Aug. 21--International trade show organizer Hannover Fairs USA will move its North American headquarters from New Jersey to the far northwest side of Chicago next month, the company announced Wednesday jointly with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and World Business Chicago.
The move from Princeton, N.J., will bring only 10 to 15 full-time employees to the city. But the company's stature as a unit of Deutsche Messe, operator of the Hannover Fairgrounds exhibition site, bodes well for continuing efforts to boost tourism and conventions here, Emanuel said in a written announcement.
Larry Turner, president and CEO of Hannover Fairs USA, said, "Many of our North American industrial event exhibitors and attendees are located in the upper Midwest so relocating to Chicago was a logical step."
The offices will be at 8755 W. Higgins Road, near O'Hare International Airport as well as rival convention city Rosemont.
Two shows in the company's portfolio -- Motion, Drive & Automation North America and Industrial Automation North America -- already are at McCormick Place, running in conjunction with the International Manufacturing Technology Show, the city's largest trade show.
The company chose the Far Northwest Side site "to be close to O'Hare and (for) easy access to downtown through the Blue Line," Turner said in a written statement.
Hannover Fairs USA develops and manages marketing programs at Deutsche Messe events in Hannover, Germany and the U.S., as well as in China, India and Turkey.
It was referred to World Business Chicago, the not-for-profit that markets the city as a business location, by the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest.
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