Urgent Priorities of Suburban Cook County Manufacturers
Amidst a Global Pandemic
Insights from 1,000+ Manufacturing Leaders.
The Cook County Bureau of Economic Development and the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC) collaborated to conduct a phone survey of the 5,000+ manufacturing firms located in suburban Cook County – to identify the relative urgency of key business drivers for manufacturers to recover and rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 1,000 firms responded to the 10-question survey.
Findings from the survey show manufacturers needs are far more based on size of operation than on location or manufacturing sub-sector; with ‘create growth opportunities’ rising to the #1 priority among 69% of respondents. With this deeper understanding of the varying needs of our manufactures of all sizes, Cook County and IMEC will work together to develop a roadmap to support our impacted manufacturing community. This survey and report serve as a beginning to regularly gain insights into manufacturer needs, create policy solutions and craft programs and services to strengthen manufacturing in one of the largest manufacturing counties in the nation.
