Situation and Challenge:  Since its inception in 2010, a local grocery store faced the daunting task of evolving from a single store location into a major grocery store chain across Chicago, with each location presenting its own regulatory, construction and community challenges.

Solution: DLS Policy Solutions stepped in with its expertise and vast network, adeptly navigating government and local landscapes.  Our strategic finesse in negotiations and community engagement played a key role in a seamless expansion while ensuring community benefits.

Outcome: The result is a triumph of strategy and relationship management: This Major Grocery Chain has grown from a modest start-up to a 45-store powerhouse with over 9,000 employees, while becoming a household name.  Our role in the journey highlights our significant impact in steering the stores through competitive waters to remarkable success.

Situation & Challenge:   The Mayor of a suburban Village sought to build a stronger relationship between its residents, the local government, and the business community.  The challenges included how to best promote the Village’s unique assets, while also stimulating economic growth for the businesses to thrive in public/private partnerships.

Solution:DLS Policy Solutions identified local business leaders and set up quarterly roundtable meetings with the mayor to listen and consider their input into policymaking, to ensure the Village’s regulations and initiatives are conducive to business growth.  Additionally, philanthropic projects were identified and implemented as an effective method to support the local community.

Outcome: The result of utilizing strategic relationship management between the mayor and the business community, DLS established an active and collaborative cornerstone of the Village’s economic vitality and business philanthropic activities.  The philanthropic activities include donations of products for local students, monetary donations for summer camp enrollment and volunteer programs.   

Situation and Challenge: The stone fabrication and installation industry are fiercely competitive; fraught with economic fluctuations, regulatory & compliance issues, and supply chain disruptions. The challenge for one of the country’s leading high-end stone fabrication operations was to successfully identify decision makers and secure a specific high profile major project.

Solution: DLS Policy Solutions has established relationships with architects, developers, and general contractors.  We highlighted our client’s past projects showing proof of capabilities, craftsmanship and reliability with a goal of submitting a competitive bid while showcasing our Contractor’s unique strength.

Outcome:   The result of embracing strategic relationship management, a deep understanding of the industry and the ability to navigate the challenging competitive bidding process—our Prominent Commercial Stone Contractor’s proposal was accepted, as part of the $800 Million overall project budget, and their stone fabrication and installation is nearly complete.     

Situation and Challenge:  A powerhouse in developing over $11 billion worth of diverse properties, faced challenges unique to the real estate world—from navigating the impacts of COVID-19 to fostering economic renewal, especially in the core areas of downtown Chicago.

Solution: DLS Policy Solutions stepped in as a trusted partner, working hand-in-hand with the developer’s CEO.  We leveraged our expertise in government infrastructure and processes to guide them through complex projects, focusing on government, public, and community relations.

Outcome: Our collaboration led to significant wins including securing crucial infrastructure funding for projects in suburban Chicago.  We also took charge of all government and community relations related to development and crafted a philanthropic plan designed for impact.

Situation and Challenge: A leading fixed income portfolio management firm faced the challenge of navigating the complexities of a newly established statewide investment asset pool, known as The Fund, boasting an impressive $8.3 billion in assets.  Tasked to understand The Fund’s operations and its fixed income allocation, they turned to DLS Policy Solutions for expert advice.

Solution: Our first step was to identify the key decision-makers and understand the timeline and factors influencing their decisions.  We kept our fixed income investment firm in the loop with regular meeting updates, insights from Trustee and Committee meetings, ensuring they always had a finger on The Fund.

Outcome:Our targeted actionable guidance on The Fund’s investment goals and the strategic role of fixed income in its portfolio empowered our client to clarify The Fund’s objectives.  This led to optimized risk/return outcomes, positioning them for success in a complex investment landscape.

Situation and Challenge: The World Food Progamme (WFP) is on a mission in over 80 countries, saving lives with food aid for those hardest hit by conflicts and disasters, while tackling the root causes of these crises.  DLS Policy Solutions was tasked with a monumental goal: to raise $10 million from US-based multinational food companies and cement WFP’s role in both US and global relief efforts.  Collaboration with governments emerged as the key to unlocking success.

Solution: Working closely with WFP’s Executive Director, Catherine Bertini, we embarked on a global journey, engaging with world leaders.  Recognizing the pivotal role women play in food culture across the globe, we championed the formation of a women’s coalition to ensure equitable food distribution.

Outcome: Our efforts bore fruit beyond expectations—not only did we exceed our $10 million fundraising target, but we’ve also seen a transformative change: over 80% of WFP country offices now mobilize women into food aid committees, empowering them to lead the charge in identifying and aiding in their communities.

Situation & Challenge:  A vertically integrated cannabis company, and one of the largest U.S. wholesalers of branded cannabis products, was aiming to open three new dispensaries in Illinois but hit a wall—the municipalities they approached were not biting, due to skepticism about the cannabis industry and its benefits to their communities.

Solution: DLS Policy Solutions rolled up our sleeves and got to work.  We pinpointed key players in each community, dug deep to understand their concerns, and armed ourselves with solid research on how dispensaries could benefit their towns.  Armed with this knowledge, we finally broke through and secured crucial meetings.

Outcome: Our efforts paid off beautifully—all three dispensaries received the green light from their local governments and are now up and running, bringing new vitality (and tax revenue!) to their communities.