Illinois Gains Over Last Year’s Ranking
CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–March 1, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today announced that the state of Illinois and Chicago have been named among the top 10 locations for new and expanded corporate facilities. Illinois ranked seventh among states, an improvement over last year’s eighth place ranking, and Chicago second in the metropolitan areas category in the annual analysis by Site Selection magazine, one of the nation’s premier corporate real estate and economic development publications.
“We are committed to creating jobs and working hard to make Illinois an even more attractive place to do business not only in the Midwest, but globally,” Governor Quinn said. “We have an aggressive long-term strategy for bringing quality jobs to Illinois, which includes innovation, exports and foreign investment, business-friendly legislation, and addressing infrastructure needs. We will continue to do everything we can to further our economic growth and create jobs in Illinois.”
In 2011, Illinois had 216 corporate facilities locate or expand in the state. Illinois joins Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia on the list of the top ten states with the most locations and expansions. With 167 projects, the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metro area ranked second on the list of cities in the tier one, top ten metropolitan areas list. Illinois companies that have relocated or seen significant expansions this year include Ford, Motorola Mobility, Continental, FedEx, Chrysler and Mitsubishi, among others.
“We are pleased that Illinois has again been named to Site Selection’s top 10 list for new and expanded corporate facilities,” said Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Director Warren Ribley. “Illinois is one of the top business destinations in the nation for good reason, and we will continue to direct our efforts toward attracting and keeping investment in the state, creating jobs for the future and strengthening our economy.”
The Governor’s Cup analyses, issued by Site Selection magazine, are regarded by corporate real estate analysts as “the industry scoreboard.” Site Selection is the senior publication in the corporate real estate and economic development field and the official publication of the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC, at www.iamc.org). The magazine’s circulation base consists of 44,000 executives involved in corporate site selection decisions, most at the CEO/President/COO level.
Source: illinois.gov
