hurricanemaxi
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Joined: 17 Sep 2011
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 Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 1:52 pm Post subject: Groupon Reignites Chicago’s Silicon Prairie Dream |
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Groupon Inc.’s impact on Chicago reaches far beyond the daily-deal coupons e-mailed to its customers in the third-largest U.S. city that it calls home.
In little more than two years, the company’s total employees have surged to more than 10,000 from 37. Hundreds of those workers live in the Chicago area, a modest boost to a local economy where the most recent unemployment rate was 10.5 percent compared with 9 percent in October for the nation. Groupon’s growth also has raised the city’s profile with technology investors.
While earlier Internet companies in Chicago spawned talk of creating a Silicon Prairie, none of them ever boasted the global recognition of Groupon. The company’s expansion and initial public offering that raised $700 million offers startup companies something they can aspire to -- and is refashioning how Chicago sees itself.
“We were never identified as a tech city,” said former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, a Groupon booster who’s now associated with the Chicago-based international law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. “We’ve identified the city as a city with tech people, creative people, risk takers, and it’s changed the whole image.”
Its success legitimizes Chicago and the Midwest as an incubator for technology companies, said Orlando Saez, deputy director of the state’s Office of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology, part of the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity.
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