OREANDA-NEWS. October 14, 2014. The more than USD3 billion worth of investments made at Chicago's airports in the last two years was the focus of a presentation by Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) Commissioner Rosemarie S. Andolino at the first-ever DHL Engineering & Manufacturing Global Conference in Chicago.

The two-day DHL customer conference, held at the Palmer House Hilton, brought together about 50 companies that utilize DHL's logistics services, including 3M, Caterpillar, GE, Emerson, Honeywell International and Siemens.
 
"Thanks to the leadership and vision of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago has made substantial investments into its airport infrastructure," said Andolino. "We are making these investments to increase capacity and efficiency, to provide state-of-the-art airport facilities and to make travel and shipping quick, efficient and seamless."
 
Andolino discussed the progress and future of the O'Hare Modernization Program - an USD8 billion project that is past the halfway point towards completion. She also provided details on the new USD35 million DHL Global Forwarding Center at O'Hare set to open in early 2015, as well as the USD200 million Northeast Cargo Facility at O'Hare being developed by Aeroterm. The state-of-the-art facility will accommodate parking for up to 15 B747-8 freighter aircraft. Andolino also highlighted Mayor Emanuel's "Colleges to Careers" initiative, which prepares Chicagoans for the 500,000 plus jobs that will be coming to the region over the next decade in the fastest-growing fields, which include Transportation, Distribution and Logistics.
 
"Mayor Emanuel is focused on creating a growing workforce in Chicago to excel in the fields of transportation, distribution and logistics," said Andolino. "With the training and experience Chicago City Colleges is providing for students, our growing workforce in Chicago will be part of your success in the future."

The DHL Global Forwarding Center being built at O'Hare will include 53,000-square-feet of office space and 423,030-square- feet of warehouse space. DHL's move created hundreds of construction jobs and brings 500 permanent jobs to Chicago. Funded and developed by Aeroterm, the facility will be the largest DHL Global Forwarding building in the United States, covering 33 acres. In line with the CDA's green building practices at Chicago's airports, the center is slated to be LEED certified and will include features such as electric handling equipment, natural lighting and state of the art lighting systems to maximize energy efficiency.
 
DHL hosts Global Customer Conferences in the industries of Automotive, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Technology and Energy. The event in Chicago was DHL's first Engineering & Manufacturing sector conference.