Jodie Winnett, deputy director of the public-private World Business Chicago economic development corporation, provided a glimpse of some of the efforts made by individuals and corporations during the seven-week hurdle race between Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Denver during a presentation to the Chicago chapter of NACORE International just two hours after Boeing announced its decision.

The courtship of Boeing started, Winnett recalls, on March 21 with the phones at her office ringing off the hook shortly after Boeing announced its short list of cities for its new headquarters, as well as a shift in corporate focus from aerospace to finance. World Business Chicago, created in 1999 to increase the nine-county metropolitan area's international profile, immediately began doing due diligence. "We read all we could about Boeing," Winnett says. "The other thing we did was ask ourselves, who did we know at Boeing? Our corporate community started making calls to people at Boeing."

One of the first, Winnett revealed, was placed by Arthur C. Martinez, retired chairman & CEO of Hoffman Estates, IL-based Sears, Roebuck & Co. to Boeing chairman and CEO Philip M. Condit, an acquaintance.

The group learned Boeing was most interested in the quality of life, diversity, traffic congestion, airline service and logistics of the cities under consideration. In addition to making phone calls, the group started gathering and preparing facts that would come in handy for Boeing's teams of analysts.

The data, much of it gathered by Arthur Andersen LLP, included:

* Chicago's regional $304-billion economy would rank 19th in the world, just behind Argentina and ahead of Taiwan.

* The city is home to 26 different ethnic groups with populations of 25,000 or more. Although Chicagoans speak 100 different languages, there are 130 media outlets serving them. "Denver and Dallas don't know diversity like we know diversity," Winnett says.

* The region's population increased 11.6% during the 1990s, but the bigger story may have been a 4% rise in city population, the first decade of growth since the 1940s.

Sometimes, it seemed, World Business Chicago couldn't move fast enough, Winnett indicated. For instance, Ernst & Young analysts called at 4 p.m. on a Friday seeking school district information, including SAT scores. Boeing officials also wanted to meet six senior corporate executives of Chicago-based Fortune 500 companies the middle of the following week.

"You can't complain," Winnett says, "even though we did to each other."

Instead, more phone calls were made. Tribune Co. Chairman, President and CEO John W. Madigan agreed to meet with Boeing's search party at 1 p.m. the following Wednesday. Others, including human resources specialists, got in line. "They met three CEOs on three days notice," Winnett says. "People opened up their schedules, opened up their conference rooms."

And their cars, Winnett says. The Habitat Co.'s Millie Rosenbloom, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors, agreed to shepherd two analysts to the upscale Chicago neighborhoods of Streeterville, South Loop, Lincoln Park as well as upper-bracket suburbs of Barrington, Lake Forest, Wilmette and Winnetka, on a Saturday.

Then there was the "Big Visit," by top Boeing officials last month, one of three made to each of the contending markets. Daley's office convinced Team Boeing to join the blue ribbon committee of civic leaders for dinner at the Art Institute. The only problem, yet another one cleared, was that the dinner for 100 had to be arranged in two days, and the corporate community had to hold three nights open in case Boeing's plans changed.

"I think people coming to dinner from Boeing's side got to talk to their peers and find out what it's like to raise a family here," Winnett says.

Then, Chicago waited. Top Boeing officials went to Dallas and Denver to be courted while the list of possible local sites was whittled down to four--two in the West Loop, two in the northwest suburbs of Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg. Meanwhile, word was Boeing was leaning toward Dallas given Texas' heavyweight local contingent in the White House as well as Congress. "There were a host of conspiracy theories but we worked through it all, trying to play our game," Winnett says.

Ultimately, Chicago won, with Boeing agreeing to a long-term lease on the 100 N. Riverside Plaza space while continuing to explore a build-to-suit possibility. The executives and their administrative staffers who choose to relocate will begin working here by Sept. 4, in time for school, yet another challenging priority. "That knocked out a lot of buildings," says Winnett, adding Boeing's requirement of 250,000 sf to 500,000 sf was a deal-killer for many others.

Despite being there to greet Boeing's Condit at Midway Airport Thursday, Winnett says World Business Chicago's work on the project is not over.

"What happens next is the transition, helping their families move to Chicago," Winnett says.

For related news, click on:Texas Spirit Riding High Despite Boeing Rejection and on:Denver Disappointed, Not Crushed by Boeing

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