< PreviousCheck the Dashboard As those SAF plants come online, they will add revenue to some $ million in land lease payments that clean power projects are paying to farmers, ranchers and other private landowners, according to the American Clean Power Association, which has tracked $ billion worth of wind, solar and energy storage projects in the state that pay more than $ million in state, local and property taxes annually. e state is No. in the nation in clean power capacity (No. in wind alone) at , MW and the clean power sector employs , people, says the ACPA. SAF would also align as another opportunity for farmers alongside the $. billion worth of corn produced in the state annually to make ethanol at one of the ethanol plants in Illinois, which together account for % of national ethanol production. Up-to-date information on all aspects of the clean energy scene can be found at the Illinois Clean Energy Dashboard, found at cleanenergy.illinois.gov. at dashboard, operated by the Illinois Power Agency (IPA), in August found that solar power in the state totaled , MW by the end of Q with over , projects, helped in part by IPA initiatives such as Illinois Shines and Illinois Solar For All. “Due to the Future Energy Jobs Act ( ) and the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act ( ), the state experienced a signifi cant increase in the rate of new solar project development,” says the IPA. “Prior to , Illinois featured only about MW of solar projects operating in the state.” In March, the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) announced that Illinois is No. in the nation for solar energy capacity. “In , about . gigawatts of capacity were installed in the state, which is about half of all the previously installed solar energy equipment,” the SEIA stated, crediting the same legislation cited by the IPA. Signs of win-win benefi ts of solar can be found in the same central Illinois region being boosted by Rivian and others. In late July the Springfi eld Sangamon Growth Alliance (SSGA) announced a - year Community Benefi t Agreement (CBA) with Swift Current Energy, developer of the Double Black Diamond solar installation, that includes a $ million commitment over the next two decades to support community priorities. Double Black Diamond, which will provide clean power equivalent to the annual needs of , homes, employed during construction and will be paying $ million in property taxes over the life of the project to Sangamon and Morgan counties. e City of Chicago is sourcing around % of the power that is used for its facilities — including O’Hare and Midway airports — from Swift Current’s Double Black Diamond Solar project. “Additionally, Cook County, CVS Health, Loyola University Chicago, PPG, State Farm and TransUnion are sourcing power from the project via Constellation NewEnergy, Inc.,” according to a release. “Double Black Diamond is more than a solar project. It is a bold example of what’s possible when government, economic developers and communities work together toward shared goals,” said SSGA CEO Ryan McCrady. 78 ILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE Canada’s Damera Corp., the exclusive North American distributor of the Karsan eJEST zero-emission minibus (ZEB), has leased a facility in Greater Peoria to sell and service the eJEST and to establish its first U.S. electric transit bus assembly plant to deploy additional models. Company officials first met Illinois DCEO and Illinois Economic Development Corp. officials at SelectUSA in 2024. Photo courtesy of DameraILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE 79 he latest CNBC Top States for Business ranking puts Illinois in the top states for infrastructure, one of the broad areas of competitiveness used to construct the ranking. Among other factors, according to the methodology, the infrastructure component considers “the vitality of each state’s transportation system by the value and volume of goods shipped by air, waterways, roads and rail. We look at the condition of highways and bridges, the availability of air travel and the time it takes to commute to work.” ose infrastructure assets are of keen interest to the more than , transportation, logistics and distribution companies doing business in Illinois, which combined employ more than , people and contribute close to $ billion annually to the state’s economy. ese warehouse, freight, PL and other players give companies in the Midwest a fast lane to the rest of the U.S. and the world, whether they’re bringing raw materials in or shipping fi nished products out. Illinois had the second highest number of new or expanded logistics facility announcements between and , according to the Conway Projects Database, and Chicagoland ranked fi rst in the metros category (see charts). e Windy City has the largest inventory of big-box facility space (warehouse or distribution center of K+ sq. ft.) in North America ( M+ sq. ft.), according to the Illinois Economic Development Corporation. by MARK AREND T Life in the FAST LANE LOGISTICS Canadian National Railway’s Homewood Campus is benefiting from new capital investment. Photo credit: Lonnie Wishart, Canadian National Railway Company80 ILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE StateProjects Texas2,311 Illinois1,321 California712 Ohio679 