This Month's Latest Tech News in Elgin, IL - Saturday May 31st 2025 Edition

This week, Elgin stands at the crossroads of manufacturing innovation and AI workforce transformation as local institutions and national trends converge to reshape the city's future.

The University of Illinois and Discovery Partners Institute recently convened leaders to spotlight Illinois's growing role as an AI hub, emphasizing education and research investments - Laurel Passantino of Grainger College of Engineering noted

"a top-five ranked AI program that accounts for nearly $270 million in funding for AI-related projects"

Building the AI Workforce: Now and for the Future.

At the national level, over half (51%) of U.S. manufacturers already use AI, and 61% plan further investment by 2027, with workforce readiness emerging as a top challenge AI's Rising Power in Manufacturing Spurs Call for Smarter AI Policy Solutions.

Elgin is poised to benefit directly: local automation providers like Motion Automation Intelligence bring advanced robotics and machine vision to regional industry Elgin IL Branch IL70 - Motion Automation Intelligence, supporting job growth and upskilling.

As federal and state initiatives align with Elgin's educational and manufacturing assets, the city is set to become a model for tech-driven economic resilience and workforce opportunity.

Elgin Community College's tech education received a major boost this month as ModMed donated access to its advanced ophthalmology-focused electronic health record (EHR) platform, enabling students in the college's Ophthalmic Technician Program to train on industry-standard technology.

The donation creates a hands-on “sandbox” environment, giving up to 20 students per semester practical experience in patient documentation and specialty workflows essential for certified ophthalmic technician careers - a move that directly supports Elgin's mission of maximizing student and community success.

Shelby Stanley, program director, noted,

“Our program's goal is to prepare students who are ready to excel in their careers. Thanks to ModMed, our students can confidently step into their future roles.”

Serving more than 50 students annually across Elgin, College of Dupage, and Triton Community College, the initiative is part of ModMed's broader commitment to workforce readiness and social responsibility.

As reported by BusinessWire, the platform's real-world relevance is already helping ECC graduates land industry jobs - two-thirds of Elgin's recent class found employment in the field.

This donation also highlights ModMed's recognition among the top healthcare software products by G2 in 2025, reflecting its growing impact on medical education and clinical practice.

For more details about the college's ongoing advancements in technology and healthcare collaboration, check out Elgin Community College's latest initiatives in their news center.

AI adoption among U.S. manufacturers has reached a pivotal milestone in 2025, with 51% currently utilizing artificial intelligence in their operations and 61% planning to boost AI investment by 2027 - a trend underscored by the Manufacturing Leadership Council's latest survey (AI's Rising Power in Manufacturing Spurs Call for Smarter AI Policy Solutions).

This transformation is not just about factory automation; AI now permeates procurement, logistics, compliance, and workforce management, helping companies tackle labor shortages and attract younger, tech-savvy talent (AI, Automation and Workforce Transformation in 2025).

Yet, manufacturers face significant barriers - 65% lack suitable data for AI integration, and 82% identify workforce skill gaps as the top concern - prompting urgent calls for pro-AI policies supporting modern data infrastructures, technical education, and nationwide innovation incentives.

As Johnson & Johnson's Kathy Wengel explained,

“AI drives innovation, efficiency, and better outcomes. It empowers employees at all levels when equipped with the right knowledge. AI is an essential partner on the shop floor, and we must ensure employees have the skills needed to build the future.”

The future of manufacturing is weighted toward digital maturity, operational efficiency, and policy alignment - a landscape where smart factories and self-learning production lines become the new normal (Survey: M4.0 Appears Poised for A Significant Leap).

Antora Energy's thermal batteries are reshaping the path to industrial decarbonization by enabling factories to run on clean, affordable energy 24/7, even when wind or solar resources are intermittent.

Utilizing low-cost, U.S.-manufactured carbon blocks, Antora's modular systems convert surplus renewable electricity into high-temperature heat, efficiently powering sectors like steel, cement, and chemicals.

Their Fresno demonstration facility and San Jose manufacturing plant highlight rapid progress, backed by $150 million in Series B funding and major public and private investors.

The technology's cost-effectiveness, scalability, and ability to deliver both heat and power - thanks to innovations like thermophotovoltaic cells - are drawing industry-wide recognition, with the DOE's ARPA-E awarding Antora $14.5 million to accelerate the launch of their combined heat and power product.

