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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Illinois has a rich and historic manufacturing
3legacy with the earliest documented manufacturer in Illinois
4identified as a buffalo skin tannery in 1702 at VaBache; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Centuries ago, people migrated to Illinois for
6natural resource abundance, an ability to transport products
7around the world, and agricultural wonders, unlocking the
8ability for manufacturing growth; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Illinois flourished and witnessed the dawn of
10manufacturing progress; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Today, Illinois manufacturers employ more than
12650,000 workers and contribute the single largest share of the
13Illinois economy; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Illinois manufacturers have played a role in
15nearly every major event in our nation's history, including
16the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, the Space Race, and
17Industry 4.0; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The Illinois Manufacturers' Association was
19founded in Chicago in 1893 and is the nation's oldest, and one
20of the largest, state manufacturing trade associations; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Illinois manufacturers use innovation and
2ingenuity to help envision and build the future; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Illinois manufacturers produce life-saving
4products, help feed the world, create products that transport
5people and product around the world and into space, power our
6homes and businesses, and help provide for our nation's
7defense; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The Illinois Manufacturers' Association created
9an Illinois Manufacturing Hall of Fame to recognize people,
10products, and companies that have left an indelible mark on
11Illinois manufacturing; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The first class of inductees into the Illinois
13Manufacturing Hall of Fame includes:
14        (1) Linda McGill Boasmond, owner of the Cedar Concepts
15    Corporation, the first and only African-American,
16    woman-owned chemical company in the United States; she
17    served as the second female and first Black chair in the
18    history of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association and is
19    a passionate advocate for engaging girls in STEM programs;
20        (2) Blouke Carus, a polymath engineer educated at
21    Caltech; he transformed Carus LLC into a global leader
22    while launching both the Open Court Language Arts Program

 

 

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1    and the Cricket Magazine Group with his wife, Marianne
2    Carus, resulting in significant improvements in children's
3    literacy;
4        (3) Martin Cooper, an American engineer; he led the
5    Motorola team that developed the first cell phone and
6    placed the first public call from a handheld portable cell
7    phone in 1973;
8        (4) Abraham Lincoln, the first and only U.S. president
9    with a patent; he signed the Pacific Railway Act into law,
10    creating the transcontinental railroad that connected and
11    secured the great expanse of the United States from sea to
12    shining sea;
13        (5) A.E. Staley, founder of the A.E. Staley Mfg.
14    Company; he rose from humble beginnings on a farm to
15    create a global agricultural manufacturing company while
16    founding the Decatur Staleys that later became the Chicago
17    Bears;
18        (6) Arthur Velasquez, founder of Azteca Foods; he and
19    nine other Mexican Americans created an international food
20    manufacturer fueled by a passion to bring traditional,
21    quality Mexican food to a wider group of consumers;
22        (7) Cell Phone, created by Motorola; it sparked a
23    technological revolution, changed communication globally,
24    and is considered one of the most important inventions of
25    the 20th Century;
26        (8) Cracker Jack, featuring a recipe of popcorn,

 

 

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1    peanuts, and molasses; it was first produced by the
2    Rueckheim brothers, was presented at the 1893 World's Fair
3    in Chicago, and was mentioned in the famed Take Me Out to
4    the Ball Game song;
5        (9) Dishwasher, created in Illinois by Josephine
6    Cochrane who later founded the Garis-Cochrane
7    Manufacturing Company; patented in 1886, it was the first
8    dishwasher to rely on heat and water pressure, making
9    dishwashers that provided a better, safer, and faster way
10    to clean dishes;
11        (10) Lincoln Logs, a children's construction toy and
12    the namesake of President Abraham Lincoln; invented by
13    John Lloyd Wright and produced by The Red Square Toy
14    Company, it was the first toy to be marketed to both boys
15    and girls to encourage creativity;
16        (11) Steel Plow, created by a young blacksmith named
17    John Deere; it was made with cast steel that allowed
18    farmers to cut through heavy soil, which allowed for more
19    efficient and increased food production as well as the
20    expansion of usable land;
21        (12) Abbott, a global healthcare leader; founded in
22    Chicago in 1888, it helps people live more fully at all
23    stages of life with technologies and products in
24    diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals, and branded
25    generic medicines;
26        (13) Caterpillar Inc., an iconic and innovative

 

 

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1    company that helped build America; its legacy began with
2    the production of a steam tractor in 1890 and now includes
3    famed mining, agriculture, and construction equipment,
4    including bulldozers, road graders, and large mining
5    trucks;
6        (14) IMA Founding Members; the Illinois Manufacturers'
7    Association is the oldest statewide manufacturing trade
8    association in the United States and was founded in
9    Chicago in 1893 by Amsted Industries, Brunswick, the
10    Western Edison Light Company (Commonwealth Edison), Dial
11    Soap, Deere & Company, People's Gas, and The Tablet &
12    Ticket Company;
13        (15) Knapheide Manufacturing Company; founded in
14    Quincy in 1848 by Herman Heinrich Knapheide as the
15    Knapheide Wagon Company, the company has evolved from
16    making wagons, spokes, and axles to customized truck
17    bodies and truck beds used across multiple industries,
18    including agriculture, contracting, construction,
19    forestry, and water;
20        (16) University of Illinois System; comprised of three
21    universities, the University of Illinois System,
22    originally founded as Illinois Industrial University,
23    fulfills its land-grant mission by providing education and
24    research opportunities to more than 94,000 students,
25    creating pathways to economic development and graduating
26    more engineering students than any other institution of

 

 

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1    higher education; and
2        (17) Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, an American candy and
3    chewing gum company founded in Chicago in 1891 by William
4    Wrigley Jr., now part of Mars and home of some of the most
5    iconic snacking, food, and pet care brands in the world;
6    it is the largest producer and distributor of chewing gum
7    in the world and funded the All-American Girls Baseball
8    League during World War II; therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
10HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11we congratulate the initial inductees of the Illinois
12Manufacturing Hall of Fame; and be it further
 
13    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
14presented to the Illinois Manufacturers' Association as a
15symbol of our respect and esteem.