Firms relieved after relatively peaceful summit

Private companies in downtown Chicago have come through the NATO summit largely unscathed, with few if any reports of damage resulting from protests.

With NATO’s two-day meeting ended, downtown businesses are expected to return to normal routines Tuesday.

Firms that consulted companies on security for the summit say advanced preparedness and good cooperation with authorities helped ensure they didn’t suffer major losses.

The head of the Chicago office of Kroll Advisory Solutions, Jeff Cramer, says his clients are expressing relief.

He says many heeded Kroll’s advice to let employees work from home on Monday.

Cramer says some people may think companies were over prepared given there wasn’t widespread violence. But he says it was prudent to be safe rather than risk being sorry had things actually gotten out of hand.