Chicago & Midwest + Downtown + Retail | May 4, 2023

The Westside Health Authority (WHA) and Austin Coming Together (ACT), joined by city officials and representatives from BMO and ITW, broke ground on the new ASPIRE Center for Workforce Innovation, located on Chicago’s West Side

Workforce Support and Training Center Breaks Ground on Chicago’s West Side

The Westside Health Authority (WHA) and Austin Coming Together (ACT), joined by city officials and representatives from BMO and ITW, broke ground on the new ASPIRE Center for Workforce Innovation, located on Chicago’s West Side.

The ASPIRE Center is designed to be a one-stop shop for support services and career training and will house the Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC) and BMO. Both WHA and ACT plan to expand their core services at the Center. JARC will provide free training in manufacturing, welding and mechanical assembly. Holistic services in career development and financial services will also be available, while BMO will provide retail banking services.

The ASPIRE Center will be in the former CPS Emmett Elementary School at 5500 W. Madison St., shuttered in 2014. The building architect is Lamar Johnson Collaborative; general contractor is Sargent Blinderman; project management is through Project Management Advisors.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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