Georgia579 Florida489 Pennsylvania382 North Carolina354 Virginia334 South Carolina280 Top 10 States for Logistics Facility Projects 2020-2024 Source: Conway Projects Database Why Companies Locate Their Logistics Facilities in Illinois Among the many logistics assets to be found in Illinois are all six Class 1 railroads, the third largest Interstate system in the U.S. by mileage, water access to the Atlantic Ocean via the Great Lakes and the Gulf with more than 1,000 miles of inland waterways and two of the country’s leading air cargo facilities — Chicago O’Hare International and Rockford/ Chicago International Airports. These and other assets, including Illinois being a leading national supplier of transportation, logistics and distribution talent, are why corporate investors are so bullish on Land of Lincoln locations. Canadian National Railway Company (CN), for example, is investing about $170 million of its 2025 capital investment program in Illinois, the company announced in June. Included are track maintenance, upgrades at its Homewood Campus, network improvements and investments earmarked for its planned Chicago Logistics Hub and intermodal terminal in Grundy County, southwest of Chicago. CN employs approximately 1,600 Illinoisans and operates more than 1,200 miles of rail in the state. “We believe that investing in our network is about building for the future. Our continued infrastructure investment in Illinois will help strengthen the resiliency and efficiency of our network across the state,” said CN President and Chief Executive Officer Tracy Robinson in a statement. “Our focus remains on providing exceptional service to our customers and supply chain partners, supporting strong economic growth for North America and across communities where we operate.” CN expects the Logistics Hub to create 6,500 jobs at full buildout. At press time, the facility was still in the proposed stage, but “CN is continuing to advance the project and will be commencing some early earthworks this year to prepare the site for future construction,” says a company spokesperson.ILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE 81 A Natural for the Ag Industry Rainbow North America, a division of China-based Rainbow Agro, announced plans in March to build a Partner Production Center as part of a multi-phase expansion in Champaign. The global crop protection products supplier says improving its supply chain is a project motivator. The company says the new center will afford “diverse import routes to optimize supply chain logistics and predictability, multiple tech-enabled production lines for high capacity, quality herbicide formulations and comprehensive packaging solutions, including bulk, to service the Midwest market.” “By expanding our production capabilities and enhancing logistical efficiency, we will facilitate the growth of our partners by simplifying an increasingly complex and aging supply chain ecosystem,” said Tom Lyons, General Manager at Rainbow North America, in a statement. The company says Champaign was selected as the center’s location due to its “central positioning to serve Midwestern agriculture and its leadership as a center of excellence for AgTech innovation. Additionally, the region’s highly skilled talent pool and well-established logistical infrastructure will allow Rainbow to better serve partners with speed, efficiency, and reliability.” In August 2024, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet opened its fourth and newest distribution center in Princeton, Illinois, to bolster its presence in the Midwest and to expedite plans to expand westward. The retailer operates stores in 31 states. The facility spans over 615,000 sq. ft. and is positioned to play a crucial role in Ollie’s growth, according to the Pennsylvania- based company, initially servicing approximately 60 stores in nine states and eventually servicing more than 150 stores. The $75 million distribution center will create over 200 new full-time jobs. MetroProjects Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN1,224 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX898 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX737 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA290 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ277 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA275 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX186 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ176 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN173 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL172 Top U.S. Metros for Logistics Facility Projects 2020-2024 Source: Conway Projects Database82 ILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE LIFE SCIENCE NUCLEUS ight years ago, Germany-based global contract development and manufacturing organization Vetter Pharma purchased a vacant 860,000-sq.