A Letter from CCAC Chairman Greg Hummel
Dear Members,
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When the Chicago Central Area Committee was formed in 1956, it was with the notion that the City of Chicago had the potential to be a global destination, and the private sector should play a role in making that happen. Since then, our organization has led a number of important initiatives. Those include: creating strategic plans for the City’s central business district; developing plans to use transportation to unlock economic development; creating a vision for the Illinois Medical District; and revitalizing our neighborhood corridors, just to name a few.
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In recent years that work has expanded to include harnessing the vitality and opportunity of the downtown area – now referred to as the Central City – to benefit the City’s 77 unique neighborhoods. Our membership has worked tirelessly with Mayor Lightfoot’s administration to provide leadership for the INVEST South/West initiative to bring economic development to several targeted locations. In addition, this year we’ve worked on the Central City Recovery Roadmap to develop workable strategies to revitalize the central area.
All of this work has been possible because of the dedication of our membership, but it also requires a visionary Executive Director who can provide strategic leadership for our membership. After a national search which included applicants from all over the nation, I am pleased to announce that we have found the ideal candidate in Mark Hopkins.
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Mark has a long history of providing visionary leadership to organizations throughout the country. He was raised in the Chicago area, but most recently he has been working in Washington D.C. for a consulting firm, assisting non-profit organizations in growing their capacity and impact.
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Mark will also lead our partner organization, the Alliance for Regional Development which, like CCAC, has a lot on its plate. The Alliance is on the cusp of implementing an important initiative and is also about to host our 8th Annual Summit on Regional Competitiveness, on October 18-22, 2021.
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Throughout the history of CCAC we have benefited from the leadership and dedication of our membership, drawn from Chicago’s top legal, architectural, planning, engineering, development, and general contractor firms. Bringing Mark to the organization will provide much needed leadership to create a vision for our programs, and increase our scope and impact.
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Greg Hummel
CCAC Chairman of the Board
Senior Counsel, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP