Gov. Ryan, Speaker Hastert Announce DuPage Research Park

CHICAGO -- Governor George H. Ryan and U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert announced they are committing nearly $50 million in state and federal dollars to build the DuPage County Research Park, where academic, government and private sector leaders will work together to develop new technology and bring it to the marketplace.

"Technology is the future, and in my administration we have embraced the future. We want Illinois to be the number one high-tech center in the country -- and we are not going to rest until we get there," Governor Ryan said. "We are not just talking about this journey, we have plans, we have a roadmap and we have two great vehicles -- Illinois FIRST and the Venture TECH program."

Governor Ryan committed $34 million in Illinois FIRST funds for the infrastructure needed to build the DuPage Research Park on a parcel of the DuPage Airport property in West Chicago.

The Venture TECH program is nearly a $2 billion program to build technology infrastructure, increase training, recruit high-tech talent and to attract new high-tech businesses to invest in Illinois. Governor Ryan said he hopes the DuPage County Research Park will create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic development. The Illinois Coalition feasibility study of the park concluded that in Phase I of the project, the first ten years, the park will create more than 2,000 jobs and nearly half-a-billion dollars in wages.

Speaker Hastert secured $13.4 million in Federal funds, including $2 million to open a NASA Illinois Commercialization Center which will help bring NASA technology to businesses in Illinois and the Midwest region.

"Cutting edge work will take place here -- we've attracted projects already," Governor Ryan said.

The University of Illinois, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense, will research and develop the next stage of the Internet. The public and private sector will work together to construct the information technology for massive new databases, high-speed networks, high performance computers and new technological developments to create another knowledge explosion.

Among the projects, researchers and private sector leaders will work together with Argonne National Laboratory, home of the nation's most powerful source of x-rays, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, home of the world's most powerful particle accelerator and research into the fundamental nature of matter and energy. They will share information and bring new technology and developments to the private sector.