In this Edition...

• Chicago 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods
• MCIC Welcomes New Board and Staff
• 2008 James E. Mann Intern: Lan Luo
• Get Ready to Stand Up and Be Counted: Census 2010
• Helping Us Help You: MCIC Subscribers Help Us Do Better
• The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Chicago 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods

This past July, the Chicago 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods awarded its first round of grants to eight organizations in support of the City's bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Grant recipients included the Chicago Jobs Council with Chicago LEADS and the Civic Consulting Alliance (joint proposal); Chicago Urban League; Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC/Chicago); the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities; MCIC (Metro Chicago Information Center); Metropolitan Planning Council; and the Women's Business Development Center.

The grants were awarded to collect and aggregate data that can be used to develop subsequent- phase grant strategies to support business and workforce development, and strengthen Chicago neighborhoods that may be directly impacted by the Olympic bid. These neighborhoods include Washington Park, Englewood, Near South Side, Grand Boulevard, Kenwood and Woodlawn on the south side of Chicago; and East Garfield Park, Near West Side, Pilsen, Little Village and North Lawndale on the west side.

Under the initial grant, MCIC explored the current state and capacity of minority- and women- owned businesses. Partnering with the Chicago Urban League, the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Women's Business Development Center, MCIC developed an 18,000-record database of women- and minority-owned business owners, annual sales, number of employees, NAICS codes and owner ethnicity. MCIC also designed and implemented a survey of businesses affiliated with our three partner organizations, assessing the current capacity and future technical assistance needs of women- and minority-owned business.

The 2016 Olympics Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods was established earlier this year to help ensure that the 2016 Olympic Games, if held in Chicago, have a long-term beneficial impact on Chicago neighborhoods. The Fund aims to leverage opportunities presented by Chicago's Olympic bid, engage local leadership in planning processes and projects that will increase the competitiveness of Chicago's bid to the International Olympic Committee and secure the legacy of the Games. Its work is designed to benefit Chicago neighborhoods whether or not the Olympics come to Chicago.

Contributors to the 2016 Olympics Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods include The Boeing Company, The Chicago Community Trust, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, McCormick Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation and Wieboldt Foundation.

- back to contents -

MCIC Welcomes New Board and Staff

MCIC is pleased to welcome three new board members and two new staff. Joining the MCIC board of directors are Mathew W. Stagner, Ph.D., John Stuart Watts, Ph.D. and Mike Koetting. Anne Cole, Community and Economic Development Consultant, and Keri Rainsberger, Research Analyst & Data Manager, are new additions to the MCIC staff.

Matthew W. Stagner, Ph.D. is Executive Director of Chapin Hall and a Senior Lecturer at the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. Dr. Stagner is an expert on youth risk behaviors, child welfare services and program evaluation. He is currently conducting research with Mark Courtney on the effectiveness of programs for children aging out of foster care.

Prior to joining Chapin Hall, Dr. Stagner directed the Center on Labor, Human Services and Population at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. Dr. Stagner also served as Director of the Division of Children and Youth Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He has directed research for the National Research Council and the Center for the Study of Social Policy.

Dr. Stagner holds a Ph.D. from the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

As principal in Values Based Strategy Associates, John Stuart Watts, Ph.D. provides consulting services to clients on issues as diverse as market assessment, entry planning and segmentation; product development; product and customer profitability analysis and resource allocation; industry scenario analysis; and linking strategic and marketing initiatives to shareholder value.

Dr. Watts' background includes deep experience in both the "science" and practical application of strategic, economic, financial and quantitative techniques to senior management issues, obtained through 20 years of combined strategic consulting and teaching in the world's top business schools.

He holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Administration from the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie-Mellon University, where his studies focused on economics and statistics. Dr. Watts is an active member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the Econometric Society, and the National Association of Business Economists and American Economic Association.

Since 1985, Mike Koetting has been a Vice President at the University of Chicago Medical Center where he is responsible for strategic planning with regard to Medicaid and Medicare. He also teaches health policy and health administration at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and the Graduate Program in Health Administration and Policy.

Throughout his career at U of C, Mr. Koetting has been responsible for a wide range of issues including Clinical Quality and Regulatory Affairs, Medical Records/Health Information Management/Clinical Information, Facility and Plant, the Graduate Medical Education and Medical Staff Offices, and Secretary to the Board.

