Although 1904 was the founding year of the Chamber, it operated under a Charter dated 1897 and is a direct lineal descendent of the Chicago Board of Trade which was founded in 1848. Originally the Board of Trade was a booster organization created to attract business to Chicago including conventions. Later it became a grain exchange. The year 1904 is used as the official founding date, for at this time, groups were amalgamated to form the present Chamber of Commerce.

1904:

Ninety-three merchants and manufacturers - leaders all - on October 9, 1904, set the foundations and modest superstructure for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce; its birth-name being the Chicago Commercial Association. A year later, these captains of federation found themselves eight times more numerous, and Chicago enjoying the best business in its history. Theodore Roosevelt was then President of the United States. Carter H. Harrison, Jr. was mayor of Chicago. Russia and Japan were at war. And Chicago had about 2,000,000 residents.

The Chamber has played, and continues to play, a major role in the development of the business and civic life of the community. Its record of accomplishments is notable, reflecting with credit the efforts over many years of a continuous succession of articulate business and civic leaders, united by a common bond - an earnest desire to make theirs a better community in which to live, work, and engage in business.

Among the Chamber's many accomplishments over the years, the following are indicative of its many-pronged interests:

The famous Chicago "Way to Ship" package car service was inaugurated by the Chamber in its very first year. Under this plan, Chicago shippers enjoyed a daily fast freight service to 1,500 communities without a transfer, and to 60,000 communities with but one transfer. No other city gave shippers comparable service - a fact of enormous advantage to Chicago firms.

1908:

The Chamber helped Northwestern University found its School of Commerce, and raised a guarantee fund to assure the school adequate finances over the formative years.

The Chamber successfully advocated the consolidation of Chicago's two telephone companies in 1909.

1910:

In 1910, the Chamber persuaded the City Council not to reduce the legal building height from 260 to 200 feet. Also in 1910, the Chamber started to promote efficiency in social welfare and related fields by analyzing the objectives of the agencies concerned, by appraising the soundness of their accounting and financial procedures, by disclosing duplicating, overlapping or fraudulent operations, and by assisting in strengthening the quality of their work. The Chamber's annual list of endorsed local civic and welfare organizations enabled its members and the community to react intelligently to continuous demands for funds totaling several hundred million dollars annually.

1911:

On October 9, 1911, the Chamber organized and operated the National Citizen's League for the Promotion of a Sound Banking System. This brought about passage of the Federal Reserve Banking Act in 1911. By the end of 1911, the Chamber's net membership reached 4,000.

The Chamber first instituted Fire Prevention Day, sponsored by the Fire Marshals Association of North America, on October 9, 1911, in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. (In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation. Five years later, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the first National Fire Prevention Week, which was October 4 - 10, 1925.)

1912:

1912 was a big year for the Chamber. Chicago's downstate relations as influenced by the Association of Commerce created a Committee on Relations with Illinois Commercial Organizations. Said Edward E. Gore, chairman of the Chamber's Ways and Means Committee, "If Chicago is to have justice at the hands of the legislature of Illinois, it can only be obtained through an industrious and earnest attempt to demonstrate to the other communities of the state, that Chicago has no desire to dominate state affairs; but desires only to dominate her own affairs, with the end in view of dealing intelligently, capably and satisfactorily with the great problems that confront a city of two-and-one-half million people, of many nationalities and of diverse ideas of the application of the government."

U.S. President Taft called for a unified national and international voice of business and the Chamber contributed to the creation and organization of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, of which Chamber President Kimbark said in 1912, "In the movement culminating in this organization, the Chicago Association of Commerce had an influential part, and it has since been our privilege to assist this organization in its efforts to gain the undivided support of the progressive business organizations of the history."

The influence of the Progressive Movement in politics could be seen in the events of 1914. The Chamber submitted to the U.S. Chamber a proposal for a general daylight working day. Also, the Chamber’s Civic-Industrial Committee was exceptionally active in raising Chicago's industry-consciousness, and in guiding public sentiment in progressive thinking and action. Projects included purifying Lake Michigan; elevating railway tracks; street railway extensions; census of Chicago manufacturers; extension of switch tracks; establishing the American College of Surgeons; exploring local industrial districts; education work at high schools and before miscellaneous bodies' taking 600 boys to the Corn Products plant at Argo; intensive industrial survey of Chicago, etc.

