The Chamber believes collaboration is essential for success. There truly is strength in numbers.

Every day, regional businesses face delays in transporting materials and goods, employees are delayed in traffic and workers are unable to get to job sites. Business Leaders For Transportation is 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.

For more information about Business Leaders for Transportation, contact Michael Mini, Director of Government Relations via email or at (312) 494-6787.

Our Mission is to secure the future of Illinois by educating, informing and activating the public, stakeholders and elected officials to develop, promote and implement a stable pro-job, pro-growth, pro-investment climate in Illinois.

Too many people in Illinois are out of work. For more than a decade, our great state has fallen behind the Rest of the Midwest (RMW: Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin) and the Nation in job growth. Unlike our neighboring states, Illinois' job losses continue to threaten our future. In fact, if we had just kept up, we would have hundreds of thousands more working men and women right now:

• Illinois would have 432,000 more jobs (monthly average) in 2004 if each sector had grown at National rates since 1990.
• Illinois would have 244,300 more jobs (monthly average) in 2004 if each sector had grown at the RMW growth rate since 1990.

Since January 1990, 212,100 Illinois manufacturing workers lost their jobs. These numbers are especially troubling when you put a face to them, for each job loss is a personal tragedy for a family and the community in which they reside. Clearly the answer to a brighter economic future is job growth. For these reasons, major employer groups representing thousands of employers and more than a million Illinois workers have united to launch the Illinois Coalition for Jobs, Growth & Prosperity. Founding members include:

• Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
• Illinois Business Roundtable (IBRT)
• Illinois State Chamber of Commerce
• Illinois Manufacturers' Association (IMA)
• Illinois Civil Justice League

For more information, visit the Illinois Coalition for Jobs website or contact Michael Mini, Director of Government Relations via email or at (312) 494-6787.

The mission of the National Business Coalition for Rapid Transit (NBCRT) is to articulate the business community's belief in increased federal funding for rapid transit projects and to work with other national transit advocacy organizations, such as the New Start Working Group, the United States Conference of Mayors and the American Public Transportation Association, in order to advance federal support for mass transit.

Traffic congestion is a growing problem in our metropolitan areas. For the business community, traffic costs time and money. It takes longer for employees to get to work and the frustration caused by a long commute reduces productivity. Congestion also limits the ability of some to enter the labor market. Finally, traffic delays the shipping of goods and services throughout the nation and raises prices for both businesses and customers.

New and old rail transit systems are proving their effectiveness at addressing these concerns. They are vital transportation alternatives for connections between employers and employees. Transit can divert people from cars, thereby creating or maintaining highway capacity for service, material and commodity delivery.

With strong support from the business community, efforts to create and expand rapid transit systems to support urban economic growth have increased nationally. Congress must make additional funding available in order to facilitate this expansion.

Founded in 2001, the National Business Coalition for Rapid Transit seeks to educate the public, policy makers and the media on the economic need for increased federal investment in transit.

Founding Members

• Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
• The Downtown Alliance (Salt Lake City)
• Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Cleveland Growth Association
• Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce
• Lancaster (PA) Chamber of Commerce
• Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
• Miami (FL) Chamber of Commerce
• Minneapolis Downtown Council
• New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Oakland (CA) Chamber of Commerce
• San Diego Chamber of Commerce
• San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
• Silicon Valley Manufacturers Group

For more information about the National Business Coalition for Rapid Transit, please contact Michael Mini, Director of Government Relations via email or at (312) 494-6787.