Prior to joining UCMC he was with Abt Associates (1983-1985) and has also worked for the State of Illinois in a variety of senior health finance positions (1975-1982). He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard University.

Anne Cole manages the MCIC research and consulting portfolio in community development, including economic development, housing, land use and managed growth. She holds a Master of Urban Planning and Policy from the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, Chicago and a B.A. from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

Among other projects, Ms. Cole is currently working with the Chicago Housing Authority to identify districts with the highest concentration of participants in the Chicago Housing Choice Voucher Program (CHAC, Inc.). The program provides rental assistance to low-income residents under the federal housing voucher program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

She is also working with the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) to develop a series of maps that illustrate patterns in Chicago's Latino population, within the context of public schools, public parks and public libraries. These maps will inform program and policy decisions made by UNO, under its initiative to explore and prevent school crowding.

Prior to MCIC, Ms. Cole worked as an economic development consultant in the metropolitan Chicago region, as well as a research associate for Illinois' only broad-based regional smart growth coalition. She also provided technical assistance and development financing for nonprofit affordable housing developers while at a national housing intermediary organization based in Washington, DC.

Anne Cole may be contacted at 312.580.2592 or by e-mail at acole@mcic.org.

As Data Manager & Research Analyst, Keri Rainsberger develops and manages MCIC's extensive library of secondary datasets and is the staff liaison to users of the MCIC Data and Information Help Desk. She holds a Master of Library Science and an M.A. in Geography from the University of Maryland, and a B.A. in Geography and French from Indiana University

In addition to serving as the MCIC Help Desk liaison, Ms. Rainsberger provides internal support for a wide range of MCIC research and consulting projects. She recently produced several data- rich e-bursts, including Holding Steady, Slow Growth Overall for Chicago Region Businesses, an analysis of County Business Patterns data released by the U.S. Census; Homeowners and Renters Share Housing Burden, demonstrates that Illinois renters are just as vulnerable to the current housing crisis as homeowners; and The Middle Class Conundrum illustrates a variety of ways to measure income and define the elusive "middle class."

Prior to MCIC, Ms. Rainsberger served as Data and Quality Assurance Associate for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

Keri Rainsberger may be contacted at 312.580.2876 or by e-mail at krainsberger@mcic.org.

- back to contents -

2008 James E. Mann Internship

This summer, MCIC was pleased to host our third James E. Mann Intern, Lan Luo. Ms. Luo is pursuing a Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Working closely with MCIC staff, she applied her expertise in data analysis and statistical methods to projects as diverse as mapping museum attendance, by state and federal legislative districts; quantifying the impact of informal arts activity on neighborhood development; and tracking the incidence of low birth weight cases across the State of Illinois.

When asked how her work at MCIC would impact her studies, Ms. Luo said one of the most valuable lessons was to be involved in "real world" research. "It was different from school-based research because I had to approach it from the client's perspective," she said. Ms. Luo added, MCIC taught her that "turning an abstract idea into a useful map or data table is possible if, at the outset of the project, there's a mutual understanding of the client's need and what they intend to do with the information."

Established in 2005, the James E. Mann Educational Endowment currently supports an 8-week summer internship program, awarded annually through a competitive application process to an undergraduate or graduate student interested in public policy, social services, community development or other urban quality of life concerns, including quantitative and qualitative approaches to documenting, addressing and evaluating social progress.

To learn more about the James E. Mann Educational Endowment, please contact Joan Frankel at 312.580.6435 or e-mail jdfrankel@mcic.org.

- back to contents -

Get Ready to Stand Up and Be Counted: Census 2010

The U.S. Census defines who we are as a nation. Undertaken every 10 years, the data collected by the U.S. Census determines everything from legislative re-districting to the annual distribution of more than $300 billion in government funding for a wide variety of critical community services. It also generates thousands of jobs across the country.

Perhaps you work for an organization that provides vital social services to your community. Or perhaps you volunteer or donate to an organization you believe in. Whatever your affiliation, be sure you - and the people your organization serves - participate in the 2010 U.S. Census. It's never too early to remind everyone to stand up and be counted. It matters.

