Proven Results

World Business Chicago
Creation of a Public-Private Partnership for Economic Development

Assignment
At the request of the Office of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Prager served as architect to design and construct Chicago's first ever public-private partnership for economic development. This organization originally designed and launched by Prager is today known as World Business Chicago. Prager's work entailed scripting this new organization, helping to secure its financing, recruiting its executive staff and forging critical partnerships. Prager also was retained to thoroughly evaluate key industries, including their growth and location decision-making patterns, evolving business linkages and technologies, site selection variables, and potential supplier and consumer ties with Chicago's business community. A detailed marketing strategy was then crafted by Prager that fit the resources and connections of the organization and compelling assets of the City.

Results
So as not to forgo fleeting opportunities during the formation of this ground-breaking organization, for several months, Prager's President also served as the default Executive Director of the new Chicago organization, participating in essential meetings and working with prospective business investors. One such effort succeeded in averting the closure of a 300-person aerospace office and the attraction of a new airline facility creating over 100 jobs. Soon after its official opening, World Business Chicago directed its business expansion and attraction efforts toward industries identified by Prager. Today, this organization, originally designed by Prager, has a multi-million dollar budget, a staff of more than one dozen, and numerous impressive accomplishments. Its most notable accomplishment is the well-publicized attraction of Boeing's World Headquarters from Seattle to Chicago.

Assignment
The Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation (JREDC), representing the Illinois City of Jacksonville and Morgan and Scott Counties, retained Prager for economic development assistance. The Firm first analyzed the Jacksonville Region to determine its strengths and weaknesses for business attraction and retention. Next, it assessed Jacksonville's economic development organizational structure, activities, and level of coordination. Target industries then were identified for the region's marketing efforts along with organizational and business development strategies.   Prager also crafted target industry marketing brochures and electronic marketing messages and has, for years, helped the JREDC on numerous organizational and policy matters.

Results
As a result of Prager's recommendations, the Jacksonville Region consolidated several economic development-oriented organizations, formed one seamless and well-coordinated program, and aggressively repackaged its business incentive programs.   Today, the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation applies a far more rigorous and targeted approach to investment attraction and existing business support.   Prager is credited by the organization's Executive Director for placing the region on the path to economic success, validated by Site Selection Magazine's 2004 and 2005 anointment of Jacksonville as a "Top 100 Small Community for Corporate Investment." Also in 2005, JREDC received the International Economic Development Council's coveted award for "Best Small Community Marketing Materials." The materials awarded by IEDC were developed by Prager.

Results
The Prager Team dissected supplier-consumer relations, military skills that transfer to the private market place, and university technology transfer opportunities, all in the context of trends in the State and National economy. In the end, industries and companies were identified that could benefit from this eclectic combination of assets, and strategies for securing investment were put into motion. Based on these recommendations, the Fort Leonard Wood Regional Commerce and Growth Association realigned its resources and is implementing a regional marketing campaign backed by data that conveys its unique attributes. No longer functioning as three unique economies along one roadway, the Fort Leonard Wood Region now collaborates under one common set of objectives.   

Assignment
Recognizing the need to evolve a collaborative economic development approach for Metro Chicago's economically challenged south and southwest suburbs, many of the region's elected officials and planners banded together to form one cohesive organization. Prager was retained to lead this effort from start to finish. This far-reaching and multi-year effort involved a wide range of tasks: positioning urban industrial property for redevelopment; forging multi-jurisdiction land use policy; garnering external financial support; and assembling what would become the region's first public-private economic development partnership.   

Results
Over the years, the efforts of Prager and its ally organizations have transformed the way the Chicago Southland captures investment and leverages the resources of others. Among Prager's accomplishments are the creation of the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation, the realignment of disparate programs under one umbrella, helping to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars of support from State and Federal sources, and enhancing collaboration between Illinois and Indiana communities. Prager's strategic economic development plan for the Chicago Southland has won recognition and awards, and has helped the region assert itself at the State level. Prager remains active here helping to educate elected officials on available programs and resources, training economic development practitioners, contributing to the redevelopment of properties, and coordinating efforts of the many organizations that operate in the region.

Assignment
Prager was retained in 2003 by the Macomb Area Economic Development Corporation (MAEDC) to help the City and the surrounding McDonough County right its economic ship. Prior to Prager's involvement, the Macomb Area was termed an under-achiever. While it had an attractive quality of life, a vibrant downtown, and a prominent State university, it repeatedly failed to attract large-scale investment and struggled mightily to keep that which it had. Further, as an organization, MAEDC was fairly disconnected from, and maintained a meager profile in, the community. Prager's role was to help change all that.