As Blaine Collison of the Renewable Thermal Collaborative notes,

“There are so many ‘wins' when it comes to thermal battery technology.”

Supporting domestic manufacturing and job creation, Antora avoids dependence on critical foreign minerals, with graphite sourced from existing U.S. industries.

The table below summarizes key features and recent milestones:

Feature	Details
Storage Medium	Inexpensive carbon blocks
Heat Output	1,500–1,700°C; round-the-clock delivery
Manufacturing Site	San Jose, CA (up to 50,000 sq ft)
Funding	$150M Series B (2024), $14.5M ARPA-E (2024)
Target Sectors	Steel, cement, food & beverage, chemicals, data centers

These breakthroughs not only make deep industrial emissions cuts achievable but also bolster American competitiveness and energy security.

For more on Antora's technology and impact, read the detailed analysis of Antora's decarbonization approach, insights on Antora's funding and market strategy, and the latest ARPA-E grant achievements.

Manufacturer confidence has taken a significant downturn as policy uncertainty rises, with just 55.4% of surveyed U.S. manufacturers expressing a positive outlook for their companies - the lowest level since the pandemic's peak in 2020 and a nearly 15-point drop from the previous quarter, according to the National Association of Manufacturers' Q2 Outlook Survey.

Key concerns fueling this pessimism include trade uncertainty, cited by 77% of respondents, and increased raw material costs at 66.1%. Industry leaders stress that renewed policy clarity - particularly tax reform - is essential to reverse declining optimism, with 85.4% urging Congress to preserve pro-growth tax policies.

As NAM President Jay Timmons emphasized,

“Manufacturers need increased policy certainty. Congress must act urgently to preserve tax reform and empower manufacturers to make the long-term investments that drive the American economy.”

Compounding the challenge are survey benchmarks revealing additional pressures, such as 59% of manufacturers facing increased operational costs and one-third spending over $1 million annually on tariffs (see table).

The path to renewed optimism, sector leaders agree, demands swift legislative action and strategic policymaking; for deeper insights, read the latest analysis on declining manufacturing optimism and access critical benchmarking data from Aprio's 2025 U.S. Manufacturing Survey.

Key Metric	Percent/Value
Positive Company Outlook (Q2 2025)	55.4%
Concerned About Trade Uncertainty	77.0%
Facing Increased Operational Costs	59%
Spend $1M+ Annually on Tariffs	~33%

Hoffer Plastics, a cornerstone of the Elgin manufacturing landscape, continues to set benchmarks for leadership and innovation through advanced automation, employee-centric practices, and cutting-edge manufacturing technologies.

The family-run company is a 2024 IndustryWeek Best Plants Award winner, recognized for operational excellence, near-perfect on-time delivery, and workforce investment.

Their integration of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and collaborative robots (cobots) has streamlined operations, saving over 20,000 hours of manual labor annually and offering employees opportunities for technical upskilling; as Vice President Jim Stoffel shares, this technology

“increased speed on operations such as part inspection, palletizing, material handling, and transport”

while helping Hoffer maintain a 99.45% delivery rate.

Micromolding innovation is another area where Hoffer shines, supporting the next generation of medical devices, from ultra-precise diagnostic tools to wearable healthcare solutions, demonstrating how advanced process control and design for manufacturability deliver both quality and reliability to global markets (micromolding in medical device manufacturing).

Their sustainable manufacturing ethos is equally impactful, with rigorous recycling and circularity efforts ensuring 0.01% of material ends up in landfill, as detailed in a comprehensive operational overview (IMM's Plant Tour of Hoffer Plastics).

The company's drive for efficiency, teamwork, and continuous improvement is outlined by Co-CEO Alex Hoffer, whose leadership lessons reflect the culture powering Hoffer's local and global influence; his story is featured in NAM's Forge Your Path Series (Meet Hoffer Plastics Corporation Co-CEO Alex Hoffer).

In response to surging electricity demand from AI-optimized data centers - projected to more than double globally by 2030 - the U.S. administration has enacted a suite of executive orders aiming to quadruple nuclear energy capacity to 400 GW by 2050 and streamline the nuclear regulatory landscape.

These orders require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to expedite licensing (with a maximum decision timeframe of 18 months), facilitate deployment of advanced reactor designs, and expand domestic uranium fuel production, particularly high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), to power critical AI and defense infrastructure.

Notably, the Department of Energy (DOE) will prioritize rapid construction of reactors for AI data centers on federal land - marking a strategic alignment between national security and digital growth needs.

As outlined in a new International Energy Agency report,

“AI is one of the biggest stories in the energy world today... Global electricity demand from data centres is set to more than double over the next five years, consuming as much electricity by 2030 as the whole of Japan does today.”

Goal	Target	Deadline
Nuclear Capacity	400 GW	by 2050
New Reactor Licensing	Decision in ≤18 months	Ongoing
DOE AI Data Centers Powered by Nuclear	First reactors operational	by late 2027

For more on regulatory changes and the full impact on Elgin's and America's tech-powered future, see the in-depth reports from the International Energy Agency report on AI's energy footprint, the White House executive order on NRC reform, and an overview from CNBC's coverage of Trump's nuclear power acceleration orders for AI.

This week's major court ruling on U.S. tariffs marks a pivotal shift in trade policy, with the U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously finding the Trump administration's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for sweeping tariffs illegal - a decision staying in place pending federal appeal and likely Supreme Court review.

While the ruling temporarily blocks broad 10% baseline and “reciprocal” tariffs impacting goods from China, Canada, Mexico, and dozens more countries, it leaves sector-specific tariffs under Section 232 - covering steel, aluminum, autos, and potentially critical minerals - untouched and still enforceable according to the National Association of Manufacturers.

The court emphasized,

“Because of the Constitution's express allocation of the tariff power to Congress … we do not read IEEPA to delegate an unbounded tariff authority to the President. We instead read IEEPA's provisions to impose meaningful limits on any such authority it confers.”

Businesses face an environment of continued uncertainty, while economists project a 0.2 percentage point drop in 2025 GDP growth, a $950 household cost increase, and up to $30 billion in refunds if tariffs are struck down.

For clarity, here's how recent tariffs break down:

Tariff Type	Status After Ruling	Example Rate
IEEPA-based (broad, reciprocal, emergency)	Blocked, pending appeal	10–125%
Section 232 (steel, aluminum, autos, critical minerals)	Still in force	25%
Section 301 (China-specific)	Still in force	7.5–100%

As trade policies evolve, local Elgin-area manufacturers and tech firms should monitor ongoing litigation and potential new tariff frameworks, while broader economic effects are outlined in analyses like the Yale Budget Lab's tariff impact report - all indicating that tariffs remain a potent, but increasingly regulated, tool in U.S. trade strategy.

The Supreme Court's landmark decision on May 29, 2025, fundamentally reshapes how environmental reviews for infrastructure projects are conducted, prioritizing speed and agency discretion while narrowing the National Environmental Policy Act's (NEPA) reach.

In the high-profile case of Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, the Court unanimously ruled that federal agencies are not required to analyze environmental impacts of separate upstream or downstream projects - such as oil drilling or subsequent refining - when approving initiatives like Utah's new 88-mile railway, thus overruling previous requirements for expansive environmental analysis.

Instead, NEPA reviews must focus squarely on the direct effects of the project at hand and grant “substantial deference” to agencies' technical and scientific judgments, as highlighted in this detailed Supreme Court summary on NEPA review scope.

This ruling restores predictability and reduces litigation delays, echoing Justice Brett Kavanaugh's assertion that NEPA should “inform agency decision-making, not paralyze it.”

The Court warns against “intrusive” judicial review, which it attributes to delays and increased costs for infrastructure projects such as railroads, airports, wind turbines, transmission lines, dams, housing developments, highways, bridges, subways, stadiums, arenas, and data centers.

Legal experts confirm that agencies now have clearer, streamlined obligations, while project proponents gain more certainty amid evolving executive actions to modernize and expedite permitting using digital technology (overview of new executive actions on environmental permitting).

For Elgin, this shift is significant as it could accelerate local infrastructure and tech-driven development, promising faster project approvals and reduced administrative burdens, as further explained in this comprehensive Supreme Court environmental review analysis.

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to reject an appeal by Apache Stronghold has cleared the way for development of the Resolution Copper mine in Arizona, a project jointly operated by Rio Tinto and BHP that holds the world's third-largest known copper deposit and will supply up to 25% of U.S. domestic copper demand over the next four decades.

The initiative, which has already garnered over $2 billion in investment, is expected to inject $1 billion annually into Arizona's economy and create thousands of jobs, reinforcing the nation's critical tech supply chains as copper becomes increasingly vital for electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure.

