Economic Vitality

We invest in building an inclusive and equitable economy that contributes to the long-term vitality of the Chicago region.

Focus AREAS

Inclusive regional economic growth
Equitable investment across communities
Individual opportunity and prosperity
Responsive and efficient institutions

Projects

American Rescue Plan Funding Initiatives
Municipal Capacity for Capital Investments
Museum Campus Working Group
COVID-19 Impact on Women in the Workforce
211 Metro Chicago Governance and Organizational Design
Department of Planning and Development Commercial Corridor Program Assessment

2022 Economic Vitality Snapshot

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INCLUSIVE REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH

Seizing this moment: stewarding transformational progress for the Chicago region

Project: American Rescue Plan Funding Initiatives
Clients: City of Chicago Mayor’s Office, Cook County

The resources made available via the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a more equitable Chicago region by addressing challenges— including poverty, community disinvestment, and inequitable access to opportunity—that were exacerbated by the pandemic, and that must be rectified to build a better region.

At this pivotal moment for Chicago, Civic Consulting Alliance’s services are in greater demand than ever. Since March 2021, Civic Consulting Alliance and our partners have committed significant resources to support the City of Chicago and Cook County in planning for the effective investment of these public funds into catalytic initiatives to make our region more just, equitable, and resilient.

“Civic Consulting Alliance has been an invaluable partner in helping the City to develop the Chicago Recovery Plan, a transformative investment strategy that will create thriving communities and an equitable economic recovery from COVID-19. I am grateful for their continued commitment to making Chicago a better place for all.”

— Lori E. Lightfoot, Mayor, City of Chicago

Key Projects

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American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Signed into Law

The federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law, providing nearly $2 billion to the City of Chicago and $1 billion to Cook County in direct, flexible funding to combat the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our region—in addition to billions more in direct funding for specific uses, plus potentially billions via competitive funding streams.

Developing a Strategy for Investments

Civic Consulting Alliance partnered with BCG and pro bono partners Mayer Brown and EY to support the City to develop frameworks to guide the investment of ARPA funds. This framework and accompanying research were key inputs to the City’s 2022 budget and its Chicago Recovery Plan. At the same time, we collaborated with Cook County, its contractor, and our pro bono partner Slalom on a comprehensive process to identify, review, and prioritize initiatives that would receive ARPA funding. This work informed the County’s 2022 budget and its Roadmap to Recovery.

Building Project Management Infrastructure

Civic Consulting Alliance developed the organizational design for a central program management office (PMO) at the Mayor’s Office to guide the implementation of the Chicago Recovery Plan initiatives. This included outlining key milestones for 2022 and developing materials to onboard new City PMO staff. With pro bono support from Slalom, we supported integrating data systems to streamline reporting and track spending. In parallel to this effort, Cook County worked with its contractor to build and launch a PMO to guide the implementation of its Roadmap to Recovery priorities.

Accelerating Implementation of Priority Initiatives

Equipped with strategic roadmaps to guide their efforts, the City and the County focused on implementing their priority recovery initiatives. We supported the City by providing capacity for the Project Management Office structure and advancing the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) commercial corridor initiative. For the County, we helped better define their vision for transformative place-based investments using ARPA funds.

Coordination for competitive federal funding opportunities

We supported the Mayor’s Office in creating and launching a structure to centrally coordinate federal grant applications across City departments and agencies. Effective coordination is necessary to pursue the unprecedented competitive federal funding opportunities via ARPA and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

THANK YOU

Mayer Brown and EY for their pro bono support to the City to develop the frameworks to guide the investment of ARPA funds. Slalom for support to the City in providing integrated data systems to streamline reporting and track spending.