1915:

The Chamber raised $85,262 to relieve the victims of the appalling Eastland Disaster (a steamer that sank at its dock). That same year, the Foreign Trade Committee could report that its South American office at Buenos Aires had been in existence for five years. The Chamber was the first commercial body to establish a branch office in a foreign city. In this year, the Chamber transferred the office established by the Chamber in Argentina to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the United States Department of Commerce.

The Civic-Industrial Committee was conducting weekly meetings for young business executives, with attendance averaging more than 300 in 1916.

1918:

In 1918, when the government wanted 200,000 tickets sold for the United States War Exposition, the Chamber’s Ways and Means Committee sold 800,000 tickets.

1919:

1919 saw the Chamber organize the Mississippi Valley Association and the Chicago Crime Commission. At the end of this year, it also posted its highest membership of 6,365.

In its early years, the Chamber also aided in organizing the Chicago Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Chicago Safety Council, the Chicago Better Business Bureau, the Chicago Plan Commission, and the Advertising Council (Chicago Federated Advertising Club).

1920:

The Chamber organized the Citizens Committee to Enforce the Landis Award in 1921. This group broke up a long-standing building tie up and stimulated one of the biggest building booms in the City's history - a boom that continued until 1928. The Chamber brought to Chicago the national headquarters of the Elks.

The Chamber raised $25,000 for Illinois flood sufferers in 1922. It also fought successfully to save the Great Lakes Naval Training Station.

1923:

The Chamber promoted the organization of the Junior Association of Commerce.

1924:

1924 saw the Chamber submit preliminary plans for an underground garage on the lakefront to the South Park Commission.

1925:

The Chamber effectively maintained its promotion of the idea for a St. Lawrence waterway, and enlisted the support of the attorneys general of various valley states to resist the case brought against Chicago's water diversion by Wisconsin in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1925.

The Chamber spent $70,000 of its own funds in 1926 to conduct the first comprehensive expert investigation of the Sanitary District of Chicago. The Chamber presented to the City Council, at its request and without cost to the City, a comprehensive survey of street traffic conditions and suggested remedies. This was the most comprehensive study ever completed about traffic for any city in the world. The Chamber raised $300,000 for storm and flood relief to aid Florida hurricane sufferers, and for the sufferers of flooded districts in southern Illinois this year.

1920's:

The Chamber organized the "Secret Six." This group became an internationally famous crime fighting body, and was headed by Chamber President Colonel Robert Isham Randolph.

1930:

The Chamber entered a new, difficult and perilous field of public service. Because of the nature of the emergency existing, it organized its own Committee on Prevention and Punishment of Crime. The Secret Six headed the Committee. This was Chicago's first successful experiment on the part of federated business to meet the underworld face-to-face and abate corruption in public office.

The Chamber helped to insure the successful operation of "A Century of Progress Exposition" in 1933 and 1934. The Chamber's sixteen-page rotogravure tabloid (circulation 8,000,000 copies) was the Exposition's largest single publicity medium. The Chamber sold more tickets than any other group, and its "Public School Day at the Fair" brought the record single-day crowd of more than 600,000 students.

1940:

In the early 1940's, the Chamber conducted a series of surveys for the City of Chicago. Notable results were the ordinance that took the public schools out of politics and created the position of General Superintendent of Schools. Another made possible the annual savings to taxpayers of two million dollars through the creation of a centralized City Purchasing Bureau. And a third led to the creation of a permanent police labor detail - the famous Barnes Squad.

1945:

In 1945, the Chamber successfully advocated the State Slum Clearance and Rehousing Program Act, and passed its own Modernized Building Code. It was presented to the City Council for adoption. The Association also paved the way for Chicago's great housing developments following World War II.

Chicago's many new parking garages and parking lots erected since 1949 are a direct result of a Parking Plan for the City of Chicago, which the Chamber and the State Street Council jointly conceived and financed.

1950:

The Chamber conducted a successful Chicagoland Fair, Commerce and Industry Exposition in 1957, and an even more successful Chicago International Trade Fair of 1959 followed it. The latter brought Her Majesty, Elizabeth, Queen of the British Commonwealth, to Chicago as well as a giant U.S. Naval Flotilla. The trade fair added millions of dollars to 1959 Chicago business totals.

