1. Metropolitan Chicago’s food manufacturing industry is the largest in the nation in terms of the number of people employed. In 2000, the nine-county metropolitan area employed 67,711 workers in 867 companies. Because of this, it is recognized as the largest U.S. food manufacturing “cluster”, offering food companies located in the area competitive advantages because of the availability of industry-specific resources.
2. Illinois has the most productive food sector of any state in the nation. The output per worker in the Illinois food sector is about $460,000 a year, while the average for both the U.S. and the top ten food producing states is only $380,000. Illinois food industry workers are 23% more productive than both the U.S. and the top ten states’ averages.
3. Job Openings: Approximately 800 employment vacancies open up in the industry every year in the region. Jobs range from entry-level positions to highly advanced technical and supervisory positions.
4. High Employment Multiplier: The employment multiplier for this industry is 2.58, which means that for every food manufacturing job, another 1.58 jobs are created in businesses that supply and support food manufacturing.
5. Good Wages: The average wage of all Chicago Metropolitan food manufacturing workers is $28,000 per year, not including overtime pay. The average hourly wage for production workers is $13.16 per hour.
Source: http://www.clcr.org/publications/pdf/food-mfg-statistical-report.pdf
