Article Summary Officials broke ground on a quantum research park development on Chicago’s Southeast Side, more than a year after it was first announced. The governor says the state’s quantum strategy, centered on the research park, will bring billions of dollars of economic development to the region. Harley Johnson, head of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, speaks at the park’s Sept. 30, 2025 groundbreaking ceremony. Quantum technology takes advantage of quantum mechanics to perform calculations that would be impossible for traditional computers to do. In 2024, the General Assembly approved a $500 million plan to build a “quantum campus,” which eventually became the quantum park.