Boeing's Chicago list reportedly includes eight sites--three of them Downtown, five in the suburbs. Boeing officials will be welcomed by a blue-ribbon committee of more than 50 business, civic, academic and cultural leaders to lure Boeing to the area when they return to the city April 18.

"If it turns out Boeing picks the suburbs, that's fine, too," says Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, whose administration has been aggressive in luring and retaining businesses within the city limits, as well as the jobs that go with them.

Chicago officials have watched a steady exodus of corporate headquarters leave its Downtown, such as Sears Roebuck & Co. from namesake Sears Tower to northwest suburban Hoffman Estates. However, Daley was quick to point out at a press conference to announce the formation of the Boeing Blue Ribbon Committee that the city would likely benefit economically even if the new headquarters landed in the suburbs.

Besides the obvious prestige, Daley says Boeing would raise the region's high-tech profile. "It's presence in Chicago would give it a welcome boost," he adds.

Chicago is competing against Dallas/Fort Worth and Denver for Boeing's new corporate center, which would house about 500 top-level employees now working in its Seattle headquarters. Factors in Chicago's favor include the presence of major customer UAL Corp. in northwest suburban Elk Grove Township as well as closer proximity to Boeing operations in St. Louis.

"This is a strategic business location for all of North America with access to markets all over the world," says Gov. George Ryan.

Among the suburbs hoping Boeing calls their town home are Aurora, Des Plaines, Elgin, Huntley and Naperville. But state officials have worked behind the scenes in an attempt to coordinate local sales pitches, fearing bombarding Boeing officials with multiple offers could turn the company away from the region.

Democrat Daley and Republican Ryan have worked together before, most recently luring American Trans Air to the Midway Airport area with a $98.5-million package to help build a new state-of-the-art training center, beating out Indianapolis.