The Illinois economy grew at a rate higher than it has since before the recession last month, according to an ongoing study by the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois.
 
The institute’s Flash Index score measures the state’s economic growth or decline. In March, Illinois reached a score of 107, which it has only had three times since the 2007-2009 recession.

It’s been a long time since the buffalo roamed the plains of Illinois, but soon a small new herd could graze the fields south of Chicago now that an experimental project has been approved.

The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, a 19,000-acre prairie maintained by the National Forest Service, has received final approval to conduct an experiment that would allow about two dozen bison of mixed ages to graze the restored land.

Thomason Machine Works in Rockford has been in business since 1978 and continues to produce much the same product they did nearly 40 years ago.

Site Selection Magazine has named Chicago the best city in the United States for businesses to relocate to and expand in 2014, the second consecutive year it has won that honor.

Fortune magazine has named Motorola Solutions the No. 3 most admired company in its industry. It marks the second consecutive year the Schaumburg-based communications and business solutions technology company captured the spot.