Illinois is out of the running for the prized 4,000-job assembly plant that Toyota and Mazda are planning to open in the United States.
The apparent reasons: lack of shovel-ready sites and the state's failure to adopt a right-to-work law.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s North American unit declined to comment on any aspect of the site search. Crain's Chicago Business is an affiliate of Automotive News.
Mark Peterson, president and CEO of Intersect Illinois, the state's privately run economic development corporation, said in an interview and email that while no formal announcement has been made, his sources tell him Illinois is not among the three or four finalists for the $1.3 billion factory.
"While we showed very well, particularly in the areas of workforce, and our proposal was very well received, in the end the site readiness of some other locations took us out of the consideration set going forward," Peterson said.