Economic development partners from throughout Illinois to showcase the state’s assets and attract international companies at annual trade and foreign direct investment summit
Team Illinois, a collaboration of economic development officials coordinated by Intersect Illinois, recently came together to exhibit at the 2019 SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, D.C. The annual event connects international companies with U.S. economic development organizations to facilitate job-creating business investment in the United States. The summit brought together business leaders and economic development officials from 79 global markets and 49 U.S. states and territories. More than 3,100 people attended, including 1,200 business representatives. Team Illinois, which included 19 partners from across the state, scheduled more than 175 meetings with companies interested in Illinois during the summit and came away with a substantial number of leads as a direct result of SelectUSA.
“The SelectUSA Investment Summit provided us with the unique opportunity to connect with more than 1,000 potential investors and explain why Illinois is a premier business destination for growth and expansion in the U.S.,” said Intersect Illinois President and CEO Mark Peterson. “Together with economic development partners from throughout the state, we met with international companies, making our pitch, and showcasing Illinois’ assets.”
Team Illinois partners at this year’s summit included:
- Ameren
- America’s Central Port
- Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council
- Chicago Regional Growth Corporation
- Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation
- Choose DuPage
- ComEd
- Cook County
- Greater Peoria Economic Development Council
- Growth Dimensions (Belvidere-Boone County)
- Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
- Illinois Realtors
- Intersect Illinois
- Lake County Partners
- Land of Lincoln Economic Development Corporation
- Masuda Funai
- Quad Cities Chamber
- St. Louis Regional Economic Development Alliance
- Will County Center for Economic Development
Past Investment Summit participants have announced more than $103.6 billion in new U.S. investment projects within five years of attending an Investment Summit, creating or retaining more than 167,000 U.S. jobs in the process. Illinois has announced $1,674.2M in investment, creating or retaining more than 5,064 new jobs within those five years.
“Global companies clearly see the benefits of investing in the world’s largest economy, and the SelectUSA Investment Summit is the event that connects companies to actual opportunities,” said Commerce Under Secretary Gilbert Kaplan. “Every attendee, speaker, business representative, and economic development official makes the Investment Summit successful.”
Foreign direct investment in Illinois directly supports 340,500 jobs across several industries including software and IT services, business and financial services, and industrial equipment among many others. The United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada, and France were the top sources of foreign direct investment in Illinois as of May 2019.
Visit Intersect Illinois’ Facebook page for pictures from the summit or reach out if you are interested in becoming part of Team Illinois in the year ahead.
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