Ben Hage (also known as Nabih Elhajj) has been named director of Innovate Springfield, the University of Illinois Springfield’s business incubator located in downtown Springfield. He is a leader in entrepreneurship, leadership development and business education.

Robert Kerr of Springfield will lead the development of the new University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Center in downtown Springfield as executive director of innovation and opportunity. His appointment is effective Aug. 1, 2023. Kerr is a leader with more than 20 years of experience in economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The University of Illinois Springfield has officially purchased the downtown building that will serve as the new home of the UIS Innovation Center. The purchase of the three-story, 24,600-square-foot building located near the Illinois State Capitol at 401 E. Washington St., was completed on Nov. 18, 2022.

Scheduled to open in 2025, the UIS Innovation Center will serve central Illinois as part of the Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) to drive innovation, economic growth and workforce development across the state.

There's a lot to look forward to in downtown Springfield with many major redevelopment projects currently underway.

The city is expecting to get its first rooftop bar by this summer and the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) could begin designing a new downtown space in the next few months. Other projects like new hotels and luxury apartment buildings however, are either out of money or have been scrapped altogether.

A major redevelopment in the South Town neighborhood took its first step Tuesday as the committee of the whole sent to the full Springfield City Council an agreement authorizing The Springfield Project to purchase a building at 11th Street and South Grand Avenue using the city's community development block grant funds.