By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – Before you can make things or sell things you have to have R & D. Research and development. And, in a new report, the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition reports the state is not growing there.
Coalition president and CEO Mark Harris says, “It’s, frankly, a bit of a mixed bag. Illinois certainly is a powerhouse in research and development. Overall activity reached $16.5 billion, but what we’ve found is that our total R&D activity has stalled. Growth is fairly flat at 0.08 percent.”
That compares to 3.7 percent nationally.
What about Gov. Bruce Rauner’s contention that great ideas are hatched in Chicago or Champaign and then grow somewhere like Silicon Valley? Not always true, says Harris.
“All of the statups coming out of universities – 942 funded by students and factulty over the last four years. Roughly 700 are still active, and about 81 percent of those are still located in Illinois.”
A companion piece to Harris’ report spotlights “Researchers to Know,” 22 up-and-comers in various fields. Most are in Chicago, but some are at Urbana-Champaign, Normal, Springfield, and Carbondale.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]
