Yes. We work with owner-led, mid-market and private-equity-backed companies across the Chicago–Naperville–Elgin metro area (IL–IN–WI), including Naperville, Schaumburg, Evanston and Joliet.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Strategy and operations consulting in Chicago.
Chicago is the Midwest's center for derivatives exchanges, food processing, freight rail and trucking, and corporate headquarters, with a large manufacturing base across Cook, DuPage, Lake and Will counties and northwest Indiana.
THE LOCAL ECONOMY
What drives business in Chicago.
The metro pairs a downtown core of exchanges, insurers, and law and accounting firms with suburban manufacturing and a logistics corridor around Joliet and Elwood where major rail lines converge. Food and consumer-goods companies have long clustered here, and O'Hare is a major air cargo and passenger hub. Several large employers have moved headquarters to or from the city in recent years, and Illinois pension and tax pressures weigh on business cost planning.
Notable employers
- McDonald's
- Abbott
- United Airlines
- Allstate
- Mondelez International
- Northwestern Medicine
Institutions
- University of Chicago
- Northwestern University
- Argonne National Laboratory
- O'Hare International Airport
WHAT COMPANIES HERE FACE
The decisions in front of Chicago management teams.
Midsize manufacturers and distributors here balance strong access to customers and freight against Cook County property taxes, Illinois labor costs and an aging skilled workforce. Many family-owned food and industrial firms are reaching ownership transitions, and the region's large private equity community makes them regular acquisition targets. Rail and trucking costs, and how to use the I-55 and I-80 logistics corridor, shape network decisions.
WHERE TO START
Where Chicago engagements usually begin.
8–12 weeks to assess and plan
Exit readiness & sell-side preparation
Many second- and third-generation food and industrial firms face succession, and active Chicago private equity buyers reward sellers with clean numbers.
See the service 8–12 weeks for the first sourcing wavesProcurement & supplier savings
Manufacturers buying steel, resin, packaging and freight can recover margin through structured sourcing and better supplier terms.
See the service 8–12 weeksCapacity & footprint planning
Property tax and labor cost differences between Cook County, the collar counties and Indiana make site decisions material.
See the serviceINDUSTRIES
Industries that anchor Chicago.
RUN THE NUMBERS
Free calculators for these decisions.
They run in your browser with your own numbers. Nothing is sent to us unless you choose to share it.COMMON QUESTIONS
Working with Aryo in Chicago.
START A CONVERSATION