Economic Development Without Equity Is a Fumble

Op-Ed

Economic Development Without Equity Is a Fumble

For decades, Black business leaders in Chicago have fought to ensure that large-scale economic development produces real opportunity for minority- and women-owned firms. DBE, MBE, and WBE programs did not emerge from charity; they emerged from exclusion—and from hard lessons showing that, without intentional policy, major projects routinely bypass entire communities.

That history explains why Chicago embeds participation standards into law rather than leaving them to discretion. By contrast, Arlington Heights has not articulated clear participation goals, and Indiana’s recent handling of Senate Bill 27—legislation designed to position that state to attract the Chicago Bears—raises serious concerns. As the bill moved through committee, language establishing participation goals of 15 percent for minority-owned businesses and 5 percent for women-owned businesses was eliminated entirely.

Those distinctions matter. When participation standards are stripped from enabling legislation, the authority itself loses the framework needed to require inclusion. In construction contracting, so-called neutrality without guardrails has historically reproduced exclusion.

Billion-dollar stadium projects generate generational wealth through prime contracts, professional services, vendor relationships, and long-term operations. Without clear direction, access to those opportunities is uneven at best. Across the country, stadium construction has rarely translated into ownership or prime contracting opportunities for Black firms, even in cities with majority-Black workforces. Too often, wealth flows upward and outward—not into surrounding communities.

This conversation takes on added significance in professional football. The majority of NFL players are Black. Their talent fills stadiums, drives television contracts, and underpins a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Many are raised in families headed by single Black women—an extraordinary demographic that continues to overcome disproportionate economic hardship. Alignment between economic development and equity is not symbolic; it is necessary.

The Chicago Bears understand representation. The organization operates one of the most diverse executive leadership teams in the NFL, with Kevin Warren serving as President and CEO and Ryan Poles as General Manager, alongside women and leaders of color in senior decision-making roles. That reflects intentional leadership. It is therefore fair to ask whether a relocation framework outside Chicago that excludes—or removes—minority participation standards aligns with that ethos.

Chicago has viable, equitable alternatives. The Michael Reese site or a reimagined Soldier Field—modeled after inclusive developments like the Obama Presidential Center—

demonstrate that stadium investments can anchor mixed-use development, integrate transit, minimize displacement, and create real pathways for qualified Black firms to compete and grow.

This debate is not just about concrete and steel. It is about whether minority- and women-owned businesses are prime contractors, not just subcontractors; whether suppliers are embedded in long-term vendor ecosystems; and whether workforce pipelines create paid apprenticeships, union entry points, and career-track opportunities so that young people from surrounding communities build lasting wealth—not just temporary wages.

It’s also not just about the jobs the stadium construction provides—it’s also about the huge number of Chicago’s workforce that will be displaced in hotels, restaurants and bars if the state chooses to withhold support for stadium construction efforts in Chicago while favoring a suburban bid— a bid that ignores the value of workforce diversity and long-term economic consequences to its major city.

The absence of stated inclusion & workforce goals—and the removal of MBE and DBE protections—sends a signal. Not about financing, but about priorities.

The Bears have every right to evaluate their options. But options carry moral and economic consequences. A stadium is not simply a building; it represents billions in contracts, wages, and long-term opportunity. Chicago has spent decades building inclusion into its development framework because growth without access does not produce shared prosperity.

A stadium can be a monument. Or it can be a multiplier.

The Bears should choose the multiplier—and remain in Chicago.

Keiana Barrett-Williams, CEO, Business Leadership

Karen Freeman-Wilson, CEO, Chicago Urban League

Melinda Kelly, Chatham Business Association Board Chair

Larry Ivory, CEO, Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce

Robert Johnson, Co-chair, Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce PAC

Carl West, CEO, MG Media & Chairman, Black United of Illinois (BUFI)

Tonya Trice, Executive Director, South Shore Chamber & South Shore Community Development Corporation

Malcom Crawford, Executive Director, Austin African American Business Networking Association