Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park
Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and IBM announced the company’s new FutureNow Chicago delivery center at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP).
As part of FutureNow Chicago, IBM said it will create 750 new full-time jobs in AI, cybersecurity, data science, quantum, and more. FutureNow Chicago will serve as an innovation and delivery hub, helping IBM clients and industry partners.
As part of its effort to expand its workforce and provide opportunities for residents, IBM is making a commitment to hiring one third of the qualified program graduates from a new City Colleges apprenticeship program. City Colleges is working with the philanthropic community, including the Chicagoland Workforce Funders Alliance, as well as the State of Illinois, to support the work over the next five years.
“IBM’s investment in Illinois is a powerful vote of confidence in our state’s growing technology and quantum ecosystem and the world-class workforce that powers it,” said Pritzker in a statement. “We are creating real opportunity for Illinoisans to access careers in the industries of the future and enabling communities on Chicago’s South Side to benefit from the economic opportunity this project brings. I’m grateful to IBM for choosing Illinois as a place to grow, innovate, and help build the talent pipeline needed to lead in quantum computing and advanced technologies.”
“IBM is pleased to partner with the Governor to further the state's technology and innovation ecosystem,” said IBM CEO Arvind Krishna in a statement. “IBM’s FutureNow Chicago delivery center will support new jobs, expand our Chicago delivery capability for IBM’s clients, and together, we will build the future of technology talent and create sustained economic growth.”
As part of their investment, IBM will become an anchor tenant with its FutureNow Chicago delivery center at the IQMP’s Quantum Works building. Quantum Works will serve as an innovation and talent development hub and the IQMP’s “front door” — connecting local residents to career pathways in these rapidly growing fields. The Quantum Works building is funded by the original Discovery Partners Institute appropriations to the University of Illinois System. As a collaborative space, Quantum Works will house programs from other partners, including the National Quantum Algorithm Center (NQAC), the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) of the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois, and various community and workforce development initiatives.
The State has also entered into an Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) agreement with IBM, in which the company has committed to making a substantial capital investment over the term of the IQMP lease agreement and creating 750 new full-time jobs over the next five years. A link to the full agreement can be found here. So far in 2026, companies participating in the EDGE program have committed to creating more than 4,000 jobs and nearly $2.5 billion in investments.
