The Corporate Coalition of Chicago is encouraging business leaders to rethink where they invest, how they hire and how they procure, using their core business functions to drive economic opportunity and improve equity in the region. The organization recently brought business and community leaders to the Blue Door Neighborhood CenterSM in Morgan Park to see the strategy in action.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois transformed a vacant retail store for the neighborhood center and employee workspace, opening in 2020. "Most of the employees live within 10 miles or so of this location, and so we get the force multiplier effect of providing direct employment opportunities for our employees that work here," said BCBSIL President Stephen Harris, who participated in the event. "And they in turn get a chance to cycle those dollars through this community in which they live."