OUR FASCINATING STORY

 Rising out of the ashes of the riots that rocked Chicago’s Westside in 1968, the need for an organization to bridge the gap between the community’s need for employment opportunities and corporate Chicago’s ability to offer those opportunities took root. In 1972 that organization, founded by Chicago’s leading business leaders, became a reality. The CABET Group (then The Chicago Alliance of Business Employment and Training) was incorporated in the State of Illinois. Between early 1972 and late 1973, The CABET Group served as the recruiting arm for more than twenty-five Chicago-based corporations as they strove to diversify their workforce. 

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Operating as a small boutique-style organization employing eight staff members, The CABET Group assisted more than one hundred clients secure employment in those corporations. When significant federal employment and training funds were awarded to the city in 1973, The CABET Group entered into an agreement with the City of Chicago to help develop and facilitate a public-private partnership between the business community and the city. This partnership intended to significantly increase employment opportunities for minority residents. As a result of this new role, The CABET Group’s operations grew eight-fold and its leadership changed as well and in significant ways. The organization  became a defacto public-private partnership.

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Going back to its roots in the mid-80s, The CABET Group, led by its corporate Board of Directors, began to pivot away from being a multi-million dollar de facto public-private organization intimately tied to the City of Chicago’s public mission. Its journey back to its origins would take several years. This journey would present many difficult and existential challenges along the way. Yet, in the end, The CABET Group did arrive at its destination. 

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Moving forward as an independent consultant organization has proven to offer its own challenges and rewards. During the passing years since the 1968 riots, monumental events have changed the country, the city, the local business community and the city’s people. And it has required The CABET Group to change its vision and mission. It has and will continue to change in order to meet the demands of the times. Today it is an independent organization with a small but multi-faceted Board of Directors. Its boutique-style operations strive to engage effectively in public-private partnerships that focus on workforce development issues and services.