Overview
- World Business Chicago reported 223 expansions, projects and new entrants last year, a 40% jump tied to about $1.7 billion in annual earnings and an estimated 19,600 jobs.
- The recent wave spans offices, industrial sites, headquarters, warehouses, data centers and call centers, with openings staggered across 2025, 2026, 2027 and beyond.
- Notable moves include Hexware’s Loop office with a planned 250 hires over five years, Amazon’s Bolingbrook fulfillment center expected to add roughly 1,200 jobs later this year, and Fortune Brands Innovations targeting at least 400 jobs by 2027.
- Manufacturing accounted for the largest share of projects at 38%, followed by professional, scientific and technical services at 16%, transportation and warehousing at 13%, and finance and insurance at 6%.
- City and business leaders frame the momentum within the Chicago 2050 plan to grow the regional economy from roughly $950 billion today to more than $1.4 trillion by 2050, citing central geography, the nation’s busiest multimodal freight network, O’Hare connectivity and a 5.5 million–person workforce.