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Date and Location
Monserrat Ocana
The Midwest built America's industrial foundation in the twentieth century. Now it is betting on quantum. The Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area is undertaking a strategic repositioning: transforming industrial infrastructure, workforce capacity, and regional assets toward quantum computing, advanced semiconductors, and artificial intelligence. This transition demands more than technological change. It requires alignment across competing jurisdictions, fragmented governance structures, and divergent political priorities. It demands shared regional vision. This panel brings together local and national leaders shaping how industrial regions move from twentieth-century manufacturing leadership to twenty-first-century technology innovation. Together, they will explore how ecosystems are funded, organized, and sustained; how stakeholders align across competing interests; and how shared vision persists when political obstacles emerge.
Speakers and Presenters
Alejandra Y. Castillo, Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development;
Matt Wells, President and CEO - One Region;
Rachel Lipson, Fellow, Reimagining the Economy Project;
Rohan Sandhu, Director, Reimagining the Economy Project