On Friday, February 26th, over 500 attendees virtually gathered to hear the latest forecasts and predictions from suburban business and community leaders. Michael Cassa, President & CEO of the Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation led the first panel, which focused on the state of DuPage County’s office, industrial, retail, multifamily and senior housing sectors. Joining in the discussion were Ron Plonis, Advisor with Kiser Group; Greg Bedalov, President & CEO of Choose DuPage; Steve Chirico, Mayor of Naperville; Jim Adler, Executive Vice President with NAI Hiffman, and Bryan Gay, President & CEO of Invest Aurora.
The 10am panel discussion, which centered around development, investment in suburban data centers and C-PACE financing, was led by PowerForward DuPage Executive Director Karyn Charvat. Speakers included Sean McCarthy, VP of Business Development and Strategic Initiatives, Comcast; Julie Sommese, Director of Upper Midwest Markets, Greenworks Lending; Sean Reynolds, Regional Director with JLL; Dan Allen, Executive Director with Construction Industry Service Corporation, and Michael Poulakidas, Owner with Fox Valley Developers.
The annual RE Journals event was hosted at PowerForward DuPage in 2020 and held virtually in 2021 due to the pandemic.
Sponsors included Meridian Design Build, Powering Chicago, ARCO MURRAY, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, International Masonry Institute, Comcast, Kiser Group, Choose DuPage, Bid Evolution, Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation, NAI Hiffman, Greenworks Lending, Invest Aurora, Fox Valley Developers, and Naperville Development Partnership.
