Trade Center Kicks Off Membership Drive By GEORGE H. RYAN, Lieutenant Governor

In May, which was designated in Illinois as International World Trade Month, we at the Illinois World Trade Center (IWTC) were pleased to officially begin our membership drive.

The purpose of our drive is to recruit, from all across Illinois, businesses and individuals to take advantage of the worldwide services of the facility. As chairman of the IWTC, I feel it is crucial that we identify as many members as possible who can tap into the assistance of this wonderful facility; making the most of the many international trade programs that are available to help with global sales.

Incidentally, while the 45-story Illinois World Trade Center Tower has not been built yet, we are nonetheless providing Trade Center services. Ever since the spring of 1988, interim offices have been located on the fifth floor of the Quaker Tower. The last year has been directed toward organizing programs. And with that task now substantially completed, the membership drive is being launched so as to allow the IWTC to become fully operational.

As readers might know, the IWTC is located on a 4.3 acre site just north of the Chicago River between Dearborn and dark Streets. It is a $1 billion, mixed-use, multi-phase undertaking. Phase I completion brought with it the 35-story Quaker Tower Office Building and the Hotel Nikko Chicago.

Phase II will include the development of a residential high-rise and parking space. Wrapping up with Phase III of the construction project will be the IWTC Tower, consisting of a blue crystalline glass exterior atop a stone base.

It's important to note that the Illinois World Trade Center will not in any way be limited to Chicago. We've designed it so that all throughout the state will be "satellite offices," or locally-based centers to grant all Illinois businesses access to the services and benefits of the WTC.

The broad range of services of the IWTC is impressive too. It offers temporary and cooperative offices, complete with phone answering and mail forwarding, as well as access to phones, telefax, secretarial services, and limited meeting facilities.

Organizationally speaking, the Trade Center will have two divisions; the Illinois World Trade Institute, and the Illinois International Business Center.

Through the Illinois World Trade Institute, there will be made available export education and language programs, as well as trade information services. Too, the Institute will offer a wide range of international business seminars and training courses, many in cooperation with other organizations.

The other part of the Trade Center that is the Illinois International Business Center. It will include NETWORK, a sophisticated worldwide electronic message system for conducting international transactions; perhaps akin to a "global bulletin board," that uses very nearly any type of computer connected to a telephone.

Another component of the Business Center division within the IWTC is EXILL — an Export Trading Company established through legislation approved by the Illinois General Assembly. Just this spring EXILL was certified by the U.S. Department of Commerce to provide the full spectrum of marketing information, counseling, and other help with respect to trade. Also, EXILL will be working to organize business and orientation missions to other countries, in cooperation with other world trade centers.

So, again, as chairman of the Illinois World Trade Center, I welcome the momentum underway through our membership drive. From our biggest cities to our rural areas, the Trade Center will work with its members — both individuals and businesses alike — to analyze their business options, develop their market share, bolster their profits, and look to a confident future. •

June 1989 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 21