

Only about 40 percent of CPS graduates go to a four-year college — and just less than half of those in college graduate within six years — so many seek employment or other training.

But employment prospects for Chicago youth have been bleak. Among CPS graduates with the lowest qualifications, 37 percent were neither working nor in college in the fall after high school graduation, according to a 2013 report from the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research.

Unemployment is particularly stubborn among black youth living in highly segregated communities on the South and West sides that also have been the scene of much of Chicago’s violence.

Among black youth, 13 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds and 39 percent of 20- to 24-year-olds were not working and not going to school in 2015; that compared with 9 percent of teens and 22 percent of early 20-somethings in the city overall, according to a report released last month by the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Full Story from Chicago Tribune

 

Youth Employment Data: Jobless Rates by Chicago Community Areas and Out of Work and Out of School Rates by Public Use Microdata Areas

Authors
Matthew D. Wilson

Abstract
The following data report was prepared for Thrive Chicago’s Opportunity Youth Working Group on February 22, 2017. This document provides jobless rates for 16 to 19 year olds and 20 to 24 year olds by Chicago Community Area for 2011-2015, and out of work and out of school rates for 16 to 19, 20 to 24, and 16 to 24 year olds by Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in 2015.

For more information on youth joblessness, see Abandoned in their Neighborhoods: Youth Joblessness amidst the Flight of Industry and Opportunity (2017), A Lost Generation: The Disappearance of Teens and young Adults from the Job Market in Cook County (2016), and Lost: The Crissis of Jobless and Out of School Teens and Young Adults in Chicago, Illinois and the U.S. (2016).

Full Text (PDF) »