Mayor Emanuel today welcomed the announcement that Archer Daniels Midland has chosen to move its global headquarters to the city of Chicago.

"I am pleased to welcome ADM to Chicago and I look forward to the company's continued success out of their new home," said Mayor Emanuel. "As I said throughout this process, our goal was to put the city's best foot forward and highlight Chicago's strengths: an outstanding workforce, globally renowned transportation and infrastructure, and excellent quality of life. These strengths will help ADM as it continues its growth in the future just as they continue to drive our economy forward every day."

The announcement comes a day after IBM released its annual "World's Most Competitive Cities" report, which ranks 100 cities around the world in several key categories. In the category of International Headquarters, Chicago ranked 7th globally and second in North America, and the ADM headquarters move will only serve to solidify this ranking. Additionally, attracting corporate headquarters to the city is a key tenet of the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs, the city’s economic development plan that is implemented by World Business Chicago.

Throughout the several month process, Mayor Emanuel marshaled all of the city's economic development entities toward the goal of attracting ADM, including World Business Chicago, and the city's Department of Housing and Economic Development (DHED). He was also directly involved in the recruiting process on a number of occasions.

"As mayor, I've said that Chicago provides many incentives to businesses with our talent, our transit system and airports, our business climate, and the support that our government provides to the business community," the Mayor added. "I wanted to personally make sure that all of this was on display for ADM and that we took nothing for granted. We were successful in keeping the company in Illinois and I think they'll thrive in Chicago."‎

ADM is expected to move its corporate office functions to Chicago in 2014, bringing 50 to 75 employees to the city center.

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