1960:

Throughout the 1960's, Chamber activities included important studies designed to develop programs and to initiate actions. One study was aimed at finding a solution to the area's mass transportation problems; another to determine the area's export and import potential; a third to discover the coming impact of waterway developments; a fourth designed to produce housing in Chicago for middle-income families; a fifth designed to ascertain the area's future banking requirements; a sixth concerned with diversion of water from Lake Michigan - a matter of enormous consequence to every area resident; and a seventh concerned with the revitalization of our older business communities.

1963:

The Chamber participated in the highly successful Illinois Trade Mission to Europe conducted by the Illinois Committee for Trade Expansion to increase Illinois export activity and to point out the advantages of using Chicago's shipping facilities and promote tourism to the area.

1965:

Mayor Richard J. Daley presented the Chamber with a 1965 Human Relations Commission Award for, "initiating and successfully carrying out unique programs with the business community to open up more and better job opportunities for minority group people."

1966:

The Chamber's Research and Development Council played a prominent part in attracting the $395 million atom accelerator at Weston (decision made by the Atomic Energy Commission). Also, a College Career Conference brought 1,800 college students from all over the nation with representatives of 128 major Chicago area employers to discuss the challenging business opportunities available in the Chicagoland area. This conference is the biggest event of its kind in the United States.

In addition, prominent business leaders began organizing Youth Motivation Program events in high schools. The Chamber took over operations in 1973 and added a scholarship component. This program was under the Chamber’s control until 2001, when the activities were spun off to dedicated youth service organizations.

The Japan Midwest Association was formed with membership listing the heads of major Chicago, Midwest and Japanese business firms in 1967. The Chamber and the Japan Committee for Economic Development formed the Association. The Chamber also initiated an on-the-job training program for member companies in cooperation with the Chicago Committee on Urban Opportunity. That same year, the Chamber sponsored two conferences that brought national and international attention to the city. A forum for experts in foreign trade and investment, marketing and transportation was provided by the conference on Chicago's Growth as an International Center. The first annual National Symposium on Measuring the Investment Performance of Pension and Profit Sharing Funds attracted financial experts from 25 states to the Chicagoland area.

1968:

The Chamber participated in a yearlong civic effort culminating in passage on the November ballot of a proposal to call a State constitutional convention.

1969:

1969 saw growing congestion from the increased volume of freight and numbers of people being transported caused the Chamber to launch a regional audit of transportation planning to be sure that maximum efficiency and coordination would result in a metropolitan area master plan embracing all modes of transportation.

1970:

The Chicago Board of Education asked the Chamber to undertake an extensive study of its (CBE) management practices to investigate cost reduction opportunities in its $733 million budget in 1971.

1973:

The first export fair ever held in the United States was sponsored by the Chamber (November) in cooperation with the Japan Midwest Association and other Japanese government and business organizations. It was the largest U.S. export promotion ever held anywhere and attracted more than 400 exhibitors and hundreds of buyers from Japan.

1975:

The Chamber organized a citizen's sponsoring committee, which raised $450,000 to educate the public about the essential need for the Regional Transportation Authority in 1974. The Chamber was also an active member in the successful passage of the six-county referendum that created the Regional Transportation Authority.

The Chamber advocated and saw successful passage of federal, state and local tax legislation in 1978 to encourage new capital investment that stimulated economic development in the Chicagoland area.

1979:

1979 was the year the Chamber celebrated its 75th anniversary.

1980:

The Chamber received the first "Award of Excellence" among the more than 3,000 chambers in the U.S.

Legislation reforming the Regional Transportation Authority was passed by the General Assembly during its fall-veto session and was supported by the Chamber in 1983. This same year, the Chamber supported major modifications to the O'Hare Master Plan. The Chamber also supported the revitalization of Midway. The Chamber, along with several other groups, was able to limit the tax increase to about one half of what was initially proposed by Governor James Thompson in 1983. At the Chamber's August, 1983 meeting, Governor Thompson signed legislation amending the Illinois Security Law broadening the availability of stock and bonds sales in the state.

1984:

The Chamber was chosen by the Mayor’s Office of Employment and Training and Cook County President’s Office of Employment Training to provide companies with on-the-job training services under the Job Training Partnership Act. These services continued through 1996.

