Will Groupon Place Chicago At The Center Of A Silicon Prairie?
In Chicago, Groupon Inc. has grown its workforce from 37 employees to more than 10,000 in a little more than two years. That’s provided a nice boost to the city’s economy and employment rate.
And that’s just the start of the company’s impact in Chicagoland.
Former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, tells BusinessWeek that Groupon’s high-tech cache has spread throughout the city and awakened aspiring entrepreneurs. “We were never identified as a tech city. … It’s changed the whole image,” he said of Groupon.
The company raised $700 million with its initial public offering last week. Through that, BusinessWeek opines that Groupon’s “success legitimizes Chicago and the Midwest as an incubator for technology companies” and spawned talk of a “Silicon Prairie.”
Is Groupon’s shine extending across the entire Midwest? That might be a stretch at this still-early juncture. But it has done wonders for refurbishing Chicago’s industrial image.
“We’ve identified the city as a city with tech people, creative people, risk takers,” Daley said.