Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s Five-Year Economic Plan Features IT as a Key Industry

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has released a new five-year economic plan as part of his overall agenda to revitalize the state’s economy and build the workforce of the future. The report addresses a number of topics, including setting the stage for long-term growth, reducing the equity gap in the state, and attracting more workers and businesses to the Illinois. The state has already seen some changes enacted, such as the Rebuild Illinois capital improvement plan, which will provide $45 billion in funding to upgrade neglected transportation infrastructure, and a new law promoting tax incentives for data center construction within the state to encourage growth of this critical industry. The report follows up on these initiatives and several others, with plans around providing strong customer service, building a future workforce, and winning in several key industries.

One of the key industries prioritized in the report is information technology. Statistics in the report show that IT has had the greatest growth in employment since 2009 among the selected industries at 39.5%, with an expected growth of 11.9% between 2019 and 2026, also the highest number among cited. Specific initiatives mentioned for IT include investments in infrastructure and broadband, efforts to attract IT talent, and collaboration between the tech industry, universities, and the business community to foster homegrown IT companies in the state.

Source: State of Illinois, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity