Chicago-based steel manufacturer A. Finkl & Sons Co. will invest $150 million to build a manufacturing campus on the South Side, backed by $30.3 million in subsidies from the city of Chicago and Illinois. Get the full story »
Inside these posts: Pat Quinn
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Caterpillar CEO, Quinn meeting today
Gov. Pat Quinn plans to talk to the head of Caterpillar Inc. about Illinois business climate, countering the efforts of other states to lure the company away. Quinn and Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman are scheduled to meet Tuesday morning. Get the full story »
FatWallet.com leaving Illinois for Wisconsin
From the Chicago Sun-Times | Rockford-based FatWallet.com, an online partner of Amazon.com and Overstock.com, is leaving Illinois for Wisconsin after losing business ties with major online retailers since Gov. Quinn signed of the “Amazon.com tax” earlier this month. Get the full story>>
Caterpillar threatens to leave Illinois over taxes
Caterpillar Inc., suggesting that it could shift jobs out of Illinois, is prodding its home state to cut government spending and roll back tax increases.
Doug Oberhelman, chief executive officer of the giant Peoria-based maker of construction and mining equipment, protested against the state’s tax and spending policies in a March 21 letter to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat who took office in January 2009.
“I want to stay here,” the letter said. “But as the leader of this business, I have to do what’s right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest. The direction that this state is headed in is not favorable to business, and I’d like to work with you to change that.” Get the full story »
Illinois officials tout high-speed rail construction
Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin greet workers at the Amtrak Rail Yard. (Michael Tercha/Tribune)
The next phase of construction on a high-speed rail route between Chicago and St. Louis will begin next month, a high-stakes transportation project similar to those that other states have rebuffed, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Tuesday.
“Illinois has always been a strong railroad state and we always will be,“ Quinn said at an Amtrak rail yard near downtown Chicago. Get the full story »
Groupon hosts 1st Ill. Innovation Council meeting
Groupon's headquarters at 600 W Chicago Ave. (Brian Cassella/ Chicago Tribune)
Popular daily coupon website Groupon’s Chicago headquarters was the site of the first meeting of the Illinois Innovation Council. Gov. Pat Quinn’s office says the Monday meeting focused on where Illinois can be a hub for innovation and where Illinois is an emerging leader, like clean energy, biotech and life sciences and information technology. Get the full story>>
Quinn to seek higher fees on nuclear generators
Gov. Pat Quinn says he plans to seek higher fees on power generator Exelon Corp. to ensure the safety of Illinois nuclear power plants in the aftermath of Japan’s nuclear crisis.
Illinois pension crisis eludes easy solutions
Lawmakers in Illinois say they may try to fix the state’s ailing pension system by asking current workers to pay more into the plan, though the approach faces substantial legal and political obstacles.
The lawmakers are also entertaining the politically difficult idea of applying broader pension changes made this year for newly hired employees to current workers. Those include raising the retirement age and scaling back on annual cost-of-living raises.
Whatever approach is embraced, it remains unclear whether such strategies would fix the Illinois system, which is 45 percent funded. That makes it the most under-funded state plan in the U.S., according to Moody’s Investor’s Service. Get the full story »
Mitsubishi to announce new vehicle for Normal
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is poised to announce the production of a new vehicle at its Normal plant today in a deal backed by $30 million in government incentives. The deal is expected to breathe new life into a facility that, for years, has operated with an uncertain future.
The plant produces the Galant, Endeavor, Eclipse and Eclipse Spyder, among the oldest and least popular of the Mitsubishi line. The Japanese auto manufacturer has announced plans to phase out their production by 2014, a move that would have eventually meant layoffs in Normal and an end to Mitsubishi production in the U.S. Get the full story »
Deals to boost Illinois soybean sales to China
China’s growing appetite for Illinois soybeans was on display Thursday at a ceremonial signing of purchase agreements that could trigger as much as $450 million in Illinois soy sales to Chinese companies this year.
The potential sales represent a hefty slice of business for Illinois farms and soy operations, which have seen agricultural exports to China grow in recent years to more than $500 million annually, from $149 million in 2007, according to data from Gov. Pat Quinn’s office. Get the full story »
Ill. tax credit incentive to hire temp workers
Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation providing a $2,500 tax credit to employers hiring trainees from the Put Illinois to Work temporary jobs program. The measure signed Monday takes effect immediately. Quinn says the new law gives employers an incentive to continue providing jobs to those who need them. Get the full story »
Gov. Quinn signs income tax increase
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn today signed a major income tax increase the Legislature passed earlier this week.
67% Illinois income tax hike awaits Quinn’s pen
A triumphant Gov. Pat Quinn congratulated fellow Democrats early today after the Illinois Senate and House sent him a major income tax increase without a single Republican vote in favor.
Quinn smiled and shook hands on the floor of the Senate around 1:30 a.m. after the Senate voted 30-29 for the bill, which would raise the personal income tax-rate by 67 percent and the business income tax rate by 46 percent.
The House passed the bill hours earlier Tuesday night — likewise without a vote to spare and with nary a Republican in support.
Illinois pursuing disclosures on state debt
Illinois politicians are reviewing whether to follow in California’s footsteps by forcing its bond underwriters to disclose what credit derivatives they have entered into on the state’s debt.
Staff members working for Illinois House of Representatives Speaker Michael Madigan reached out to California officials on Wednesday for information about how the Golden State has gone about improving disclosures relating to credit default swaps on its own state debt. Get the full story »
Ill. job training program set to expire without funding
From the Chicago Sun-Times | A stimulus program that has given job training and work experience to 26,000 low-income Illinoisans will end today unless Congress extends its funding. Gov. Quinn extended the “Put Illinois to Work” program for two months past its original Sept. 30 expiration date by allocating $75 million in state money on Sept. 29. Get the full story >>
