By CHERYL FRANK

Illinois, Inc.:

polishing the state's prospects for the world

TOURISTS, industrialists, financiers, down-home craftsmen: Illinois, Inc. wants you. Illinois, Inc., $1.2 million brainchild of Department of Commerce and Community Affairs director Peter Fox, is a DCCA program which promotes Illinois business and has the full backing of Gov. James R. Thompson. A few rays of sun poking through the grey days of recession could mean a political victory for Thompson in November. So Illinois, Inc. has become a tall feather in the governor's political hat.

The Illinois, Inc. campaign? To advertise Illinois, promote the business climate, increase jobs and enlist wide business support for these efforts. Illinois, Inc. also issues symbolic "shares" in the state's business futures to gain commitments of time and resources. Administered by DCCA, Illinois, Inc. seeks to expand in-state business and to attract national and international business. Leaders of government, business, labor and academia are banking on an economic renaissance for this heavy-industry and agricultural state, through high-technology growth in such fields as electronics, robotics, computers, biogenetics and medical equipment. (A task force appointed by the governor has recently made recommended dations on high-tech opportunities.)

8/May 1982/Illinois Issues

As Fox explained it in Peoria, the promotional campaign "is trying to change the state's image from one of smokestacks, hog butchers and rusty plowshares to one that's rooted in the present and points toward the future — one that portrays Illinois as it actually is — dynamic, comtemporary, friendly." (The Japanese have already discovered Illinois, rating the state "excellent 10good" on leading business indicators and investing heavily here.)

DCCA's support services

As Illinois, Inc. and cooperating businesses advertise state assets under "The Magnificent Miles" theme, DCCA offers business a variety of support services. It actively brokers business interests with state "red-tape" agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency when permits are needed; [he Department of Revenue when taxes are in doubt; and the Department of Conservation if an historic site is threatened. When an ad is answered, the gears click. The toll-free call is logged on the computer; and the inquirer receives Illinois, Inc.'s impressive promotional portfolio. Then, a DCCA representative may offer technical assistance, and state helicopters may be provided for on-site inspection of facilities. Other DCCA support services are ready and waiting, such as publicly financed job training programs and liaison services with local government and communities. Through its industrial retention program, DCCA helps communities take sock of business opportunities by drawing economic profiles and aiding in overcoming obstacles to growth and increased employment.

Illinois, Inc. is also giving top priority to increasing tourism, with 5-year goals of raising the state share of national tourist dollars from 3.2 to 4.2 percent, and increasing tourism/nonagricultural jobs from 44,000 to 75,000 annually. DCCA's tourism office publishes weekend travel guides and Other promotional materials and runs a Statewide hotline announcing everything from high cultural events to down-home demonstrations on how to make real maple syrup. Tourists can see the "real" Chicago by having bed and breakfast, a" la Europe, at the homes of comfortable families who can advise on dining and cultural attractions.

Public/private partnerships

The new Chicago — a major part of the new Illinois image — is no longer "the city of big shoulders"; it's now the Michigan Avenue city of high finance, high style, and dean, efficient economic power. All in all, (heads say, "Illinois is a good place to live, a good place to work, and a good place to visit." (Also read: "A good place to invest and spend money.")

Illinois, Inc. is itself one culmination of Thompson's attempts to forge ahead with the public/private "partnership" — a catchword in current national and state politics — which means that business must subsidize government and vice versa if the country is to regain acceptable levels of growth. In 1979 Thompson consolidated three agencies to form DCCA and gave it the mission to forge such partnerships. Under Fox's leadership, Illinois, Inc. has enlisted thousands of individual and corporate supporters for the campaign, and has brought government into the imagebuilding, competitive-packaging world of modern industry. Kicked off last summer, Illinois, Inc. is slated to spend $1.2 million this fiscal year and has the governor's recommendation for $1.5 million for fiscal 1983, exclusive of DCCA support services costs, in-kind donations and privately financed ads. These combined efforts put the total value into the multi-million dollar bracket.

Illinois, Inc. will reach this year's goal of $5 million worth of advertising if it seals an agreement with United Airlines currently under negotiation. The airline may donate a $2-3 million advertising blitz promoting "Chicago as a Destination City." Illinois Bell, another state advertising partner, is proclaiming "The Magnificent Resources" of Illinois on its current telephone directory. And last summer, a 20-page showcase supplement advertising Illinois as prime high-tech territory was published in Scientific American, a well-respected magazine in the scientific community.

Fox is a young, can-do businessman and fast-track administrator who rode the Illinois, Inc. coattails to become the DCCA director on February 15 of this year. To give an example of his style: last November, as DCCA deputy director, Fox went to Connecticut to tout the Illinois business climate to John F. Welch Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of General Electric.

Result: Welch, a University of Illinois alumni, recently agreed to relocate a plant from Florida to Mattoon, which translates into 188 stable jobs and a $160,000 state commitment for training employees.

Mike Woelffer, assistant to Fox, said the state expects at least a five-to-one return on all such investments. He cited a recent Rochelle community study on industrial retention prepared by the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce and the University of Illinois. The study concluded that for every 100 jobs created, tax revenues alone — generated over a 10-year period — cover state investment costs many times over.

The 'Inland Empire'

Meanwhile, plans unfold and results roll in. By this fall, a statewide business site selection inventory will be completed with the cooperation of the Chicago Economic Development Council. DCCA and the Illinois Manufacturers' Association are working to get the abuses out of the workers' compensation system, though Woelffer said — as a matter of "political reality" — this will not mean lower rates. To date there have been about 300 responses to advertisements for Illinois industrial development, with at least 26 real prospects looking to expand — possibly in Illinois — within the next two years.

Another important spinoff, Woelffer said, is the growing public awareness of what the new state image is, in fact, based on. Consider some of the "10 Great Things" about Illinois (summarized from Illinois, Inc.'s prospectus):

•  Illinois has a diverse, highly skilled and educated work force of over five million people.

•   Illinois is the heart of America's transportation system.

•  Illinois is the nation's industrial center —  both for business and markets.

•  The state's banking facilities control nearly 8 percent of U.S. total assets.

•  Energy is plentiful and less expensive because of nearby coal mines, available water, gas reserves, oil refineries and nuclear power.

•  Illinois' climate is "typically continental," and its business climate is enhanced by the state's Environmental Protection Agency, which "is a state regulatory agency, but functions as a service oriented organization."

•  Illinois has "aggressively" sought to change tax policies to benefit business and employment.

So sun states look out — here comes Illinois, the "Inland Empire" of the continent.

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