Role of Illinois Universities in Driving New Business Starts

To gauge the performance of Illinois universities in facilitating start-ups, the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC) conducted its first annual University Entrepreneurship Survey, which examines the role of educational institutions in launching new ventures by supporting research, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship centers. The ISTC survey found that from 2010 to 2013, Illinois universities produced a total of 354 start-ups across a range of industries. Of these start-ups, 283 are still in existence, and 73 percent have chosen to remain in Illinois. Institutions outside Chicago—led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which produced 54 start-ups in the past four years. Once start-ups have launched, research parks provide office space, technology, access to business services, and connections to complementary companies. Many institutions count research parks among the assets critical to supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. For example, the University of Illinois, Bradley University, and Southern Illinois University all have affiliated research and technology parks that extend the institutions’ economic development goals.