June 24, 2002
BY DARCY EVON SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
It is about the economy, stupid," quips Doug Whitley, president and CEO of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, from his offices in Chicago.
Whitley, on the job for eight months, plans to announce an "Economic Development Project," which will be a comprehensive study and action plan to be completed by the end of the year and presented to the new governor in January.
Michael Ayers, Chamber COO and former professor and associate chancellor of the University of Illinois-Springfield, will play a key role in developing the study.
Whitley's agenda at the Chamber is two-pronged: to analyze the business climate and stimulate debate about economic development. Technology will be a big part of the analysis: "What I see is a lack of unity and common purpose. I would like the chamber to step in and play a more positive role [than in the past]. What can we do to pull people together in the technology communities?"
Whitley, an expert in lobbying, communications and strategic planning, has big ideas for Illinois and a lot of energy to execute quickly. One of his first moves was to paint his bland, gray offices a vibrant maize and blue. "This [color scheme] communicates better our attitude and enthusiasm."
And Whitley shares some of the pain with the tech community: He found out firsthand what it means to be unemployed and the difficult task of finding an executive-level job in this economy. After he was downsized out of Ameritech after the acquisition by SBC, the former president of Ameritech Illinois took two years to land a new position. "The first year was by design," the affable executive said, "but the second year was a lot of hard work. I know what people are going through."
Whitley testified last week before Congress to get more money appropriated for Illinois Inter-Modal transportation (ships, trains and trucks). Next week he is off to an e-government conference to talk about Illinois' two success stories: getting new businesses to move to the state, and being ranked as one of the top e-commerce states in the country.
Whitley was one of the first people to push through electronic filing of tax returns 10 years ago when he was director of the Illinois Department of Revenue. And he gives kudos to the Illinois Century Network--a plan under way to connect every major institution in the state electronically, similar to the CivicNet project now being championed by the city.
"I would say CivicNet is a failure compared to what the state has done," Whitley said. "We were talking about it when I was at Ameritech [1993-1999], but the city could never execute [on the plan]. At least they finally got to the proposal point but the proof is in the pudding."
Eventually, Whitley wants the Chamber to be in a position of promoting business-to-business development--facilitating contacts between Illinois companies, a vision that includes connecting promising tech upstarts with potential partners.
Whitley brings a lot of visibility to an organization that was virtually forgotten by the local community. With regard to his ambitious plans for driving economic development, it is refreshing to hear, but as he would agree, "the proof is in the pudding."
Darcy Evon is editor of the i-Street Reporter, an independent free Internet
newsletter and I-Street magazine.