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EQUITABLE INVESTMENT ACROSS COMMUNITIES

Prioritizing critical infrastructure investments in suburban Cook County

Project: Municipal Capacity for Capital Investments
Client: Cook County

Certain areas of Cook County, including the Southland and west suburban Cook, have experienced decades of persistent disinvestment – leaving them with few resources to invest in infrastructure and public services. These areas will experience an influx of capital funding allocated to local governments by the Illinois General Assembly (House Bill 64), the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. These funds offer an opportunity to make critical investments that will improve the long-term stability and quality of life in historically-disinvested communities. However, a significant barrier that local governments may face to the effective and expedited use of these funds is a lack of existing capacity and capital planning expertise.

“Civic Consulting Alliance has been a strong partner to Cook County in identifying and prioritizing immediate recovery needs and long-term transformative initiatives. Their unique model of public-private partnership has helped us effectively determine where we can make the most impactful investments.”

— Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President.

In 2021, our staff and pro bono partners invested in a Cook County Bureau of Asset Management pilot initiative that provides technical assistance to suburban municipalities for investments in vertical infrastructure (e.g., municipal buildings). In April 2022, we launched a second project with Cook County to design a program that will provide a new level of comprehensive support for municipal investments in infrastructure projects like transportation, municipal buildings, and water/sewer infrastructure. This new program integrates multiple County Bureaus and Departments, utilizes visualizations created by pro bono partners Analytics8 and KPMG, and applies an equity lens that prioritizes assistance for communities that have experienced historical disinvestment. Now, with additional capability provided by the Bureau of Asset Management, these communities will have support to secure critical infrastructure and public services investments that will improve the quality of life for residents.

THANK YOU

Protiviti and the University of Chicago for pro bono support throughout this project. Analytics8 and KPMG for support visualizing Cook County’s investment priorities in historically disinvested suburban municipalities.

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Enhancing Museum Campus as a global, year-round destination

Project: Museum Campus Working Group
Client: Chicago Office of the Mayor

Tourism is a major driver of Chicago’s economy. To build on the recommendations by the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the formation of the Museum Campus Working Group to further revitalize the City’s recovering tourism by enhancing the Campus’ appeal as a global, year-round destination for tourists, and more culturally relevant and accessible for all residents.

The Mayor’s Office asked Civic Consulting Alliance to be a thought partner to structure and steer the overall effort, which drew on our capabilities in strategy development and implementation planning to ensure that the Museum Campus Working Group could meet its milestones and deliver a final report within an aggressive 12-week timeframe.

Through sub-group working sessions and plenary meetings, Civic Consulting Alliance and pro bono partner Protiviti helped the sub-groups generate diverse ideas and priorities and develop a final set of strategic recommendations delivered to the Mayor.

The report, “Where Worlds Connect” and the overview website, detail the Museum Campus Working Group’s 35 recommendations to enhance the Campus experience as a global, year-round destination that will attract and be relevant to all residents and tourists with different interests, lifestyles, and needs.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with the Civic Consulting Alliance team on the Museum Campus project. Their expertise helped the group to formulate recommendations that have the potential to advance economic growth in the region and create a more inclusive environment for all to enjoy.”

— Richard Price, Museum Campus Working Group Chair, Executive Chairman, Mesirowurce

THANK YOU

Protiviti for pro bono support of the working group throughout the entire process

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INDIVIDUAL OPPORTUNITY AND PROSPERITY

Addressing gender disparities in the workforce

Project: COVID-19 Impact on Women in the Workforce
Client: Chicago Mayor’s Women’s Advisory Council

Women, and even more so women of color, were disproportionately negatively impacted in the workforce by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to have an equitable recovery, policymakers, workforce development practitioners, and employers need to address the systemic inequities in our labor market. The significant resources available through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) offer an opportunity to center women in the region’s economic and workforce development recovery strategies. Civic Consulting Alliance provided project management support to the working group including Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot’s Women’s Advisory Council (WAC), World Business Chicago, and Women Employed.

The full report, “Creating a More Equitable Recovery: Addressing the Economic Barriers COVID-19 Exacerbated for Women in Chicago,” will help government and private sector decision-makers center women in their recovery plans.