-ft. site in a northwest Chicago suburb with a vision for growth. There were no plans to act just yet, although it quietly laid a pivotal stepping stone in the company’s burgeoning Illinois foundation. The Des Plaines land purchase came six years after the independent pharmaceutical service provider, specializing in aseptic production of injectable medicines, took a chance on establishing its first U.S. operations in nearby Skokie. Several prominent U.S. biotech hubs came under consideration during the company’s initial site selection search in 2011, but the Chicago area was found as the most suitable location for Vetter’s needs, especially as an international manufacturer. “This investment laid the groundwork for future development,” says Vetter Pharma Managing Director Henryk Badack. “As an independent and family-owned company, long- term planning and sustainable growth are deeply embedded in our corporate philosophy. The current investment reflects the continuation of this strategic approach and our confidence in the region’s potential.” As a tenant within the city’s 22-acre Illinois Science and Technology Park (ISTP), the company did not own the early clinical manufacturing facility it occupied. Regardless, Vetter had the ability to immerse into ISTP’s dynamic and supportive environment, an experience that worked to strengthen the company’s initial belief in the region and its commitment to influencing ecosystem development. “[Greater Chicago’s] unique combination of strengths — including a large talent pool of life science professionals, world-class research institutions, and a rapidly expanding infrastructure tailored to biopharmaceutical innovation — makes it an ideal location for by ALEXIS ELMORE The Midwest’s LIFE SCIENCE NUCLEUS LIFE SCIENCES E The 160,000-sq.-ft. facility will represent Vetter’s first fully owned and operated U.S. manufacturing site. Rendering courtesy of Vetter PharmaILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE 83 both our operations and future growth,” says Badack. In 2024, the decision for Vetter to move forward with a $285 million investment into the Des Plaines site was driven by a clear forecast of increasing customer demand, in addition to a proactive approach to expanding capacity in anticipation of evolving needs. A year later, the company has officially broken ground on its new 160,000-sq.-ft. clinical manufacturing facility. The plant will feature advanced filling lines, dedicated process areas for material preparation and compounding, laboratories, storage facilities and office space. Buildings home to the remaining 700,000 sq. ft. of the site will be retained, providing ample space for future expansions. Badack says future growth opportunities will depend on global market developments, customer demand and investment projects currently underway for the company in Germany and Austria. Vetter’s new manufacturing facility is anticipated to begin media fill before closing out 2029. Once online, Vetter will relocate its complete clinical operations currently housed eight miles away in Skokie to the Des Plaines facility. “For Vetter, the Chicago area is more than just a strategic choice — it is a place where we have achieved meaningful success, and we see strong potential for expansion here,” notes Badack. “There is a clear and increasing commitment to innovation, talent development and cross-sector collaboration, creating a fertile environment for long-term success. Ongoing investment — both public and private — plays a key role in shaping a dynamic ecosystem that delivers value to local communities and global stakeholders alike.” An Ecosystem on the Rise Vetter isn’t the only manufacturer taking notice of Greater Chicago’s life sciences capabilities. Upon branching out from multinational health care company Baxter International’s kidney care segment, newly established independent health care company Vantive announced it would be establishing its U.S. headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois. Baxter’s corporate HQ has been located in the city for over 50 years, and Vantive’s decision to stay in Illinois was due to its strong health care ecosystem, skilled workforce and supportive business environment. “We are proud to continue our legacy of innovation in Deerfield, Illinois, which has served as an important anchor for our mission- driven work over the last several decades,” said Vantive CEO Chris Toth. “Our new headquarters is designed to inspire collaboration, creativity and excellence as we work to advance our mission to extend lives and expand possibilities for patients globally.” The new HQ will create 50 new jobs and grow the company’s office facilities and pharmacy operations, which include critical care therapies and innovative products, digital solutions and advanced services for home and clinic-based dialysis. Talent is a critical factor for corporate life science leaders. Chicago’s talent pool continues to gain depth. CBRE’s 2025 U.S. Life Sciences Talent Trends report found that Chicago was the No. 6 market for life sciences degrees and certificates and No. 9 in life sciences PhD degrees granted as of Q2 2025. Students and employers alike find a vibrant ecosystem at work in the region as assets such as the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub aim to drive industry-wide collaboration. The Biohub places scientists, educators, engineers and physicians in a central location to develop technologies that achieve molecular-level measurements of biological processes in human tissue that cause diseases. This level of innovation is key to promoting STEM education in the state in addition to retaining budding talent. The city comes in sixth within CBRE’s fresh medtech talent ranking, finishing ahead of markets in San Diego, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.