Illinois

Forbes named the best employers in the U.S. Here are 54 from Illinois on the list

Published

10 months ago

February 16, 2025

Forbes named the best employers in the U.S. Here are 54 from Illinois on the list

The state of Illinois is home to more than 50 of the best employers in the United States, according to annual rankings released recently by Forbes.

Here is a look at how the list was made and which Illinois businesses made the cut.

How did Forbes make the list of best employers?

Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey over 217,000 employees nationwide. Respondents rated employers based on salary, advancement opportunities, work environment and training programs.

After tallying and analyzing the data, Forbes gave each employer a score and placed a total of 1,199 organizations on either a Best Large Employers 2025 list or a Best Midsized Employer 2025 list. The Best Large Employers list consisted of 701 companies nationwide, and the Best Midsized Employers list named 498 businesses.

Which Illinois businesses made the rankings?

The financial magazine listed the best large and midsized employers in the United States. The results show that 31 Illinois-based businesses are among the top country’s top large employees, while 23 Illinois businesses earned national recognition as mid-sized employers.

The Peoria Journal Star has listed the top Illinois employers in each category. The lists include national rank, business, industry, employee count and headquarters location.

Forbes list: Illinois’ Best Large Employers

62. Hyatt Hotels | travel and leisure | 51,000 | Chicago
113. Caterpillar | manufacturing, engineering | 113,000 | Deerfield
139. Grainger | retail and wholesale | 22,100 | Lake Forest
159. Northwestern Medicine | healthcare and social services | 30,000 | Chicago
162. Levy | restaurants | 10,001 | Chicago
215. AbbVie | drugs and biotechnology | 50,000 | North Chicago
242. Health Care Service Corporation | insurance | 28,000 | Chicago
267. CDW | IT software and services | 11,700 | Vernon Hills
298. State Farm | insurance | 67,000 | Bloomington
328. Gallagher Bassett | insurance | 5,000 | Rolling Meadows
338. Ace Hardware | retail and wholesale | 5,583 | Oak Brook
339. Motorola Solutions | telecommunications services, cable supplier | 11,130 | Chicago
350. Discover Financial Services | banking and financial services | 21,100 | Riverwoods
363. United Airlines | transportation and logistics | 103,300 | Chicago
367. ALDI | retail and wholesale | 25,000 | Batavia
419. Abbott Laboratories | healthcare equipment and services | 35,340 | Chicago
484. Zurich North America | insurance | 9,000 | Schaumburg
521. CAN Financial | insurance | 6,300 | Chicago
535. Baker Tilly | professional services | 44,000 | Chicago
563. RSM US | professional services | 16,600 | Chicago
572. Exelon | utilities | 19,962 | Chicago
578. Crowe | professional services | 5,001 | Chicago
590. JLL | business services and supplies | 35,366 | Chicago
600. John Deere | engineering, manufacturing | 83,000 | Moline
601. Walsh Group | construction, chemicals, raw materials | 8,000 | Chicago
613. Dover | engineering, manufacturing | 25,000 | Downers Grove
628. US Foods | food, soft beverages, alcohol and tobacco | 30,000 | Rosemont
652. Medline Industries | healthcare equipment and services | 30,000 | Northfield
671. Great Wolf Resorts | travel and leisure | 10,000 | Chicago
691. Kraft Heinz Company | food, soft beverages, alcohol and tobacco | 36,000 | Chicago

Forbes List: Illinois’ Best Midsized Employers

7. Morningstar | business services and supplies | 3,400 | Chicago
10. Silver Cross Hospital | healthcare and social services | 3,800 | New Lenox
26. Alzheimer’s Association | healthcare and social services | 2,000 | Chicago
34. Harper College | education | 1,316 | Palatine
41. Southern Illinois Healthcare | healthcare and social services | 4,000 | Carbondale
74. Argonne National Laboratory | drugs and biotechnology | 3,400 | Lemont
90. Eversana | drugs and biotechnology | 6,000 | Chicago
106. Ronald McDonald House Charities | healthcare and social services | 5,000 | Chicago
120. Illinois Institute of Technology | education | 1,450 | Chicago
159. Kirkland and Ellis | professional services | 6,500 | Chicago
162. Echo Global Logistics | transportation and logistics | 2,600 | Chicago
165. Illinois Bone and Joint Institute | healthcare and social services | 1,100 | Des Plaines
222. Ed Napleton Automotive Group | automotive | 3,500 | Oakbrook Terrace
252. Wintrust | banking and financial services | 5,521 | Rosemont
298. Beltone | health care equipment and services | 1,093 | Chicago
304. Zebra Technologies | semiconductors, electronics, electrical engineering | 9,750 | Lincolnshire
318. AAR | aerospace and defense | 4,125 | Wood Dale
330. Hub Group | transportation and logistics | 5,950 | Oak Brook
390. Sargent and Lundy | professional services | 3,500 | Chicago
392. Fresh Thyme | retail and wholesale | 1,657 | Downers Grove
411. AIT Worldwide Logistics | transportation and logistics | 3,700 | Itasca
450. Alera Group | insurance | 3,500 | Deerfield
493. Hollister | healthcare equipment and services | 3,200 | Libertyville

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Illinois

2025 FCS football championship: Bracket, schedule, scores

Published

2 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

2025 FCS football championship: Bracket, schedule, scores

The 2025-26 FCS playoffs consist of a 24-team bracket with play starting on Saturday, Nov. 29 and concluding on Monday, Jan. 5. The top 16 teams seeded and the top eight seeds receive automatic byes to the second round, while the rest of the 24-team field (the remaining 16 teams) play in the first round.

Here’s everything you need to know for the Division I Football Championship postseason.

