We have seen a drastic change in society since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation in 2020. Everyday routines were altered, conversations were sharper, kitchens transformed into coffee bars, and Monday morning office meetings turned into zoom calls. With that, we all managed to find a work-life balance suitable to adjusting to what we now call our “new normal.”
The Illinois Chamber reached out to several Chamber Members to talk about how they had to adapt and transform their workplace to work remotely. The following Members represent business interests across a wide range of industries in Illinois.
SmithAmundsen LLC is a full-service business law firm with offices in Chicago, Crystal Lake, Rockford, and St. Charles, IL as well as four other Midwest locations. Their clients are spread across the world, so they have a national and international flavor. The firm focuses on business transactions, litigation and labor and employment matters.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, Inc. is an industry leader and one of the nation’s largest commercial real estate and finance organizations. Inland specializes in creating and developing Inland member companies that provide commercial real estate-related services.
Universal Technical Institute is a skills-based trade school that offers an extension range of transportation-related technician programs for students. UTI is known as the leading provider of training to prepare students for their careers as professional automotive, diesel, welding technicians and many others.
Recognized as the second oldest Chamber in the State of Illinois, Decatur Regional Chamber of Commerce was chartered in 1903 but traces its roots back to the 1887 formation of the Decatur Board of Trade. Mirinda Rothrock leads the Chamber as its President.
ILBIZ- What was your experience handling the pandemic?
SmithAmundsen- It was both challenging and incredibly rewarding. Challenging in that we had to assist our clients with the interpretation of complex legislation in real time and rewarding in that we were able to assist our clients and their employees safe and successful. (Julie Proscia, Partner, SmithAmundsen LLC)
Inland Real Estate- At The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, Inc., less than 5% of our office staff at our Oak Brook, Illinois headquarters campus, worked in a remote capacity before the pandemic. By mid-March of 2020, more than 95% of all HQ staff worked remotely in home offices, with about 5% of designated “essential workers” coming into the office on a daily basis with strict health and safety measures and protocols in place. To almost everyone’s surprise, the transition to mostly remote work happened seamlessly and without major issues or disruption to our operations. Credit goes to the many Inlanders who rallied around the company to support each other and the transition, and who worked very hard over those weeks to stay connected and to keep our businesses up and running. Credit also goes to our many years of investments in technology. In many ways, the pandemic was a real-world validation test of the modern IT infrastructure Inland had built over the last decade. We had many more tools at our disposal to deploy a mostly remote workforce than anyone had ever thought possible, and the pivot to remote work in March of 2020 lead to a productivity explosion for most of our staff. Long dormant or under-utilized features and capabilities of our IT infrastructure were put into place for daily use, and staff were very vocal about the increase in team and department communications. Oddly enough, most staff felt more connected than ever because of collaboration software and systems that were in place. As Inland moves forward into the future, and people start returning to an office environment, these productivity enhancements and features are now a part of our everyday life – and we will continue to benefit from their adoption and use in the years to come.
ILBIZ- How did the pandemic affect business?
Decatur Regional Chamber of Commerce- Companies are always evolving with new hires, technological updates, new product rollouts, and more, but shutting down business was new for everyone.
Decatur and Macon County rolled with the punches and navigated unexpected changes. Our businesses were resilient and learned to figure things out as you go. What is great about our community is businesses less affected turned to the Chamber to create ways they could help those who were struggling. The positive side of this from a Chamber standpoint, they chose to turn to us to figure out the best way to provide support. This is how our Project Cheer campaign was born which provided support to local restaurants and their employees during the holiday season.
SmithAmundsen- We, like many other entities, had to adapt a very relationship driven practice to an online platform. The pandemic gave us the opportunity to adapt and develop online and remote ways i.e., Zoom cocktail hours etc. in order to keep and strengthen those relationships.
ILBIZ – How did the University assure students safety?
Universal Technical Institute- In mid-March 2020, Universal Technical Institute transitioned all of its on-campus, in-person education model to an online format, building IT capability, redesigning courses, and training instructors to work in a virtual environment. Starting in May 2020, Universal Technical Institute began opening hands-on CDC-compliant labs at its campuses as a complement to the online instructor-delivered teaching and demonstrations. The transition to online courses allowed students to remain in school during the pandemic and the blended training model prepares students for careers that increasingly use a combination of both hands-on and computer skills.
Additionally, Universal Technical Institute offers manufacturer-specific advanced courses, which have continued during the pandemic, with strong student outcomes. These programs train students who have completed their core program to work with a specific manufacturer’s vehicles and technology. Employers extend offers of employment to many of these students even before they graduate and, for some of these programs, manufacturer partners cover the advanced training tuition of graduates they hire.
ILBIZ- Did you have a disaster plan ready when the pandemic hit?
Decatur Regional Chamber of Commerce- We had a disaster plan, but it did not include a health pandemic. Since then, we have added an employee wellness check list and rules for working from home.
Universal Technical Institute- The COVID-19 health pandemic was a unique crisis that required almost everyone to change their way of operations overnight. While we plan for various crisis scenarios, COVID-19 required we stop in-person learning and pivot to an online model for the first time in our school’s more than 50-year history. However, the transition to online courses not only allowed students to remain in school during the pandemic but helped provide well-trained and skilled technicians ready to work and keep this country running.
Inland Real Estate Group- Before the pandemic, Inland maintained a very robust business continuity and disaster recovery program. Inland tested this program on an annual basis, routinely involving every aspect of our organization to respond to a crisis and to keep our operations up and running in the event of a major disruption. This training proved critical to Inland’s ability to quickly pivot and transition from an office-centric work model to a mostly remote-work model literally in a matter of hours after the pandemic had been officially declared in March of 2020. Our experience shows that it is important to not just have a disaster plan on the shelf; team members need to actively engage it and practice it on a regular basis, so it becomes second nature when a disaster or disruption actually takes place.
ILBIZ- What federal or state legislation are you watching right now and what does it mean for business in Illinois?
SmithAmundsen- 2021 is shaping up to be a very active legislative year. As such there is a multitude of legislation that we are following. Of note in particular is proposed legislation regulated to expanding the Freedom to Work act, the Wage Theft damages act which would increase damages when an underpayment of wages is found and proposals related to Paid Sick leave.
Universal Technical Institute- We actively monitor and seek ways to support State and Federal leaders on any and all proposals that will expand workforce readiness and pathways to careers.
Decatur Regional Chamber of Commerce- We are monitoring legislation on all levels. We are the voice of business and any legislation that pertains to additional taxes, fees, and regulation which affect the ability of business to operate is a concern.