Governor Quinn Announces 150 New Jobs at Astellas' Headquarters for the Americas in Illinois

GLENVIEW, Ill. – June 4, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today joined Astellas executives and more than 1,000 employees to open the company’s new corporate headquarters for the Americas in Glenview. Astellas is investing about $140 million in Illinois as part of its expansion, which will create 150 new high-tech jobs. As part of his agenda to boost job growth across Illinois, the governor personally met with the corporation's leadership while on a trade mission last year to Japan and China.

“We are committed to establishing Illinois as a leading hub of life sciences, and our work is paying off,” Governor Quinn said. “Illinois has some of the best research and intellectual capital in the world, and these assets help us attract and support the growth of high-potential companies like Astellas in Illinois.”

The new headquarters includes two seven-story buildings totaling 446,000 square feet, an increase of more than 160,000 square feet, which makes it more than a third larger than the former Deerfield location. The buildings and site emphasize sustainability, and the complex is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification. The company’s more than 1,000 employees recently relocated to the new headquarters, and the expansion includes the addition of 150 good paying, high-tech jobs.

“At Astellas, we measure success not only by bringing innovative pharmaceuticals to patients and physicians, but also by our commitment to the communities in which we work,” said Masao Yoshida, President and CEO of Astellas Pharma US, Inc. “The new Astellas headquarters for the Americas is a symbol of the company’s continued growth, and our close cooperation with the state of Illinois and Governor Quinn’s office. The new buildings are a result of that collaboration and our confidence that Illinois is a good place to do business.”

To bolster the company's $140 million investment in Illinois, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is providing a strategic investment package of approximately $4 million in Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) corporate income tax credits and Employer Training Investment Program (ETIP) job training funds. The ETIP grant will help Astellas enhance the skills of its workforce while EDGE credits are based and contingent on job creation. If the company does not meet its job creation targets and commitments, they will no longer be eligible for the tax credits.

Under Governor Quinn's leadership, DCEO has worked diligently to identify and aggressively court companies like Astellas that are looking to relocate and/or expand their North American presence. Illinois ranks first in the Midwest as a destination for foreign investment and has already attracted 1,597 foreign firms with 6,416 locations, which employ 323,362 Illinois residents. The Governor will continue to build on this success by playing a key role in marketing Illinois' world-class attributes abroad and personally meeting with companies to recruit them to Illinois.

With $2.2 billion in annual sales for the Americas, Astellas’ expansion will support Illinois’ growing life sciences industry. Illinois’ biopharmaceutical industry, which is supported by the state’s highly-regarded federal labs and renowned research universities, directly employs more than 40,000 people and supports more than 112,000 indirect and induced jobs.

“Illinois has a wealth of research labs and universities to support Astellas as the Japanese drug-maker expands globally,” said DCEO Acting Director David Vaught. “Astellas’ new headquarters not only adds dozens of good-paying jobs in Illinois, but bolster's the region's influence in the life sciences field.”

“I want to congratulate Astellas on their grand opening,” said Congressman Robert Dold (IL-10). “It is great to see an innovative company right here in our community grow and work hard to produce products that will improve patient lives.”

Astellas Pharma US, Inc., located in Glenview, Illinois, is a U.S. affiliate of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc. Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. For more information about Astellas Pharma US, Inc., please visit www.astellas.us.

Governor Quinn has been committed to growing Illinois’ biosciences industry and was named BIO’s 2011 Governor of the Year. For more information on why Illinois is the right place for any business, visit www.illinoisbiz.biz.