November 17th, 2009
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Author: McCormick Place is losing a second key piece of its convention business within a week, as the plastics industry trade show has decided to move to Orlando for 2012 and 2015 after nearly four decades in Chicago Piano movers, sources tell the Tribune.
The formal announcement, expected to be made at a 10 a.m. press conference today, comes on the heels of a decision by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society last week to move its 2012 annual meeting to Las Vegas.
The losses to the city’s chief rivals occur as the deep recession is cutting into the tourism and convention business, leading the agency that runs McCormick Place and Navy Pier to decide Monday to trim its work force by 20 percent, or about 100 positions, as part of a larger cost-cutting program aimed at trimming a projected $28.8 million deficit this fiscal year. The expected shortfall is more than triple what had been anticipated.
The plastics show, produced by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, is triennial. The trade group’s 2009 show held in June at McCormick Place saw a 28 percent drop in attendance, to 44,000. And exhibitors complained to the trade association about the costs of exhibiting at McCormick Place.
The show is expected to be the 9th largest for the convention hall this year, generating an estimated $95.3 million in spending locally. That economic impact is down from $154.7 million for the 2006 show.
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