Dialing up social services via 211

Project: 211 Metro Chicago Governance and Organizational Design
Client: City of Chicago, Cook County, United Way

The Chicago region is the last major metropolitan area that does not have 211, an easy-to-remember resource for residents to access human and social services 24/7 by phone, text, and website. Without a 211 line, residents must navigate over a dozen call lines for different services, operated by multiple agencies. Implementing a 211 system has long been a goal for City and County officials, community- based organizations, and the philanthropic community. The COVID-19 Recovery Task Force also identified 211 implementation as a high priority and both the City and County allocated ARPA funding to establish a 211 system.

The City, County and United Way formed a partnership to bring 211 to the region, but did not have an existing collaboration model to work toward this goal. Given our unique experience and credibility in supporting cross-sector collaborations, Civic Consulting Alliance was approached to deliver an organizational and governance model, and a high-level roadmap for implementation of the new 211 system.

When launched, Callers to 211 will get assistance navigating resources for a variety of needs –including housing, mental health, utilities, food, disaster relief, health care, and transportation. In addition to serving residents directly, 211 can be used as a critical source of data about the services that residents need and existing service gaps. In the future, stakeholders can use this information to strengthen programs and inform future public policies and investments.

THANK YOU

Mayer Brown and Northwestern University for pro bono support throughout this project. The United Way of Metropolitan Chicago for generous philanthropic investment in implementation of the new regional 211 line.

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RESPONSIVE AND EFFICIENT INSTITUTIONS

Targeting investments for historically underserved commercial corridors

Project: Department of Planning and Development Commercial Corridor Program Assessment
Client: Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Chicago Office of the Mayor

The City’s Chicago Recovery Plan allocated significant amounts of ARPA resources and other funding for the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to expand its investments and support of local development projects to spur more equitable community revitalization in divested commercial corridors. While additional funds are certainly beneficial, how these funds are deployed is critical to creating impactful economic development in Chicago communities.

Civic Consulting Alliance supported DPD to become more effective in activating commercial corridors on the South and West sides by providing research, assessment, and recommendations for improving two DPD programs- the retail corridor activation program, and Chicago Recovery Plan community development grants.

As a result of this work, the City is now better equipped to select and implement refreshed commercial corridor activation strategies to strengthen dozens of small businesses across 20-25 retail corridors on the South and West sides that have historically been underserved. This initiative compliments a previous project that Civic Consulting Alliance accelerated in 2020 - the Mayor’s INVEST South/West program, which aligns public funds and drawing private and philanthropic investments to 12 key commercial corridors in 10 communities on the South and West Sides.

Indicators

Civic Consulting Alliance evaluates long-term indicators to inform our platform visions and our mission. These indicators also help us understand how the challenges we seek to address impact people in our region inequitably, shaped by factors like race, ethnicity, gender, or neighborhood. In turn, these indicators highlight that our solutions must be equity-focused and guided by the people they most impact.

Key Takeaway

The overall economic well-being of our region has improved in recent years. However, there continues to be significant economic inequity based on race. For example, the gap between the median income of White residents and that of Black and Latinx residents has grown since 2010. The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated many of the systemic inequities that underlie these gaps.

Labor Force PARTICIPATION Rate (%)
City of Chicago | 2012-2021

The graph below depicts the labor force participation rate for residents of Chicago aged 16-64, overall and by race/ethnicity.

Regional GDP ($B)
ChicagoLAND | 2011-2020

The graph below depicts the gross domestic product (GDP) for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Median household income ($k)
City of Chicago | 2012-2021

The graph below depicts the median household income for residents of Chicago, overall and by race/ethnicity.

Platform Funders

In addition to the many pro bono partners acknowledged in the Economic Vitality projects described above, the following corporate and foundation partners committed philanthropic support to fuel our staff investments in our Economic Vitality platform in FY2021:

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General Operating Funders

Our ability to maintain our flexible and responsive capacity to get big things done in all platforms relied on those philanthropic partners who provided general operating support for our mission:

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