We break down complex business news to help you understand how money moves in Chicago and how it affects you.
In Illinois, quantum computing, electric vehicles and clean energy were a few of the sectors that attracted new investment last fiscal year and stand to eventually create nearly 19,000 new jobs, according to a report released Monday.
More than 700 businesses committed to expand in or relocate to the state, said the Illinois Economic Development Corp., which also announced its rebranding from Intersect Illinois.
From July 2024 through June 2025, business projects announced $25.8 billion in investments — a 107% jump compared to the previous fiscal year.
Gov. JB Pritzker said in a news release, “Illinois continues to prove that our unmatched workforce, infrastructure and innovation ecosystem is making it the best state in the nation to do business.” Pritzker is the honorary chair of the IEDC.
“Fiscal year 2025 was a defining year for Illinois, highlighted by historic wins in quantum computing — from PsiQuantum’s investment, to the establishment of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, National Quantum Algorithm Center, DARPA and IBM,” John Atkinson, IEDC’s board chairman, said in a news release.
Strong business investments in Illinois contrast with high-profile corporate exits in recent years, including Boeing and Caterpillar, which moved their headquarters to Virginia and Texas, respectively, in 2022.
In line with the state’s five-year economic growth plan, IEDC is focused on expanding six key industries. They include advanced manufacturing; agriculture, ag tech and food processing; clean energy production and manufacturing; life sciences; quantum, AI and microelectronics; and transportation, distribution and logistics.
The state has lured several tenants to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a quantum computing campus planned at the former U.S. Steel South Works site in Chicago.
California-based PsiQuantum last year announced it would anchor the campus. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, will invest up to $140 million to develop quantum technologies at the site.
Tech giant IBM unveiled plans to initially locate its Quantum System Two computer system at Hyde Park Labs, supported by the University of Chicago, before eventually relocating to the quantum campus.
New Jersey-based fuel company Avina plans to build an $820 million sustainable aviation fuel plant in southwest Illinois. The state’s high production of soybeans and corn to make biofuels and a large customer base as a transportation hub drew Avina to Illinois, said the report. The investment is supported by the state’s Reimagining Energy and Vehicles program, which provides incentives to clean energy projects in Illinois.
Electric vehicle manufacturers are also setting up in the state. Canadian company Damera will open its first U.S. assembly plant and create 90 full-time jobs in greater Peoria. California-based automaker Rivian will build a $120 million supplier park in Normal and create hundreds of supplier jobs and 100 direct jobs, according to the IDEC report.
But in recent months, “changes happening at the federal level have prompted a lot of uncertainty,” Christy George, IEDC president and CEO, said. “It’s something that we’re watching.”
President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill passed this summer and phases out many clean energy subsidies. Yet Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act supports clean energy and calls for phasing out fossil-fuel energy sources by 2050.
The IDEC’s report also noted that “agriculture is a pillar of Illinois’ economy” and makes the state well-positioned to expand in ag technology and food businesses. Food manufacturing employs more than 100,000 in Illinois.
German food company Silesia broke ground on a $40 million flavor production facility in Huntley, near Elgin. Thomas Foods International, an Australian company specializing in meat and seafood, is investing $28 million in a Lake Bluff facility north of Chicago.
In the advanced manufacturing sector, metal processor Wieland Rolled Products North America broke ground in March on a $500 million modernization of its East Alton plant near St. Louis. Germany-based Wieland has facilities in Carol Stream, East Alton, Granite City, Montgomery, Tinley Park and Wheeling.
Metal recycler Sun Metalon moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts to suburban Wood Dale, bringing it closer to heavy manufacturing industries.