Chicago Business Journal covered AEE’s Electrifying Illinois: Economic Potential of Growing Electric Transportation report, quoting AEE’s Daniel Bloom. The story was also covered by St. Louis Business Journal (sub req). Read excerpts below and the full story here.

Anchored by Rivian's electric truck manufacturing plant in downstate Normal, the state of Illinois is poised to see the number of electric transportation jobs nearly double by 2024.

There were an estimated 5,200 electric transportation-related workers in Illinois in 2019, a number that's expected to climb to 9,500 workers by 2024—an 83% increase. 

That's according to a new report from Advanced Energy Economy, a trade association for the advanced energy industry. The report found that today there are 560 electric-transportation businesses in Illinois, with an ET company residing in 97 of Illinois' 102 counties. Leading the charge is Rivian, a startup backed by Amazon that's building electric trucks and SUVs at a former Mitsubishi plant in Normal…

The report, created alongside research consultant BW Research Partnership, also identified policy recommendations the state can adopt to further grow the industry, like setting an electric vehicle adoption goal of 1.2 million vehicles by 2030, establish a tax credit for EV supply-chain companies that relocate to Illinois, and build out a network of more public charging stations across the state. 

“With the right policies in place, Illinois leaders can accelerate the ET market and the state’s leadership in the next phase of mobility,” Daniel Bloom, principal at Advanced Energy Economy, said in a statement.

Read the full story here.