4 Things to Remember When Visiting Chicagoland (AKA Ropella is coming to Chicago!)

So many things are coming to Chicago! Last week, Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo welcomed a new member of the family: a crowned lemur baby. Target has been methodically developing a number of smaller-scale stores in the Chicago metropolitan area, which have flexible formats that can be tailored to their neighborhoods' specific needs. This past weekend, city officials marked the coming summer by switching on the famous Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park.

The Ropella Group is also coming to Chicagoland. Patrick Ropella, Chairman & CEO, and Jeff Bennett, Vice President of Client Partnership Development, are very excited about visiting America’s Heartland between June 5th and June 9th, 2017 – almost as excited as Cubbies fans were when their team finally earned a new, highly coveted World Series ring last fall after 108 long years. This visit is actually a big homecoming for Patrick; he started The Ropella Group in his one-bedroom condo in downtown Chicago thirty years ago, before moving to Pensacola, Florida.

The city has changed a lot since Patrick last called it home (and Patrick has changed a fair bit over the years, as well), but as the old saying goes: "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Here are a few things we’ve learned while preparing for this trip:

1.      The City of Many Names

The City of Chicago has a wide variety of nicknames – from Windy City to Chi-Town, Second City to Third Coast, Heart of America to Chicagoland. The logic behind some of these are fairly obvious (Chicagoland and Chi-Town are especially apropos), while others are more contentious.

Third Coast and Heart of America have similar origins, owing to Chicago’s prime geographical location. The Third Coast refers to the long shoreline of Lake Michigan – not as warm and beautiful as Pensacola’s pristine white Gulf Coast beaches, perhaps – but certainly a shore in its own right. Chicago’s location near the center of the country (east-and-west, at least) helped form it into one of the largest transportation centers in the United States; hence, Heart of America.

There are a couple competing theories on the origin of the moniker Windy City. The easily drawn conclusion is that it is quite literal: due to the combination of the breezes brought in across Lake Michigan, and the effect of the densely-packed skyscrapers which seem to suck the wind down into the streets and whip it around corners. Much less kind theorists point to rivals – both from sports rivals and from a contentious battle to host the 1890 World’s Fair (called the World’s Columbian Exposition to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in America) – who harshly posited that Chicagoans were ‘full of hot air’.

Second City also has several competing theories behind its origin story. Some say that it stemmed from statements that Chicago was a ‘second class city’; in a positive turn of events, citizens adopted this as their own, saying instead that Chicago was ‘second to none’. Others believe that this name refers to the fact that for nearly 100 years, Chicago was the second most populous city in the country (New York being the first; ultimately, Los Angeles overtook Chicago for second place). It is also possible that this nickname is in reference to the fact that modern Chicago is actually the second Chicago, the first having been completely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871.

2.      Show Me the Money (Or: Why to Take a Business Trip to Chicago)

…But no matter what you call the city, there is no denying its vast influence on our national and international economy. Chicago’s economy is the most diversified in the United States, and is one of the largest in the world; it is home to thirty-six of the Fortune 500 companies, and its gross metropolitan product is larger than the GDP of Kenya, Ecuador, Ukraine, and Iraq combined.

There are many publications devoted solely to local industry news, including Chicago Construction News, Chicago Dispatcher, and Food Industry News. This is in addition to the wider-scope of business newspapers Chicago Business Journal and Crain’s Chicago Business, and the business sections of larger local newspapers like the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Daily Herald.

As I previously mentioned, Chicago’s central location plays a big part in its financial success. O’Hare International Airport is consistently one of the two busiest airports in the world (and that doesn’t take into account the traffic through Chicago’s other international airport, Midway). The metropolitan area is home to more highways and rail road freight than any other city in the United states. It continually scores in the top ten on A.T. Kearney’s Global Cities Index, which ranks cities worldwide based on business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement.

3.      Wait! There Are Sports Beyond College Football?!

I include that header mostly in jest – though we all know that behind any good joke lies a kernel of truth. The Ropella Group’s headquarters are located in Milton, Florida, just outside of Pensacola, AKA deep in the heart of college football land. In fact, a couple of weeks ago we held a baby shower to welcome the newest member of the Ropella family, and one of the gifts presented for baby Landon was a Florida Gators onesie. Sure, one of our employees has a St. Louis Cardinals front license plate (sorry, Chicago!), but for the most part, if you are going to hear sports talk in this part of the country, it’s going to be about college football. Pensacola also hosts a successful minor league hockey team (the Ice Flyers) and baseball team (the Blue Wahoos, AA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, though in the 60s they were a farm team for the White Sox), but our sports presence pales in comparison to Chicago’s.

There’s a good reason that Sporting News named Chicago the Best Sports City in the country three times. When it comes to professional sports, Chicago has it all: football (the Bears), basketball (the Bulls), hockey (the Blackhawks), baseball (not one, but two teams, the Cubs and the White Sox), and even a professional soccer team (the Fire). Each of these teams has won at least one national championship in the last thirty-five years, including two in the last two years: the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, and the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2015. And who could forget the stunning double three-peat by Michael Jordan and the Bulls, in 1991, 1992, 1993, and again in 1996, 1997, and 1998?

4.      Big City Attractions, Small Town Feel (Or: Why to Vacation in Chicago)

Culturally, Chicago perfectly blends the American ideals of both big cities and small towns. The Chicago skyline is one of the tallest and most dense, and its residents exhibit the kindness and openness associated with the Midwest. It has been named the Best Sports City in the country three times, and maintains a relatively low cost of living. There is always something to do, from shopping on the Magnificent Mile to attending a show at one of its numerous theaters, and there are hundreds of parks in which to kick back and relax.

Chicago has also influenced the advancement of culture across the country. Slam Poetry is believed to have begun in Uptown, and modern improv can trace its roots to Chicago (especially to The Compass Players, which later became known as Second City, which, in turn, produced a number of comedy giants including Steve Carell, Joan Rivers, Bill Murray, and Tina Fey). It has also had a huge influence on various music genres, including hip-hop, jazz, and gospel. There are theatres, opera houses, and ballets, as well as art galleries and museums.

Chicago is also a powerhouse when it comes to food. They have been named the Most Exceptional Dining Destination, as well as the Tastiest City. These awards are partially thanks to two of their most well-known specialties: Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, and Chicago-style hot dogs, with mustard, onion, tomato, relish, peppers, pickle, and celery salt on a poppy-seed bun.

As you can probably tell, we are thrilled about the opportunity to make a trip up north to the Windy City (while it’s warm, summer weather, of course)! While in Chicago, Patrick and Jeff will be meeting with leaders across the chemical, energy, and food and beverage industries, and more. If you would like to meet with Patrick and Jeff while they are in town – or if you have a suggestion about what sights they shouldn’t miss – reach out to us! You can post in the Comments section, InMail me (Robin Foster), or contact Jeff directly at (850) 983-4871 or [email protected].