CHICAGO, IL, USA - Chicago is the largest city in North America which did not have a World Trade Center. That has now changed. Chicago is commonly referred to as “America’s Second City”. By size it is the third largest metropolitan area in the United States, behind New York and Los Angeles. Chicago’s regional population is approximately 9.5 million people. It sits in the midst of a tri-state area consisting of the States of Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.

Historically, Chicago has been noted for its important contribution to U.S. commercial development. As the geographical center of U.S. commerce, it is the Midwestern headquarters for many U.S. multi-national corporations such as Boeing, Archer Daniels Midland, and McDonalds. It has the largest concentration of rail lines in the United States, providing important transportation of goods from both coasts to other parts of the United States. O’Hare International Airport is one of the top three busiest airports in the U.S., and has international connections to destinations in all of the important locations on all five continents. The new sectors of information and communication technology are supported by Chicago’s high number of world-class academic and research institutions. Chicago’s is also a world-class financial center as a leader in derivatives trading. The city is noted for its architecture, urban parks, performing arts and countless cultural institutions.

Like other American cities, Chicago is also facing its challenges. But a very important difference is that Chicago has lacked a World Trade Center. New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and even Detroit have been helped by the existence of World Trade Center organizations. WTCs have helped to lift these cities into the new era of global commerce. “Chicago World Trade Center Partners LLC is dedicated to helping transform Chicago into a 21st Century city by improving the region in areas where other World Trade Centers have made great contributions”, stated Martin Schiffman, Managing Member of WTC Chicago, Mr. Schiffman is also the founder and permanent Board Member of World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia. “We will assist the city in attracting international corporate tenancies, help to export its academic product overseas, assist its small business base to be better exporters, increase its profile in international tourism and generally create better connectivity with foreign countries, cities and businesses. The WTCA is the perfect medium for helping to make this happen.” Mr. Schiffman has been associated with the WTCA for over 26 years.

In order to achieve its goals, WTC Chicago consists of a highly skilled group of Chicago business professionals combined with others who have long-term experience in successfully organizing and running WTCs, notably Philadelphia. Also, it is a team whose skills are internationally recognized in the various areas of commercial property development; construction and development; financing; private equity investment; mergers, strategic advisory and executive search; economic impact research; and legal strategies. In addition to Chicago, affiliates of the company already operate in Boston, London, New York, Singapore, Tokyo, Jakarta and Toronto.

(Submitted on behalf of Martin Schiffman, not authored by Deviki Gupta)