FCS championship bracket

Click or tap here to view the bracket

FCS championship schedule

All times Eastern

Quarterfinals

Friday, December 12
Saturday, December 13

Semifinals

Saturday, December 20
- Semifinal 1 | 4 p.m. ET | ABC
- Semifinal 2 | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2

National Championship

FCS championship rounds, dates

Selection show: 12 p.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 23 on ESPNU
First round: Saturday, Nov. 29
Second round: Saturday, Dec. 6
Quarterfinals: Friday, Dec. 12 through Saturday, Dec. 13
Semifinals: Saturday, Dec. 20
National championship: Monday, Jan. 5 on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET

FCS selections

The bracket selections for the 2025-26 FCS Championship was on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. The bracket was be revealed via a selection show on ESPNU at 12 p.m. ET and a selections release.

Eleven conferences (or conference partnerships/alliances) earn automatic bids to the playoffs. The FCS Championship Committee selects the remaining 13 at-large bids.

AUTOMATIC BIDS: Click or tap here to see all 11 of the clinched auto-bids

FCS championship history

North Dakota Dakota State is the reigning national champion, winning its 10 title in 2024 with a 35-32 win over Montana State. Here’s every FCS champion and runner-up from the past decade:

Year	Champion	Coach	Score	Runner-Up	Site
2024	North Dakota State	Tim Polasek	35-32	Montana State	Frisco, Texas
2023	South Dakota State	Jimmy Rogers	23-3	Montana	Frisco, Texas
2022	South Dakota State	John Stiegelmeier	45-21	North Dakota State	Frisco, Texas
2021	North Dakota State	Matt Entz	38-10	Montana State	Frisco, Texas
2020	Sam Houston	K.C. Keeler	23-21	South Dakota State	Frisco, Texas
2019	North Dakota State	Matt Entz	28-20	James Madison	Frisco, Texas
2018	North Dakota State	Chris Klieman	38-24	Eastern Washington	Frisco, Texas
2017	North Dakota State	Chris Klieman	17-13	James Madison	Frisco, Texas
2016	James Madison	Mike Houston	28-14	Youngstown State	Frisco, Texas
2015	North Dakota State	Chris Klieman	37-10	Jacksonville State	Frisco, Texas

Click here for a full list of every champion since 1978.

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Illinois

Another Winter Storm Targets Central Illinois

Published

14 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Another Winter Storm Targets Central Illinois

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS) — After a brief lull in the weather on Friday, now another winter storm is setting its sights on central Illinois. Come Saturday, our next round of Winter is set to arrive. A new weather maker sweeps across the Upper Midwest, causing more snow to develop by mid-morning on Saturday. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued from 7AM Saturday through 8 PM Saturday evening. The snow will pick up intensity by late-morning and last through the afternoon into the early evening hours before ending. This new weather system will follow a path very similar to the previous storm system and spread a swath of moderate to locally heavy snow. Before the snow wraps up Saturday evening, expect another 2″-4″ for much of central Illinois, with afternoon high temperatures bitterly cold in the mid-teens.

But the worst blast of cold air comes in Saturday evening into Sunday. Frigid Arctic air surges down from Canada causing temperatures to really tumble, driving in the coldest weather we’ve had in a long time and certainly the coldest so far this season. A Cold Weather Advisory is issued from 8 PM Saturday through Noon on Sunday. Sunday morning will be dangerously cold with wind chills around 20 to 25 BELOW ZERO. With wind chills this extreme, it doesn’t take long to suffer from frostbite or hypothermia. Please stay inside to keep warm, but if you do need to venture out, limit the time you spend outdoors, and make sure to cover up all exposed skin by wearing a hat, scarf, and gloves. Sunday afternoon features lots of sunshine, but despite the sunshine, temperatures will be brutally cold and frigid with high temperatures stuck in the low single numbers while wind chills remain well below zero.

Expect more extremely chilly weather on Monday with wind chills still ranging from 5 to 15 BELOW ZERO in the morning and afternoon highs only reaching into the 20s. Then temperatures will finally start to warm up, and we should climb out of the deep freeze with highs in the mid to upper 30s on Tuesday.

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Illinois is newest state to allow medical assistance in dying after Pritzker signs bill

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Illinois is newest state to allow medical assistance in dying after Pritzker signs bill

Updated on: December 12, 2025 / 11:49 AM CST
/ CBS Chicago

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new law Friday making Illinois the newest state allowing medically assisted dying in terminally ill residents.

Known as “Deb’s Law,” it allows eligible terminally ill adults with a prognosis to live six months or less to request a prescription from their doctor that would allow them to die on their own terms.

The legislation was narrowly approved by the Illinois Senate in October after the Illinois House passed it in May.

People on both sides of the debate over the controversial legislation lobbied the governor up until the last minute. Medical aid in dying, also called assisted suicide or dying with dignity, is already legal in 12 states. Eight more are considering similar legislation.

“I have been deeply impacted by the stories of Illinoisans or their loved ones that have suffered from a devastating terminal illness, and I have been moved by their dedication to standing up for freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak,” Pritzker said in a news release after signing the bill.

Pritzker’s signature makes Illinois the first state in the Midwest to allow medically assisted death.

Advocates for the law say it allows adults to die on their own terms when survival is already not an option. Opponents say the bill legalizes “state-sanctioned suicide.”

The law requires two doctors to determine a patient has a terminal disease and will die within six months. The medication provided would need to be requested both orally and in written documentation, and will have to be self-administered. The law also requires all patients opting into medical assistance in dying to have been full informed about all end-of-life care options, including comfort care, hospice, palliative care and pain control.

The law is named for Deb Robertson, a former social worker from Lombard who had an aggressive case of neuroendocrine carcinoma. She began advocating for medical aid in dying in 2022 and has been a central figure in the movement.

Please note: The above video is from a previous report

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