-Baltimore. The state is home to four of the top 10 medical device companies in the nation, and one of these leaders Vetter Pharma officials, including Henryk Badack (second from right), gathered in June to break ground on a new clinical manufacturing site in Des Plaines. Photo courtesy of Vetter Pharma84 ILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE has announced plans to expand its Lake County presence. As the impacts of impending tariffs loom, Abbott Laboratories is prepared to split a $500 million investment across its Illinois and Dallas, Texas sites. The company’s HQ, Abbott Park, in Green Oaks has been pinpointed for the expansion, although exact project details have not been announced by Abbott. These investments are designed to boost manufacturing and R&D catered toward the company’s transfusion business. The expansion is set to begin before the end of the year and once complete will create 200 new jobs in the region. Expect medical device activity to pick up as Sysmex America moves into a $20.6 million expansion of three of its northeastern Illinois facilities. Increased demand for medical diagnostic technologies led the company to enhance high precision and automation systems throughout these sites, while creating 110 new jobs. Meanwhile, medical device company Epic Medical plans to launch its first U.S. manufacturing site in central Illinois. Located at the Riverway Business Park in the city of Pekin, the company’s $20 million facility will house production of high- quality IV solutions and various medical products. To date, over 15,500 life sciences companies have stationed themselves within the state’s life sciences network, ranging from emerging startups to Fortune 500 giants. A favorable business climate, high-quality talent, entrepreneurial resources and prime U.S. market proximity are just a few of the advantages that set Illinois apart for these operations and will be awaiting any business aiming to scale. “ The greater Chicago region has established itself as a strong and steadily growing player in the biotech landscape. ” — Vetter Pharma Managing Director Henryk BadackIllinois is poised to become an AI leader with top-end data centers and a quantum ecosystem. ILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE 85 TECHNOLOGY rom data centers to cryostat production, Illinois is in high-growth mode when it comes to attracting and growing high-tech companies and the talented workers they employ. Chicagoland now ranks as the fourth largest colocation data center market in the nation and is poised to climb even higher up the charts in colocation facilities, cloud computing and AI hyperscale projects. With recent major investments from CyrusOne, Compass Data Centers and Edged, Illinois proves that the growth in this sector is just getting started. CyrusOne recently topped out a new -MW facility in Aurora, where the company now has two data centers spanning , sq. ft. e fi rm plans to invest up to $ billion statewide and recently broke ground on an additional $ million, -MW facility in Aurora. Compass, meanwhile, is converting an old Sears headquarters campus in Hoff man Estates into a $ billion, -acre hyperscale complex. Earlier this year, Edged open its new ultra- effi cient, -MW campus in Aurora, where the company so far has invested $ million into digital infrastructure on the -acre site west of Chicago. ese investments into building digital infrastructure are not an anomaly in Illinois. According to the Conway Projects Database of Site Selection Magazine and Conway Data Inc. in Atlanta, new data centers have been announced in Illinois since the beginning of . Eight of them cost $ billion or more. e largest is the T Data Centers project which was announced last December in Grayslake in Lake County. Upon buildout, this complex will take up over . million sq. ft., employ full-time workers and cost more than $ billion. CloudHQ, Microsoft, Equinix and CyrusOne are all investing $ billion or more into new data centers across northern Illinois. Other big investors include Meta, Aligned, Stack, Prime Data Centers, Digital Realty Trust, QTS Data Centers, CoreWeave, SkyBox and more. John McWilliams, head of data center insights at Cushman & Wakefi eld, says to get used to it. “Chicago is ranked No. globally among established data center markets,” he says. “Chicago has a history of success in this sector. ere are a lot of large players in that market, with diff erent operators there.” Alex Smith, executive vice chair at Cushman & Wakefi eld, adds, “It comes down to where you can site projects in Illinois. Elk Grove and Hoff man Estates work for cloud campuses. Generally, data center operators need to be in a city of at least , people, have access to readily available power and be close to highways.” For those reasons, parts of southwestern Illinois work well for data centers, Smith says. “Interstate is a major fi ber provider,” he notes. “ ere is a lot of power by RON STARNER F Building a Data Dynast y Bluefors Labs is establishing a new lab facility in Chicago to provide cryostat equipment for quantum computing testing. Photo courtesy of Bluefors Labs86 ILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE in southwest Illinois. We have identified