This edition covers the real Illinois outside Chicago and the Metro East (St. Louis) region, which already have their own dedicated coverage. Springfield is the state capital and home to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Peoria was Caterpillar's headquarters for generations before its 2018 move to the Chicago suburbs, and the heavy-equipment manufacturing base it built remains real and downstate. Champaign-Urbana anchors the University of Illinois, one of the country's largest public research universities. Bloomington-Normal is home to State Farm's headquarters, one of the largest insurance companies in the country, headquartered downstate rather than in Chicago. None of these are Chicago, and downstate Illinois is a real, separate economy this edition doesn't collapse into the state's largest city.
Region Stats
Total firms
70
VC / investors
26
Companies
22
Schools
22
Known For
The Capital
Downstate Agriculture
Caterpillar Country
