Chicago’s neighborhoods hold an untapped workforce for suburban businesses

Warehouse operators along the Interstate 55 corridor. Manufacturers in DuPage County. Distribution centers stretching from Joliet to Elgin. Many are looking for the same thing: dependable workers.

Just a few miles away, thousands of Chicago residents are looking for jobs but remain disconnected from the workforce because of criminal records, transportation challenges or a lack of professional connections.

Bringing those two groups together won't solve poverty on its own, but it can offer an encouraging and effective way of reducing it. And lawmakers across the state can bolster this trend by reducing barriers to work.

Small businesses play an essential role in offering the dignity of work. Since the pandemic, small businesses in Illinois have been the only ones creating jobs on net. They have added more than 174,000 jobs, with 99% of those — more than 172,000 jobs — coming from businesses with fewer than 20 employees.

Jeffrey Maxwell has spent the past decade connecting employers with those who need jobs, offering a model for how groups can come together to reduce poverty.

The founder of the Chicago Peace Initiative grew up in Englewood and spent nearly four years in prison after a drug conviction. A friend eventually helped him land a job at a staffing agency, giving him the opportunity to rebuild his life. Then, his skills and background helped him find his calling: He recruits warehouse workers, prepares them for jobs and helps them navigate obstacles to employment, including transportation.

During the past 11 years, he has helped nearly 3,000 individuals find jobs across 11 warehouses around the Chicago area. Today, warehouse operators call Maxwell when they need employees because they trust his recommendations and workforce.

“Now we have guys come out of jail, they call my phone and the next day they'll be working if he or she has a Social Security card and state ID,” Maxwell said. “That means they are two weeks away from being in the position to put something towards a place to live.”

His experience reflects a broader finding in a new report from the Illinois Policy Institute's Center for Poverty Solutions: the benefit of non-government, grass-roots organizations.

Throughout Chicago's South and West sides, neighborhood block clubs and community organizations such as the Chicago Peace Initiative are helping residents get hired. They connect employers with workers, arrange transportation to suburban job sites and create short-term employment opportunities that help people build a work history. While they’re registered with the city, they do it all without government funding.

Chicago should make it easier for organizations creating these opportunities to grow.

Lawmakers can start by opening up access to vacant lots. Block clubs already organize neighborhood cleanups, maintain community gardens and help seniors with yard work. Those projects beautify neighborhoods, but they also give residents paid work, references and experience they can use to land permanent jobs.

Yet, these lots often remain vacant due to arduous city regulations, becoming prime spots, instead, for crime and other illicit activities. If cities make it easier for community organizations to access and maintain vacant land, these spots are more likely to become opportunities than liabilities.

City leaders can also foster grass-roots job creation by reducing occupational licensing requirements. Many jobs require licenses or permits that create barriers for people trying to enter the workforce. Easing licensing requirements for entry-level jobs would allow more residents to gain skills, build a work history and earn a paycheck while serving their own communities.

Together, those reforms would give block clubs and neighborhood organizations more opportunities to connect people with work before introducing them to employers looking to hire. This means relying less on government and more social mobility.

Maxwell has watched that happen thousands of times.

“Seeing the impact on the people that have their own apartments now, or their own houses or vehicles and are driving three or four other guys to these jobs,” he said, “It's a game changer.”

Helping more Chicagoans find work won't solve every challenge facing the city. But for businesses willing to partner with organizations already preparing people for employment, it offers a practical way to strengthen the workforce while opening more doors to economic opportunity.

• Matt Paprocki is the president and CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute.