What makes Illinois more attractive to investors and job providers than other states?

What makes Champaign County more attractive to investors and job providers than other counties in the state/region? 

In the 2012 election, I believe these are two very important questions to ask candidates.   If you or someone you care about has less-than-perfect job security, you might want to ask .  If you or someone you care about doesn't have the political connections to get hooked up with a high-paying government job, you might want to ask.  If you have kids and don't plan for them to live off the government treasury, you might want to ask.  

If only the career candidates had kept these questions in mind before we got this point...