Illinois State Government Backs Startup Tech Center In Chicago: Who Says Chicago Isn’t A Tech Hub?

Last week Pando Daily’s Trevor Gilbert struck a nerve in the heart of the midwest when he penned this piece: The Midwest Mentality. He spoke about a Chicago that didn’t live the startup culture life and how entrepreneurs there didn’t get it and went home at five pm.  Nothing could be further from the truth, just check out the news that comes out daily from sites like builtinchicago.com

We’ve even featured a bunch of startups based in Chicago including Planfast and KlutchClub and have plenty more on the way. Well it’s apparent that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn didn’t get that memo from PandoDaily as the Illinois state government announced yesterday they are backing a new 50,000 square foot tech center slated to open on May 2nd.

More after the break

The center is called 1871 and is funded by a $2.3 million dollar grant from the State of Illinois as well as private investors. The center will be run by the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. The center has already received over 300 applications for 400 spots that will house 100 startups.

The spots will cost new startups between $125 and $400 a month and include a bunch of great benefits including conference rooms, storage space, use of A/V equipment, mentorships, access to classes and seminars and more. According to Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center they’ve already been contacted from some startups movign out of California to Chicago where the cost of starting up is lower.

According to a study by the Illinois Innovation Council, Illinois ranks second in the nation for tech startups after of course, California and ahead of New York, which is sometimes referred to as Silicon Alley.

source: governing.com