Illinois Governor Jim Thompson, who died this weekend, is remembered by his friends and former staffers as the man who turned Illinois’ failing status quo into an opportunity for reinvention of our state. In no aspect of Governor Thompson’s administration was that more apparent than in his efforts to modernize the state’s economic development efforts.
“Big Jim” relished the titles of Illinois’ biggest booster and greatest salesman, providing Illinois with a renewed international presence by leading delegations of Illinois business and civic leaders—and often the Chicago Symphony Orchestra—around the world to showcase and promote the state.
Matching not only Lincoln’s tall stature, but also the ability to unassumingly connect with residents, he was elected Governor in 1976. Upon inauguration, he faced an 8 percent state unemployment rate, significant foreign competition to Illinois’ major industries and a national narrative that the state’s best days were probably behind it.
From Cairo to Chicago and from Decatur to Dixon, Illinois downtowns were shrinking and their factories idling. Governor Thompson responded by reorganizing the state’s office of local government assistance, job training and marketing into a newly created Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA).
The department’s mission was to empower any and all Illinois communities to attract and retain private sector employment in the state. Subsequently, the Governor ushered dozens of new programs through the Illinois legislature that supported thousands of investments and incentive packages to attract and retain employers in Illinois
Governor Thompson’s Build Illinois program turned Illinois into a national leader in economic development, historic preservation, and environmental protection. The program provided Illinois towns with the road and Infrastructure improvements needed to attract Diamond Star Motors to Bloomington while also enhancing productivity and employment at Decatur’s ADM, Peoria’s Caterpillar, Moline’s John Deere factories and hundreds of other companies all around the state.
Build Illinois also brought Lake Michigan water to many of the Chicagoland suburbs and DuPage County and saved numerous historic buildings including the Dana Thomas House in Springfield. Thompson additionally championed the Corridors of Opportunity Program to bring planning and marketing resources to Illinois communities seeking to promote their unique opportunities for business attraction and economic development.
In the fourteen years James R. Thompson was Governor, he never stopped travelling, promoting or creatively showcasing the State of Illinois to bring new investments and more jobs to Illinoisans. If there was a problem or challenge anywhere in Illinois, he wanted to help and, if necessary, use his offices to bring positive change.
The list of projects and betterments Big Jim championed is too long for this space. Some of the more high-profile projects Thompson personally championed through the Illinois legislature included state support for the transformation of Chicago’s Navy Pier, the expansion of McCormick Place, Rebuilding Arlington Park Race track, retention of the Chicago White Sox, and Sears’s redevelopment of Homan Square and the Hoffman Estates campuses.
Even the state’s James R. Thompson Center is not big enough to hold all of the aspirations, achievements and hopes that the he championed for Illinois. What all Illinoisans can and should embrace is the Jim Thompson legacy of building and moving our state forward through economic development and shared investment.
Laurence Msall was a legislative liaison and an economic policy staffer from 1984-1989 in the Thompson administration. He is President of the Civic Federation.
Steven D. McClure was appointed by Governor Thompson as Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and served in several capacities during the Thompson Administration from 1980 to 1990.
August 18, 2020 at 01:34AM
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Jim Thompson was Illinois' biggest booster - Crain's Chicago Business
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