However, the project remains deeply controversial due to its location at Oak Flat, a site sacred to the Western Apache, prompting a decade-long legal and community debate that included significant modifications to the development plan and continued efforts from tribal advocates.

As federal and local permits are awaited and the U.S. Forest Service moves closer to finalizing the land transfer, proponents highlight the mine's strategic importance for energy and national security, while opponents vow to sustain their advocacy.

As Vicky Peacey, General Manager of Resolution Copper, summarized,

“The Resolution Copper mine is vital to securing America's energy future, infrastructure needs, and national defense with a domestic supply of copper and other critical minerals.”

For a detailed breakdown, see the following table:

Attribute	Resolution Copper Mine
Estimated Copper Production	40 billion pounds over 40 years
U.S. Copper Demand Supplied	Up to 25%
Investment to Date	Over $2 billion
Annual Economic Impact (Arizona)	$1 billion
Ownership	Rio Tinto (55%), BHP (45%)

Explore the Supreme Court's reasoning and the legal journey in this in-depth analysis from the National Association of Manufacturers, review operational and local impact at the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration's coverage, and track further context on tribal concerns, mine technologies, and ongoing environmental reviews at Mining.com's report.

ModMed is redefining healthcare technology standards in 2025 with sustained excellence and groundbreaking AI-powered features. Earning the #1 ranking across all 11 specialty-specific EHR systems in the 2025 Black Book Research Awards, ModMed's solutions - such as its AI-driven ambient listening tool ModMed Scribe™ - are streamlining clinical documentation, boosting both efficiency and patient care outcomes according to ModMed's official announcement.

Recognized for exceptional performance in 18 key metrics by over 33,500 clinical users nationwide, ModMed leads in physician-centric design, interoperability, workflow automation, and robust security, with the Black Book President remarking,

"ModMed's ability to align technology with the specific needs of specialty practices sets it apart in the crowded EHR landscape."

Their AI innovations extend beyond documentation, encompassing tools for claims denial assessment and AI-driven patient communication, further highlighted at national forums like the AAOS 2025 conference showcasing orthopedic solutions.

The result is an integrated platform trusted by over 40,000 providers, designed to address administrative burnout and improve decision-making in clinical workflows.

As healthcare organizations increasingly adopt AI for ambient listening, chart summarization, and machine vision in patient care, strong governance and strategic vendor partnerships are proving vital for scalable, resilient change as detailed in HealthTech Magazine's 2025 AI trends overview.

The following table illustrates ModMed's specialty EHR market leadership:

Specialty	Consecutive Years Ranked #1
Gastroenterology	15
Dermatology	12
Otolaryngology (ENT)	11
Plastic Surgery	10
Ophthalmology	9
Orthopedics	8
Pain Management	5
Podiatry/Foot & Ankle	4
Urology	4
Allergy & Immunology	2
OBGYN	2

Elgin's technology and manufacturing sectors are charting a resilient course amid swift industry change, as local expansion and digital transformation intertwine with strategic community investment.

The recent announcement of Flender Corporation's manufacturing expansion in Elgin - bringing 50 new clean energy jobs and helping retain 140 more - signals continued regional momentum for advanced manufacturing and renewable energy, with leadership calling Elgin “the partner of choice for a sustainable future” and celebrating Illinois's “world-class workforce” in this official Illinois press release.

Midwest manufacturers, including Elgin's business community, are adapting through targeted investments in automation, AI, and smart factory solutions to remain competitive amid labor shortages and supply chain challenges; these shifts are detailed in Deloitte's 2025 Manufacturing Industry Outlook report and regional Midwest manufacturing trend analyses by Wintrust, which forecast ongoing digital transformation, sustainability initiatives, and a heightened focus on skilled workforce development.

Looking ahead, Elgin's public investment in infrastructure and city services is underpinned by a stable fiscal outlook, enabling further modernization. With tech-driven opportunities on the rise in sectors like adhesives at major local employers such as Henkel and a growing demand for digital skills, Nucamp CEO Ludo Fourrage's bootcamps - covering AI, software engineering, cybersecurity, and more - offer accessible pathways for Elgin residents to upskill and participate in the next wave of regional innovation.

The city's collaborative approach to tech, sustainability, and education paves a promising path for its workforce and economy in 2025 and beyond.