Management

Chicago’s Plan to Create 80,000 Tech Jobs

Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the city is positioning itself to become a hub for innovation.

Nicole Blake Johnson

Twitter

Nicole is a social media journalist for the CDW family of technology magazines.

When Rahm Emanuel became mayor of Chicago in 2011, the city didn’t have designated innovation spaces.

Today, there are 11, including an innovation space for digital designers, engineers and entrepreneurs called 1871 and a new center focused on life sciences, Emanuel said in an interview with Bloomberg. The Windy City leads the nation in technology companies that are experiencing major growth and is home to established tech companies such as Groupon, Orbitz and CDW.

The number of jobs produced by tech companies in the surrounding areas near Groupon’s headquarters, the 1871 innovation center and Chicago’s Fulton Market area have grown by a third, from 30,000 to 40,000 jobs. “I think in the next three years we can get to 80,000 jobs in the tech space,” Emanuel said.

On our plans to add 80,000 technology jobs in Chicago over the next few years: http://t.co/mO1k507m1O

— ChicagosMayor (@ChicagosMayor) August 27, 2014

“I think the next decade in the new economy is for places like Austin, Chicago and New York, [where] … you’re going to see the next innovations to companies.”

You can watch the full interview below.