1987:

The Chamber participated in the broad-based school reform coalition that led to the landmark School Reform Act of 1988.

The Chamber raised $500,000 in 1988 to defeat a referendum calling for another Illinois constitutional convention.

1990:

The Chamber Human Resources Committee implemented Partnership NOW: Business Works with Education to fill the void when Adopt-A-School dissolved. The Mayor’s Office took over in 1993 and CPS institutionalized the School Partners Program.

1993:

The Chamber secured a seat on the METRA Citizen Advisory Board, giving the business community a more direct voice into ongoing suburban transportation issues. Moreover, the Chamber joined a coalition of business and consumer organizations that worked to win congressional approval for the North American Free Trade Agreement.

1994:

1994 saw the Chamber celebrate its 90th Anniversary. The Chamber testified before the Illinois Senate Executive Committee and cautioned against premature approval for construction of a third regional airport this year as well.

1995:

The Chamber joined together with Lt. Governor Bob Kustra, the Illinois Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, The Illinois State Chamber of Commerce and the Chicago Department of Health to expand the Drug-Free Workplace Program into the Drug-Free Illinois Workplace Program. The Chamber supported what proved to be passage of brownfields legislation and viewed it to be a great success for businesses and cities throughout the state. Moreover, the Chamber was the lead chamber in putting together the Chicago Area Health Alliance, in which both neighborhood and suburban chambers participated. In the same year, the Chamber fought and won a tough battle for tort reform in the Illinois legislature, the Chamber led the successful effort to reduce Chicago's Employee Head Tax, and the Chamber played a leading part in securing Chicago as the site of the 1996 Democratic Convention. Additionally, the Chamber was instrumental in passing legislation that gave Chicago’s Mayor governance and administrative control of Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

1996:

In addition to hosting a series of citywide meetings on Chicago Public School reform in 1996, the Chamber was instrumental in pushing the CPS agenda in Springfield, leading to the passage of school principal accountability legislation. This same year, the Chamber sponsored the August 5th Chicago appearance of Presidential Candidate Bob Dole, at which he revealed his tax and economic plan. U.S. Attorney Janet Reno was the keynote speaker for the Crime Prevention Awards Luncheon and commended Chicago for having the first and most effective community policing effort. The Luncheon also drew James Burns, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois as well as Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1996. Meanwhile, freshman Congressman, Jesse Jackson Jr., was the keynote speaker at the 30th annual Youth Motivation Program recognition Luncheon.

Also in 1996 the Chamber developed the region's first labor management consortium, the Chicagoland Area Labor-Management Committee. The Chamber Subcommittee for Central Europe and Eurasia visited Romania and signed memoranda of cooperation with chamber executives in the cities of Galati and Bihor in 1996. These documents commit their chambers and the Chicagoland Chamber to sharing economic and business information that benefit respective members.

The National Chamber of Commerce in Poland visited Illinois and entered into a formal relationship with the Chicagoland Chamber, launching a chamber-to-chamber partnership.

The Chamber's Latin American Subcommittee signed an alliance with the Chamber of Commerce in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.

Finally in 1996, the Chamber-backed Unemployment Insurance Tax reform bill was successfully signed by Governor Jim Edgar on February 8th.

The Chamber created a coalition of banks and governmental agencies to promote the FLAG (Financial institutions, Law enforcement And related Government agencies) program which protects the elderly and disabled from financial fraud in 1997. Also, the Chamber was among 11 business organizations in the Illinois Business Education Coalition that achieved major statewide education reform along with guaranteeing a foundation level of school funding.

1998:

In 1998, yearlong efforts by the Chamber-led Midwest Asia Aviation Coalition led to a treaty signing in early 1998 that added 22 non-stop O'Hare - Japan flights per week.

The Chamber also commissioned a 1998 study on O’Hare’s economic impact by Booz Allen & Hamilton. The report concluded that an O’Hare left in its current state of congestion and capacity would cost the region hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars per year in lost revenue.

Additionally, the Education Work Force Quality Committee recommended that the Board expand its school choice public policy to support school choice options that place a priority on improving the academic performance of those students who are the most educationally disadvantaged, presumably those in low income communities, and have the least choice.

