IMA president says Illinois doing poor job replacing lost jobs

Posted on December 15, 2016
Greg Baise
Greg Baise spoke at ISU for BN By the Numbers Thursday. (Photo courtesy IMA)

By Adam Studzinski

NORMAL – Illinois has lost 1,700 manufacturing jobs since the Great Recession began, and unlike neighboring states, those jobs aren’t being replaced.

That was part of the discussion Thursday as Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President Greg Baise spoke at the quarterly BN By the Numbers event. Baise said part of the problem is government making it tough for manufacturers to be competitive.

“We have a state budget that’s out of control. We’ve got a pension debt in this state that’s of concern,” said Baise. “And we have individual costs like worker’s compensation and other regulatory costs that make it more difficult for jobs to be created here.”

Baise said job creators and manufacturers leave Illinois because they cannot compete, but other states are more inviting.

He added he’s hopeful Rivian Automotive is successful in Normal.

“Advanced technology, 3D manufacturing are the kinds of things that we need to encourage in this state,” Baise said.

Rivian is in talks to buy the closed Mitsubishi Motors plant.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].

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