Speaker Welch Celebrates Major Economic Development Efforts with Business and Civic Leaders

CHICAGO — House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch joined business and civic leaders from across Illinois for a celebration of job growth and expansion at the recent Illinois Impact Awards gala.

“Transformative economic development doesn’t happen in a silo—it happens when we work together,” Welch said. “It happens in our schools, where we prepare young people for high-wage careers. It happens in our union halls, when we commit to investing in infrastructure. It happens in our Capitol and in business incubators, when entrepreneurs and policymakers work together toward a common goal. All of that is happening in Illinois, and that is building the 21st Century economy right here.”

Welch joined the Illinois Economic Development Corporation—the state’s leading public-private partnership aimed at job growth and community investment—to present the Team Illinois Partner of the Year award to the leaders behind the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park. Redeveloping a long-vacant site on Chicago’s south side, this cutting-edge project is now bringing 21st Century jobs to a community that has struggled with disinvestment since U.S. Steel left the site in the 1990s.