Learn how you can help spread the word about the upcoming 2010 U.S. Census.

- back to contents -

Helping Us Help You

Last spring, MCIC learned more about how you use data and information, and how we can serve you better. MCIC conducted an online web survey of more than 5,200 MCIC Subscribers and found that the vast majority find MCIC data and information services accessible, intuitive and, most importantly, helpful in informing a wide range of planning, programming and resource allocation decisions.

Findings from our 2008 Subscriber survey confirm that MCIC is your research partner of choice, especially for demographic information and maps.

• In addition to a full range of qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative (surveys) research and an in- house staff of GIS (mapping) experts, MCIC is a designated U.S. Census Information Center. We can perform "drill down" analyses on a state, regional or municipality level using American Community Survey (ACS) data. MCIC also has priority access to all U.S. Census releases. We will leverage our partnership with the U.S. Census to distribute U.S. Census data, maps and reports right to your email inbox, as soon they are released to the public.

MCIC Subscribers use data and information from a variety of sources to build a solid foundation for their strategic decisions.

• As a compliment to our online data and information tool, Metro Chicago Facts OnLine, MCIC has expanded our in-house data library, accessible to Subscribers through the MCIC Help Desk. For example, MCIC recently acquired new and updated releases of ACS data from the U.S. Census; as well as HRSA Healthcare Professional Shortage Areas, including FTEs and the number short; and Regional Transit Asset Management System data including CTA, Metra and Pace ridership by line/station/ stop, Illinois tollway traffic counts and vehicle miles traveled.
  
  Call the MCIC Help Desk at 312.580.2876 and talk with a friendly, knowledgeable MCIC researcher about your data and information needs.

MCIC Subscribers often use internally executed research and data analysis in their planning decisions.

• MCIC has developed cost effective consulting services to help you plan for and build a solid baseline of internal data, from developing viable data collection and analysis plans to establishing realistic benchmarks and outcome measures that track program success, over time. And if you've already collected data, but aren't quite sure what to do with it, MCIC's expert data analysis and easy-to- understand reports can help.

MCIC e-bursts are a hit! The majority of MCIC Subscribers say our "about once a month" e-bursts are just about right. One in five say they don't think MCIC e-bursts arrive in their inbox often enough!

• MCIC strives to produce quality e-communications that are of value to you and your work - not just because "it's that time again." We watch the news, identify quality of life topics that are creating "buzz" and respond to issues that are important to us all. Recent e-bursts include a trend analysis of business patterns in the metropolitan Chicago region; a closer look at regional housing burden, from both a homeowner and a renter perspective; and a somewhat surprising review of the various statistical definitions of "middle class."
  
  An archive of MCIC e-bursts may be found at www.mcic.org, under Hot Topics. If you have a Hot Topic idea, email us at info@mcic.org. We love suggestions!

Many Subscribers have used (or would like to use) outside consultants to help with their research goals.

• Sometimes deciding where to start is the hardest part of a research initiative. MCIC consultants - former practitioners themselves - are always happy to talk through the possibilities in a "Blue Sky" session. In a perfect world, what would you like to know? What data and information do you already have? What do you still need to collect? The first meeting is on us. And we'll even come to you - we love field trips!

At MCIC, our job is Helping Those Doing Good...Do Better. We thank you for your feedback and invite you to contact us at info@mcic.org, if you ever have any comments or suggestions.

- back to contents -

Making Your List and Checking it Twice?

Everyone has someone (or several someones...) on their holiday gift list who is difficult to buy for. She never likes anything or he says he already has everything he needs. This year, give them a gift guaranteed to be the right color, the right size and something they don't already have. Give them a gift that keeps on giving.

Donate to MCIC, in their name, and you'll be supporting hundreds of cultural and social service organizations all over the metropolitan Chicago region who use MCIC data and information to help make better decisions about themselves, the people they serve and the environments in which they work. MCIC Subscribers and clients represent a wide variety of cultural, health, human services, education and community development organizations and individuals dedicated to improving human conditions and quality of life for us all.

Isn't that what the holidays are really all about? Donate to MCIC online today, or call Bruce Ives at 312.580.2593 during regular business hours. during regular business hours.

- back to contents -