Building a Chicago where every neighborhood and every business can thrive.

As we look towards the new year, Chicago’s economic future will be shaped by the decisions we make now—from strengthening the economic engine of our central area to ensuring small businesses can multiply and thrive. One thing is clear: meeting the city’s most pressing needs requires coordinated action, shared ambition, and streamlined, cross-agency collaboration and execution, all of which sit at the heart of Build Better Together.

Mayor Brandon Johnson recently rolled out two major initiatives under Build Better Together, his economic platform to accelerate high-impact, cross-departmental projects that strengthen Chicago’s economic foundation. Both are designed to stimulate growth, create jobs, and expand the vibrancy of our business ecosystem—ensuring that the benefits of progress reach residents and entrepreneurs across all 77 neighborhoods.

Setting the Course for Downtown’s Future

Downtown’s health isn’t just important—it is fundamental to Chicago’s long-term competitiveness. Chicago’s central area is home to:

• 184,000 residents who live, shop, and contribute to a 24/7 economy
• 758,000 jobs, representing one of the largest employment centers in the nation
• The fastest-growing downtown of any major U.S. city, outpacing national trends in population, investment, and development

Spanning 7.4 square miles—from Division Street to Cermark/I-55, and from Ogden/Ashland/Halsted to Lake Michigan—Chicago’s central area is the city’s most powerful economic engine. Ensuring its vitality, resilience, and global competitiveness is essential to our long-term success, especially as cities worldwide compete more aggressively for workers, employers, visitors, and investment. Strengthening downtown is not optional; it is a strategic imperative for Chicago’s future.

Driven by citywide needs, the Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved the Central Area Plan 2045, the city’s first comprehensive downtown development plan in more than two decades. Led by the Department of Planning and Development, the community-driven plan establishes a bold 20-year framework that outlines more than 250 goals, actions, and strategic projects across the Loop, Near North, Near West, and Near South sides and their adjacent neighborhoods. The full plan is available at Chicago.gov/CAP2045. A slideshow overview is available on the Plan Commission website.

“The plan will enhance downtown’s legacy as an economic engine and a vibrant home for residents that are well served by public transit and all the cultural, open space, and educational amenities that are essential for sustainable growth,” Ciere Boatright, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Planning and Development.

These targets aren’t abstract—they’re designed to support jobs, investment, and inclusive growth. Most significantly, the plan aims to guide and enable:

• 100 million square feet of new construction
• 160,000 new jobs
• 100,000 new residents
• 65,000 new housing units
• 13,000 new hotel rooms

These goals reflect a coordinated vision for a stronger, more competitive downtown that continues to anchor Chicago’s economic growth. Through 2045, these investments are designed to boost the city’s talent base, strengthen competitiveness and ensure a vibrant, resilient central area that drives inclusive growth for generations.

Accelerating Small Business Success

Chicago’s long-term economic strength depends on the health of its entire marketplace—from global headquarters downtown to the small businesses that anchor all 77 community areas. These neighborhood enterprises are the backbone of our economy, creating jobs, activating commercial corridors, and fueling the vibrancy that defines Chicago.

To uplift and empower small businesses across Chicago, the Mayor and the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection launched Cut the Tape for Small Business, a comprehensive effort to modernize and streamline the City’s administrative processes so entrepreneurs can open and operate more easily.

Building on the success of the first Cut the Tape initiative in 2024—which advanced more than 100 actions to modernize and expedite housing and commercial development processes—this new effort aligns resources and systems around the real-world needs of entrepreneurs at every stage.

“Cut the Tape for Small Business demonstrates our dedication to the thriving small business ecosystem across Chicago,” said Ivan J Capifali, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection(BACP). “Under Mayor Johnson’s administration, BACP is aligning resources and systems to meet the real-world needs of entrepreneurs in every stage of business. The department is fully focused on being responsive and adaptive to the needs of small businesses across the city.”

Cut the Tape for Small Business focuses on reducing time and cost burdens, increasing transparency, and expanding access to guidance and education across the city’s 77 neighborhoods. To shape its priorities, BACP conducted extensive regional roundtables with Neighborhood Business Development Centers, Chambers of Commerce, local economic development organizations, and small business owners.

Some of the key priorities emerging from BACP’s research include:

1. Developing clear guidance to help business owners navigate pre-licensing inspections with predictable expectations.
2. Simplifying and digitizing licensing and permitting processes.
3. Streamlining administrative debt checks to reduce unnecessary delays.
4. Creating an interactive online zoning map showing permitted business activities by location.
5. Eliminating information silos across City departments to improve coordination and support.
6. Launching a digital literacy initiative for under-resourced entrepreneurs to bridge the technology gap.

This work ensures that entrepreneurs—regardless of zip code—can access the tools and support they need to succeed, strengthening Chicago’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and making it easier for small businesses to start, grow, hire, and contribute to thriving commercial corridors citywide.

We’re Driving Inclusive Growth Across Chicago Together, the Central Area Plan and Cut the Tape for Small Business represent two essential pillars of Chicago’s economic future—strategic investments in both the city’s global center and its neighborhood business corridors. Strengthening these interconnected engines of growth will help Chicago compete, attract talent, and expand opportunity for residents in every community.

Across the city, Build Better Together signs are more visible—marking the many developments now underway and the projects preparing to break ground. Together, they signal a city in motion: coordinating across departments, accelerating impact, and building a stronger, more inclusive Chicago.

Next week’s WBC Business Pulse will spotlight the region’s rapidly expanding solar landscape. We’ll share findings from our new assessment—developed by the WBC Research Center and the Cook County Government Bureau of Economic Development—detailing federal and state investments, emerging workforce needs, and the opportunities and risks shaping Chicagoland’s solar installation industry.