Chicago Tribune (08/19/12) Kathy Bergen; Kristen Mack; Wailin Wong

A Chicago Tribune review of job announcements from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel indicates the jobs pipeline may not be quite as robust as his pronouncements would indicate. Emanuel’s office says eight companies have committed to moving their corporate or regional headquarters to Chicago and 28 companies have expanding there, adding about 20,000 jobs in a little more than a year in office. But the Tribune review found that while about 60% of those job pledges are for new positions, the remainder likely will be transfers from outside the city, and many firms are having difficulty meeting the goals announced by the mayor’s office.

Among the handful of companies that are reaching their goals is staffing company SeatonCorp. SeatonCorp’s chief executive, Patrick Beharelle, says he reached out to the mayor’s camp to see if Emanuel would be willing to attend a celebration that recognized the company as a top job creator among privately held U.S. companies. It was only when Beharelle later shared that the company planned to hire 400 recruiters, accountants, finance, and information technology staffers in Chicago that Emanuel agreed to make an appearance.