(Above) Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner speaks at 1871 in River North on Friday morning. (Click on image to view larger version.)

13-Feb-15 – A new advisory council will help newly elected Governor Bruce Rauner with technology issues. Rauner was at 1871, on the 12th floor of Merchandise Mart, on Friday to announce the Innovate Illinois Advisory Council.

It was not Rauner’s first visit to the technology incubator but his first as governor. He has known 1871 CEO Howard Tullman since about 1981 when Rauner’s venture capital firm invested in one of Tullman’s earliest companies.

Before introducing Rauner to reporters, Tullman announced Chicago had been declared by the consulting firm Accenture to have the sixth most technology jobs in the nation.

“We have about 375,000 tech jobs just in the Chicagoland area,” he said. “We’re now ahead of Seattle. We’re ahead of San Francisco. So we’re kicking.”

For Rauner, who says he is “personally, strongly committed to the technology sector and growing Illinois’s economy through innovation and new ideas,” it is not good enough.

“We’re already doing pretty well but we can do a lot better,” said Rauner. “I’m a competitive son of a gun. I want Illinois doing the best. I want our technology sector booming. I don’t want to be number six, I want to be number one.”

Led by venture capitalist Mark Glennon and Laura Frerichs, director of Research Park, a tech incubator at University of Illinois, the Innovate Illinois Advisory Council will advise the governor’s office about the state’s technology sector. It will be comprised of leaders from different backgrounds, including 1871’s Tullman. Its first meeting will be at 1871 this spring.

Rauner toured 1871 and met with some of its start-up companies. He was also next door for the official opening of MATTER, the health care industry version of 1871.