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* Greg Hinz…
Gov. J.B. Pritkzer is making a huge bet on the electric-vehicle manufacturing industry, unveiling an incentive package worth hundreds of millions of dollars that may be the largest in state history.
Included are a wide range of tax breaks, from payroll credits and exemption from utility and some sales taxes to assistance with job training and favored treatment in obtaining government permits and road construction funds.
Pritzker wants the much-anticipated package approved in the General Assembly’s two-week fall veto session, which opens next Tuesday, Oct. 19. […]
The proposal, to be introduced in bill form in the next few days, is the product of months of discussions with industry leaders and, more recently, legislative leaders including state House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and state Senate President Don Harmon. The latter haven’t yet committed, but, “They understand the timing” after Ford Motors last announced billions of dollars in electric-vehicle facilities in Tennessee and Kentucky, facilities which received hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives from each state, Manar said.
* More from Crain’s…
Five universities and a pair of Chicago-area ventures have won state grants to help develop high-quality lab space for biotechnology and pharmaceutical research under a new incentive program created by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration.
The state’s Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity today will announce the recipients that will collectively receive $15.4 million to build or renovate such lab spaces, a move it hopes will help address a lack of research space in the region that for years has led early-stage life sciences companies to defect to other, more mature research markets as they grow.
* WGLT…
The Ferrero candy plant in southwest Bloomington will soon get its chocolate next door, rather than from across the globe. Ferrero officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking Wednesday on its first chocolate processing facility in North America.
Construction has already begun and is expected to be completed in early 2023.
Ferrero North America President and Chief Business Officer Todd Siwak said it’s more efficient to make the chocolate in Bloomington instead of shipping it from Europe. […]
Ferrero is taking advantage of several tax incentives, including a sales tax break on building materials. McLean County and several other taxing bodies agreed to expand an enterprise zone to include the new facility. […]
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) runs the enterprise zone program to boost growth in economically depressed areas. DCEO acting director Sylvia Garcia said new training programs in manufacturing will help develop a workforce for these jobs. That includes the new manufacturing training academy at Heartland Community College.
* AP…
More than 10,000 Deere & Co. workers went on strike Thursday, the first major walkout at the agricultural machinery giant in more than three decades.
The union had said its members would walk off the job if no deal has been reached by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. The vast majority of the union rejected a contract offer earlier this week that would have delivered 5% raises to some workers and 6% raises to others at the Illinois company known for its green tractors. […]
Earlier this year, another group of UAW-represented workers went on strike at a Volvo Trucks plant in Virginia and wound up with better pay and lower-cost health benefits after rejecting three tentative contract offers.
The contracts under negotiation covered 14 Deere plants across the United States, including seven in Iowa, four in Illinois and one each in Kansas, Colorado and Georgia.
* More…
* In rare move, ComEd taps outsider as new CEO: Gil Quiniones, who runs the New York Power Authority, will have the challenging task of restoring the utility’s tarnished reputation.
* CEO move signals East Coast HQ for Exelon spinoff: Joe Dominguez, the ComEd boss tapped two weeks ago to run Exelon’s power-plant business slated to become a standalone company, has relocated from the Chicago area to the East Coast.
* The Deere strike from the picket line
* Metra fares hold steady for 2022 but budget shortfall looms as ridership stagnates
* Passenger train service out of Chicago could get major expansion under federal concept
* Walgreens to invest $5.2 billion in Chicago-based VillageMD, taking majority ownership stake
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 10:56 am
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I’ can’t remember the last time I saw this kind of strike activity across so many industries at one time.
Strikes get the goods.
Comment by The 5th Deputy Governor Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 10:59 am
That 5% salary increase does not seem like enough to really offset the impact of the insurance premium increases, especially for folks with a family.
Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 11:08 am
I will say this about VillageMD they do have quite a few positions open
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 11:13 am
I don’t know enough to know, if this is just going to be the next Boondoggle, but it seems like if you are going to take a risk, this is a good industry to try and get Illinois into. And it would clearly be nice for Pritkzer next year, in terms of keeping some Democratic support south of I-80 and countering the claims that all Democrats care about today is the northeast quadrant.
Comment by ZC Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 11:16 am
The Metra thing is kind of a Catch-22. I’d like to use it more, but currently the schedules don’t allow me to use it for evening events because the trains are done by 7-8 pm.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 11:19 am
-this is a good industry to try and get Illinois into. And it would clearly be nice for Pritkzer next year, in terms of keeping some Democratic support south of I-80-
Exactly. If we could start landing such facilities for far Southern Illinois, they could create good jobs and allow retraining out of other industries losing jobs like coal. Would be great for the state and the region, and as for JB politically, it would make some GOP heads explode down there.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 11:22 am
“Ferrero North America President and Chief Business Officer Todd Siwak said it’s more efficient to make the chocolate in Bloomington”
Great to see Illinois-made chocolate in my Crunch Bar, 100Grands, and Raisinets.
