Buckner unveils plan to help businesses and strengthen job

Kam Buckner releases Economic Opportunity & Recovery Plan prioritizing business development, jobs & training programs & investing more in neighborhoods that need it

Continuing to far outpace his rivals, candidate for mayor Kam Buckner today released his ninth policy plan, proving once again that he is the candidate of ideas and action who’s ready to hit the ground running on day one.

Buckner announced his Economic Opportunity & Recovery Plan the day before the first televised debate saying that “as a son of Chicago, I’ve lived here all my life, I’ve seen our historical commercial corridors hunger for investment and lose vitality, and as the State Representative for downtown, I know what the business community needs to get back on its feet.”

“For too long Chicago has been stuck with a siloed approach to fix our problems,” said Buckner. “Public safety, affordable housing, our city’s social services don’t all exist in a vacuum. We can’t solve any of our problems without tackling economic inequality and supporting our business community.”

Buckner’s plan is centered around three components: prioritizing business development in City Hall, establishing better jobs & training programs and investing in the neighborhoods that need it most.

“Chicago has the third largest GDP in the country and the 22nd largest GDP in the world,” said Buckner. “But we haven’t been acting like it. We aren’t doing enough to support our small businesses or attract larger ones to the city. We can lead the country and have the most successful and equitable economic recovery in the nation so long as we elect a mayor with the vision and leadership to get it done.”

Buckner’s plan would create greater economic opportunity and jumpstart recovery by:

Decentralizing the Business Administration and Consumer Protection Bureau
Aligning city contracting to close the racial wealth gap Streamlining the business permitting process to eliminate unnecessary red tape and make the process straightforward and transparent.
Establishing a Chicago CEO Council to advise on business issues citywide to prioritize growth and investment.
Creating a “Main Streets Plan” for our historical commercial corridors.
Establishing specialized support for the hospitality industry, which has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Working with Springfield to come up with a solution to address the abundance of commercial vacancies by eliminating or reconfiguring the Commercial Vacancy Tax Credit.
Creating a partnership between the City, Chicago Public Schools and Chicago City Colleges and unions to develop vocational and trade training programs.
Creating the Chicago Reshoring Initiative to bring back good, well-paying manufacturing jobs to the City from overseas and ensuring that these manufacturing jobs are environmentally-conscious and responsible.
Incentivizing and supporting the creation of worker-owned cooperatives.
Shifting TIF dollars from zones that don’t need to be further developed into higher-need communities to foster more equitable economic development.
Transforming the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund by expanding beyond its current structure as a matching grant that often requires considerable capital to access and making it a holistic fund that can serve businesses that may not have that access.
Negotiating with anchor institutions to increase their use of local vendors and suppliers, hiring locally and investing in affordable housing for their workforce.
Establishing an Office of Supplier Diversity to set goals for minority business ownership and ensure the city is meeting those benchmarks.

In addition to the economic plan he released today, Buckner has also released a public safety plan, an education plan, a public transportation improvement plan, a housing plan, an environmental plan, a mental health plan, an inclusion & accessibility plan and a veterans plan.

Full Economic Opportunity & Recovery plan is available on Buckner’s website and included on the next pages:

Economic Opportunity & Recovery Plan

As the city recovers from Covid, we need a plan to bring more jobs to Chicago and make Chicago the home that people choose to live, work, raise their families, and grow their businesses. My administration will work to make Chicago an economic powerhouse– that means supporting the business community, giving more opportunities to small businesses in neighborhoods throughout the city and providing support for workers citywide.

Addressing economic inequality is critical to creating a Chicago that works for everyone. In my time in Springfield, I’ve sponsored a number of bills that begin to address these issues, and I plan to bring that same commitment as the Mayor of Chicago. Addressing economic inequities will help tackle the roots of intergenerational poverty, and that work needs to start right now.

Social support for our city can only go so far without the economic support to back it up. My administration is committed to putting a comprehensive plan into place that will retain, strengthen and attract businesses.

Chicago is known for its intense work ethic. Now, we need government support to make sure that that work ethic counts for something.

Chicago has the third largest GDP in the country and the 22nd largest GDP in the world. We can lead the country and have the most successful and equitable economic recovery in the nation. We just need the vision and leadership to make it a reality.

Prioritize Business Development in City Hall:

Decentralize the Business Administration and Consumer Protection Bureau to increase transparency and accountability, and allow the City to better serve the unique needs of business and consumers.
Align city contracting to close the racial wealth gap and support building community wealth.
Streamline the business permitting process to eliminate unnecessary red tape and make the process straightforward and transparent.
Establish a Chicago CEO Council to advise on business issues citywide to prioritize growth and investment.
Create a “Main Streets Plan” for our historical commercial corridors.
Establish specialized support for the hospitality industry, which has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Work with Springfield to come up with a solution to address the abundance of commercial vacancies by eliminating or reconfiguring the Commercial Vacancy Tax Credit. Partner with nonprofit developers to make these spaces affordable for small businesses and create new opportunities for ownership.
Support downtown’s post-COVID transformation by activating public spaces through programming and infrastructure repairs, providing technical support and financial tools to local small businesses, and investing in the city’s tourism industry.

Establish Better Jobs & Training Programs:

Create a partnership between the City, Chicago Public Schools and Chicago City Colleges and unions to develop vocational and trade training programs.
Explore programs like the Career Impact Bond that can expand access to quality, industry-recognized career training to people who have historically faced barriers to education and employment.
Create the Chicago Reshoring Initiative to bring back good, well-paying manufacturing jobs to the City from overseas and ensure that these manufacturing jobs are environmentally-conscious and responsible.
Make Chicago a conducive place to house call centers through new grants and programs.
Develop co-ops and other small businesses to cater to our anchor institutions such as universities and hospitals.
Develop or partner with existing resources to offer an Entrepreneurs Startup Boot Camp of online courses that provide information on the resources, funding, and technical assistance available in the city.
Incentivize and support the creation of worker-owned cooperatives. Worker cooperatives are proven to generate wealth, improve the quality of life of workers, and promote opportunity for people who lack traditional access to business ownership.

Invest in More Neighborhoods that Need It:

Shift TIF dollars from zones that don’t need to be further developed into higher-need communities to foster more equitable economic development.
Transform the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund by expanding beyond its current structure as a matching grant that often requires considerable capital to access and make it a holistic fund that can serve businesses that may not have that access.
Create new incentives for locally owned businesses to encourage greater development in high-need neighborhoods.
Create business navigators for small businesses (this came to be during covid, but the plan is for them to go away once the virus subsides. this should be permanent).
Negotiate with anchor institutions to increase their use of local vendors and suppliers, hire locally and invest in affordable housing for their workforce.
Establish an Office of Supplier Diversity to set goals for minority business ownership and ensure the city is meeting those benchmarks.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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