Pay us.
I mean not us, us, but, like, you can if you want. It’s more a reference to the U.S. Women’s National Team, our all-time heroes. In an effort to take a page out of their book (Hey-o! (It’s a pun (It’ll all make sense later))), we are switching to one free letter, one paid letter each month. If you want a comped subscription for any reason, please email us and we will send you one. We just need you to acknowledge that we have value one way or the other, really.
It’s easy to fall in love with Chicago in the summertime. There are dogs on the beaches and gators in the lagoons, and the whole city seems to glow. Maybe that’s why so many companies are doubling down on office space here. Consulting firm Accenture is adding 600 tech jobs in its Innovation Hub, and expanding into seven floors of the newly named Accenture Tower, the building over the Ogilvie Metra station. A bonus: The company will be expanding its apprenticeship program to give more people experience making tons of money/supporting corporations at the expense of people.
Following closely behind, employer review site Glassdoor announced plans to hire 500 people over the next few years, and it’s expanding into a brand new Fulton Market building to accommodate them next year.
Martech company ActiveCampaign, which sells software to help small to mid-sized businesses make marketing decisions, is also growing. It’s doubled headcount in the last year to roughly 500 employees, and now it’s adding another floor to give the poor people some elbow room and make space for more growth.
But what’s doubling when Belgian company Showpad — which just raised $70 million for its sales training software — is tripling its office space in Chicago. To be fair, the current plans are only to fill that space with 40 new hires by next year, but it sounds so impressive.
One business isn’t sold on Chicago: Manufacturing company Wynright is moving its conveyor belt-making operations to Hobart, Indiana, after more than 20 years in the Chicago suburbs. The $5.9 million incentive page Indiana put together probably helps.
Then there are the acquisitions. Paragon Biosciences spent a cool eight figures to buy Qlarity Imaging, a real name we’re forced to type. Qlarity makes diagnostic tool that theoretically uses AI to diagnose breast cancer, and potentially more cancers to come. We’d be more excited if we hadn’t heard this song and dance before.
Then there’s cannabis firm (drug dealers) Grassroots Cannabis, which is being bought by Massachusetts-based Curaleaf for $875 million. The consolidation doesn’t necessarily mean layoffs, after all it’s a growth industry. This is just an opportunity for a lot of bros to pat themselves on the back and exchange a ton of money while other people rot in jail.
Fortunately we can end on some good news. Built In, a frequent source of news for this very letter, raised $22 million. It plans to use the money to add dozens of local jobs, and build out an engine to better match tech talent with open jobs.
Job with badass potential
Job: Senior Manager of Digital Personalization and Engagement for United
Work: Make United’s web experience be less bad. Use data to create personalized experiences for customers throughout every step of the journey, so they’re not already mad at the airline before they get to the gate. Predict trends, test improvements and find new tools, working with an internal team and outside vendors.
Downsides: Have you used United’s website lately? Also they drug test all employees (sorry).
Perks: You can’t really make it worse. United has a lot of resources at its disposal, so you’d be able to try new things and work on your own professional development. But really, we’re here for one reason — the free flight passes.
A few other jobs we’re curious about …
Creative Strategist for Spotify
All that podcasting business could be real interesting for someone tasked with helping brands find new ways to reach Spotify listeners.
UX Researcher at Google
If we’re all going to participate in capitalism, might as well work for the winner?
Program Coordinator for the Chicago Abortion Fund
Because now’s the time to raise some money.
Event with badass potential
Nonprofit Draft Day, August 15 at 5:00. If you are the kind of person who has no idea how to join a board (aka us), this is an opportunity to learn about the process and get “drafted” by nonprofits who want your incredible minds, in addition to your dollars.
Inspiration of the week
There are just … so many things about the U.S. Women’s Soccer National Team that make us weak-kneed — the way they wear suits, the way they take what they deserve, the way they take to that yacht life. But if we have to pick just one, this video of Allie Long eating a page of the equal pay lawsuit while Ashlyn Harris says “Pay us, bitch,” well, it is good.
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