1999:

The Chamber joined in 1999 with CTA, Yellow Cab, the Mayor's Office of Substance Abuse and the Illinois State Chamber in the first-ever Chicago safe holiday entertaining campaign, "Celebrate Smart." Also, the Croatian Chamber of Economy signed a co-operation agreement with the Chicagoland Chamber encouraging trade, investment, technical and economic cooperation between the Chamber and the Republic of Croatia. The Chamber hosted an Economic Conference on Trade and Business Opportunities in Croatia, in conjunction with the Croatian government as an integral part of the Presidential Trade and Business Mission this year as well.

2000:

The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center was officially launched in 2000. The Chamber scored a legislative victory in Springfield by working through the Department of Revenue to include an amendment with language addressing the elimination and scale reduction of interest on penalties for late business tax payments in State House Bill 3240, the Uniform Penalty and Interest Act in 2000. This same year, the Chamber released Information Technology Education and Workforce Development Study to help City lay foundation for IT workforce preparation. The report predicted a shortage of IT workers in non-technology companies and noted direct correlation between post-secondary education and career advancement.

The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (the Center), initially funded by DCCA, AT&T, the Chicagoland Chamber and 11 other organizations, celebrated its 1 year anniversary in 2001 by announcing the results from its first year of programs designed to create a powerful, single resource for small to mid-sized Chicagoland businesses. More than 800 Chicagoland businesses had taken advantage of the Center’s training and learning programs.

That same year, the Chamber successfully lobbied in collaboration with the City, the State and World Business Chicago to relocate Boeing Company’s corporate headquarters to downtown Chicago from Seattle. A blue ribbon panel of business and civic leaders, including Chamber President Jerry Roper, Chamber Chairman Norman R. Bobbins and a host of other Chamber Board members, was assembled to promote the region’s benefits to Boeing in comparison to the cities of Dallas and Denver that were also in the running.

The Chicagoland Chamber and its Midwest Aviation Coalition (MAC) lobby efforts helped bring Governor Ryan and Mayor Daley together to reach a deal to allow expansion of O’Hare International Airport, making it the largest economic development project in State of Illinois history. The improvement and expansion of O’Hare, Chicagoland’s primary economic engine, had been a political priority for the Chamber for the eighteen years.

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce also launched the National Business Coalition for Rapid Transit (NBCRT) to obtain increased federal funding for new and existing rapid transit systems for cities nationwide. Business leaders and organizations from Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Salt Lake, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, New Orleans, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Lancaster, PA, joined the NBCRT. The coalition allied with other public sector advocacy organizations: New Start Working Group, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the American Public Transportation Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber was also responsible for forming the Business Leaders for Transportation (BLT), a coalition of more than 10,000 employers, transportation providers and associations representing business interests. The Coalition works to inform the public and our elected officials about the urgency of addressing the Chicago region’s surface transportation needs and recommends strategies to address these needs. The Coalition serves as the collective voice of business by urging increased public support for transportation and new and innovative strategies for addressing congestion.

Over 25 local chambers of commerce and convention bureaus gathered in November of 2001 at the Chicagoland Chamber offices to form the Midwest Business Coalition for High Speed Rail in support of the inclusion of the High Speed Rail Investment Act in Congressional economic stimulus packages. The continual goal of the coalition is to articulate the business community's belief in the need for federal funding for high speed rail and to work with local businesses, chambers of commerce, convention bureaus, and other stakeholders to develop high speed rail networks that serve the Midwestern region.

2002:

The Chicagoland Chamber was awarded four-star accreditation by the US Chamber of Commerce, the highest rating received up to that time by any chamber in the US. Accreditation recognized the fact that the Chamber has effective organizational procedures and programs in place that allow it to meet the needs of its members.

The Chamber continued to give support to the O’Hare expansion project through a variety of initiatives including providing testimony at an FAA O’Hare environmental hearing. The Chamber also called for a renewed commitment by the business and civic communities to pass the National Aviation Capacity Expansion Act.

2003:

In 2003, “The Right Award for Workplace Excellence” was created by the Chamber and Right Management Consultants to recognize Chicagoland companies that have the vision to meet critical business challenges by engaging and leveraging their greatest asset, their people. Three winners were chosen: US Postal Service, Krusinski Construction, Interface Software.

In conjunction with the Business Leaders for Transportation, the Chamber worked for passage of the $375 billion, six-year transportation funding bill, known as the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. The Chamber also continued to lead R.A.I.L. (Rail Advocates for Infrastructure Legislation), a coalition that advocates for federal legislation to create a national rail infrastructure-funding program, and co-led Business Leaders for Transportation, which released its final progress report on the Illinois FIRST transportation infrastructure investment program.

The Chamber became a founding member of the Illinois Coalition for Jobs, Growth & Prosperity, a coalition that provides voters with information about government-related issues that have a direct effect on jobs and challenges state lawmakers to consider the negative impacts that tax and fee increases will have on Illinois jobs.

The Chamber continued to push for the implementation of the O’Hare Modernization Program as it worked its way through the federal approval process, and for passage of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) – the federal government’s six-year transportation funding bill for road and transit infrastructure. The Chamber also continued to lead the National Business Coalition for Rapid Transit which worked to raise awareness of the need for increased development of public transit systems.

In a giant leap forward in improving the climate for growth in Illinois, the Chamber and other business organizations reached an historic agreement with organized labor leaders to reform the state’s outdated and expensive workers’ compensation system.

The Chamber led “Yes Chicago!” – a collaborative effort among Chicago’s business, civic and labor leaders to leverage the economic benefits of a publicly-owned, land-based gaming development in the heart of downtown Chicago.

2005:

During 2005, the disabilityworks enterprise was launched as a collaborative effort among the Chamber, the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and DCEO to implement solutions to the issues that confront people with disabilities.

In transportation, The Chamber’s efforts to push for the implementation of the O’Hare Modernization Program culminated in September with the FAA granting its record of decision in favor of the O’Hare project. The Chamber also successfully pushed for passage of the eighth extension of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) – the federal government’s six-year transportation funding bill for all federal surface transportation programs.

In conjunction with the R.A.I.L. coalition (Rail Advocates for Infrastructure Legislation), the Chamber and the six Class 1 railroads serving Chicagoland continued to advocate for federal and state support and funding for CREATE (Chicago Region Transportation Efficiency) – a plan to reduce freight transit times through Chicago and kicked-off the Midwest Business Coalition for Passenger Rail, a group of 30 Midwestern chambers seeking to provide business support for inter-city passenger rail in the Midwest.

The CEC’s efforts to help entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses build viable, sustainable and profitable enterprises were considered instrumental in helping Chicagoland move-up in Entrepreneur Magazine’s annual ranking of “Hot Cities for Entrepreneurs” to #12 (up from #52 in 2003).

disabilityworks was one of four organizations in the US to receive the US Department of Labor’s “2006 New Freedom Initiative Award.” The honor recognizes the organization’s one-of-a-kind pioneering efforts on behalf of people with disabilities.

The Chamber and Chicagoland Chamber Foundation sponsored three forums to discuss strategies for improving the competitiveness of the region’s transportation industry: “The Future of Aviation,” a “Global Supply Chain Forum” and an “Air Cargo Forum.”

The Chamber worked with a coalition to fight an industry-specific mandate, Living Wage for Big Box Retailers, that targeted all retailers in the City of Chicago with store property larger than 90,000 square feet and annual company gross receipts over $1 billion. The Mayor vetoed the measure and the Council upheld the veto.

The Chamber created the Business Alliance for Public Policy (BAPP) to help educate its members, elected officials and the general public about public policy issues that affect the business community and promote a business climate that creates economic development and job growth.

The CEC began administering the Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund (i2A), a $10 million fund that fills a void in early-stage investing by providing a for-profit fund that specifically meets the need for the first external formal capital raised by new companies. The CEC also began administering Innovate Illinois, a mentoring and peer-based learning program that provides advisory services and resources to high-growth companies throughout the state to help them take their innovations further.

Innovate Now! was launched by the Chamber, World Business Chicago and DCEO to promote business innovation as a key strategy in the economic development of Chicagoland and Illinois. The goal of Innovate Now! is to make Chicagoland and Illinois globally recognized centers of innovation. The centerpiece of the initiative was the “Chicagoland Innovation Summit,” an annual event held in October (2006 and 2007) bringing together over 500 participants to listen to the nation’s top innovation experts drawn from the business, academic, non-profit and public sectors.