The mission of the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation is to identify, organize and mobilize public and private resources that will result in the creation and expansion of manufacturing and logistics companies along with new retail and commercial growth, thereby providing economic growth and sustainable careers in the Southland. We are serving 44 municipalities, over 200 businesses, and over 650,000 residents in the region of southern Cook County bordered by Chicago to the north, Will County to the south, and Indiana to the east. HIGHLIGHTED BELOW ARE SOME OF OUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS: 1.Chicago Southland Tech Incubator(CSTI)- CSEDC received a $235,000 grant from the DCEO to create an Incubator with the purpose of generating a community around a specific space of innovation. In the CSTI project, CSEDC is also the lead in developing a Center for Smart Intermodal Logistics, awarded $120,000 EDA planning grant, that would attract companies in autonomous terminal tractors. 2. Chicago Southland Rail-Highway-Air Cluster Development: We are seeing an Industrial Boom with world-class projects in our region and this is a focus of our work. We continue to market our region and connect the value of South Suburban Airport to this E-commerce cluster. 3. Industrial Land Development- We have played a significant role in supporting the redevelopment of significant properties, such as Amazon's new 855,000-square-foot robot fulfilment centers and 2,000 new jobs in the region. We provide site selections and industrial marketing services 4. Integrated Education and Workforce Strategy- CSEDC meets regularly with over 100 businesses to connect them to our regional workforce partners. We partnered with OAI,Inc to develop various programs, such as the Apprenticeship with Purdue NW. 5. Support local and regional businesses by Organizing Financing Incentives and Financial Assistance and Networking at Quarterly Forums, Investor Meetings, and with Newsletters