Springfield vs. Chicago, IL
Posted On 02/22/2017 By admin
Why are ZG Worldwide Consultants headquartered in Springfield, IL rather than Chicago, IL?
This question has been asked of Lothar Soliwon, ZG Worldwide President and CEO many times. After all, Chicago is one of the world’s great international trade centers, with many huge global businesses, consulates, and a very dynamic economy. Wouldn’t it be best to be close to all the action taking place there?
In some respects there are many opportunities in Chicago, but on the other hand there is much competition from the world’s biggest business consultancies and countless smaller firms.
ZG Worldwide Consultants was founded in downstate Illinois after identifying a void in diverse, global consulting outside of Chicago. While there are some downstate consultancies with a degree of international reach and a number with a range of services, none come close to having what ZG Worldwide offers.
Springfield,Illinois, is a regional global business hub. Because of its history, it is a major U.S. international tourism destination, pedestrian friendly, with an excellent tourism infrastructure. Many regional companies conduct various degrees of international businesses. Being the state capital, global business decisions are made there and many associations whose members do foreign business are located there. Heath care providers in the Mid-Illinois Medical District, which has a more comprehensive medical services than most cities of its size, is receiving increasing numbers of medical tourists nationally and internationally. The Midwest Inland Port in nearby Decatur offers direct rail connections by three large railroads to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Also, Decatur’s airport is an international port of entry for air cargo and has a foreign trade zone.
While most of ZG Worldwide’s 20 consultants in the Central Illinois cities of Springfield, Peoria, Bloomington, Decatur, and Champaign provide services geared to local needs, there are consultants in nine other states cities on five continents, including Berlin, Shanghai, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, and Addis Ababa.
Much consulting work is being done remotely by ZG Worldwide and other consultancies. The consulting company’s headquarters doesn’t necessarily need to be in a big city like Chicago. A company in London needing certain skills in St. Petersburg can do all the business using modern telecommunications. Much business does not need to be done face-to-face. The challenge is finding ways to match client needs with service providers. Airbnb and Uber have done this brilliantly, become very well known, and grown immensely. While networking opportunities to promote ZG Worldwide are much better in Chicago, the general process of building the brand and making connections among dispersed clients and providers is not any better there than in Springfield, Illinois.
Picture below of ZG Worldwide President and Founder, Lothar Soliwon.
