Experience. Integrity. Relationships.

Background

Ernest Sawyer founded Ernest R. Sawyer  Enterprises, Inc. (ERS) in 1994. Since its inception, ERS has been focused on diversity compliance, community development, and transit development and expansion. Currently, the firm is the largest  African-American owned Urban Economic Development and Consulting firm in the Chicagoland area. Ernest Sawyer’s vision for creating the firm was drawn from his previous 30 plus years of urban planning experience with the City of Chicago and the Chicago Transit Authority. In the past nearly 30 years, the firm has grown to advise and manage over $5 billion in projects. ERS services include:

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program Planning and Management

  • M/W/DBE Compliance Monitoring

  • EEO Compliance Management

  • Community Outreach and Public Affairs

  • Stakeholder Management

  • Urban Policy and Planning

Background Continued

Prior to founding ERS, Ernest Sawyer was the Deputy Executive Director of Planning, Marketing and Development for the Chicago Transit Authority. He supervised over 150 employees involved in all planning phases of transit and station development. Sawyer was responsible for executive management of Strategic Planning to include the development of long-range strategic business plans for the CTA including performance monitoring, system planning evaluation, Section 15 data gathering and analysis. Additional responsibilities included:

  • Capital Development to include planning and implementation of the  CTA’s grant-funded capital programs.  Prepared, wrote, and monitored the annual and five-year capital grant programs.

  • Marketing including responsibility for the strategic marketing plan of the CTA.  The department includes Community  Affairs, Advertising and Promotion,  Publications and Graphics.

  • Property Development including management of the CTA’s activities relating to joint development and value capture. Real Estate Property  Management, encompassing. The management of all of CTA Real Estate  Holdings including all leased properties.

  • Route and systems planning to include fares and ridership planning.