Bill Text: IL HR0833 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Congratulates the initial inductees of the Illinois Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2024-05-24 - Resolution Adopted [HR0833 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HR0833-Introduced.html

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HR0833 LRB103 40928 MST 73946 r
HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Illinois has a rich and historic manufacturing
legacy with the earliest documented manufacturer in Illinois
identified as a buffalo skin tannery in 1702 at VaBache; and
WHEREAS, Centuries ago, people migrated to Illinois for
natural resource abundance, an ability to transport products
around the world, and agricultural wonders, unlocking the
ability for manufacturing growth; and
WHEREAS, Illinois flourished and witnessed the dawn of
manufacturing progress; and
WHEREAS, Today, Illinois manufacturers employ more than
650,000 workers and contribute the single largest share of the
Illinois economy; and
WHEREAS, Illinois manufacturers have played a role in
nearly every major event in our nation's history, including
the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, the Space Race, and
Industry 4.0; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois Manufacturers' Association was
founded in Chicago in 1893 and is the nation's oldest, and one
of the largest, state manufacturing trade associations; and

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

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

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

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

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higher education; and
(17) Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, an American candy and
chewing gum company founded in Chicago in 1891 by William
Wrigley Jr., now part of Mars and home of some of the most
iconic snacking, food, and pet care brands in the world;
it is the largest producer and distributor of chewing gum
in the world and funded the All-American Girls Baseball
League during World War II; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we congratulate the initial inductees of the Illinois
Manufacturing Hall of Fame; and be it further