McLean County finalist for several billion-dollar businesses

Posted on March 28, 2024
Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council President and CEO Patrick Hoban visited WJBC’s Afternoon Show. (Photo courtesy: BNEDC/Facebook)

By Blake Haas

MCLEAN COUNTY – McLean County’s thriving economy could be home to several more billion-dollar businesses.

While it’s unclear what the businesses are, none of them are related to the vehicle industry. However, one business has to deal with non-retail.

“The projects that we are in the running for right now, I think three of them are over a billion-dollars and are getting really close,” Patrick Hoban, President and CEO of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council said on WJBC’s Afternoon Show.

While Hoban can’t disclose which companies are interested in the twin cities, McLean County could be chosen as soon as this summer.

In other news, Hoban says even the BNEDC was caught off guard by recent announcements by Rivian Automotive.

This month, Rivian announced three new electric vehicles, the R2, R3, and R3X. The R2 will be built in Normal.

“We knew something was coming with the R2; we knew about the announcement that they were going to be made here. (This is) all just timing right now…If you look at what they are doing in Georgia, the infrastructure is not quite there and we have the infrastructure.”

The electric car company plans to roll out the new vehicles in Normal in the first half of 2026. The company has not specified a time table on the R3 and R3X.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].

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