In addition to ConAgra, 56 companies located or expanded in Chicago in Q3 of 2015

This month, ConAgra Foods announced the relocation of its headquarters from Omaha to Chicago. Beginning in the summer of 2016, approximately 700 employees will relocate to 200,000 sq ft of new offices in the city’s Merchandise Mart, including the company’s senior leadership team and certain functions of its consumer foods business.

“Locating our headquarters and our largest business segment in Chicago places us in the heart of one of the world’s business capitals and consumer packaged goods centers, enhancing our ability to attract and retain top talent with a focus on brand building and innovation,” said Sean Connolly, president and chief executive officer, ConAgra Foods.

ConAgra joins other food industry leaders that recently located headquarter office in Chicago including ADM, Kraft Heinz, and Sara Lee/Hillshire Brands. The growing food industry is a large part of the region’s economy; the industry includes 4,500 firms, accounting for 130,000 employees and $32 billion in sales.

“By choosing Chicago as its new home, ConAgra Foods sees the same strengths that so many other companies see in relocating their headquarters here, from our talent, to our transportation, to our quality of life,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.  “This decision by ConAgra Foods further solidifies Chicago’s role as one of the world’s leading destinations for food processing companies. I look forward to watching them become part of Chicago’s future by creating even more jobs and opening up more opportunities for the residents of our city.”

ConAgra joins a list of 56 companies (including 23 headquarters),* that chose to locate and expand in Chicago in Q3 of 2015, illustrated on the Chicago Growing interactive map below:

_{*Refers to data (where disclosed) for new and expanding companies with a physical address in the 14-county Chicago region that meet at least one of these criteria: $1M investment, net gain of 20,000 sq ft, net gain of 20 FTE jobs, headquarters facility, and/or WBC involvement in expansion. WBC captures project information from media outlets, press releases, company websites, subscription services and WBC internal reporting; the quality of each record depends on the availability of data and resources to input and confirm information. Data is finalized in the first quarter of the following year to allow for the time lag in project reporting; year-to-date numbers are subject to revision.}