Regional Advantage
Great Lakes Basin
Water Security. Economic Security.
The Great Lakes Basin is a binational area in North America encompassing five interconnected freshwater lakes and surrounding U.S. states and Canadian provinces. The largest surface freshwater system in the world, the lakes contain 21% of global freshwater and 84% of North America’s supply. The Great Lakes economy, the third-largest in the world, is a $9.3 trillion economic powerhouse that is emerging as a high-tech economic megaregion and frontline climate ecosystem in the 21st century.
- North America’s Freshwater
- 84%
- Regional Economic Impact
- $9.3T
The South Shore of Lake Michigan is the leading financial, technology, manufacturing and logistics anchor of the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake located entirely within U.S. territory, and the largest by surface area in the world that lies fully in one country.
As water becomes the defining resource of the 21st century, the Great Lakes stands apart.
Chicago-Northwest Indiana Region
Anchor of America’s Great Lake
The Chicago–Northwest Indiana Region is the economic and technological anchor of the Great Lakes Basin, uniquely combining global business leadership, world-class transportation infrastructure, industrial scale, leading research institutions, and one of the nation's highest concentrations of quantum science and microelectronics assets.
The metropolitan region spans four states and is home to more than 11 million people. With a Gross Regional Product exceeding $970 billion, it is the third-largest regional economy in the United States, comparable in scale to the national economies of Switzerland and Taiwan.
- Population
- 11 MM
- Corporate Headquarters
- 30+
The region is a national leader in industrial production. Manufacturing accounts for approximately 22% of regional economic output, roughly double the U.S. national average. Combined with extensive freight, port, rail, energy, and logistics infrastructure, the region operates at a scale few metropolitan areas can match, making it one of America's most critical manufacturing, supply chain and distribution hubs.
The region is also home to the nation's second-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, with 30+ major corporate headquarters. While Chicago serves as a center of corporate leadership, finance, technology, and innovation, Northwest Indiana provides the industrial backbone of the regional economy, supporting large-scale manufacturing, freight transportation, logistics, and distribution operations.
Complementing these economic assets is a world-class innovation ecosystem that includes Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the Chicago Quantum Exchange, the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), and the Purdue University Northwest Roberts Impact Lab. The region’s federally designated Bloch Quantum Tech Hub unites industry, academia, and government to accelerate quantum innovation, workforce development, and commercialization.
Together, these assets place the Chicago–Northwest Indiana Region at the intersection of industrial capability, scientific discovery, and technological deployment, positioning it to lead the next era of American innovation, manufacturing, and economic competitiveness.
South Shore Corridor
90 Miles Powering America’s Next Industrial Era
Stretching from Chicago, Illinois, to South Bend, Indiana, the South Shore is a 90-mile corridor that helped build America's industrial century through steel, energy, and transportation. Today, it is uniquely positioned to power the nation’s next era of prosperity through advanced manufacturing, production of critical technologies, and resilient supply chains that will underpin American prosperity, competitiveness, and national security in the 21st century.
- acres zoned for heavy industry
- 10K
- electrical capacity expansion
- 300%
The South Shore corridor offers more than 10,000 acres zoned for heavy industry and reuse, access to one of the nation's largest scalable power networks, abundant freshwater, and direct connectivity to six Class I railroads and four interstate highways. Its global reach is reinforced by major cargo and passenger airports, deep-water ports, and location within America's most important freight and logistics hub. Together, these assets provide access to a workforce of more than 5.35 million people, a talent pool larger than the populations of many U.S. states.
In an era of intensifying global competition, the South Shore is where America’s industrial legacy, technological future, and strategic advantages converge to shape the next century of U.S. economic growth.