several sites ready for development there.” A Power Plant for Bits & Bytes Phil Clement, president and CEO of World Business Chicago, says the factors that attract data centers to Greater Chicago are many. “We rank seventh nationally for performance across key categories such as connectivity, power availability and infrastructure. Chicago’s data center market benefits from the region’s strong economic fundamentals, strategic location and unmatched connectivity,” he says. As of Q4 2024, Chicago employed more than 15,000 people in IT and data center operations, reflecting a nearly 2% increase over the previous year. Moreover, this sector is projected to experience 12% job growth by 2028, adds Clement. “Chicago’s electric power situation further strengthens its appeal,” says Clement. “With average electricity rates of 16.1 cents per kilowatt-hour as of December 2024, the region offers competitive energy prices compared to other major metros. This, combined with the city’s comprehensive utility infrastructure, ensures reliable and affordable power for data centers. Additionally, Chicago’s central location and access to critical infrastructure, including fiber- optic networks and transportation hubs, make it an ideal location for businesses requiring low-latency connectivity and strong disaster recovery capabilities.” None of this growth can happen without workforce and power. Brookings Metro recently published a report showing the U.S. metros that are primed to support the most AI capacity. Two of them are in Illinois: Chicago- Naperville-Elgin and Champaign- Urbana. Chicago excels because it ranks third nationally in science and engineering bachelor’s degrees; sixth in PhDs; and eighth in patents. Champaign-Urbana ranks eighth in PhDs; eighth in publications; and 90th in patents. On the electric power front, two major utility companies — ComEd and Ameren Illinois — take the lead. Ed Sitar, senior manager of economic development at ComEd, says, “We continue to see unprecedented demand on the number of data center projects and the size and scale of these projects. Our pipeline is very robust. We have active projects as far north as Grayslake and Rockford, and we have projects in the south too.” To service this growth, ComEd embarked on an 11-project, $1 billion capital investment to expand transmission and bring enhanced reliability and power to data centers moving to the region. On July 15, ComEd cut the ribbon on a new substation in Itasca. “ComEd has one of the most reliable grids in the nation, and that is a direct result of investments like this one that we are celebrating today,” said Gil Quinones, president and CEO of ComEd. Eric Whitfield, economic development director for Ameren, says that “with the AI boom, we have seen an uptick in our data center activity downstate. There are about nine projects in the pipeline where they have put down a deposit while we do a study on the power impact. None of the large-scale data centers have been built yet in central or southern Illinois in the past two years, but we think there is great opportunity for that to happen here.” The inner workings of a Bluefors Labs facility in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Bluefors LabsILLINOIS INVESTMENT GUIDE 87 Scaling the Quantum Universe Data centers aren’t the only industry creating high-wage, high-tech jobs in Illinois. Across the state, emerging industry sectors like cryostat production are taking hold. Case in point: Bluefors Labs recently announced that it is opening a new lab facility in Chicago. Bluefors enables customers working with quantum technology to test hardware and software without the need to invest in a complete cryogenic measurement system of their own. The goal is to support and further the growth of the quantum computing sector that is expandingly rapidly in Chicago and Champaign-Urbana (see p. 46). In another significant advancement, EeroQ announced that it would locate its new quantum headquarters in Chicago’s Humboldt Park community. “Illinois is on a mission to be at the center of this industry,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. “We are proud that EeroQ made the decision to make Chicago their headquarters and to put this remarkable research and development facility here. It means that we will see many more billions in new investment and thousands of quality, high-paying jobs that will grow our economy and create new opportunity for Illinois’ working families.” Founded in 2017, EeroQ is constructing a commercial-scale quantum computer using electrons floating on top of liquid helium by using today’s existing chip fabrication technology. This method enables EeroQ to scale rapidly and with resource efficiency. The Pritzker Administration supports the advancement of high-tech industries through a variety of programs. One is the Venture Investment for Semiconductor Technology Advancement (VISTA) program funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The governor recently announced $20 million in VISTA grants to support semiconductor technology in Illinois. The VISTA initiative is part of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) program known as the Illinois Innovation Venture Fund (INVENT), which has $114 million to spend on projects aligned with the Federal CHIPS and Science Act. Next >