Our Mission

The mission of the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation is to identify, organize and mobilize public and private resources that will result in the creation and expansion of manufacturing and logistics companies along with new retail and commercial growth, thereby providing economic growth and sustainable careers in the Southland. 

1916 Business & Media Center

Chicago Southland Business Incubator

1916 Business & Media Center is a shared office space with unique services to provide e-commerce training. Companies can embrace remote working with access to a safe local office for meetings and access to digital technologies. 1916 will create a convivial social place for creative people from these companies to mingle and share ideas over a cup of coffee. CLICK HERE for OPEN-DESK Memberships

Industrial Development

Promoting sites and Southland

Developing the Chicago Southland Rail, Highway, and Air Industrial Cluster: We are seeing an Industrial Boom with world-class projects in our region and this is a focus of our work. We continue to market our region and connect the value of South Suburban Airport to this E-commerce cluster. CSEDC plays a significant role in promoting opportunities in the Southland by digital marketing and industrial trade shows.

Integrated Workforce Programs

collaborating with partners

CSEDC meets regularly with over 100 businesses to connect them to our regional workforce partners. Critical partners include OAI, Inc, the Supply Chain Innovation Center and Business Incubator (SCICBI) at Governors State University, Ecommerce Management, and Calumet Manufacturing Industry Sector Partnership.

Southworks Robotics

Building talent pipelines from youth

Southworks Robotics is part of integrated education and workforce strategy in partnership with OAI, Inc. Together, we work with manufacturing and logistics companies to connect them to their talent pool development.