Pritzker visits SIU's small business incubator

Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker visited the SIU Small Business Incubator inside the Dunn-Richmond Center Friday afternoon.
Pritzker said Southern Illinois has been forgotten about by politicians. He commented on how manufacturing jobs and industries have left the region without anything being put in their place to create jobs. 
"New jobs is what I do best," he said. "I know I'll be able to do that across the state."
Pritzker was on day two of his two-day technology tour, which included several stops in Chicago and one in Carbondale. He said he was interested in the technology happening at the university and creating jobs for the next generation. 
After completing a tour of the building, Pritzker said he was impressed with the level of research and technology happening at the university. He said universities and small business incubators are key to returning the state back to a prosperous standing. 
"I wanted to come to see the incubator on the campus and get to know what kinds of companies are being built here," he said. "I am very excited at the prospect of being able to do this all across the state, and to put back together the small business development centers that have been tore apart by the failure of the budget."
Pritzker said that in order to make sure the next generation is successful, the state has to make sure its universities are fully funded, which means having a balanced budget. He said the incubator at SIU is a huge component of what universities are supposed to be doing: creating technology, creating jobs, keeping students engaged and then keeping them in Southern Illinois. 
"I have seen the job creation ability in incubators because I helped to create an incubator called 1871," he said. "That incubator has created 6,000 jobs and $100 million worth of capital to support those businesses. That can be done everywhere in the state."
Illinois has gone nearly two years now without a full budget, with several stopgap budgets passed intermittently keep the state running. Current Gov. Bruce Rauner has asked for several reforms such as term limits and worker's  compensation as a few examples, and has threatened to not sign another stopgap without some of his demands being met.  
Pritzker said that in order to compromise on a budget, there has to be leadership to make it happen.
"It's not like it is impossible," he said." We have a governor who has folded his arms and said unless you give me this Koch Brothers agenda, I'm not going to let you have a budget."
Pritzker said the state needs a budget just to be able to do the business of the state. After that, it needs to figure out what its priorities are, and education, health care and creating jobs have to be at the top of any list. 
"Those things can be done, but you have to sit down and negotiate a budget that does that," he said.  
Other Democratic candidates include Bob Daiber of Madison County, Chris Kennedy, Ameya Pawar of Chicago and Daniel Biss of Evanston. The election is in November 2018.