Comment by Donnie Elgin Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 11:38 am
—That includes the new manufacturing training academy at Heartland Community College.
Heartland really has some fantastic people doing cool stuff. Having this kind of relationship with your community & tech colleges is going to be critical to regional growth.
Comment by ArchPundit Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 11:43 am
Hope these incentives can land the Samsung plant for B-N.
Rivian just announced they have surpassed 3,000 workers locally.
https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2021-10-11/rivian-tops-3-000-workers-at-plant-in-normal?_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true
Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 11:51 am
The Rivian numbers are amazing–I’m amazed they can find that many workers given the low unemployment in the region. Part of this is the difference in the type of workers they are employing. State Farm has a difficult time finding staff in B-N and has looked to hire in major metropolitan areas to address it.
Comment by ArchPundit Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 12:02 pm
“it doesn’t help that the auto industry recently has experienced some speed bumps in a state not known for being business-friendly.“
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg-hinz-politics/illinois-risks-blowing-its-edge-electric-vehicle-biz-being-well-illinois
Comment by Day 1 Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 12:14 pm
Owner class employers are listening with ears wide open…United Workers have a once in a lifetime opportunity to more fairly reshape the workplace…thanks to this pandemic and what it revealed.
Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 12:26 pm
I appreciate a Governor who is actually trying to sell the benefits of the State of Illinois rather than sell it out.
Comment by Norseman Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 12:38 pm
@ArchPundit - I have heard anecdotally a lot of folks at Rivian are getting hired away from Caterpillar. Also a lot of folks that worked in restaturants/retail have gone out to Rivian and there’s a huge shortage of help at every restaurant in town with many places cutting days/hours.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 12:39 pm
The state’s commitment to paying its bills and proof of such are very good incentives for businesses to locate here. This should be foremost on any politician’s mind, especially after the purposeful financial starvation we experienced. The infrastructure investment is also a very good business incentive. We actually have a lot more to sell in Illinois than we did under the previous administration and professional doomsayers.
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 12:48 pm
The E-V package concept is a great example of how to attract/grow an industry in a locale. Kudos to JB. If you allowed GIF’s I would have one of Hawk Harrelson doing his “put it on the board” call for JB.
Comment by levivotedforjudy Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:11 pm
I’m still really skeptical of these subsidies to industry. As others have pointed out, eletric vehicle production is a great indutry to get into, but the manufacturers are probably still basing their site selection on factors like geography, weather, site availability, and the local labor pool. The first two can’t be helped; the last two can, to some extent. But nobody’s coming for *just* the tax breaks.
Comment by Benjamin Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:18 pm
BloNo is popping. I’m hearing from people getting hired from gas stations to Ferrero and getting such a better pay and quality of life.
Comment by Rayne of Terror Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:23 pm
=I appreciate a Governor who is actually trying to sell the benefits of the State of Illinois rather than sell it out.=
Yes.
And he won’t get credit because Bailey and the like continue to run Illinois down.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:29 pm
How will our State afford all of the incentives? Isn’t forgoing a dollar the same as spending it? Look what multimodal / logistics incentives / abatements / rebates have done for the quality of life in Joliet. Perhaps we are better off taking the incentive dollars and plow it into strengthening the University of Illinois’ (and other IL colleges’) research and student experience, so Illinois students can start the next tech giants. Our young people will be a better investment than the Sears-style incentives du jour.
Comment by Ares Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:32 pm
“…so Illinois students can start the next tech giants. Our young people will be a better investment than the Sears-style incentives du jour.”
Great. So we’ll get our students to start businesses and they’ll do so out of state. The whole idea here is to bring these major manufacturers and build an ecosystem. It is absolutely worth it.
Comment by New Day Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:34 pm
No they won’t, especially if they have roots here.
Comment by Ares Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:36 pm
===Perhaps we are better off taking the incentive dollars===
I definitely oppose incentives on principle, but we can’t unilaterally disarm when other states are flinging money at companies. However, we need to keep them to the minimum and target them at likely growth sectors. Starting a new electric car industry and ecosystem is certainly one of the better bets. Make sure dollars per job are in line, clawbacks are in place, and the incentives don’t last forever so tax revenue starts coming in sooner rather than never.
Comment by Jibba Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:46 pm
And is this what Samsung needed to see in order to announce that it will build a battery plant next to the Rivian plant in Normal?
Comment by Misterwhipple Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:48 pm
“BloNo is popping. I’m hearing from people getting hired from gas stations to Ferrero and getting such a better pay and quality of life.”
Not to mention a couple of dozen new subdivision additions that are on the board in both communities.
Comment by Misterwhipple Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 1:52 pm
Bloomington-Normal is a boomtown with Rivian, Ferrero, and potentially Samsung to come.
Comment by CubsFan16 Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 5:34 pm
“ No they won’t, especially if they have roots here.”
That’s not consistent with our history. Just ask Netscape.
Comment by New Day Thursday, Oct 14, 21 @ 8:44 pm