Results
After careful examination, and calling upon successful economic development efforts elsewhere, Prager crafted a strategic plan designed to harness the considerable potential of the community and place MAEDC at the forefront of aggressive development. Recommendations included acquiring and redeveloping a dormant industrial building, embracing legitimate entrepreneurial development efforts through better university and State connectivity, establishing responsive business retention and expansion programs, and elevating the prominence of MAEDC itself in several targeted ways. In early 2005, after being passed over for investment for years, Macomb was selected by a major window manufacturer for its new 500-job, 280,000 square foot plant, one of the largest investments to come to Western Illinois in decades. Helping secure the deal was the ability to temporarily locate in the dormant industrial building redeveloped by MAEDC. Two additional investments have taken place in the community since then, including a 400-person expansion of one of the community's manufacturers - helped in no small measure by MAEDC's new retention and expansion efforts.

Assignment
Prager was hired to develop and generate consensus on strategies to further economic development in Metro Chicago. Working on behalf of the 270 mayors throughout the six-county region, Prager evaluated the business climate competitiveness of Metro Chicago, inventoried the activities and resources of almost 50 economic development organizations, assessed the regional initiatives of metro areas elsewhere in the United states, and crafted a program whereby state, regional, county, local and private sector leaders would work in concert to achieve common goals.

Results
Since its completion, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is evolving a number of collaborative regional initiatives ranging from the development of a centralized metro area database to the merger of municipal and regional marketing resources. Additionally, by speaking as one voice, Metro Chicago's political leadership is now garnering additional support from the State.

Assignment
The debate surrounding the Industrial Revenue Bond and other incentives programs in Albuquerque is perhaps more public and longer lasting than in any other major U.S. city. Emotionally charged and often divergent opinions on the subject abound. At the request of the Albuquerque Mayor's Office and City Council, Prager and its subcontractors were asked to enter the debate by examining the appropriateness, competitiveness and opinions surrounding the City's IRB and associated financial programs. The charge was to perform this analysis impartially and in the context of the City's broadly defined economic development objectives. This exercise involved scrutiny and input from a number of perspectives: government leadership and the IRB issuers, marketing professionals assigned to attract and retain investment, businesses that could directly benefit from IRBs, and the community at large.  

Results
As a result of Prager's efforts, Albuquerque's IRB and incentives programs, albeit well-meaning, were shown to have several flaws that lessened their value, discouraged their use, and failed to effectively address the needs of their intended audience. This examination opened the door to more technical and regular scrutiny that has spurred more effective, efficient and transparent use of government finances and tax dollars.

Assignment
The City of Chicago has one of the nation's most ambitious and, perhaps, most acclaimed programs to redevelop its Brownfields sites, those HUD Section 108 properties severely environmentally contaminated and largely in distressed inner city areas. But even with this emphasis, Chicago struggles to return these troubled properties to tax-producing viability. Prager was hired by the City to apply an end-user approach toward evaluating and marketing one of Chicago's most important Brownfields, the West Pullman Industrial Park. Prager first assessed the industrial park and associated incentives from the site seeker perspective. But rather than simply critique the property, Prager devised corrective measures for every obstacle identified. Next, the Firm wrote a plan that laid out steps necessary to market the property and the specific roles of participating organizations. The final step was to work with some of the identified players to implement industrial park enhancements and position the property for marketing.

Results
The industrial property in West Pullman today scarcely resembles that before the project commenced. A comprehensive roadway and utility infrastructure has been developed, aggressive incentives are in place, and previously contaminated properties have been prepared for marketing. Local elected leaders, community groups, and private developers now work hand in hand. Most importantly, the industrial park is now home to several manufacturing tenants and government processing operations that would not have been possible without such efforts.

Assignment
The State of Illinois through its economic development agency, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, embarked on a statewide economic development strategic plan that would support and celebrate the diversity of its respective regions.   Prager served as internal adviser on almost all significant facets of this effort, including the new role of State Government in economic development, inter-departmental collaboration, and performance measurement and monitoring. This assignment was an outgrowth of Prager's role on the Economic Transition Teams of two Illinois Governors.

Results
Prager led the conceptual redesign of State economic development founded on service accessibility and delivery, coordination and partnership, and accountability. An outgrowth of this effort was a sweeping Governor initiative known as Opportunity Returns, which subdivided the State into 10 distinct regions, with tangible capital and revenue-generating projects in each.