SCHAUMBURG – Illinois’ political leadership is making decisions about the state’s post-COVID19 economic health that could leave serious gaps – especially in the state’s manufacturing base, Steve Rauschenberger, President of the Technology & Manufacturing Association, said Monday morning on a Chicago area radio station.
“We can’t be the outlier Governor Pritzker and [Chicago Mayor] Lori Lightfoot want us to be. Manufacturing is different,” Rauschenberger told AM 560 WIND radio host Dan Proft. “Our members will lose business permanently to other states that have re-opened their manufacturing earlier.”
Waiting another 60 to 90 days to re-open Illinois as Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” requires will be devastating to manufacturing, the former state senator said.
“We’ve come out in opposition to the Governor’s plan. We have a list of questions we’d like to have answered. For instance, we’d like to know who his experts are. Are they people that know manufacturing?” Rauschenberger asked.
“The pieces and parts our manufacturers make are in demand. If our Illinois non-essential manufacturers can’t open to make those parts, their customers will go elsewhere. We could lose 15 to 25% of their production,” he said.
To hear the whole interview with Steve Rauschenberger, go to 7:55 on the video below:
