CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - Mar 28, 2016) - It's no secret the U.S. manufacturing sector accounts for 12.1 percent of the US GDP ($2.17 trillion) and includes 12 million workers employed by domestic and foreign companies. The U.S. is Italy's most important trading partner outside of the EU, accounting for 22 percent of its total exports to the U.S. What many don't know is that in 2015, Illinois was the sixth largest importer of goods from Italy with almost $1.8 billion, an increase of almost seven percent over the previous year. Manufacturing is at the heart of this growth. In 2015, about a third of goods imported from Italy were machinery products with $516 million, followed by two sectors which had dynamic growth, chemical products with $459 million and food products with $130 million -- respectively with 86 percent and 14 percent increases over the previous year. Closing the top four sectors of Illinois' imports was metal products at $136 million. Combined, these four sectors accounted for approximately 70 percent of Italy's total exports to Illinois in 2015.
Along with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, there are over 89 Italian companies with operations in Illinois employing almost 3,700 Illinoisans as of 2016 and of these, almost a third call Chicago home.
Join us on March 30th at the i3 Forum: Impact. Innovate. Integrate., to hear The Prime Minister of Italy, Mayor Emanuel, Boeing President Marc Allen and15 of Italy's top innovators from the aerospace, automotive, energy and robotics sectors discuss the state of the manufacturing industry and trends for the future.
When
March 30, 2016, 3:00-5:30pm
Where
University of Chicago, Gleacher Center, 450 North Cityfront Plaza Dr.
Who
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi
Armando Varricchio, Italian Ambassador to the United States of America
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the Chairman of CNH Industrial
Marc Allen, President Boeing International
Roberto Luongo, Director General of the Italian Trade Agency
Luigi Galdabini, President of UCIMU & CECIMO
On Display
The i3 Forum will feature live displays of Italian innovation including
COMAU Racer3 Robot
iCub humanoid Robot from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
Bucati Motorcycles
3D printing devices from the WASProject
ISSpresso, the espresso maker of the International Space Station designed by Lavazza and Argote
Contact Information:
Media Contact:
Susan Lindner/Sarah Guffey
212-922-5885/815-630-9557
Emerging Media
susan@emergingmediapr.com